Longhorns Want to Keep Their Eyes on White Too

The football practice fields at Texas were quiet Saturday, the team having been given the weekend off to recover from a difficult week that included final exams and preparing for the Rose Bowl.

The Longhorns have plenty to contemplate, however, especially their defense, which is preparing to face one of the most prolific offenses in college history.

The game plan, of course, will include trying to slow the Heisman Trophy-winning tandem of Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart, but when Texas returns to practice Monday, the focus will also be on LenDale White.

Longhorn Coach Mack Brown called White the X-factor in a USC offense that has averaged 50 points and 580 yards a game.

“Matt Leinart has done his deal. Everybody’s talked about Reggie Bush. Nobody’s talked about LenDale White,” Brown said. “He could have been in New York [for the Heisman ceremony] along with the other two.

“He’s third-team All-American as a backup tailback, can you even imagine? I don’t think people are giving LenDale White enough credit for what he’s accomplished.”

White, a 6-foot-2, 235-pound junior, has rushed for 1,195 yards and 21 touchdowns in 177 carries this season. He is USC’s career leader in touchdowns with 54.

Brown recruited the running back out of Chatfield High in Littleton, Colo., and White made a visit to Texas. White narrowed his choices to the Longhorns and Trojans before deciding on USC.

“We were right about him too,” Brown said. “He’s real good. Our evaluation techniques were good, our recruiting techniques were not. Pete [Carroll] out-recruited us.”

Texas is going to extraordinary measures to prepare its defense to face USC. Speedy Longhorn running backs Ramonce Taylor and Jamaal Charles, who split time at tailback, and starting fullback Henry Melton have been working with the scout team offense in an effort to mimic USC’s rushing attack.

Taylor and Charles, both accomplished sprinters in high school, are playing the part of Bush.

Melton, a 6-3, 270-pound freshman with 432 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns in 87 carries, is playing the part of White. They’ve even been wearing jersey Nos. 5 and 21, respectively.

“We’re trying to simulate the type of speed that they have with those guys,” Brown said.

When it comes to stopping Bush, Brown said, “you don’t.” He said the Longhorns hoped to limit his ability to get outside and make long runs by using proper pursuit angles. He also hinted that the Longhorns may use a nickel package -- five defensive backs -- to get more speed on defense to contain Bush.

Texas safety Michael Huff, an All-American who won the Thorpe award as the nation’s top defensive back, has suggested one strategy. He said he would like to shadow Bush on every play and let the rest of Texas’ defense worry about everyone else.

“I want the Heisman Trophy winner,” Huff said. “I feel like I’m the best, so I want to go against the best. Wherever he goes, that’s fine with me.”

He added, however, that stopping Bush was no more of a priority than stopping White.

“We’ve got to kind of stop both of them,” he said.

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The Austin police investigation into alleged transgressions by two Texas football players continued Saturday, but no charges have been filed.

Neither the police nor university administrators commented further on the investigation, which centers on separate alleged assault and robbery incidents on Sept. 4 and Dec. 10.

Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds said Friday in a statement that the university had found nothing that would warrant disciplinary action.

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Sophomore defensive back Bobby Tatum and freshman running backs Michael Houston and Jerrell Wilkerson have left the team and will transfer to other schools.

Tatum played in eight games and had four tackles this season. Houston played in three games and had 27 yards in three carries. Wilkerson was a redshirt.