Eyes of Texas Are Upon Him

This year’s annual Red River Shootout/Texas Train Wreck at the Cotton Bowl raises the usual question:

Will Mack Brown ever beat Oklahoma?

Never mind that he already has -- twice.

In his first two years as Texas coach, 1998 and 1999, Brown led the Longhorns to victories over the Sooners.

Oklahoma football then was considered crude, like the oil, and Texas appeared poised to challenge for national titles for years to come.

Something happened, though, that Brown had no control over but ultimately derailed what could have been a Darrell Royal-type legacy in Austin.

Looking back, blame it on Iowa.

Iowa in 1999, not Oklahoma, was supposed to hire Bob Stoops.

Stoops played at Iowa and later served as Hayden Fry’s apprentice.

As the bright-light defensive coordinator at Florida in the late 1990s, Stoops seemed certain to take the Iowa job until the administration dragged its feet long enough for him to take a side-trip to Norman and, well, Brown can pick it up from there....

What turned out to be a glorious day in Oklahoma history was one of Brown’s worst.

Two years after taking over a program that had suffered through its worst four-year stretch in history, Stoops led Oklahoma to the national title in 2000. After losing to Brown in 1999, Stoops has beaten Texas four consecutive years by an average score of 47-14. Oklahoma won 63-14 in 2000 and 65-13 last year.

Oklahoma did not only move into Texas’ Big 12 Conference territory, it took up residence in Texas’ division, the Big 12 South, and all but crawled into Texas’ head.

For Brown, it was like being Salieri and having Mozart move next door.

And all because Iowa didn’t get it right?

In his first six years at Texas, Brown has won nine, nine, nine, 11, 11, and 10 games.

Texas is 4-0 this year -- yet all Brown feels is heat.

“What you’re losing is brought up a lot more than what you’re winning,” Brown said this week on a conference call.

So, here we are again, two days from another Texas-Oklahoma game that has devolved into a psychological torture study.

“It hasn’t been pretty for me,” Brown conceded.

Writers descend to Oklahoma-Texas now to chronicle the game the way graduate students study “Stockholm syndrome.”

For the third time in the last four years, No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 5 Texas enter this game ranked in the top five yet, again, no reasonable person expects Texas to win.

Given his record, it’s ridiculous to suggest Brown’s job is on the line if he doesn’t beat Oklahoma, but it’s never wise to underestimate pigskin passions in the land of 10-gallon hats.

Brown has held up as graciously as one could expect for a man who has averaged only 10 victories a year. He said this week that real pressure is tending a sick child or not being able to put food on the table. Yet, he acknowledged the pain Oklahoma has inflicted.

“The thing it does is it hits your pride as a coach,” Brown said. “You say that your team is a mirror of you. The last four years I haven’t been very proud of this when we’ve walked off the field....

“Most of the games we’ve played here I can walk out of the stadium and feel like I did my job and feel really, really good, but I don’t feel like I’ve done the job that I need to do for the players and for the Texas fans the last four years in this job. Bob’s done a better job than I’ve done and that’s not something you’re proud of.

“I’m honest. I’m a big boy, I can tell the truth.”

Oklahoma clearly has Texas’ number.

The talent gap between these powerhouse programs is negligible, yet Oklahoma has routed Texas two of the last four years.

If that’s not mental, nothing is.

Oklahoma has messed with Texas so badly, the Longhorns don’t know what to think.

At first, Texas played a game of denial.

This year, players are confronting their fears.

“I think last year we denied it and kind of backed away from it, that those guys had a mental edge on us,” junior defensive tackle Rodrique Wright said. “The best thing we’ve done is identified that they did have one on us. Then you have to look inside and think why they did. A team that beats you four times in a row, it’s not hard to start thinking, ‘Hey man, it may be five or whatever.’ But basically we just have to think those were different teams.”

We’ll see.

Texas Tough

The good news is Texas has not wallowed in the mire as Oklahoma continues to drive up the stakes in this game.

This year, Stoops swooped into Texas and stole a prized recruit, tailback Adrian Pederson, an Eric Dickerson-like back who has made an immediate impact with 100-yard rushing efforts in all four Oklahoma victories.

Of losing Peterson, Brown said, “I’d rather not talk about recruiting because they won and we lost.”

Brown is fighting back, though.

He has identified Texas weaknesses and addressed them. For all their talent, Texas has had a “country club” reputation through the years.

Texas has now adopted a new “smash-mouth” approach. Brown brought in two new defensive coordinators, Greg Robinson and Dick Tomey.

Tomey told Brown, flat-out, that the only way you learn to hit people is to hit people. Texas workouts this year have been tougher than ever, even as they have raised the risk of injury.

“We’ve had really tough, physical practices,” Brown said. “We do see those results on the field.”

Texas ranks ahead of Oklahoma nationally in total defense, 17th versus 39th.

On offense, Texas has toned down the cutesy stuff and is riding senior tailback Cedric Benson, who leads the nation in rushing with a 186.5 yards-per-game average.

Texas, as a team, leads the nation, averaging 353 rushing yards per game.

Another loss to Oklahoma might drive Brown from Texas two-step to a 12-step, but there’s no denying the adrenaline pump that comes with competition.

“The good thing is he’s making us get out of the shade,” Brown said of Stoops.

Unfortunately, Brown is in Stoops’ shadow.

Hurry-up Offense

Funny how these things work out: Oklahoma gets a bit lucky in hiring Stoops. It’s the same thing with Jeff Tedford ending up at California.

Tedford, then the offensive coordinator at Oregon, almost took the San Diego State job in late 2001. Tedford says San Diego State offered him the post but gave him only two hours to decide. Tedford called back and said that wasn’t enough time, and San Diego State agreed to give him until 8 a.m. the next morning.

Between dusk and dawn, Cal called.

“I interviewed the next day, the next day they called me for a second interview and the next day they hired me,” Tedford said recently. “It was totally out of the blue. It all happened in three days.”

What USC is up against when Cal visits on Saturday: The Golden Bears lead the nation in scoring at 48.67 points a game and are second in total offense behind Purdue. Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers ranks second nationally in passing efficiency behind Purdue’s Kyle Orton.

The three-week layoff Cal had after its Sept. 16 game at Southern Mississippi was postponed because of Hurricane Ivan, allowing Tedford to super-size the Bears’ already extensive playbook.

Tedford says he may have gone a tad overboard in the team’s 49-7 victory at Oregon State.

“We had way too many plays in for this game,” he said. “I don’t do a very good job at limiting the plays.”

Tedford said he still used only “15 to 20%” against Oregon State, which leaves plenty of trickery for USC.

What makes the Cal offense so much fun?

“It seems like every time you run a play you have a chance to be successful,” said receiver Chase Lyman, who scored touchdowns on his first three receptions against Oregon State.

Has there ever been a Division I-A game in which there were more points scored than fans in attendance?

Probably not, but last Saturday’s shoot-out between San Jose State and Rice may come the closest. San Jose State won the game, 70-63, before a crowd of 4,093 at Spartan Stadium.

This is not a good time to be Washington Coach Keith Gilbertson, whose 0-4 Huskies face a must-win situation against San Jose State.

Gilbertson signed a four-year contract last year when he inherited the mess Rick Neuheisel left him in Seattle, but there are rumblings that Gilbertson may not serve out his term.

Washington has a new president in Mark Emmert, who came from a place -- Louisiana State -- where football is king.

Emmert has extended Gilbertson the dreaded vote of confidence: “It’s early in the season,” Emmert told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “The kids are playing hard and the coaches are working hard. There’s no need to panic.”

It appears Emmert is willing to give it at least a few more days.