ARLINGTON — In the early 1950s, just before the Sooners snapped a 47-game winning streak that remains the longest in NCAA history, George Cross made an impassioned budget request for his university that was received like a phone blockade by the Oklahoma State Legislature.

“Yeah, that’s all well and good,” said a state senator, “but what kind of football team are we going to have this year?”

The angry president’s cheeky response made national headlines and also went down in history.

“We want to build a university,” Cross said, “that our football team can be proud of.”

Believe it or not, these are the things your intrepid reporter was thinking about Sunday at JerryWorld as he watched the Saints humiliate the Cowboys 44-19 in the most embarrassing loss since, well, the last time the home team played here. Sunday was a bit of a monotony. My mind wandered like Alvin Kamara through Mike Zimmer’s defense.

And so I came to this opinion about the Cowboys after some very different results this season that defy any comparison:

They are trying to build a team that could make their player proud.

God bless Brandon Aubrey, as reliable as the rain in the Nelson.

For everyone else, the decision varies from week to week.

Just a week ago, after an opening game in Cleveland that surprised the SportsDay panel of experts, Zimmer was the star of the city and the entire league. Former NFL players raved on television about the superiority of his scheme over Dan Quinn’s. Drew Brees, the patron saint, told Jon Gruden that he had spent “more mental energy” preparing Zimmer’s defense than anyone else over the years.

Micah Parsons assured us at the time that this was just the beginning.

“The sky,” he said, “is the limit.”

In case you’re wondering, he still likes the pattern.

“We were simply outplayed,” he said.

Of course, it wasn’t just the defense. Aside from Aubrey, who went 4 of 4 for 52, 38, 48 and 40 yards, the Cowboys’ only other point came when CeeDee Lamb ran under two defensive backs who were overrunning the play, gaining 65 yards. That sentence pretty much sums up the Cowboys’ highlights.

Otherwise, they were 0-for-3 in the red zone and allowed the Saints to score on each of their first six possessions. Kamara set a record for Cowboys opponents with four touchdowns – three rushing and one receiving – while rushing for 115 yards on 20 carries.

Derek Carr, whom the Saints acquired from the bargain bin at TJ Maxx for $37.5 million a year, posted a perfect passer rating of 158.3 in the first half as New Orleans built an unassailable 35-16 lead.

Meanwhile, Dak Prescott looked exactly as he did when he last appeared here before Jerry Jones stunned him this month.

Dak may have been the only person in the building who didn’t see the similarities between last year’s elimination and the home opener.

“I wouldn’t waste my time comparing the two if I were you,” Dak advised.

No chance, buddy.

Honestly, what else could one have thought after the Cowboys’ most embarrassing exit in their playoff history, followed by an offseason in which the club did not achieve much of note, and a home opener in which the topic was addressed?

The fans had barely raised their hopes after the victory over the Browns when the Cowboys pulled the rug out from under them on Sunday.

In a recurring theme, Dak blamed, among other things, the media for making too much of the Cowboys’ win the week before and creating dashed expectations. I guess you get it. But it didn’t paint a good picture when he added that his only regret in the game was an interception by Tyrann Mathieu, although it would have been caught by another Saints DB had the Honey Badger not gotten to it first.

In fairness, I give Dak credit for cleaning up his mess by tackling Paulson Adebo after another interception.

That was possibly the hardest hit any cowboy had taken all day.

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The message in the Cowboys’ locker room afterward seemed to be that they weren’t going to go undefeated anyway. That should be written on a poster. Jerry didn’t deny that he was “concerned,” but he told us not to worry. It was early, he said. In fact, he said it four times.

Funny, but after the Browns win, nobody said it was early. They were only too happy to make us believe that this team had put last year behind them. Then they rubbed it in the fans’ faces on Sunday.

If the crowds streaming toward the exits like a fire drill at the start of the fourth quarter didn’t send a message, the Cowboys should have received one when a couple on the Godzillatron waved their arms and asked for noise. All that came out was a hum that didn’t soften the drum roar of “Who dat?”

“You got yourself into this mess,” the fans seemed to say.

You can come out yourself.

Don’t count on Brandon Aubrey to continue saving this team either. Sooner or later, he’s going to need a little help.

Twitter/X: @KSherringtonDMN

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