Texas Longhorns

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas is planning on having three quarterbacks this spring and one of those will be Case McCoy.

Longhorns coach Mack Brown knocked down any immediate rumors about McCoy transferring Friday. Brown said that other than the players who have already transferred, he has not had any additional request at this time.

“Right now, no one has said anything about transferring,” Brown said.

Brown added that he does not begrudge any player who would want to transfer.

“I want happy guys,” he said. “I want guys who want to be at Texas.”

For now the players who want to be at Texas at the quarterback spot are McCoy, David Ash and incoming freshman Connor Brewer. Brewer is expected to enroll in January.

McCoy might be sticking around, but it doesn’t appear as if he will be moving up the depth chart.

“Right now we understand the pecking order would be David taking the first snaps,” the Texas coach said. “But Case is going to win some games for us.”

In 2011, McCoy went 3-2 as a starter. Ash went 3-3. Garrett Gilbert was 2-0 as a starter.
In a perfect scenario, Ash or McCoy would become stable enough that it would allow Texas to redshirt Brewer. That would allow for a year or two -- depending on the starter -- between the current quarterbacks and Brewer.

That would let Brewer mature and allow some separation between the quarterbacks and therefore alleviate some of the pressure to transfer.

Part of Texas’ issue with all the transfers is that so many quarterbacks have been stacked up without a year or two of separation, Brown said.

Whichever player emerges, Brown is convinced the offense is will become more dynamic because of the experience and talent level at the other positions.

“We will have better players around our quarterback than we had this year,” Brown said. “We will be able to help them more.”

The Texas defense will get two of its best players back in 2012.

Defensive end Alex Okafor has said he would stick around for his senior season. There was some speculation that Okafor and safety Kenny Vaccaro could both go pro. Both elected to stay for their final year.

With Linda Cohn and Adnan filling in for Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo, Mack Brown stopped by the show.

The Texas coach talked about his team's performance in the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl and the Longhorns' season overall. Brown also talked about the expectations in Austin and the team's goals for 2012.

Here's the podcast.

Texas knew better than to go over the top with its celebration.

Sure a few carried-away words were said. That is to be expected, it is a young group after all. But, as a whole, it was a muted affair. That's because a win in the Holiday Bowl is not where Texas wanted to be or ever wants to be in the future. It is a stepping-stone bowl. Pure and simple.

Mack Brown understands that. So too do his players.

But that they made the most of it might mean Texas is taking steps in the right direction. Not leaps. Not bounds. Texas has to crawl before it can walk and run back into the national college football scene.

After an 8-5 season in which the downs seemed to overshadow the ups, Texas has to figure out if it indeed has passed the crawling stage.

On the defensive side of the ball it most certainly has. Even with the loss of its backbone -- Keenan Robinson, Emmanuel Acho and Kheeston Randall -- there is full faith that the Texas defense will be back next year and quite possibly stronger than it was in 2011. Desmond Jackson, Calvin Howell, Chris Whaley, Jordan Hicks, and Demarco Cobbs all appear prepared to step up. The return of Kenny Vaccaro will give stability to what was once thought to be the weakest returning position -- safety.

There are few, if any, worries about the defense.

But the offense, oh the offense, it continued its angina-inducing play against Cal. With more than three weeks to prepare, a quarterback change, and somewhat healthy running backs, the offense still produced just 255 yards.

OK, maybe Cal's defense is decent.

But consider this: Texas’ average starting field position in the first quarter was its own 43. It was 0 for 4 on third down conversions and scored 0 points in that quarter. Furthermore, the Longhorns' defense handed the ball to the offense five times. The average starting field position on those drives was the Cal 40-yard line. Texas scored once. Granted the last turnover was inconsequential. But even without it, the average starting field position was the 50.

When it was over, quarterback David Ash thanked his teammates for hanging with him through the rough times. He meant against Cal, but it might as well have been a blanket statement for the season.

Ash and Case McCoy, still have yet to prove that either can run a BCS-caliber offense. Both have shown flashes, but overall, it is clear neither has the arm strength required to make big throws in big games. Twice Ash missed wide open receivers more than 30-yards down the field against Cal.

Co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin acknowledged Ash's mechanics need work. But he stopped short of stating that Ash was incapable of throwing the long play-action passes on which so much of his offensive scheme is based.

Really, Texas has no other choice than to stick with Ash. Because of the manner in which it has conducted this quarterback shuffle -- five different starters in 13 games -- Texas is at risk of losing players and another quarterback if it continues.

Jaxon Shipley, McCoy’s roommate and longtime friend, summed up some of the frustration: “Everybody knows that having one quarterback and not switching from one to the other definitely would help with the consistency.”

Shipley quickly couched that statement by saying “But we got to do what we got to do, and if we need to play both of them, we'll do that.”

But Shipley’s first statement is essentially correct. Texas now has to take the next step. To do that, it has to figure out if Ash is a viable quarterback or a stop-gap player until the next Vince Young or Colt McCoy comes along. The coaching staff has nine months to figure it out. Maybe if they do that, then there will be a real cause for celebration.

The Under Armour All-American game is set for Jan. 5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., and there should be plenty of future Big 12 players on the roster.

Here's a look at how many commits from each school will be playing. The Longhorns have the most in the Big 12, and the most of any team in the nation, too.

See the full list here.

1. Texas - 10

Top talent: Connor Brewer (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chaparral)

Ht.: 6-2 | Wt.: 190 | ESPNU 150: 34 | QB rank: 3 | Stars: 4
Breakdown: Brewer is an accomplished, polished passer for the high school level. He has adequate-to-good height and the frame to really blossom and add bulk. Full eval

2. Oklahoma - 3

Top talent: De'Vante Harris (Mesquie, Texas/Horn)
Ht.: 5-10 | Wt.: 160 | ESPNU 150: NR | CB rank: 14 | Stars: 4
Breakdown: All Harris needs is a bit more size to be considered a top national corner prospect. In terms of footwork, speed and cover corner skill-set, this prospect is an upper-tier category. Full eval

3. Missouri - 1

Evan Boehm (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit West)
Ht.: 6-3 | Wt.: 300 | ESPNU 150: 52 | OG rank: 1 | Stars: 4
Breakdown: Boehm is a tough linemen displaying the explosion and playing strength necessary to be effective as both a run and pass blocker. Full eval

3. TCU - 1

Devonte Fields (Arlington, Texas/James Martin)
Ht.: 6-3 | Wt.: 225 | ESPNU 150: 68 | DE rank: 7 | Stars: 4
Breakdown: Fields can play the game and be a productive defender. He is a kid who possesses good size and looks to have a sturdy build and should be able to continue to develop his frame some as he physically matures. Full eval

SAN DIEGO -- There was a time, not too long ago, that Marquise Goodwin didn't know where he was going.

A play would be called and the junior would look to his left and look to his right and finally ask “Where am I supposed to line up?”

The wide receiver found himself in all the right spots against Cal. Goodwin, who missed all of spring, all of fall camp and the first couple of weeks of the season, proved to be the most explosive player on the field in the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl. He caught a 47-yard touchdown pass and cut back an end around for 37 yards to set up another Texas score. And he was a good throw away from breaking a 98-yard touchdown.

In other words, it was a typical game for Goodwin.

“What he did this year was save us,” Texas coach Mack Brown said.

And this was a team that needed a lot of saving. The wide receiving corps was thin, and for a time when Jaxon Shipley went out, didn’t have a reliable option. The quarterbacks were young and jittery, not knowing where to throw, always looking for a security blanket. And the offense was always in search of someone, anyone, to make an explosive play. Goodwin proved to be the man for every job.

Goodwin finished the season third in receptions and fifth in rushing. His two touchdowns are not a huge number but this is an offense that only scored 40.

It was also a considerable amount considering where Goodwin was in the spring and summer. The world-class track athlete had given up football to compete in the long jump. At that time, he was unsure whether or not he would come back. But after missing the world championship long jump finals by 1 centimeter in South Korea, Goodwin started to think about playing football again.

“I thought about how they were getting ready for the season, working hard and pulling together, but it really hit me when I was in the airport on my way back from Seoul,” Goodwin said. “People were texting and Tweeting me with updates from the [Rice] game.”

After a talk with Brown, Goodwin was welcomed back with open arms. Now he is being embraced.

“Marquise is getting so much better every day and we just get him half a year,” Brown said.

What Texas has to learn to do is maximize that time.

“He will be around some, be able to work in the weight room and we want him to win the Olympics. So we're pulling him in a lot of directions,” the Texas coach said. “But he's matured and grown up, and I'm glad he came back this year.”

After watching him against Cal, Brown is undoubtedly not the only one.

Stat of the game: Cal turned the ball over five times. After Texas failed to convert on the first three of those turnovers, it finally pushed the ball into the end zone on the fourth. The three-play, 44-yard touchdown drive gave Texas a two-possession lead and, given the way the Texas defense played, that was a lead that would not be surrendered. As for the other turnovers, Texas' defense created plenty of opportunities in prime territory. On one occasion, the Longhorns took the ball away from Cal at the Bears' 19. Texas went three plays and backed up two yards before missing a 38-yard field goal.

Texas, after turning the ball over six times against Baylor, did not have a turnover against Cal.



Best call/worst result: On third-and-19 on the Texas 2, the Longhorns decided to air it out. It was an odd decision because co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin had been so conservative. The call worked. Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin was wide open, but quarterback David Ash under threw him. Goodwin had to come back to the ball and stepped out of bounds. The call proved that Harsin can take risks. The play proved that he doesn't have the quarterback to make the throws.

Unsung hero of the game: Goodwin provided the spark on offense for Texas. The junior receiver not only caught a 47-yard touchdown pass, he also made the strongest run of the game with a 37-yard sprint through the heart of the Cal defense at the end of the third quarter. Goodwin's run took the ball to the Cal 7. From there Texas was able to punch the ball in with Cody Johnson and take a two-possession lead.

Record performance: Not all records are positive and this one certainly falls into that category: Texas and Cal combined for 10 points in the first half. That's the lowest total in Holiday Bowl history. Combined, the two teams only had 12 rushing yards in the first half. Cal, which went 40 yards on its first possession, went 33 yards on its next 25 plays. Texas had 48 yards on its scoring drive and 44 yards on its 24 other players.

What it means: For Texas, at least this year and last, any win is a good win. And while this game was not pretty, it will serve as a morale booster for the young players as they head into spring practice. This game also served as a signal to the rest of the team that Harsin wants Ash to be the quarterback in the spring. The freshman, who had been benched, played every offensive snap. Ash's performance, while not stellar, was adequate. Ash didn’t move the offense with alacrity but he also didn't turn the ball over and that is Harsin's number one goal for any quarterback.

Turning point: After only picking up one first down through the first quarter and a half of the game, Texas got the ball with great field position inside the Cal 45 and immediately went to work. First Jaxon Shipley grabbed a ball at the Cal 34. Quarterback David Ash then found Blaine Irby to put the Longhorns at the 4-yard line. From there, co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin dialed up a trick play as the ball found its way into Shipley's hands. The wide receiver threw it back to Ash for a touchdown to put Texas up 7-3.

Stat of the half: The Texas defense forced two Cal turnovers, one at the Bears' 19-yard line, but the Texas offense failed to convert either into points. Overall the Texas defense limited Cal to 9 rushing yards and 63 passing yards. Cal was able to go 40 yards on its first drive and knock in a 47-yard field goal. But from that point on, the Texas defense was dominant.

What Texas needs to do: The Longhorns need to continue to try the run game and put Ash in situations where he can be successful. The freshman has been backed up in third and long on several occasions and has not fared well. If the Texas offense can get more short yardage situations on second and third down it might be able to take more chances. As it is, Texas has not had a turnover in the first half.

What Cal needs to do: Cal has one of the top receivers in the nation with Keenan Allen. But Texas' defense, particularly Kenny Vaccaro, has been able to keep Allen under wraps. Allen, who has 1,261 receiving yards during the regular season, needs to have the ball in his hands. Cal has to figure out a way for quarterback Zach Maynard to roll away from the pressure and find Allen.