Texas lost three games last year. Texas lost to Kansas State last year.
Heck, Texas even lost a rare game on its home turf in 2006 to rival Texas A&M, so there's nothing completely new about what happened to the Longhorns on Saturday.
But every loss cuts just as deep.
"We're not used to losing around here," said Texas coach Mack Brown. "Especially like that."
The No. 7 Longhorns fell 41-21 to an unranked Wildcats squad in front of 84,864 unhappy fans at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, marking their first loss of the 2007 season and putting them in an early Big 12 Conference hole.
The way Texas (4-1, 0-1 Big 12) lost to Kansas State (3-1, 1-0) might've been even more troubling than the loss itself.
Though they were at home, the Longhorns failed time and again to gain momentum Saturday and, in a situation eerily similar to last season's 45-42 Kansas State win, finished the game without starting quarterback Colt McCoy.
McCoy was thrown to the ground in the second quarter and his helmet bounced off the grass. Though he was able to stand, McCoy seemed woozy after the hit and left early for halftime.
McCoy's playing had already been deteriorating, though. After starting the game 6-for-6, the sophomore gave up two interceptions and had just six more completions before leaving for the locker room.
Though true freshman John Chiles warmed up on the sidelines as the teams prepared for the second-half kick, McCoy started the second half and played through most of it.
In the end though, he had to leave the sidelines after the team doctors determined he could have sustained a mild concussion from the second-quarter play.
"After coming out of the game just before halftime, our physicians evaluated and cleared Colt to play at halftime," said Texas trainer Kenny Boyd in a released statement. "He began showing symptoms of a mild concussion in the fourth quarter, and our medical staff pulled him immediately."
Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis said McCoy was throwing up on the sidelines before the quarterback left the field with a large portion of the Texas fans cheering his exit.
McCoy ended the game with four interceptions, giving him nine on the year - two more than he had all of last season - and a 48-percent completion rate, easily below his career average.
Two of McCoy's ugly interceptions came on tipped balls for which McCoy seemingly didn't throw the ball high enough.
McCoy, and possibly offensive coordinator Davis, were booed earlier in the fourth quarter after McCoy dumped short passes on a third-and-10 and fourth-and-eight on consecutive drives, causing the Texas fans still at DKR to loudly show their disappointment.
"Yeah, I heard the boos," said linebacker Scott Derry. "That just shows that here there's such high levels of expectations."
McCoy's fourth-quarter debacle was a 180-degree turnaround from a third quarter where Texas was still playing competitively.
"We came out, and were moving the ball well in the third quarter," McCoy said in a statement, as he was not made available for comment after the game. "I was feeling good and when we drove down the field to get to 24-21, I thought we were in really good shape."
Texas scored a touchdown on their second possession with 8:07 on the clock to give the Longhorns their final glimmer of hope.
That hope soon faded, as Kansas State scored a field goal and two more touchdowns - one on a punt return with 1:55 left in the third which sealed the game.
"We had momentum coming out in the opening drive of the second half and then they came back and changed the momentum right back," said defensive tackle Derek Lokey. "Today they did a lot of things to stop us from turning our offense on."
After Kansas State took its commanding lead in the fourth, Texas was forced to give the ball to a hurting McCoy and all but abandon its run game.
"It's always tough when you can't stay two-dimensional," Davis said.
The Longhorns had a large chunk of time in the fourth quarter with which they let sink in the cold reality of another loss to Kansas State.
But that didn't keep the locker room from feeling chilly and somber.
"Anytime you lose, it's a horrible feeling," said safety Marcus Griffin. "It doesn't matter who you're playing."
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