1 -- Number of press conferences this week in which Mack Brown gives his own run down of By The Numbers

259 -- Yards rushing by Texas against Rice last Saturday.

155 -- Yards rushing by Texas' quarterbacks against Rice (60%).

613 -- Yards rushing by Texas in 2008.

274 -- Yards rushing by Texas' quarterbacks in 2008 (45%).

6.7 -- Yards per carry averaged by Texas' quarterbacks in '08.

4.2 -- Yards per carry averaged by Texas tailbacks.

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Meet Greg Smith. Tight End Blaine Irby's knee injury not only ends prematurely what was shaping up to be a very solid breakthrough sophomore season, but it comes at a position on the roster without the depth to absorb the loss in stride. While through 2.5 games Irby had already caught 10 passes for 95 yards, including 2 touchdowns, his back ups include a known (blocking) commodity in senior Peter Ullman, two linemen-tight end tweeners (Ahmard Howard and Greg Smith), a redshirt freshman with zero snaps of live football experience (Ian Harris) and a redshirt sophomore heretofore listed on the squad team (Josh Marshall).

The coaches released on Sunday an Arkansas depth chart, which lists Greg Smith as the starter at tight end, backed up by Ullman, Howard, and Harris. You may recognize Smith's name as the team's deep snapper, a skill he's deployed well for Texas on the field while he's been busy bouncing around between tight end and the offensive line off of it. Now facing the worst case scenario, however, Texas coaches appear set to ask Smith to assume Irby's role as the primary tight end.

Smith is neither as athletic, nor likely to replicate with McCoy such strong rapport as had Irby, though Greg Davis reportedly was pleased with Smith's play at tight end during spring workouts, citing his "good feet for a big guy." Beyond the above, I'll withhold further commentary until we get some more information on Monday from Mack Brown's beginning-of-week visit with the press.

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I'll update this later tonight with my take on the game from my seat, but for now, here's a few choice quotes:

Rice Head Coach David Bailiff:

On what prompted the offense's false starts: It was a lot louder than it was at Vanderbilt and louder than we tried to simulate in practice. It was a great venue for a football game, and I think that had a lot to do with it more than anything. The one fourth down at the 50 where we had the bad snap...that was crowd noise.

You can make a difference, Texas.  Be freaking loud.

Colt "Baby Tebow" McCoy:

On surpassing Major Applewhite on the all-time TD passes list: It was awesome. I think that he [Major Applewhite] actually called the play. I honestly didn't think about it until after the game. It's a blessing, but we still have a long season ahead of us, and I hope we get to throw a lot more.

You don't say?

Sergio "Freakin" Kindle:

On whether or not Coach Will Muschamp let the pass rushers have a little more freedom in the second half: He basically just told us whoever could get there, get there. In the second half, we knew we weren't getting to the quarterback and he was completing passes, so we knew we had to get there and slow down his rhythm.

Chase Clement will sit straight up in bed tonight in a cold sweat when he remembers what Kindle whispered in his ear.

Cedric "Socrates" Dockery:

On the offense's performance on the season so far: I think we're doing well. The sky is the limit for us. We can do a lot better. We still had some mistakes in the protection, but other than that, I thought we played well.

I think the O-line gave up one, nearly two sacks and would have given up a safety if anyone academically eligible to play at Rice was also athletically elligible to tackle Vondrell McGee.  So yeah, you can do better.  This is better.

Your thoughts while you wait?

[Note by Horn Brain, 09/21/08 1:34 AM CDT ] Read my full Brain's Game post after the break.

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Game 3: Rice Owls (2-1) vs #17 Texas Longhorns (2-0)

Colt -- 15/18 for 262 yards and 2 TDs

2009 Basketball recruiting class expands. Avery Bradley, a 6-3 shooting guard from Nevada, gave his commitment to the Longhorn coaching staff on Wednesday. Ranked no. 8 overall by Rivals and no. 10 by Scout, Bradley becomes the second commitment for the 2009 class, expected by many to be an exceptionally strong group. Bradley joins wing Shawn Williams of Duncanville, ranked no. 43 overall by Scout. Bradley credited the Longhorn coaching staff with securing his commitment, particularly newly-promoted assistant coach Chris Ogden, who appears to have ably filled the shoes of new Western Kentucky coach Ken McDonald. Rivals no. 5 prospect Jordan Hamilton of Compton, CA has expressed a desire to attend the same school as Bradley, and was a Longhorn lean until attending the USC football game last weekend.

Bellmont, land of drivel. Longhorn fans often find themselves groaning at the propaganda emanating from Bellmont Hall, particularly from the pen of one, Bill Little. As excruciating as it is to read the words of Little (I expect most Longhorn fans don't even subject themselves to it), a Barking Carnival writer codenamed "Bushy Mustache" has the solution. Satirize it! Here's a little taste of it to whet your appetite ( who doesn't like making fun of Bill Little?):

Bill Little commentary: A point about yesterday

This title is a bit misleading. No Bill Little piece has a point. Not a single one. They are all just garbled piles of confusingly-written, sentimental nonsense. This article is no exception.

It just gets better from there, folks. If this post doesn't make you laugh, I will refund your time. Er, maybe not, but it's worth it, trust me.

Cotton Bowl, reborn. Amidst the sturm and drang swirling around the continued existence (and relevance) of the Cotton Bowl, a new stadium has emerged. The newest iteration is bigger and better, with more seats, more concessions, more restrooms, and more room for fans to move about the stadium. The expansion will keep the OU/Texas tilt where it belongs at the State Fair indefinitely, but the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic is moving to JerryWorld starting in 2009. Dallas officials finally stepped up to fund the $57 million renovations (long overdue), but are having trouble scheduling other games there. Fortunately, that's not something that the Texas and OU administrations have to worry about, that's for Cotton Bowl officials. For fans of both schools, the game is remaining where it belongs and that's good news for the unique rivalry.

Rushing attack loading up for Owl. The Statesman takes note of the historically positive effect of the Rice defense on the Longhorn ground game. Last year, the backs averaged 5.7 ypc, while in 2006, Texas racked up 333 yards on the ground. Good news for a Longhorn rushing attack struggling to find explosive plays and a game-breaking back. Rice gave up 273 rushing yards last week against Vanderbilt. After two pass-centric gameplans to start the season, expect the Longhorns to run early and often on Saturday. It's imperative that the Longhorns discover a running game before the conference gauntlet begins, as PB mentioned yesterday in Morning Coffee. Horn Brain mentioned this Mack Brown quote from his Monday presser, and I haven't had a time to revisit it, but will do so now:

Fozzy [Whittaker] got a lot of publicity out in El Paso and he did an outstanding job...We hope he can do some really good things. If Vondrell [McGee] and Chris [Ogbonnaya] had not been seen for the first week and they had done what Fozzy did, everyone would be excited about them. Sometimes the less you know, the better.

This type of quote is what really honks me off about Mack Brown, and I think it frustrates most other Texas fans, as well. What a condescending remark. I don't think anyone is going to get excited about Chris Ogbonnaya right now and Vondrell McGee hasn't demonstrated that he is capable of doing what Whittaker did against UTEP. Texas fans love Whittaker precisely because he brings what the other two seem incapable of doing. To take jabs like this at the fanbase is unnecessary, Mack, and reflects poorly on you.

Oh, so that's what the Q package is supposed to look like. Don't look now, but Rice actually has their very own version of John Chiles/Tim Tebow. And they actually use him! Remarkable. His name's James Casey, and he's a 24-year-old sophomore, having spent some time playing minor league baseball. Rice coaches, like Texas coaches, didn't know what they had last year, but are now using him as a short-yardage runner a la Tebow (he's built like Tebow), wide receiver, tight end, and in the backfield with Chase Clement. Pretty much anywhere you can imagine (remember the mythical Q package?). As a result, he's tied for the national lead with 29 receptions (with Kerry Meier of Kansas) and Rice is averaging 40 points a game. To be fair to the Texas coaching staff, the Q package hasn't been necessary so far, and Casey is willingly accepting his role and doesn't have to split time as the no. 2 quarterback. That being said, watching Rice against SMU in their first game, it was impressive the way they used Casey all over the field, maintaining the offensive rhythm and seamlessly integrating him into the offense. It will be a crime if Chiles isn't being used even half as effectively by the end of the season.

Pick 'em update Congratulations to our week three winners, The Chairman 211 and Logella, both of whom went a perfect 9-0 on the week. Each will receive a copy of Adam Jones' outstanding Rose Bowl Dreams: A Memoir of Faith, Family, and Football. Both should email me with their address to receive their prize. Looking ahead, The Chairman's perfect week makes him the new overall leader after three weeks. This week's games are posted and ready for selections.

All eyes on the RBs. Last week I weighed in on Texas' rushing game, noting a need for improvement for this year's offense to develop into a group explosive enough to keep pace in this year's Big 12. Greg Davis isn't satisfied with things yet, either. "I'm not pleased where we're at running the ball. Historically, other than 1998, we've started a little slow in the run game. And we've ended up being pretty proficient at it. Hopefully that will be the same again."

Hopefully so, but while the early returns suggest the heretofore elusive explosiveness is most likely to come from Fozzy Whittaker, there are as yet no changes in the depth chart, with Whittaker, Vondrell McGee, and Chris Ogbonnaya being listed as co-starters. To that point, McGee says "It's not necessary to know who the starter is."

Fair enough. But Texas will need to know who the gamebreaker is. Sooner, rather than later.

It's not just me... I'm not pining for an explosive running game without cause. Watching Texas' Big 12 opponents shred opposing defenses suggests the Longhorns are going to need more than just Will Muschamp to navigate this year's conference slate: They're going to need points. Lots of 'em. ESPN.com's Pat Forde has taken notice of the astonishing display of carnage wreaked by Big 12 quarterbacks so far this year:

The best quarterbacking in the country is going on in the Big 12. This is not necessarily breaking news. Almost all of the conference's dozen QBs were playing at a high level last season, and some of them for several years. But now, they've gone and taken over college football. The race to be a first-team All-American is only slightly more competitive than the race to be first-team all-Big 12.

Consider: Six of the NCAA's top seven active QBs in career passing efficiency are in the Big 12. The league also has three of the NCAA's top four in 2008 efficiency … and four of the top eight … six of the top 13 … eight of the top 24 … 11 of the top 40. Five of them are ahead of the efficiency rating that led the nation in 2007 (176.5).

Colt McCoy, of course, has been amazing, but his ability to sustain success likely depends in part on Texas' ability to ramp up the production in the running game heading forward. Look for Greg Davis' playcalling to lean heavily on the rush this coming Saturday.

Conference wars heating up. I'm not one to get tangled up in the conference wars, which too often devolve into silly exercises in chest thumping, but part of the premise of my summer narrative was that the Big 12 was going to be sufficiently loaded to warrant tempering of expectations among Texas fans. The early returns are in, and the consensus is about what we expected. ESPN's Mark Schlabach ranks the Big 12 second behind the SEC, saying:

The Big 12 offenses are as good as advertised and might be even better. Eight Big 12 teams are averaging at least 450 yards of offense per game. Missouri leads the country with 597.3 yards per game, and Texas Tech is second with 584.3. Quarterbacks Chase Daniel of Missouri and Sam Bradford of Oklahoma are leading Heisman Trophy candidates. Eight of the league's teams have unblemished records, and Kansas narrowly lost at South Florida on Friday night. Oklahoma's defense seems to be more prepared to survive in such a pass-happy league, but Kansas, Missouri, Texas and Texas Tech are each capable of challenging for a spot in a BCS bowl game. Oklahoma State might be the league's biggest surprise. The league's overall depth is better, too, because Colorado, Kansas State and Nebraska are no longer pushovers. The Big 12 has considerably closed the gap on the SEC.

Whether or not the conference is hitting a peak or moving into a new era, the outlook for 2008 is equal parts frightening and exciting. Wear a helmet.

DFW, VY, etc. Alphabet soup says: read this. And this.

Flight of the Owls delayed. The Rice Owls left Nashville on Monday after being stuck there after their Saturday loss against Vanderbilt. With Houston ravaged by Ike, the Owls spent Sunday in Nashville starting their game week preparation for the Longhorns. It will be interesting to see if the devastation at home in Houston and the shortened game week will impact the play of the Owls on Saturday. Mack Brown, ever the gentleman, offered use of the Longhorn's facilities to the Owls for practice this week, noting that "this is a time bigger than football." Indeed. The Longhorns began preparation for Rice on Thursday, but the players took Friday and Saturday off. With so many players from the Houston area, the players need to re-focus after their time off. This may be a time when football, and sports in general, can be a needed refuge.

As VY's world turns. The Vince Young saga enters its second week. On Monday, Titans coach Jeff Fisher disputed claims that it was the team's psychologist who said that Young had contemplated suicide last week, instead blaming it on Young's marketing manager, Mike Mu. The team psychologist, Sheila Peters, and Jeff Fisher met with Young last Monday evening before deciding everything was fine and leaving. It was Mu who called Fisher concerned that Young had a gun and had talked about suicide, prompting Fisher to call the police. Fisher also mentioned that Young may not have his starting job when he returns from his MCL sprain, saying it may benefit Young to watch Kerry Collins lead the team. The latest development is that Adam Schefter of NFL Network's NFL GameDay Morning reported on Sunday morning that Young asked out of the Titan's playoff game at halftime last year in their loss to the Chargers. Not the best time to be a Vince Young fan. Here's hoping that he can resurrect his image and find the success that appears to be eluding him right now.

Already a Major impact? IT's Bill Frisbie speculates about the early impact of Major Applewhite on the Texas offense. Chris Ogbonnaya mentioned that Applewhite places great emphasis on ball security, something Jamaal Charles struggled with during his time at Texas, consistently failing to maintain the crucial three points of contact--forearm, bicep, and chest. As a former quarterback, Applewhite has also helped the running backs with what Obgonnaya terms "eye exams." That involves the running backs' pre-snap read of the defense to identify their blitz pick-up responsibilities. However, Applewhite's influence extends beyond the running backs. Colt McCoy credits Applewhite for helping him check down to the running back when no receivers create separation downfield. All that is well and good, but I think Longhorn fans, myself included, are more interested in hearing about the impact of Applewhite on the offensive play-calling. Unfortunately, that's exactly the type of news unlikely to leak out of the program. Mack Brown controls the message coming out of his team about as well (and as tightly) as the Bush administration. I mourn again my inability to be a fly on the wall during offensive game-planning meetings.

Wear black today, for Block. Michael Griffin played in the Titans game Sunday against the Bengals with a heavy heart. While he intercepted his first pass of the season against Carson Palmer, Griffin arrived late to Cincinnati after one of his beloved pit bulls, Block, died Saturday evening. Fortunately, Griffin was able to play the game with the knowledge "my dog is looking down on me." Good thing that all dogs go to heaven. Longhorn fans may recall that Griffin breeds pit bulls and watches Animal Planet in lieu of Sportscenter. While Griffin's loss diminishes somewhat with news of the devastation along the Gulf Coast beginning to trickle out, I'm sure every Longhorn fan who has lost a pet can identify with Griffin's pain. I know I can.

From the land of Miscellany. No changes to the depth chart this week...Adam Ulatoski's nickname is "Mumbles."...Barking Carnival has two great posts up, one about the 1965 Orange Bowl against Alabama and the other about UT quarterback great Bobby Layne...Cedric Golden ranks the top 5 quarterbacks who've played at Texas under Mack Browns...ESPN's Tim Griffins calls the Longhorns the biggest losers in the Big 12 this weekend after Ike's postponement of the Arkansas game.