I was curious about the defensive side of the ball. Who are your playmakers & what are some stats to back up your defensive presenc?…if they is one.

I dont think taking away the deep ball(not that big a part of the arsenal) is going to stop the offense. Texas offense is centered around Colt making smart pre-snap decisions and accurate short passes and letting the wideouts make plays. If they dont bust it, its still 4-7 yards per catch and the Horns stay ahead of the chains. What I think Nebraska could do to slow that down, not sure how good NU’s corners are, is to force the receivers off of their short routes and try to confuse Colt with different defensive looks(he admitted being confused a lot against OU).

Nebraska has had extraordinary special teams play this season. What does Texas have going for them here?

A mixture of greatness and awfulness. The great: Return game has made big plays all year (6 TDs I think). Shipley has made a couple of bone-headed plays but has 2 TDs. Goodwin isn’t a good KR yet but has world class speed and can score if he gets a crease (see A&M game).

Watch out for the punt block.

Hunter Lawrence is a very good FG kicker.

The awful:

Kickoff coverage is embarrassing. Kickoffs themselves are also lacking.

“What is it that ‘Horns fans have against Greg Davis? "
 - My main problem with Davis is failing to utilize our weapons properly. I know we have evolved in to more of a passing team but I feel that we have lost our balance.

Piggybacking off the last question…
“Let’s say Nebraska takes away the deep ball and effectively stops the zone read. That gives Colt McCoy the under routes. Is this the best approach to stopping the ‘Horn offense?”

 - This would be the most effective way of stopping Texas. However, our young receivers have come along enough and I feel Tre Newton has been effective enough running the ball and catching it out of the backfield that I feel though Texas may not be able to run right up the middle against Nebraska we will still be able to move the ball effectively.

“Both defenses are highly ranked, played similar competition all season. This game sets itself up to be a slugfest similar to the game both teams played against Oklahoma. Why do you think otherwise, or do you feel the same way?”

 - I think if you stood back and look at this you could possibly call the Texas and Nebraska defenses equally dominant. You can not make the same case for the Texas and Nebraska offense. Texas’ offense, over the past 6 games especially, has been explosive. You cannot say the same about Nebraska’s offense.

Greg Davis – any resentment toward GD is by no means universal, but the general thought is that his play calling is very vanilla. This seems to have been less of an issue lately.

Muschamp/Defense – I suspect that following the A&M game, we will see some base sets with, yes, the expectation that our D is good enough to stop the Husker offense. I expect to see our defense do what they do best with less scheming and more of what’s been working all season. What spots can be exploited? Assuming corrections are made from last week, particularly in the secondary, I’m not sure if there are any.

TCU – learned handed said it well. If we win out against Neb, then compares wins. And Big XII vs MWC has to mean something. But, I will reiterate that TCU is very good and I would love to see them compete. Flawed system, no doubt.

What is it that ‘Horns fans have against Greg Davis?

He’s not a good offensive coordinator.

Does Texas come into this game healthy?

Very healthy. WR John Chiles missed the A&M game, but some Texas fans saw that as a blessing in disguise, as he had been taking snaps away from the vastly more talented Malcolm Williams, who ended up having a big game. I won’t shed any tears if he doesn’t play Saturday.

Deon Beasley was carted off the field on Thanksgiving. Don’t know if he’ll play. He’s our 3rd or 4th CB.

Can’t think of anything else.

Both defenses are highly ranked, played similar competition all season. This game sets itself up to be a slugfest similar to the game both teams played against Oklahoma.

I expect it to be a bit more comfortable than the OU game. Colt will play better than he did in that game, and Texas will ride defense and field position to win by a couple of TDs.

You’ll find Horn fans split. A majority (if one goes by the frequency of message board outbursts) seem to dislike GD. I consider myself to be in what seems to be the minority camp, often flabbergasted that any OC who’s coached offenses as prolific as the Horns have had over the last five season can still be the subject of such fury.

So what do y’all think of our coordinator? Would you take him if theoretically available?

(which I’m sure most are) which team would you guys rather face: Tebow, I mean Florida, or Alabama?

about Texas running game:

People (okay, talking heads on TV) have criticized the ‘Horns running game, at least earlier in the year. Would you place the problems on your offensive line, running back performance, or…. well, you can always blame playcalling, can’t you…?

First of all, the Nebraska D is very solid. They have produced in every game even in losses. However, they haven’t faced a running/passing quarterback like Colt all season. It appears that the Texas coaches are finally letting Colt run on designed plays in the last 3-4 games vs. running only on pressure in the first half of the season (including the OU game). Old school Colt McCoy will be needed in the championship game tomorrow!

Just ask Texas what happens when you play someone like that for the first time all season! Jerrod Johnson and the zone/read kept TAMU in the game & almost pulled off the win. Nebraska – you don’t have a Jerrod Johnson. Cody Green (tip of the hat to a fellow Dayton HS graduate) will be an even better version one day, but Zac Lee isn’t right now.

Next, our key defensive strength is stopping the traditional run. Based on how many times Nebraska has almost pulled Zac from starter, I am thinking you guys are hoping your running game doesn’t get stifled early. Because our next best defensive strength is guarding against the pass.

Finally, I believe Texas will also return to the thunder/lightening package of Cody Johnson & Newton or Fozzy. Cody will be used to pound between the tackles. Factor in one of our scatbacks plus Colt’s legs and the passing game should start to open up in the second half. We don’t need much of a running game, but we do need enough to bring in the defense closer to the line.

My prediction is 34-17 Texas with Nebraska scoring late. Nebraska’s offensive woes won’t be able to take advantage of any perceived Texas defensive weaknesses. Conversely, the Longhorns’ offense will force Nebraska to play at a high-level all game, which will allow from some second-half scoring by UT as the game & the pressure wear the Cornhuskers down.

Two last points -
- Greg Davis – You wonder how good of an OC you have to be when you have Major Applewhite, Chris Simms, Vince Young, and Colt McCoy? He has probably mismanaged all of them at some point which allows for a lot of “Could have beens”. He is definitely “cadillacing” (?) on talent vs. making them better.
- Texas playing Alabama would be nice as you have seen Texas vs. a running quarterback. Not saying we couldn’t win either game, but Alabama plays a much more traditional offense which definitely works to our defensive strengths!

Championship football games are decided on the fringes. Kicking game, turnovers, and penalties.

Special Teams:

Nebraska has had extraordinary special teams play this season. What does Texas have going for them here?

Well, let’s take a gander shall we.

Field Goals (yes, this is special teams) – UT ranks 13th with 20 out of 23 made (a few of those were 50+ into the wind…only one pull hook miss I can think of). I believe NEB is, um, 32nd at 16 for 20. Fairly close here. Kinda like horse shoes and hand grenades close.

ADVANTAGE: TEXAS

PAT’s – Pretty even here. NEB is perfect on the year at 35 of 35 while UT has missed one (64 of 65). However, UT has attempted almost double the number of attempts per game (5.4 to 2.9).

ADVANTAGE: NEUTRAL

Kickoffs – Not seeing a real advantage for UT here…oh, wait. Not sure how many kickoffs we will have vs. NEB but over/under is, um, 6.

Team – KO – YDS – Avg Dist – TB – Rank
UT 43 2639 61.37 7 50
NU 34 2114 62.18 4 68

ADVANTAGE: NEUTRAL

Kickoff Returns – a potential weakness for UT here. However, UT (20.35 Avg/R) has allowed only a little more than 1/2 yard on average per kick return than NEB (19.78 Avg/R) with double the number of kickoff return reps (80 to 40). And UT has given up one return for a TD.

ADVANTAGE: NEBRASKA

Kickoff Returns – UT has 3 returns for touchdowns, although our specialist is not currently playing. Not a problem though because the last touch our “reload man”, Marquis Goodwin, had went for a score against A&M. Me thinks this unit has found their sea legs.

Team – Ret – Yds – Yds/R – TD – Ret/G – Yds/G – Rank
UT 35 991 28.31 3 2.9 82.6 3
NEB 29 667 23.00 0 2.4 55.6 38

ADVANTAGE: TEXAS

Punting – UT does not have a traditional punting scheme as they prefer the “rugby” style (and a couple of pooch punts by McCoy). I think the key statistic to look at here is how well a punt changes field position. There are 2 stats that I think covers this: Avg punt length and Punts inside 20. While the number of punts by NEB inside the 20 exceeds UT in total by 9, the result is about even when you calculate the number inside the 20 per punt (UT at 36% and NEB at 38%). So both are about even.

Avg Length
UT 38.94
NEB 41.98

Team – Punts – Punt/G – Rank
UT 47 3.9 88
NEB 66 5.5 38

Inside 20
UT 17
NEB 26

Blocks against
UT 1
NEB 1

ADVANTAGE: NEUTRAL

Punt Returns – While a lot of commentary for this squad has described a few sportscenter highlights, many of the UT punts fielded result in fair catch. UT can score here, too.

Team – Ret – Yds – Avg/R – TD – Ret/G – Rank
UT 29 390 13.45 4 2.4 14
NEB 38 416 10.95 2 3.2 37

Team Blocks
UT 5
NEB 5

ADVANTAGE: NEUTRAL (but a slight homer nod toward UT as we have Jordan Shipley with 140 all-purpose yards per game)

Turnovers – Texas is ranked 8th in Turnover Margin at +12 for the year. Nebraska is tied for 41st at +4 for the year. That is a 3X difference for you English majors.

Penalties – Both teams are middle of the pack as far as discipline is concerned. While a breakdown by type is too exhaustive for this narrative, if I had to guess, most penalty yardage on both sides are probably attributed to holding and personal fouls.

Team – Pen – Yds – Pen/G – Yds/G
UT 79 695 6.6 57.9
NEB 86 775 7.2 64.6

ADVANTAGE: NEUTRAL

And one more intangible….Coaching:

We have this guy and Nebraska does not have Osborne, with all due respect to Coach Pellini.

Brown has led the Longhorns to a 12-0 record, which marks the first 12-win regular season in school history, including an 8-0 conference record and the Big 12 South Championship. The Longhorns have now won (1996, ’99, 2001, ’05, ’09) or shared (2002, ’08) the Big 12 South Division Championship seven times. Texas also currently holds a 16-game winning streak, which is the second longest in the nation and has won 25 of its last 26 games.

With 12 wins this season, Texas has extended its nation-leading streak of 10-win seasons to nine. The nine straight years with at least 10 wins is the second-longest streak in NCAA history, trailing only Florida State’s 14-year streak from 1987-2000. In addition, Texas has posted 12-win seasons in back-to-back years for the first time in school history. Prior to Brown’s arrival, the Horns had never before posted consecutive 11-win campaigns let alone consecutive 12-win seasons. Brown has led the Horns to six seasons with 11 or more wins, which compares to the four 11-win seasons in Texas history before Brown’s arrival in 1998.

The 2008 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year and the 2005 Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Year, Brown is in his 12th season at Texas, which includes the 2005 National Championship, three BCS Bowl victories, and a current five-game bowl winning streak, one of only two teams in the nation to do so. Texas has played in a bowl game for a school-record 11-consecutive seasons, bettering the previous streak of nine straight from 1977-85, and is 8-3 in those games.

With a 127-26 (.830) record at UT, Brown is the architect of the nation’s best record during that stretch. In addition, Brown has led the Horns to a 100-15 (.870) mark over the last nine seasons, which is the nation’s second-best record over that time span. Brown is the lone coach nationally to lead his team to nine or more victories in 14 straight seasons. His 12 straight seasons at UT of nine or more victories are a school best. Under Brown, the Horns have posted Top 10 finishes six times in the last eight years (2001, ’02, ’04, ’05, ’07 and ’08). Prior to his arrival, the last time UT finished in the Top 10 was 1983.

He is just the fourth coach in the 117 years of Texas football to coach the Longhorns for at least a decade and just the second UT coach to win 100 games while at Texas. Darrell Royal, who won 167 games, has the longest tenure at 20 years, while D.X. Bible and Fred Akers each coached in Austin for 10 seasons. Brown is the first coach in UT history to post 200 victories during a career.

Brown’s personal strings, including time at North Carolina, go back even further. He has posted 19 consecutive winning seasons and taken his teams to 17 consecutive bowl games. Both of those marks are the second-longest active streaks in the nation.

ADVANTAGE: TEXAS (Sizeable difference maker.)

NET ADVANTAGE: Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, or in the case of UT, by it’s College Gameday Final highlights coverage as presented by Dr. Lou (who still cringes to complement the Horns…damn razorback). The teams are fairly evenly matched in the kicking game (save for maybe the UT field goal unit), but turnover margin advantage is clearly on the side of UT. UT also has more post-season coaching experience. So intangibles slightly leaning toward UT.

Plus, WE’RE TEXAS!

for inviting UT to chat about the game.

And thanks for helping us keep it “above the fray”. It’s such a relief from what I normally see from opposing fans.

Best of luck up in the North!
But this weekend — Hook ’em Horns!

Can’t wait to play you guys. I’ve grown up watching the Cornhuskers whip up on Oklahoma and have always loved the way your team handles themselves. Good to see you guys back in the Championship game and BTW, you have some fine women up there.

loaded down this afternoon….. how do you guys think we’ll handle Texas’ zone read?

And will Amukamara and Dennard follow a specific receiver, or will they play a specific side instead?

The perception of both our coordinators is often linked more to context than play calling.

Muschamp came to Texas on the heels of a record failure defensive effort from the 2007 team. His 2008 unit exceeded our expectations. More importantly (as far as the internet is concerned) he brought with him an infectious enthusiasm and eagerness to cuss on national television.

Offensively, UT fans don’t have an equivalent to the Akina/Mac Duff era to compare to during Mack Brown’s tenure. GD came prepacked with Brown when he was hired from UNC; a free gift with purchase we’re not entirely sure we wanted. Some fans believe he’s not even the best OC on our staff. He’s a convenient scapegoat when we don’t want to blame our uber successful head coach or record-obliterating QB for a sub par offensive performance.

Just gotta say I can’t believe how classy this exchange was. I will officially root for the Huskers now when they play anyone but us. Kudos to all. And here’s hoping for a good game tomorrow.

I will never forgot the ovation you gave us when we stopped your 60+ home winning streak. Hope that doesn’t come back to haunt us ;)

It’s a welcome change to play an opponent that doesn’t throw tortillas at you or threaten to gouge you with sabers. Keep it up and together we might even whip OU into shape.