Texas Two Step

The University of Texas has been atop of the elite college sports programs over the past 12 months. Don’t believe me? Check it out.
Football: Ranked second in both January 2009 and January 2010

Men’s Basketball: Currently ranked No. 1 for the first time in school history

Baseball: Preseason pick to win the College World Series and finished second in 2009

Volleyball: Finished second in the country to a Penn State team that hasn’t lost in more than 100 matches

Men’s Swimming and Diving: A team of past and future Olympic gold medalists are ranked No. 1 in the nation

Women’s Swimming and Diving: Another team with future Olympians and is currently ranked fourth

Men’s Tennis: Reached the Final Four for the second consecutive year in 2009 and is currently ranked eighth in preseason polls

Men’s golf: Ranked number eight in the latest polls

Women’s basketball is ranked and softball and women’s soccer have hovered around the top 25 over the past few months.

The Texas athletic department even earns more money than any other university in the nation (most of the universities lose money from athletics). It sells more apparel and paraphernalia than any other university. And it is only No. 2 to the University of Miami in partying (which isn’t fair because they have South Beach).

Has there ever been a time when one college athletic department was this dominant compared to the others?

All I can think of recently is Florida who looked as if it was getting tired of winning so many championships when Joakim Noah and company and Chris Leak and Tim Tebow carried the way. But that is only two sports.

Does it matter that the Longhorns have not WON national championships in any sport over the past 12 months?

I say NO, and it is not just because I am student at UT. It is a great enough accomplishment to finish a season second in the land and to be among the best – and even better to do it in three different sports.

And by the way: If Colt McCoy had not gotten hurt, the Longhorns would have destroyed Alabama and that is a fact. OK. Destroyed may have been an exaggeration, but the Horns would have won.

What do ya’ll think?

As I approached my seats at the Rose Bowl for the BCS Championship, one thing caught my eye and it was not the Longhorn band marching on the field playing “Texas Fight” or the greatest sight in all of college football.

It was a beautiful blond woman that was slowly making her way to her seat in the row in front of me. I never see females this attractive, but for some reason I knew that I had seen her before (and no, not from any type of magazine or Victoria’s Secret Catalog).

As she slowly made her way to her seat, she was being greeted by everyone on her row, so I figured she had to be a celebrity. I did not even blink and just starred and drooled as this thing of beauty kept on coming closer.

She was being accompanied to her seats by what looked like a small-town Texas family who seemed to know more people in the stadium than the entire population of their hometown.

Then it hit me: I was sitting right behind the McCoys, and this girl that I had seen so many times before was Colt McCoy’s girlfriend who ESPN loved to show throughout the season and for good reason.

As awesome as it was to be directly behind the family of the Texas starting quarterback, this was not the best game to be sitting behind the McCoys who had a look of concern on their faces the entire game once their son and future NFL quarterback Colt went out on the Longhorns’ first possession with an injury.

Almost immediately, Colt’s father, Brad, had disappeared and it was later announced that he went to the locker room.

Brothers Chance and Case were furiously texting trying to figure out information from, I’m assuming, their father or their friends who were watching it on television.

Colt’s mother, grandmother and girlfriend remained quiet the entire game, just trying to make sure that their loved one was all right (or maybe just concerned about the possible millions of dollars lost from the injury.)

We all know what happened in the game. True freshman Garrett Gilbert entered the game and nearly led the Longhorns back from an 18-point halftime deficit.

But what does Colt’s injury mean to the legacy of this game and the legitimacy of Alabama’s BCS Championship?

More on this later …

This is the reason students decide to go to the University of Texas. To have the opportunity to be a part of a national championship season.

Football rules supreme at UT, a school where the professors (or at least the good ones) decide to cancel class the day before Texas-OU weekend.

And for the third time in six years, Southern California will be painted burnt orange for the Longhorns matchup with Alabama on Thursday to decide a national champion.

However the two teams got there does not matter anymore. What happens in any other bowl game means nothing.

We have the two best teams in the championship and the only thing that matters is who has more points at the end of 60 minutes of football (and an hour long halftime).

Both teams have Heisman finalists. Both teams have great coaches. Both teams have over a century of traditions and fans that bleed burnt orange or crimson.

But only one team has a Cody Johnson.

The Longhorn running back is the key to beating the Crimson Tide. He is not getting any publicity and may not even be on the field for half the offensive snaps, but he will be the difference maker if Texas is able to win its second national championship in five years.

This season, Texas has had three different starting running backs. Mack Brown has switched it up every game between Tre Newton, Fozzy Whitaker and Johnson.

Johnson is the Longhorns’ power back who you will definitely see in goal line situations and on third and inches, but if it were up to me, he should be in for almost every first down.

A huge problem for the Longhorns in the Big 12 Championship was the inability of the offense to get decent yardage on first down. That put them in many difficult third-and-long situations, which are obviously harder to convert than a third and three.

Johnson, to an extent, is like Jerome Bettis. He is able to power through defenders. Just ask the Oklahoma defense who was dragged on the back of Johnson, which gave the Longhorns an important first down late in October’s Red River Rivalry.

Averaging four yards per carry and scoring 12 touchdowns, Johnson is capable of making second and third down much easier for a Longhorn offense that will not be able to rely 100 percent on the pass.

Texas must have long drives, which will happen if it can run the ball for three-five yards and set up easier third downs.

Long drives will not only tire the Alabama defense, but keep Mark Ingram off the field. Newton, the freshman, has the speed and the agility to break a long run, but also can get stopped behind the line of scrimmage.

But Johnson complements him well adding the power. The duo of Newton and Johnson is to a lesser extent similar to USC’s Reggie Bush and LenDale White.

Texas has abandoned the running game at times this season and opposing defenses have taken advantage of it. See: Nebraska.

Mack Brown and offensive coordinator Greg Davis cannot allow the Crimson Tide defense to know that Colt McCoy will be throwing the ball every down. They are going to have to mix it up. Nebraska made it seem like it knew what was going to happen every play. It was like the Huskers were in on the huddle. Alabama, who has the top defense, will be able to do the same thing.

Of course there are many other factors to this game, but I feel that the Longhorns' most underrated weapon is Johnson, who is capable of making a huge difference and winning Texas another championship.
Want to read more about the Longhorns?

ESPN's Pat Forde write about a side of Mack Brown you may not know about.

SI's Andy Staples also talks about the Longhorn running game.

See you in Pasadena and Hook'em Horns!