'Just keep working at it': Despite losses, Moro Ojomo still trying to right the ship

To his credit, Texas defensive lineman Moro Ojomo answered the difficult questions on Monday following the Longhorns’ third consecutive loss after a squandering of a double-digit lead.

Included in his response to questions regarding the Longhorns plan to get out of their current rut were some tales from the trenches in Waco. Ojomo said his Katy High School teammate and Baylor offensive lineman Connor Galvin kept needling him all game and will be able to for a while. This was one game after Oklahoma State’s Cole Birmingham was able earn similar bragging rights against his former classmate.

“I’m the one that’s going to get all the shit,” Ojomo said before praising KHS head coach Gary Joseph and the currently undefeated Tigers.

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Then, he took a question about how the team tries to stay positive and continue fighting in games when there are simple but game-changing plays not being made.

While thinking of his answer, he offered his best Ralphie impression from A Christmas Story.

“Fudge…” Ojomo said (He actually said fudge).

“You can’t be too down on guys about things because I think, or I hope, most of the guys that are in those situations already are hard on themselves,” he continued. “When you become too hard on them, it can affect their play in the future. You’ve got to have that next play mentality, but at the same time, I don’t know what it is. To be a great team, to be a good team, you’ve got to have those.

“You’ve got to make those plays. Big time players make big time plays in big time games. We’ve got to somehow figure out how to cut the crap and just do it.”

But, as Ojomo would admit, those plays have not been made. Their absence has led Texas to lose three straight games, and the potential exists for the Longhorns to drop four in a row for the first time since 2010.

A ‘here we go again’ mentality may now be present in the Longhorn locker room. Plenty of signs point toward it being a current part of the Texas program. But when asked, Ojomo pushed back against the notion he or his teammates were getting used to falling short on the scoreboard.

“That can’t happen,” Ojomo said. “I think as for the morale of the team and the morale of me as a person, I can’t become used to losing because then the sting stops to sting. It just doesn’t sting the same, and that’s not good for you.”

The program has seen its fair share of losses in the last decade, more than it ever could have imagined following the 2009 Big 12 championship season. Scores of players have come to Austin to wear burnt orange and attempt to right the ship.

Many of those players have come from successful high school teams. Katy won a state championship Ojomo’s sophomore year. Lake Travis, Denton Ryan, Cuero, Carthage, Temple, Hallettsville, Shadow Creek, Westlake, Southlake Carroll, DeSoto, and Longview, winning Texas programs, are represented on the Longhorn roster.

But those same players arrive at Texas and become part of what is now a close-but-no-cigar program. Why?

“Shit,” Ojomo said after a pause. “That’s a hell of a question.”

Ojomo, a management information systems major, used a business example in a long reply about how Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is dealing with these problems while attempting to set the program up how he wants to in his first 11 months on the job.

“Amazon had to go through shit,” Ojomo said.

He mentioned how when a new staff arrives, many of the situations that come up during the course of a season are novel situations. Just like with a new business, a Sarkisian-led Texas program has not had to deal with these new scenarios like double-digit leads prior to this season.

“It’s not the same team as last year,” Ojomo said. “A completely different program, a different system. We’ve got to figure out how to play good football for four quarters with this team and this year.”

For Ojomo, he doesn’t see the issue as a lack of effort. He expressed how much he loves the University of Texas and made sure to note he appreciates the support from his family, faith, fans, and alumni, and repeated how hard he and his teammates are working in order to rectify the problems afflicting the Longhorns.

He noted he has driven himself nuts trying to get it fixed but still is unsure why it hasn’t been repaired.

The only way Ojomo knows how to get out of the rut is to continue to put his trust in Sarkisian and his way of doing things.

“We’ve got to just keep working and try to get over this hump,” Ojomo said. “How do you get out of anything in life? You’ve got to go to work and life doesn’t stop, time doesn’t stop for anyone. Just keep working at it.”

One thing might help, too. Said Ojomo as his time with the media ended: “Let’s just hope we stop that run.”