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| | Monday, August 14 Longhorns hoping to hook a championship | |||||
| By Todd Cooper Special to ESPN.com Texas Longhorns 1999 record: 9-5 (6-2 Big 12) Coach: Mack Brown Returning starters: 16 (7 offense, 9 defense) Outlook Coach Mack Brown loves to fish and he loves to tell stories. So it was only fitting that the third-year coach told a whopper at the Big 12 media day. Brown said he was fishing on a North Carolina pond this summer with one hand on the boat's motor, one hand on a fishing rod, and another rod under his foot. Noticing his contortion, his wife asked: "What if you catch two fish at one time?" "That's a great situation if it comes up," Brown said. "So I'll manage it in the best way I can." His wife looked at him and said, "So that's what you're going to have to do with your quarterback situation, too." Indeed, Brown said, it will be a similar scenario when his two big fish -- quarterbacks Major Applewhite and Chris Simms -- battle for the No. 1 spot this fall. Applewhite is a gritty, smart play-caller who earned the Big 12 co-offensive player of the year award last year before a knee injury sidelined him in the Cotton Bowl. And Simms, the wildly talented son of ex-Giant Phil Simms, impressed coaches in the spring with his precise and powerful arm. "Both are great kids, and they get along," Brown said. "But one of them will be really disappointed because he isn't playing. And we can't make light of that." Brown also doesn't make light of Texas' need for a stellar ground attack to complement the quarterbacks. The Longhorns finished 10th in the conference in rushing, averaging just 3.8 yards per carry last year. At 5-7 and 190 pounds, Hodges Mitchell knows he's not Ricky Williams. But Mitchell spent the summer working on his breakaway speed and he could be as elusive as Williams was punishing. He'll get help from an offensive line led by monster tackle and Outland Trophy candidate, Leonard Davis. On the defensive line, Casey Hampton and Shaun Rogers are 300-plus pound bulldozers. The two Lombardi Trophy candidates combined for an incredible 48 tackles for losses last season. Since Brown took over, Texas' defense has climbed from 85th in total defense to sixth last year. Throw in a relatively tame schedule -- Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas A&M are the toughest games -- and the Longhorns could hook themselves a Big 12 championship. "I really like this team," Brown said. "I've been in enough transition periods to know that it takes two years to figure out your problems and the third year to straighten things out." Keep an eye on ... Hampton and Rogers. At 305 and 315 pounds, respectively, they'll plug the run and plow the quarterback. It's a good season if ... The Horns get their quarterback controversy resolved early enough to make a run at the Big 12 Championship game and a shot at a BCS bowl game. Todd Cooper is a staff writer for the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald | ALSO SEE Nebraska still the one in the Big 12 | |||||