By John Shinn
Transcript Sports Writer
HOUSTON — All eyes were on Texas Thursday. The Longhorns, the media pick for conference supremacy, were the final team to take the stage at Big 12 Media Days.
Preseason expectations can only mean more pressure on Mack Brown. The Texas coach has gone 70-19 in seven Longhorn seasons, while never failing to win at least nine games.
It’s an impressive run. But the trophy case in Austin is still missing a championship trophy, conference or national, from any of Brown’s teams.
The heat is on for that to change. And if it changes will likely have everything to do with who wins one October Saturday at the Cotton Bowl.
“Oklahoma has been really good,” Brown said. “They’ve done a tremendous job. They’ve beaten everybody else. It’s not just us. They’ve probably cost us a chance at two or three national championships.”
Last season was one of those years. The Longhorns went 11-1 and went to the Rose Bowl. It was Texas’ first BCS bowl appearance under Brown. Last season’s post-Red River Shootout success is something the Longhorns hope will spill into this season.
“We know we can win big games,” defensive tackle Rodrique Wright said. “It took a lot of weight off our shoulders. We had been told we couldn’t get over the hump and we couldn’t win the big game and we finally did.”
Brown championed the effects of the Longhorns’ 39-37 Rose Bowl victory over Michigan. He said it did everything from raise the morale of his program to boosting merchandise sales and raising the number of student applications to the school.
Of course, none of that changes the fact that Texas has lost five straight games to OU.
The Sooners have played in three of the last five BCS national championship games while Texas has had to watch from Austin.
“We’re big rivals and it’s a big game and we haven’t been able to get over the hump,” Wright said. “It’s going to be a question that’s going to get asked. It comes with the territory.”
Still, Brown wasn’t willing to bite at the notion that Texas’ struggles in the Red River Shootout are the defining moments of his tenure.
“At Texas, when you lose to anybody it’s a problem,” he said. “In fact, I talked to Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno a couple years ago and I said, ‘Help me with this big game thing.’ They said I was young and hadn’t learned. The only big games when you’re at Florida State, Penn State and Texas are the ones you lose. When you win them, you’re supposed to win them all.”
The Longhorns are hoping Vince Young is the quarterback who can lead them to a perfect season. Last year, he threw for 1,849 yards and rushed for another 1,079. It was a breakout year for the junior from Houston.
Still, against OU, Young suffered a dismal 8-for-23 passing performance in a 12-0 loss. He rebounded to lead Texas to come-from-behind wins over Oklahoma State, Kansas and Michigan.
“The mark of a quarterback is who can come from behind and lead his team when all the odds are against him,” Brown said. “Vince did that six straight weeks.”
Last season’s finish has put Young on the short list of preseason Heisman Trophy contenders, much like former Texas running back Cedric Benson was last season.
Benson’s chances of winning college football’s biggest individual prize ended with the Longhorns’ loss to the Sooners. Young already knows how much hinges on the game.
“I believe if we beat Oklahoma and the rest of those guys, I’ll be a candidate,” he said.
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
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