Matthew McConaughey must be exhausted watching his beloved Texas Longhorns lose to the Washington Huskies in Monday's College Football Playoff.
The Academy Award winner, an avid Longhorns fan, was featured on multiple ESPN broadcasts as he watched the game from the sideline in New Orleans, where Texas made its first appearance in the CFP Sugar Bowl.
Coach McConaughey got his players excited, cheering and banging their helmets when the second-ranked Huskies (14-0) defeated third-ranked Texas (12-2), 37-31, and lost. It was made to look like that.
With one second left and the Huskies leading the Longhorns by six points, McConaughey was seen raising his arms.
But his hopes were dashed when Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers threw a fade to a well-covered Adonai Mitchell that was deflected by Washington cornerback Elijah Jackson.
Texas had four chances in the end zone after reaching the Washington 12-yard line with 15 seconds left, but Ewers missed the last three.
The 54-year-old actor was seen lecturing Texas players on the sideline in a fast-paced and passionate manner, and joined ESPN's field passing crew for commentary in the second quarter.
He left the announcer saying he had to find a better position to watch the game.
“I can't keep looking at a screen,” McConaughey said.
Kenny Mayne also quipped that McConaughey was “illegally in the players' box” while on the sideline.
McConaughey was a good sport even after the loss, reflecting on Texas' college football season in a post for X.
“What a journey this season has been,” he wrote early Tuesday morning. “Proud of this @texasfootball team that didn’t turn out the way we wanted – hats off to the Huskies.
McConaughey shared another video message with X last month, in which he encouraged the Longhorns to “run.” [Washington] From New Orleans” at the Sugar Bowl.
“Hey, Longhorns, we’re playing the big game well, well, well.” He said at that time. “We've got a big offense coming in here. The secondary is going to be tested all day long, the D-line, she's going to eat everything she's been doing and then some.”Communicate.
“…Get them out of New Orleans and hook them.”
McConaughey is an integral part of Longhorns games.
The X cover photo is a snap of him sitting in the stands at Austin's Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium, where the team plays its home games.
Washington will face No. 1 Michigan next Monday night in Houston, looking to win the Pac-12's first national championship since 1991 and the Pac-12's first since USC in 2004.
