Texas Two Step

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!