Ranking The RB Seasons -- #9

#9--Cedric Benson, 2001
Stats: 12 games, 223 carries for 1090 yards (4.7 ypc) and 12 tds.

The season: Ced B came to the 40 Acres as one of the highest ranked running backs in his class. Texas went 11-2 with one of the more disappointing endings of the Mack Brown era, losing to Colorado in the Big XII Championship game with a potential thwacking from Miami in the national championship game on the line. Ced played sparingly in the tune-ups before not playing against Oklahoma, although there's no telling if he would have improved on Ivan Williams' 12 carries for 30 yards. Ced came through the second half of the season, including a 213-yard perspective against mighty Kansas.

The ranking: Ced B in '01 comes in at a very controversial 9th. We'll give you a moment to gasp in amazement/disgust. Ok, carrying on. He shared carries to begin the season, didn't play against Oklahoma, but showed flashes of brilliance that we would see again in the second half of 2003. Despite getting the majority of the running load for only 7 games, Ced finished the year ranked 37th nationally.

A New Feature: Ranking The Seasons (Running Backs -- #10)

We're sorry that things have been so slow of late, we've been busy. To sum up the last week: Texas won twice, the Hornets are good, Wes Welker is going to play QB in the Super Bowl, Aggy lost to Baylor, and Oklahoma still sucks. There, we're all caught up.

A little something we've been working on is a review of running backs in the Mack Brown era. Mack has been at Texas for ten years now, and Texas has (allegedly) had a running game for all ten of those years. Should this feature work out, we may expand it to other facets (read: passing game -- sans 2004), but here's the plan: we will rank the seasons based on the primary running back's performance. This will take other factors into consideration, such as splitting carries with another back (or VY), number of games played, and national rushing averages. Hopefully this week we can chat a bit about recruiting, Texas hoops, and how glad we are that A&M lost to Baylor at home.

On to the feature --

#10--Jamaal Charles, 2006
Stats: 12 games, 156 carries for 831 yards (5.3 ypc) and 7 tds

The season: Texas went 10-3, beating Oklahoma but losing the final two games of the regular season (no reason to name the teams, we all remember that crap). Jamaal Charles gets the nod here on the list over Selvin Young. The two split carries all season, leading Texas to the fewest rushing yards and yards-per-carry by a starter since 2002. JC ended the season ranked 60th in the country in yards, had only one 100-yard rushing game all season, and ended Mack's streak of 1000 yard rushers.

The ranking: JC in '06 ranks last on our list. He finished with 50 fewer rushing yards than he had in 2005 despite having 40 more carries. JC06 ranks last on our list in yards and touchdowns. We are understanding that he split carries with Selvin Young, but he still finishes last on our last.

Next up -- #9

Is The Schedule A Factor?

The answer to the question is: probably a little bit. The question is, how much has taking a week off played a factor in Texas basketball's recent struggles? As you can see below, when Texas has played its best (Tennessee, UCLA, St. Mary's) it has had fewer days of rest (1, 4, 3 respectively). When Texas has played its worst (Wisconsin, Mizzou, Colorado) it has had a full week off each time. In the only other loss (Michigan State...4 days rest), one could make the argument that the Horns didn't play too poorly.

What does it all mean? Likely not very much. If the extra rest has had an effect on how the Horns have played, not having a week off the rest of the season will be a good thing. We're willing to admit that it might have played a small factor, but are hesitant to give it too much credit.

In the end we still remain confident that Texas will return to form and compete for the Big XII title (A&M losing helps). Next up: Stillwater on Big Monday where crazy things have been known to happen.

Movie Time, Part Two

Another great video for your enjoyment, ahead of Texas-Colorado at 7 PM CST.

Movie Time

We will readily admit that we've never seen this before. We've heard of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, but had no idea the musical had this in it. Poor aggies indeed:

Texas Has A New Defensive Coordinator

Meet Paul Rhoads. He's 40, a native of Ankeny, Iowa and Missouri Western grad. He's also likely to be the Texas defensive coordinator before all is said and done. That's right, Paul Rhoads is Auburn's new defensive coordinator. He ran a stout Pittsburgh defense and should do pretty well at Auburn. In a few years, when Mack comes calling, Paul will come to Austin because the air is fresher, the campus prettier, and the football more prestigious. For now we'll simply offer Paul a preemptive welcome to the 40 Acres.

It's a Done Deal

Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman is reporting that Major-to-Texas is as good as a sure thing. News 8 Austin also reported that the UT Athletic Department has removed the open Running Backs Coach position from its website, indicating that the position has officially been filled. Texas policy requires that at least 5 business days pass between posting an available position and filling it, so the announcement will not come until at least 5 PM today--although most folks believe it will happen tomorrow morning.

Regardless, this is good news for Texas in terms of the future security of the program, as well as recruiting and offensive creativity right now. We wish football season started tomorrow.

Update, 1-16 at 6:00 PM: Peter at Burnt Orange Nation has finally had enough of the Alabama craziness that we referred to yesterday. Check out his post from today as the story has become more definite, which is most interesting because it is an opportunity to see, in real time, our fellow Texas fans learning what we as Southerners and SEC fans have always known: even smart, rational Bama fans are incapable of being smart and rational sometimes.

Update, 1-16 at 9:00 PM: A few points jump out at us about the Major hiring:

1) Mack Brown has managed to IMPROVE his recruiting ability, Major Applewhite plus Ken Rucker plus Will Muschamp has to be one of the most impressive recruiting tandems (to go with Mack Brown) in the country. Darrell Scott...come on down...?

2) The running back position cannot be Major's strongest subject. That having been said, nobody can expect Major to stay in that position for long. He's bound for bigger things on the Texas coaching staff.

3) In two short weeks Mack has gotten two of college football's fastest rising young coaches for his staff.

4) In today's BON column linked above, Peter mockingly sums up the Alabama argument as:

Nick Saban wasn't sure he trusted the young Applewhite to be his Offensive Coordinator without any help.
He therefore brought in Joe Pendry to assist.
After one season, he'd seen enough to know Major Applewhite couldn't do the job.

Actually, that sounds exactly like something Nick Saban would do.

5) Finally, and most importantly, Mack has been proactive about getting a positive vibe going already for the offseason and 2008 regular season. As poor and reactive (is that the right word?) as last offseason was, this offseason could not have started better for those players that have stayed to play.

Come Home, Major!

Word is that there's a serious chance that Major Applewhite may return to UT for next season as some sort of offensive coach, with an understanding that he will be the next offensive coordinator for the Longhorns.

Bama fans are all over the internet in disbelief that anyone in their right mind would even CONSIDER leaving the Great Crimson Tide for any other program, alma mater or not. But here's the problem: this list, compiled by ESPN's college football writers last summer, lists mighty Alabama as only the 34th best college football program of the past decade, while Mack Brown's Longhorns rank 3rd. We also LOVE this quote from Houston-area Tide recruit Damion Square, which we saw on BON:

"Oh, wow. A little (upsetting)," said Square. "I would've loved to have Applewhite. If he wants to win championships, and I know Applewhite does, then he'll stay. You don't win no championships at UT, man. You win championships at UA. But he's got to do what he's got to do."

We're sorry...what was that?? Over at BON, Peter specifically referred to his own lack of interest in a "pissing contest" with Bama fans over this whole thing, but we're are WAY below his maturity level. Which Houston has this kid been living in? Which championships, exactly, has Alabama won recently? The Independence Bowl championship? When was the last time they even won the Iron Bowl championship? That's a two-team race!

We have even seen one Bama fan on a message board state that Major won't leave Tuscaloosa because "that's where his heart is." Our only response to that is:




And:

And of course:

Posted Without Further Comment...

Some Random Houskeeping...

• Holy Crap...There's a Tulane Blog!
• Benji won the caption contest
• This sucked. DJ played awful, the defense was atrocious, Gary Johnson was nowhere to be found. We remain upbeat but cautiously so.
• Will Muschamp, welcome to Austin!

  " I think the players take the personality of how they are coached, and that's what I have believed for a long time. I want the kids to play hard, I want them to play relentless, I want them to play with toughness and I want them to strike for four quarters and that's what we are going to do."

• Poor Greg Robinson
• Your New Orleans Hornets, now #29 in NBA attendance!
• A Terrelle Pryor wristband? Game used? Only $349.99? We'd be fools not to buy it.
• Finally, in the it sucks to be you category, George Washington 36, Saint Louis 20