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.
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