Longhorns Around the Web
Each Friday, we'll be offering up a sampling of Longhorn- and Big 12-related sports coverage making its way around the Web.
- Apparently there is a significant contest this week, and everyone's got an opinion. Chuck Carlton of The Dallas Morning News thinks this week's ball game could be all about defense, which could be a good thing for the Longhorns, who have limited their last three opponents to an average of 15 rushing yards per game, as well as limiting their last two opponents to under 130 yards of total offense.
- On the other hand the game could come down to offense, although both Texas and Oklahoma have struggled running the ball in recent weeks. The Longhorns produced only 46 rushing yards on 25 carries against Colorado, although Vondrell McGee and Tre Newton were sidelined with injuries. Meanwhile the Sooners had only 52 yards on the ground midway through the third quarter of their victory over Baylor.
- Mack Brown and Bob Stoops have simply run game over the rest of the Big 12 since they joined the conference ten years ago. This isn't news. But it is a good reason to visit these podcasts from Brown and Stoops before the weekend.
- Contempt for the BCS runs relatively deep here in Austin, and could it be that the strength of schedule component could once again hinder the Longhorns' national title hopes? Probably not if they secure W's over OU, Oklahoma State and Missouri, but don't be surprised if Texas doesn't crack the top three when the first poll is released this Sunday.
- Thanks to injuries, and a couple of subsequent losses, the hype for this week's game has been rather tame compared to what would've been expected after last year's classic, from The Daily Texan.
- This week's line: The nation's gamblers have been all over the map on this one, which is always a sign that it may be best to take the week off, but the line has settled around 3.5 in favor of Texas, making our pick a no brainer. Loyalties aside, take Texas to cover.
- From Coach Brown, all business: "Saturday afternoon, if we can walk out of that stadium and say we stopped the run like we did last year, then we can say we’re really good at stopping the run. Right now, there are still question marks. I think Saturday afternoon proves it. They will be as good at running the ball as anyone we have played. We need to run the ball better. We were very very poor with it Saturday night. There are plenty of reasons, but it doesn’t matter. We don’t have enough time, and it doesn’t matter if we go over all the reasons, we’ve got to keep getting them fixed. Just blame me and move on with it. But we have to get some things fixed and we’re looking at it."
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