Monday, January 25, 2010

The Offseason

My two most hated words.

But alas, I suppose Texas can't play 52 games a year (why not I have no idea), so it is what it is.

This blog will be updated less, but I do plan on updating it around:

-- Recruiting.  Texas is still in the hunt for Jackson Jeffcoat, Jordan Hicks and others, and I'll have my thoughts on their announcements when and if they decide to come to Texas.  National Signing Day is also right around the corner, and while I'm no recruiting expert, I'll try to break it down the best that I can.

-- Spring Practice.  This has the potential to be the most entertaining Spring Practice in years, as Texas is replacing Colt McCoy at quarterback and trying to fill the loss of Jordan Shipley, Dan Buckner and Brandon Collins at wide receiver.

-- The NFL Draft.  The Longhorns will have their biggest draft class in years, and we'll be here to talk about it.

-- Summer Practice.  Only 7 short months away...

And of course when any other breaking news breaks, we'll be here to discuss it.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Muschamp Staying at Texas



What seemed like a harmless story on Tuesday night of Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin leaving to take the USC job turned into downright panic for me yesterday as Will Muschamp was named as the Vols' first choice...and the only sound we heard from Bellmont was crickets chirping.

Now, when you have a defensive coordinator as awesome as Muschamp is, he's going to be mentioned in every big job that is available, but this one had Alessandra Ambrosio-type legs to it by yesterday afternoon.  We heard Muschamp was in Knoxville, we heard he was in Denver interviewing there, we heard he might even be in Dallas, and we heard he was flying back from Orlando along with Mack Brown.  Then even though word started trickling out that he had refused Tennessee's offer started to leak last night, Volunteer message boards and even a radio show were reporting that he had accepted a 7 year, $21 million deal with no outs to Texas and Georgia.

In the end, we really don't know what was true and what was not, but what we do know is that Muschamp is here for another year, at least.  Now let's just hope that no other SEC jobs become available next off-season...

Monday, January 11, 2010

2010

Here is the schedule:

@ Rice
Wyoming
@ Texas Tech
UCLA
Oklahoma (in Dallas)
@ Nebraska
Iowa State
Baylor
@ Kansas State
Oklahoma State
Florida Atlantic
Texas A&M

Here are the notables we lose:

WR Jordan Shipley
OL Adam Ulatoski
OL Charlie Tanner
OL Chris Hall
QB Colt McCoy
K Hunter Lawrence
DE Sergio Kindle
DT Lamarr Houston
LB Roddrick Muckelroy
S Earl Thomas
DT Ben Alexander

Obviously my expectations are lower for next year's team versus this year's team. I think a Big 12 Championship would be a great accomplishment for this team. For the first time in a few years, spring practice holds real intrigue as we'll all be eager to hear how Gilbert and the receivers are meshing.

The line gets battered a bit, but much like a certain linebacker leaving a couple of years ago, it is almost addition by subtraction. Mason Walters is said to maybe be the best OL on this team, and he probably slides right into either LT or LG. Tray Allen gets his shot. David Snow has had playing time. And we might have another OL coach to teach them all.

Losing Shipley is huge. We missed Quan Cosby for much of this season, and next year we'll miss Shipley even more. But Gilbert has all spring/summer to find his own security blanket, and I'm sure he will.

I'm worried about the DL, but I was worried about it coming into this year and it turned out fine. In Muschamp I trust. One of either Alex Okafor and Eddie Jones needs to turn into that dominant pass rusher in the Orakpo/Kindle mold. We get Jared Norton back at linebacker, and that will help that young unit tremendously.

The secondary might be the strength of the team next year despite the loss of Thomas. One of the Scott/Brewster/Vaccaro trio will likely replace him, but Aaron Williams is a man among boys, and another off-season will do wonders for Curtis/Chykie Brown. Blake Gideon improved so much from freshman to sophomore, if he does that again he'll be a dominant safety.

I have zero idea who will be kicking next year. Justin Tucker will have first crack, I suppose, but if he doesn't work, who? Travis Smith? MIchael Summerville? You click on those guys' bios on the team website and you get an empty screen for Smith and you find out that Summerville likes The Office on his.

As for the schedule, these are the games that scare me, in order:

@ Nebraska
@ Kansas State
Oklahoma

Nebraska and KSU will fight for the Big 12 North, and Oklahoma is Oklahoma. Tech doesn't scare me with the transition to Tubberville, UCLA has an awful offense that Muschamp will destroy, Oklahoma State might be the worst team in the Big 12 South next year, and I'll run a lap around campus if Jarrod Johnson has a game like he did against Texas this year in Austin next year.

Sigh....8 months....

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Alabama 37 Texas 21




One second.

That is all it took to derail our season in Lubbock in 2008.  In 2009
we thought we got it back in Arlington.  But in 2010, the one second
that it took an Alabama defender to hit Colt McCoy's right
shoulder, our season was over again.

Damn.

As I sit on an American Airlines jet somewhere over Arizona, the
disappointment from Thursday night is dissipating into sadness.  Not
necessarily sadness because we lost, because believe me when I say
this school will win more national championships (plural) sooner
rather than later, but sadness for this group of seniors that deserved
more out of these last two seasons.

To use an over used cliche, nobody ever said that life was fair, but
what in God's name did Colt McCoy do to deserve what fate was in store
for him on Thursday night?

He played the game the right way, lives his life the right way and
says all the right things.  CBS NCAA basketball announcer Seth Davis
told his son after McCoy's post-game interview that he wanted his son
to grow up to be just like McCoy.

Did Joe Montana get hurt in any of his Super Bowls?  Did Derek Jeter
tear a hamstring in the World Series?  Has Kobe Bryant ever hurt his
knee in Game One of the NBA Finals?

Why?

I don't know.  To paraphrase a popular bumper sticker, it happens, but
that doesn't make it suck any less.

We'll never know if McCoy had played the whole game if we'd be
planning another championship celebration at DKR, but if you're like
me, you have a pretty good idea how it would have turned out.

Losing is bad, but losing while playing the "what if" game is just
torture.

As the clock hit zero on Thursday, the Colt McCoy Era at Texas ended.  45 wins. 4 bowl wins.  A BCS Bowl win.  A Big 12 Championship.  3-1 against Oklahoma.  A 12 win season.  A 13 win season.  But that chapter is now closed.

And so begins the Garrett Gilbert Era.  And I would be willing to bet
that one of those seasons will end with him hoisting a crystal ball
over his head in Glendale or New Orleans or Miami.  And we'll
celebrate, and plan another celebration at DKR.  And lost in all of
that hoopla, we'll forget about that fateful night in Pasadena.

For about one second.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The National Championship That Will Be



Last Week: 3-2 ATS 3-2 SU
For the Year: 42-45-3 (.483) ($750) ATS 63-27 (.700) SU


And it’s absurd how people hang on every word.
I’ll probably never get the props I feel I ever deserve- Eminem “Til I Collapse”


Here we go again. They’ll never learn.

#2. In most circles it is high praise. SMU, Baylor, Purdue, the list goes on, some teams would love to finish #2. They’d make t-shirts, praise the team and coaches for a spectacular season and demand the administration never let this coach go. But those are other programs.

To Texas, being number two is an insult. It is akin to a pat in the head and a “you’re good, but he’s better.”

In 2005, Texas knew they were damn good all year, but the media and coaches kept telling them, “you’re good, but he’s better.” Vince Young went to New York, put on his best suit, but got a pat on the head and was told, “you’re good, but he’s better.”

But on the night of January 4th, 2006, nobody was better than Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns.

USC was shocked. The national media was shocked. Hell, even some local media was shocked. But we had watched that team all year long and knew that if there was a team out there that was better than they were, they’d better be damn good when they met on the field.

And USC wasn’t up to the challenge.

Now, four years later, there is a clear #1, but a lot of the country doesn’t even think the Longhorns are good enough to be #2.

A lot of pundits wanted Cincinnati in the title game. They scored a lot of points, you see, and it didn’t matter that the other team put up a lot of points too, or that the other team was Southeast Missouri State, or Illinois (which ended up pretty much firing their whole coaching staff but the head coach) or that powerhouse football program up in Connecticut.

More pundits wanted TCU, a team that Texas swept the floor with two years ago with the worst team in the Mack Brown era at Texas. True, the 2009 Horned Frogs are a lot better than the 2007 team as well, but it is hard to tell when you’re playing Southwest Texas and SMU week in and week out.

The Mountain West has a pretty decent bowl season, and those same pundits are still bitching that TCU played in the Fiesta Bowl and Texas is in the championship game.

Or were, before last night.

If us Texas fans weren’t so damn arrogant, you’d really be giving us a complex, America.

Make no mistake about it, Alabama deserves all (most) of the accolades they receive. They’re a fine program with a fine coach with a defense that is statistically the best in the nation. They have the Heisman Trophy winner (ahem) in the backfield and a general under center that reminds many of a certain running backs coach from Texas.

But, if you’re like me, you’re wondering why a quarterback that has won 45 games is being best remembered for a play that while foolish, didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. You’re wondering why a defense that has been as good as any in the country doesn’t even get a mention when people talk about this game. You’re wondering why Alabama is praised for the Florida game, but dodges criticism about the Tennessee, Auburn and LSU games. You’re wondering why a correct call (putting one second back on the clock against Nebraska) is talked about at length while an incorrect call (LSU’s interception in the fourth quarter) isn’t discussed at all. And most of all, you’re wondering why a team that has won 25 out of their last 26 games is being talked about like they’re last week’s trash.

But, if you’re like me, you also like it. Let them talk up Alabama while they pat Texas on the head and say, “you’re good, but they’re better.” The Trojan football team that one classic Longhorn message board post compared to the Trojan Army was defeated by The Eyes of Texas.

And I feel pretty damn good about our chances in this one, too.

We’ll enter the Rose Bowl on Thursday ranked second in the country. Nobody can take that away from us, no matter how much they want to. Colt McCoy put on his best suit and went to New York and was told, “you’re good, but he’s better.” Nobody can take Ingram’s Heisman away…

But we can damn sure make it meaningless. Just like Reggie’s.

Let them talk (and Alabama has done plenty of it this week).

We’ll take that #1 ranking. And our second national championship of the decade.

How ironic.

I will not fall,
I will stand tall,
Feels like no one could beat me.


On to the game...

Texas v. Alabama -4:

Enough hype, let’s get to the match-ups.

WHEN TEXAS HAS THE BALL

First of all, get it out of your head that the Nebraska and Alabama defenses are in any way similar. Nebraska gets most of their pressure from their front four. They were able to keep seven guys in coverage for most of the game. Seven guys going against 4 receivers, and it is easy to see why our offense had trouble most of the game.

Alabama has no such luxury. They run a 3-4 defense where the nose tackle clogs the middle and allow the linebackers to make the plays. Nebraska’s defensive line had 30 plus sacks this year, Alabama’s had 9. They have to rely on blitzing schemes (albeit very effective blitzing schemes), which leaves them wide open to a broken coverage if they face the right offense.

And yes, we have the right offense.

The one thing that jumps out about Alabama is their size on defense. They are built for the plodding, 12-10 games of the SEC. DT Terrance Cody is listed at 365 lbs. All-World middle linebacker Rolando McClain is 258 lbs. Their two safeties (Mark Barron and Justin Woodall) are 215 and 220 lbs.

Just for comparison, Rodderick Muckelroy is listed at 235 lbs. Blake Gideon is 200 lbs and Earl Thomas is 197 lbs.

How will Alabama’s size be able to hand the spread offense of Texas? It is hard to judge because hardly anyone besides Arkansas in the SEC runs a true passing spread offense, and Alabama completely shut them down. But nobody is going to mistake Ryan Mallet for Colt McCoy any time soon.

The Crimson Tide faced a similar spread offense last year against Utah, and failed miserably. Utah didn’t even need a rushing attack, as they only rushed for 13 yards but passed for 336 in their Sugar Bowl win over Alabama last year.

Don’t get me wrong. Alabama’s defense is outstanding, and they have plenty of speed. But if you’re looking for an edge we might have, it is there. McClain is an outstanding linebacker, but do you really see a 258 lb linebacker being able to cover Dan Buckner or Jordan Shipley in the slot on crossing patterns? Do you see a 220 lb safety being able to run with Marquise Goodwin or Malcolm Williams on a deep pattern?

We talked about that aggression on defense with Alabama, and boy are they aggressive. Their team leader in tackles behind the line of scrimmage per game? CB Javier Arenas. Arenas also has five sacks. Alabama likes to blitz, and they like to bring it from everywhere on the field. Colt McCoy must work with his receivers to identify where the pressure is coming from and adjust to it. They didn’t do a good job of that much this year, but hopefully 30 plus days to prepare and watch film has prepared them for it.

With that aggressive style, Texas must be able to find the weakness on any particular play and attack it. This is a defense on which bubble screens, our favorite play, will work. Mis-directions will work. The shuffle pass will not work as long as Terrence Cody is in the game.

Up the tempo, get Cody on the sidelines drinking Gatorade, be the aggressor. That is how you beat Alabama’s defense. If you can run the ball, that is just an added bonus.

WHEN ALABAMA HAS THE BALL

No offense to Alabama and the Heisman Trophy winner, but I’m not sure we could have hand-picked an offense that I would have rather faced out of the contenders. Florida’s triple-option speed scared the crap out of me, but Alabama’s offense plays right into our strengths.

They’re a power rushing team that likes to mix it up with the play-action. That’s all there is to it. There isn’t much fluff here, and they obviously don’t need much fluff to run the table in the SEC.

Lucky for us, our last opponent had the same offensive scheme. Nebraska likes the power rushing of the SEC, and they did it well all year…until they played Texas. Nebraska’s offensive line is about the same size as Alabama’s, so don’t let anyone tell you that we haven’t faced an offensive line as big as Alabama’s this year.

Now, keep in mind that Alabama was much, much more effective in what they did versus what Nebraska did this season, but we don’t have to prepare for an offense that we’ve never seen before. Just sayin’.

Also keep in mind that Alabama ran all over the lightweights on their schedule (Florida International, North Texas, etc.) but averaged nearly 40 yards per game less against the quality teams on their schedule (Virginia Tech, Mississippi, LSU, Auburn and Florida).

Like I said, they don’t do a lot of fluff. They usually line up two wide receivers or two tight ends and two wide receivers, and they’ll throw a couple of four receiver sets out there, but they don’t throw to Ingram much (he only caught 30 passes in 13 games).

They rely simply on out-muscling you at the line of scrimmage and then mixing in a play action pass to a TE or WR Julio Jones. Jones had his struggles this year, but he has come on since the Tennessee game. In those six games, he has caught 30 passes. The secondary always needs to be aware of where he is on the field, and the first guy needs to be able to tackle him, or he can be very hard to bring down.

I’ve gone this far in the write-up without talking about their quarterback, and that is because Greg McElroy is consummate game manager, but won’t beat you on his own. He doesn’t run that much (only 110 yards rushing all year), and won’t wow you with his arm (his season high was the 291 passing yards against Arkansas), and won’t throw a lot of touchdowns. Outside of the South Carolina game where he threw for four touchdowns, his season high was the two against Virginia Tech.

We talked about what McElroy doesn’t do, but what he also doesn’t do is throw interceptions. He only threw four all year. Again, Alabama wants to run all over you, and if they start throwing the ball a lot, they’re in trouble.

SPECIAL TEAMS

With these two teams pretty even, this is where the game might be won.

Javier Arenas. He’s the best returner we’ll face this year, and it isn’t even close. Alabama is third in the country in punt returns and ninth in kickoff returns. Arenas has seven career punt returns for a touchdown. Be disciplined, hell kick the ball out of bounds, but do not let Arenas get the ball in space.

The good news is that Alabama stinks at covering kicks, too. They allowed kickoff returns for touchdowns in the first two games this year, and didn’t get that much better throughout the year. DJ Monroe and Marquise Goodwin should be able to change the tide (no pun intended) if they get the chance. They also only rank 78th in the country in punting.

Kickers are about the same. Leigh Tiffin is one of the best in the nation, but Hunter Lawrence has more than held his own this year, and is anyone going to be scared if he has to trot out there to kick a game winner?

INTANGIBLES

It sounds silly to say, but can Alabama separate themselves from beating Florida? They were amped up ever since they lost in the SEC Championship Game last year to play Florida. Did they get amped up too much for that game? Will they take Texas lightly after destroying mighty Florida? Add to the fact that they are 0-2 in BCS bowls, got whipped last year by Utah, and Saban himself is 4-6 in bowl games, and Alabama had better be in the right frame of mind and not be resting on any past successes.

Texas has the experience factor working for them, as well as a determined group of seniors that want what they felt they should have had last year.

SO WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN?

Well, there you have it. I’ve covered every conceivable match-up besides the Texas Pom against the Alabama cheerleaders (we win) and the Hellraisers against the houndstooth wearing co-eds (they win).

Call me crazy, but I have faith in our offense, in a quarterback that has set all sorts of school records, and an offensive coordinator that has been here and done it before. I like this match-up with Alabama, and while you always have to be careful of what you wish for, we’re also the best offense that they’ll face this year.

And I believe that Coach Muschamp can stop Mark Ingram in his sleep.

Light the tower orange, we’re bringing home number five.

Texas 27 Alabama 20
ATS – Texas
SU – Texas

Random Hot Austin Chicks

Image

For entertainment purposes only. Save your money for national championship gear.

As a bonus...

VIDEO HAS SOME NSFW LYRICS.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Classic The Week That Will Be: 2006 National Championship Rose Bowl



 This is the fifth and last in a series of re-posts of classic columns that I've done through the years.  We'll do this leading all the way up to the BCS National Championship Game on January 7th.  Part V: The moment that we was 36 years in the making, the Longhorns took the field in Pasadena, California without a chance in the world to upset the mighty USC Trojans according to every college football expert.  It is a good thing that Vince didn't kick them out of his early...


…all I’m asking, is for a little Respect…

The year was 1996. The air was crisp with the impending Autumn season. The brand new grass surface was as green as a South American rain forest and the nearest cloud in the sky somewhere over Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Fans were packed into the stadium extra early. Overflow demand had required that temporary seating be erected in the south end zone. Broadcast legend Keith Jackson was in the booth and the eyes of America were on Austin, Texas as the University of Notre Dame came to the Lone Star State.

The sun reflected off the golden dome of their helmets as they warmed up, their white jerseys pristine and gold pants awe-inspiring. This must have been what it felt like in the 1940s when you would see a big-time movie star stepping out of a limo on Sunset Boulevard.

The kickoff came and the contest was on. It was a hard fought game, just as it was the year before in South Bend. Hard hits were flying as Bryant Westbrook knocked Notre Dame tailback Randy Kinder into the 21st Century with a hit that had Jackson on his feet in the broadcast booth and the crowd as loud as it had been since James Street lined up under center.

Late in the ballgame Texas still had a chance to win but an interception thrown by quarterback James Brown in Longhorn territory sealed their fate and Notre Dame retreated back to South Bend with a 27-24 victory. Excited Irish players jumped around on the field and went to their locker room high-fiving and slapping each other on the back as The Eyes of Texas solemnly came from the Showband of the Southwest.

Then it started.

Drew and I sat in the north end zone temporary bleachers with our heads hanging as everyone exited around us, talking excitedly about the fraternity party that night or dinner at the Hula Hut. We sat there not saying a word, because nothing we could say to each other could heal the pain we felt right at that moment.

…what you want, baby I’ve got it…

The Motown sounds of Aretha Franklin filtered in through the PA, her hit song Respect filling the stands of the stadium either in recognition of the fight that the Longhorns put up against the mighty Irish or a complete coincidence, we weren’t sure which.

All we know is that it pissed us off.

Perhaps it seemed incredulous to us that they would play that song after a loss, perhaps it seemed ridiculous for the University of Texas to need to earn anyone’s respect. Or perhaps it just reminded us that we came that close to a benchmark win for a program that was on the rise, finally winning a conference championship over the hated Aggies the year before. But that we obviously still needed some work.

But rest assured, it stayed with us.

You know how subsequent seasons went. Texas went on to win the conference championship in an improbable upset of Nebraska that year but went 4-7 the next year with embarrassing losses to Baylor and Missouri among others. Texas single-handily kept companies in business that manufactured field goal posts as John Mackovic was ushered out in favor of a guy that most of us just knew couldn’t beat Florida State and coached at a basketball school.

Respect? We would just settle for a winning season at this point.

Mack Brown came to Texas and brought a new attitude with him. His first season Ricky Williams broke the NCAA career rushing mark on his way to the Heisman Trophy, the Longhorns beat Nebraska once again and Williams put 3 Mississippi State defensive backs on the sideline with concussions in the Cotton Bowl.

The Longhorns went from an inconsistent program to a perennial Top 20 team seemingly overnight, and went to another level in following seasons with 9 and 10 win marks and finishes in the Top 10.

Nothing seemed to be in the way of the Longhorns and their quest for the national championship, a feat that had eluded them for more than 30 years. Sporting News and other publications proclaimed Texas pre-season favorites as the program garnered top recruiting classes and the best offensive and defensive players of the year in Chris Simms and Cory Redding.

Then the unthinkable happened.

Oklahoma hired Florida defensive coordinator Bob Stoops and he unexpectedly brought home the Sears Trophy in just his second season after spanking Texas 63-14 earlier in the year. The next year brought another big loss to Oklahoma and a complete meltdown in the Big XII championship game when a win would have brought a berth in the national championship game.

Questions started to fly around the program about whether Mack Brown was really the coach to take Texas to the next level, or whether he had brought them as far as he could. Internet boards and public discussion centered on the Longhorn coaching staff and a quarterback controversy blew up between fan favorite Major Applewhite and the Golden Boy Chris Simms. If Mack Brown couldn’t beat Oklahoma with the best quarterback and the best receivers in the country, what was Texas to do?
Respect? We were just hoping to come within 30 points of Oklahoma and win the Holiday Bowl.

Then came the calvary.

A much less bally-hooed recruit with a daddy that didn’t win a Super Bowl came to the 40 Acres with promise but not a promise to start and not a promise of a national championship. He was a legend in his hometown Houston and certainly a legend among die-hard recruiting experts, but nobody in New Jersey or Oregon knew who he was. Perhaps it was better that way.

Texas defensive Carl Reese also retired around that time. Reese, while certainly a very solid coach and respected nationwide, just didn’t seem to have “it” that real national contenders brought. The Longhorns searched and found two people to replace Reese, a NFL defensive coordinator who had struggled in his last stop and a coach that had been out of the game for nearly a decade.

Huh?

But the experiment worked out nicely. Greg Robinson had failed in Kansas City, but wasn’t given much of a chance by his organization and did win 2 Super Bowls with the Broncos. And Dick Tomey proved that just because you’ve been away from the game awhile doesn’t mean you still can’t make offenses look like the Miami Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl that were shutout by Tomey’s Desert Swarm defense.

That quarterback from Houston worked out nicely as well. Sure, he had his struggles, but General McArthur had his setbacks too. Huge comeback wins over Oklahoma State and Kansas were just a prelude to a record-setting performance in Pasadena, California’s Rose Bowl that had a certain broadcaster named Jackson standing in excitement once again.

Respect.

“He’s a running quarterback that can’t throw”, the naysayers said in response to that performance. “I’ve got news for Texas. They’re still not beating Oklahoma!” “They’re still soft.” “They’ll lose by two touchdowns in Columbus.” “Mack Brown still can’t win the big game.” “They’ve lost Derrick Johnson and Cedric Benson, who is the leader of that team now?” “They lost Robinson and Tomey, who are they going to get that is better?”

Shortly after that Rose Bowl win, a benchmark win for a program on the rise, the team gathered at the Longhorns practice facility. That quarterback from Houston gathered the team around because he sensed a level of complacency, like they had arrived somewhere.

“I hope y’all don’t think we’re finished yet!” he yelled. “Meet me on the practice field at 7AM if you want to beat Ohio State!”

Not one person was absent. This team had a leader.

Texas went into the vaunted Horseshoe in Columbus in early September a slight underdog by the oddsmakers but a huge underdog (“two touchdowns”) by the national media. Unheralded Jamaal Charles and Billy Pittman made big plays but the spotlight belonged to Limas Sweed as he performed ballet moves and caught a beautiful pass to break the hearts of the Buckeye faithful. That Ohio State team lost one game the remainder of the season and beat #6 Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.

”I’ve got news for Texas, they aren’t going to beat Oklahoma!”

Oklahoma came into the Red River Rivalry with two losses, but they still had the mystique and that stuck in the minds of many media members who still picked the Sooners to beat the Longhorns. A 33 point win was deemed nice but Oklahoma was down and Texas was supposed to win. That Oklahoma team lost one game the remainder of the season and beat #5 Oregon in the Holiday Bowl.

Respect.

Your nation’s leader in passing efficiency was that quarterback from Houston, Vincent Young. Robinson and Tomey’s replacement, former Auburn coordinator Gene Chizik, produced a defense that finished in the top 10. Benson’s replacement, the committee of Jamaal Charles, Selvin Young, Ramonce Taylor and Henry Melton, came together with Young to finish #3 in the nation in rushing. Mack Brown finally got his conference title win. And all of this came about because of an offensive line that produced All-Americans and a defensive line that should have.

Texas finished #2 in the country, led the nation in scoring, and was the only team to have a top 10 offense and a top 10 defense. They bring a 19 game winning streak into this contest against USC and their 34 game winning streak. The top 3 Heisman finalists are in this game. It’s two storied programs facing off in college football’s grandest stage.

But they still haven’t learned.

All we’ve heard for the last month is how great USC is and how they match up against the greatest teams of all time. We’re heard Reggie Bush glorified as a combination of Superman, Gale Sayers, Abraham Lincoln and Jonas Salk. We’ve heard about Matt Leinart and his ballroom dancing class and his decision to come back for his senior year. We’ve heard about LenDale White and his relationship with Snoop Dogg and his Halloween prank where he faked his suicide in front of his teammates. We’ve heard about Pete Carroll and his month-long preparation time. We’ve heard that the USC defense is faster than the 2000 Baltimore Ravens and that Texas hasn’t seen the likes of it yet this year. We haven’t heard about their kicker because the media doesn’t figure that they’ll need much of him against…um….who are they playing? Oh yeah, Texas.

….just a little bit, just a little bit…

But on the floor of that Rose Bowl stadium Wednesday afternoon, with the pageantry around him, the San Gabriel mountains rising above him, the orange shirts and the red shirts filling up around him, the press filling into the press box high above him, a well-known pop star performing the national anthem in front of him, a military flyover going on above him, the pristine red helmets and the gold pants warming up in front of him and the clock ticking towards 5:00 PM local time, Vince Young will have his IPod on, the white ear buds matching the white jersey with TEXAS sewn across the front.

He can’t hear the naysayers. Because they don’t matter anyhow. They’re never right.

And Aretha might just be on that IPod.

5:00 PM.

Hope you wore your standing shoes, Mr. Jackson.


The Rose Bowl - Texas v. USC -7.5

Okay, I'll cut through all the crap. You've had a month to hear it all and while 99% of it has been about USC, you know what Texas can do and what USC can do.

But...and I say this a lot...football is a simple game that comes down to simple things.

The offensive and defensive lines will determine the outcome of this game.

USC has a fine offensive line that protects Matt Leinart well...but how well can they handle Crowder, Okam, Wright and Robison? And Dibbles when they bring him off the bench? Have they faced nearly as good of a defensive line as the Longhorns will throw out there tomorrow night?

The answer is no. The Longhorns probably won't blitz too much, prefering to keep an umbrella with Bush and Jarrett underneath, but I don't really think they will have to, and when they do it should be effective.

And USC's defensive line is one that has lost a lot to graduation over the past couple of years. I can also just about guarantee that their defensive line hasn't seen an offensive line like ours.

Now let's look at special teams...USC averages 28.9 yards a punt.

28.9

That is horrible. Stop USC three and out (better said than done), make them punt and you've got Aaron Ross, who is 9th in the country in punt returns. I like our chances there.

Our defense is better than theirs. Our offense is on par with theirs. They force more turnovers but their leading interceptor is Darnell Bing, who had 4 on the year. Nobody else had more than 2.

Be physical. Get them out of their rhythm. Force some three and outs. And most important of all, protect the football.

I'm not worried about Vince and I'm not worried about our defense. They will make their plays. USC will make theirs, too, but to me Texas has the better defense and like your high school coach always says, "Defense wins championships."

Hook 'em.

Texas 38 USC 34
ATS - Texas
SU - Texas

For entertainment purposes only. Save your money for post game celebration.