Selvin Young to Get the Start
Texas junior Selvin Young was the least productive in the Longhorns’ three-player, tailback-by-committee plan this season. But he will be starting today in the Rose Bowl, Coach Mack Brown said Tuesday.
Young, sophomore Ramonce Taylor and freshman Jamaal Charles have split time at tailback throughout the season, but Brown said he’s going with the junior in the team’s biggest game.
“Selvin is older, been around,” Brown said. “But we’ve played all three backs and they’ll play during the ballgame. He’s just out there for the first snap.”
Young hasn’t started since Oct. 29 against Oklahoma State. He has 416 yards and seven touchdowns in 89 carries. Charles, who started three games, leads the tailbacks with 844 yards and 11 touchdowns in 114 carries.
Taylor, a wide receiver who moved to running back in the second half of the season, started Texas’ last four games. He has rushed for 501 yards and 11 touchdowns in 72 carries.
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For nearly a month, much of the Rose Bowl buildup has centered on whether USC is one of the best teams in college football history.
Brown said he welcomed the built-in motivation.
“I really appreciate you all,” he told a room full of media members. “You’ve been really good. I don’t need a pregame talk.”
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Brown acknowledged that USC deserves many of the accolades it has received but said his team isn’t concerned with comparisons to great teams of the past.
“We don’t have to be the best team of all time,” he said. “We just have to be the best team” tonight.
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The BCS crackdown on sideline access to its games made headlines throughout the country, but Brown isn’t paying much attention to who will receive the five sideline passes allotted to each team for former players.
He said he isn’t concerned with any of the people on the sideline “except the ones in helmets.”
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There were no such restrictions at the team photo Tuesday, and actor Matthew McConaughey took advantage.
McConaughey, a Texas graduate and one of the football team’s most high-profile supporters, was on hand at the Rose Bowl and had his photo taken with the team.