Shades of 2009
I don’t want to be a post Alamo Bowl Grinch. Texas’ stirring come from behind win was huge for the fans in attendance, David Ash and most of all for Mack Brown. But let’s face the facts. This big Alamo Bowl victory was a fourth quarter jaw dropping Jaxon Shipley behind the back catch and another opponent’s timely dropped interception away from being another Longhorn pratfall.
In Texas’ four first quarter possessions they ran 14 plays for a grand total of nine yards. That’s not going to draw Major Applewhite any comparisons to Don Coryell. In fact the Major’s debut as the Longhorns Offensive Coordinator bore a frightening resemblance to the Greg Davis era. Heck his very first play call was a Greg Davis signature sideways pass that gained three yards. Texas’ final offensive statistics were vintage Greg Davis, 241 yards passing, 117 yards rushing (64 on Goodwin’s reverse) for a pedestrian 358 yards of total offense.
So here’s the deal. The Texas offensive line couldn’t run block in the glory days of 2008-2009 and they can’t run block now. The Horns have landed the country’s number one running back recruit the last two years but they still can’t run the ball effectively. After three years of failing to build a power rushing offense Mack Brown has to come to grips with the fact it’s not going to work with the offensive line he has coming back in 2013 and the culture he’s created at Texas. I wouldn’t be surprised if Malcolm Brown or Joe Bergeron transfers. So Brown shouldn’t waste any more time trying to build an SEC style power rushing attack. If David Ash can consistently perform like he did in the 4th quarter against Oregon St. and Jaxon Shipley continues to be the perfect clone of his older brother, sprinkle in a little Mike Davis (if he doesn’t head to the NFL) and in 2013 you’ve got the ingredients for a spread/zone read offense that should be good for at least 11 wins. How many points do you think Texas could have scored against Oregon St. if they were running a pass oriented spread offense from the get go?
The Alamo Bowl win didn’t exactly allay concerns about the Texas defense. Not counting sack yards lost, Oregon St. averaged 4.5 yards per carry. For the season they averaged 3.7 and were 102nd in the country in rushing. Paraphrasing Dean Wormer, “Not being able to run and not being able to stop the run is no way to go through life son.” There are some promising young players in Kendall Thompson, Peter Jinkens, Tevin Jackson and Malcolm Brown. But it remains to be seen whether this talent can be molded into a consistently strong unit. 
Sorry not to be more sanguine on New Year’s Eve and call me a glass half empty guy but Mack Brown and his staff still have a lot of “fixing” to do to transform this team into something more than a 9-4 satisfied with winning the Alamo Bowl team in 2013.
Mack does have a big leg up on 2013 preparation with a ready made Mack Slogan. “Remember the Alamo Bowl!”
Happy New Year. Let’s get together in 2013.
HooK eM,
W.E.
Over/Under Year End Results
First of all I would like to thank all of you have taken the time out of your busy schedules to play and to give me an excuse not to go to church on Sunday mornings. It was a record breaking year in terms of audience participation for the ever expanding growing by leaps and bounds Willie Earl’s Longhorn Blog and Over/Under contest. I couldn’t have made it happen without all of you.
Here are few of the highlights.
1. David Frink posted a perfect 10 in the New Mexico game. It was the only perfect score of the year.
2. In the first three games of Mark Adams rookie year he won twice and finished second once. Mark finished the year with two wins and two second place finishes.
3. Helen Frink striking a blow for gender equity won twice and was one of only three multiple winners for the year. I never helped. I swear.
4. Jerry Smith for the fifth straight year won at least twice.
Now, without further ado. With his win in the Alamo Bowl with nine correct answers, giving him four wins for the season the 2012 Over/Under Championship Trophy goes to David Frink. I can remember not so long ago when our parents wondered if David could count the correct change for bus fare and find his way home. Now look where he is!
Congratulations David
Over Under and Out.
Willie Earl
