Two years ago in Ames Iowa, the Texas Longhorns suffered arguably their most embarrassing defeat of the Steve Sarkisian era, falling to the Iowa State Cyclones 30-7, and being outscored 27-0 in the second half.
The loss was indicative of the state of the program at the time, which was undergoing its transition from the Tom Herman era, into the newly formed Sarkisian regime.
The Longhorns would go on to finish that season 5-7, and miss the postseason for the first time since 2016 under Charlie Strong.
Obviously, things have worked out in the Longhorns' favor since then, with Sarkisian molding the program into a 9-1 Big 12 title and College Football Playoff contender in just his third season.
And while Sarkisian certainly deserves the Lion's share of the credit for that transformation, defensive line coach Bo Davis also played a major role, most notably after the loss to Iowa State.
Shortly after walking out of the locker room to board the team bus, Davis took exception to the demeanor of many of the Longhorns players after the loss. Players talking. Laughing. Texting.
That was enough for him to speak — or scream — his frustrations into the dark Iowa night.
"I got my (expletive) kicked and you (expletive)s wanna laugh!" Davis yelled to a crowded bus. "(expletive)'s real! You think it's a (expletive) joke! And, some of you (expletive)s do transfer out this (expletive)because I'm tired of this (expletive)! This (expletive)'s real!"
Entering the transfer portal is exactly what they did, with multiple key players such as Joshua Moore, B.J. Foster, Chris Adimora, Casey Thompson, Jared Wiley, Kelvontay Dixon, David Abiara, Marcus Washington and many others, exiting the program.
After that, the Longhorns also received an influx of program-building transfers, with Quinn Ewers, Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey, Isaiah Neyor, Tarique Milton, and Ryan Watts - and the program's recruiting efforts soared to new heights.
Now, heading into their Saturday night matchup with the Cyclones, with the program in a completely different state.
And the Sarkisian and Davis-led Horns have a chance to bring things full circle from Big 12 bottom dweller to conference title contender, starting with their Ames redemption arc.
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