Yeah, there's one thing missing.
Had Vince Young decided to come back for his senior season, there'd be no reason to play the 2006 season. Texas would walk through the year on the way to a second-straight championship and a 34-game winning streak. Oh sure, many would point to USC last year and Miami of a few years ago to show that greatest-of-all-time teams are beatable ... nyuh-uh. This would've been 1995 Nebraska all over again.
But Young is off making millions as a Tennessee Titan and life does go on. The biggest question of the 2006 season is if freshmen quarterbacks Colt McCoy (a redshirt freshman) and Jevan Snead can do enough with the talent around them to keep the machine rolling. As good as Texas was last year, it wouldn't have beaten Ohio State without Young, and if it had somehow made it to Pasadena, it sure as shoot wouldn't have hung around with USC.
So does Texas go back to being, well, Texas? The inside joke was that Young was so good that he Mack Brown-proofed this team, but now the Longhorns might be doomed to once again being a perennial top five team that suffers one or two heartbreakers a year to keep from getting over the hump. If that sounds like it's a bad thing, it isn't.
USC only has one BCS title under Pete Carroll. Oklahoma only has one under Bob Stoops. National titles won by Florida State, Miami, Tennessee and Michigan seem like a lifetime ago. It's really, really hard to get to a championship game, much less win it, so the trick is to keep being in the mix until all the breaks fall the right way. Texas has the foundation in place to keep being among the elite of the elite for years to come.
Now we get to see just how much Brown and his staff can coach. If the quarterback situation is steady, there's no reason to think there can't be a return trip to the title game. But it's not going to be a walk in the park because of ...
The Schedule: Ohio State and Oklahoma are good enough to be considered among the three best teams in America, and road games at Nebraska and Texas Tech in back-to-back weeks would be too tough for almost anyone else. Fortunately, those two games come late enough in the year to allow Snead and McCoy time to get their feet wet. At Kansas State might not be a peach, but it has to be a must-win for a team hoping to play for the national title. The rest of the schedule should be a light breeze considering the toughest games are at home.
What you need to know on offense ... The offense was unstoppable last season averaging over 50 points and 512 yards per game with only one outing (the 25-22 win over Ohio State) with fewer than forty points. The backfield is loaded with talented backs, there's plenty of experience and next-level ability in the receiving corps, and the line will once again be among the best in the country despite losing All-Americans Jonathan Scott and Will Allen. It all comes down to the quarterbacks where Colt McCoy and Jevan Snead will try to combine to take over for the irreplaceable Vince Young. Expect the Longhorns to run, run, and run some more until the new signal-callers get their feet wet.
Best Offensive Player: Senior OT Justin Blalock. He would've likely been a top 15 pick had he come out this season, and now he'll be the anchor of one of the nation's best run blocking lines. He moves well in pass protection and is a steamroller for the ground game.
What you need to know on defense ... Lost in the dominance of the 2005 offense was how good the defense was finishing tenth in the nation and eighth in scoring D. There are only four losses, but safety Michael Huff, corner Cedric Griffin, linebacker Aaron Harris and tackle Rodrique Wright were All-America caliber players. The cupboard is hardly bare with a tremendous end tandem of Tim Crowder and Brian Robison sure to be among the best in the country and more than enough talent in the back seven to fill up the All-Big 12 team. The big question marks are at tackle next to Frank Okam and at middle linebacker, where Rashad Bobino and Roddrick Muckelroy will battle it out, but there's not a lot to be worried about.
Best Defensive Player: Senior SS Michael Griffin. Ends Tim Crowder and Brian Robison will get the bigger NFL paydays, but the sure-tackling Griffin will the be the leader of the D. He'll finally get the national respect he deserves now that he's out of Michael Huff's shadow.
Key player to a successful season: Besides Colt McCoy and Jevan Snead, it's sophomore OG Cedrick Dockery. If he isn't better than he was this spring, Blalock might have to move to right guard putting redshirt freshman Adam Ulatoski. For quarterbacks that need all the time they can possibly get to throw, Blalock is desperately needed on the outside.
The season will be a success if ... Texas plays for the national title. After last year, would anything less be acceptable? If there isn't a repeat trip to the championship game, that likely means a loss to either Ohio State, Oklahoma or Nebraska, and the heat will be back on Mack Brown.
Key game: Sept. 9 vs. Ohio State. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Oklahoma is good again and the Red River Rivalry means everything, but the showdown against the Buckeyes might be the equivalent of the national title game. The winner will likely be number one with the inside track to Arizona.
2005 Fun Stats:
- Second quarter scoring: Texas 218 - Opponents 48
- Rushing touchdowns: Texas 55 - Opponents 15
- Average yards per game: Texas 7.1 - Opponents 4.4
The Last Time Texas …
…played in a bowl game…2005 (Rose Bowl vs. USC)
…missed a bowl game…1997
…pitched a shutout…2005 (Baylor)
…was shutout…2004 (Oklahoma)
…scored 50 points…2005 (Colorado)
…went undefeated…2005
…won a conference title…2005 (Big 12)
…had a 3,000-yard passer…2005 (Vince Young)
…had a 1,000-yard rusher…2005 (Vince Young)
…had a 1,000-yard receiver…2003 (Roy Williams)
…had a first-round draft choice…2006 (QB Vince Young, DB Michael Huff)
