First, Money for the Coaches Is Raised, Then Game Stakes

As befits two coaches who just got whopping salary increases, Texas’ Mack Brown and Oregon’s Mike Bellotti are eager to get back to work: in this case, Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium.

“Mack and I are ready to play,” Bellotti said.

Although neither team has played in more than a month, both coaches won the sweepstakes recently in the contract derby, signing lucrative long-term pacts to keep poachers at bay.

Brown, who has led the Longhorns to three consecutive nine-win seasons, was given a raise to $1.45 million a year, up from $1 million.

The Ducks’ Bellotti, fresh from a flirtation with the USC job, got a boost to around $500,000 a year, with bonus clauses that could move him up to the $1-million neighborhood.

With big money comes big expectations, and, at a joint news conference Thursday, each coach was blunt about what the game means to his team’s reputation.

A victory over Texas would help Oregon in its climb to national prominence which would help in recruiting, particularly from talent-rich California.

“A victory in this game will speak volumes about where Oregon is,” Bellotti said.

For Texas, the game is a step toward a possible championship bowl bid next season.

“You need to be a consistent winner to get to play for the national championship,” Brown said. “That’s what we need. That’s what Texas is all about.”

Although the coaches were too polite to mention it, the Culligan Holiday Bowl might as well be called the Consolation Holiday Bowl for No. 8 Oregon and No. 12 Texas, both of which have 9-2 records.

The Ducks were dreaming of the Rose Bowl until a 23-13 loss to Oregon State in a game so significant to the rain-belt state it is called the Civil War. Losses to Stanford (27-24) and Oklahoma (63-14) took Texas out of contention for a championship game.

For Oregon, this bowl stuff is still relatively new; today will be their 15th postseason appearance. For Texas, it is a near-annual event; the Holiday Bowl is its 40th.

Maybe for that reason, even though Oregon placed ahead of Texas in the national rankings, the talk Thursday was that the Ducks are underdogs.

“It’s a little like David and Goliath,” Bellotti said. “Our strategy has been to stop the run and maybe people will throw a pass. I’m not sure that will work here.”

If Chris Simms, son of former NFL star Phil Simms, falters at quarterback, Brown can shift to Major Applewhite. The two combined for 3,200 yards and 26 touchdown passes, with Roy Williams and B.J. Johnson as top receivers.

And if the passing game is ineffective, there is running back Hodges Mitchell, who had three 200-yard games as part of his second 1,000-yard season. On defense, the Longhorns rival many NFL teams in beefiness, with the front line anchored by 300-pounders Shaun Rogers and Casey Hampton.

The Ducks are led by quarterback Joey Harrington and tailback Maurice Morris, both juniors. Defensive ends Saul Patu and Jason Nikolao and cornerback Rashad Bauman helped the team place first in passing defense in the Pac-10.

Patu had 11 quarterback sacks and set a career Oregon record for tackles for losses. “He scares me to death,” Brown said. “I don’t even want to sit next to him at the [pregame] luncheon.”

For believers in the momentum theory of football, the advantage goes to Texas.

The Longhorns got their worst game out of the way in midseason--the loss to Oklahoma--and finished with a 43-17 win over archrival Texas A&M.; The Ducks are coming off the loss to Oregon State, in which Harrington threw five interceptions and Oregon committed 12 penalties for 132 yards.

“We’ve got to get the taste of that game out of our mouth,” Bellotti said.

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Oregon’s Bellotti, on why he took himself out of the running for the job as USC coach: “That was a family issue, that was a quality of life issue, that was a finish-the-job issue. I was flattered to be considered, but I felt it would interrupt my time with my wife and children. Those were the most important considerations.”