Texas comes up big

Wow! Just, wow!

The Horns pulled out another one. The Heisman campaign is in full effect for Vince. I can't even begin to explain the feeling when Sweed came down with that touchdown pass. So, where do we go from here?

My thoughts from the game tonight:

Selvin Young is no longer the starter at tailback. Jamaal Charles is the next great RB at Texas. By the way, Melton got in at the end of the game. The fact that is was not reviewed is a tragedy. But it worked out anyway.

The Texas defense was stout. Bend, but not break.

Ted Ginn was no factor, but he and Santonio Holmes are great.

Great win for Texas, punch our ticket, we'll see you in the Rose.

This is an edit, as I was DRUNK when I posted last night. I just want to elaborate on a few points.

The Horns played a great game, but the issues we had going into that game nearly killed the Horns.

Turnovers: You cannot continue to turn the ball over and give good teams extra opportunities to score. That first interception by Young was completely boneheaded. Selvin Young cannot hold onto the ball, and it probably cost him his starting position. The coaching staff said the Selvin reinjured his ankle, but I suspect Mack lost confidence in Selvin last night. Selvin had 11 yards on five carries and a crucial fumble that shot right into AJ Hawks' hands. Jamaal Charles was more effective as a runner and had some great catches out of the backfield. By the way, passing to Charles out of the backfield was the only effective weapon Texas had against the Buckeye linebackers.

Special Teams: Are you freaking kidding me? Texas continues to get beat on kick-off coverage. We should either: Kick the ball out-of-bounds or onside kick after every score. During practice this week, they should run some coverage drills and every time a man gets out of his lane or misses a tackle, he should be shot on site. I promise that would solve our coverage issues.

Unfortunately, turnovers and special teams will lose you ballgames, and they may do Texas in against Oklahoma, A&M and potentially a Big 12 north foe on Dec. 3 or, hopefully, whoever they face in a BCS bowl.

Defense was solid. Texas would shift from a four man front to a five or six man front just before the snap and it caused problems for the Buckeye O-line. The key to last night's victory was neutralizing Ted Ginn. The Heisman contender had two catches for 9 yards and 1 rush for -2.

The offense came out with a game plan to get the receivers involved early. The running game disappointed me. Vince was the leading rusher, but the running game was largely ineffective. With Texas' O-line, I would like to see more I-formation rather than running out of the shoutgun. This especially hurt after a sixty yard completion to Pittman that gave the Horns a first and goal at the Ohio St. 5 yard line. Three plays later and the Horns had to settle for a field goal. By God, line up in the I and pound that ball into the endzone. Instead it was three QB draws out of the shotgun and kick the field goal.

The good news, the receivers have arrived! Pittman, Sweed and Charles all picked up big yards on receptions and of course, Sweed had the game-winning reception with 2:30 left. The Buckeyes took TE David Thomas out of the game, but that left Pittman, Sweed and Charles out of the backfield single covered. Thomas had some oppotunities and he missed a couple of passes that I would have expected him to make. Young fininshed 18-29 for 270 with 2 tds and 2 ints.

Moving forward, I would like to see better kick-off coverage and a better turnover margin. But this team looks good and will be tough to beat. The defense is stout and the offense is becoming less one-dimensional. By the way, this game counts as a "big" win for Mack Brown. Although it is not his first big win as you will no doubt be led to believe by the national media. Previous wins against Nebraska at lincoln (twice, the first snapping a long home win streak), wins against A&M at college station(twice), the rose bowl win and others were all big wins, but it turns out the only "big" games the horns have played in the last five years are the ones they lost. I never bought into, nor understood, the "Mack can't win big games" nonsense. My attitude is, you can't win them all, and in fact, most teams do not win them all. Anyone, who thinks the Texas program is worse off for having Mack Brown is probably named Matt Hayes or Colin Cowherd and they both look like idiots this morning.

By the way, I predicted 30-17 Texas. I got the Point total right but I was off by five each way. Texas 25-22.