Mythical Fozzy creature returns. Overshadowed by the emergence of Chris Ogbonnaya, who has secured the starting tailback role, was the return on Saturday of the mythical Fozzy creature, oft-rumored but rarely seen. To the chagrin of many, he did not sprout wings and fly over the Missouri defenders, but did pick up 20 yards on his first carry. When the running game struggled early in the season, Whittaker's return was of paramount importance to jump start the ground game. Now, with Ogbonnaya firmly entrenched, running behind his pads with power, making quick, decisive cuts, and with the offense clicking, a healthy Whittaker deepens the running back corps to provide a change of pace back.

With the precision passing game wearing down opponents with its efficiency and an increasingly effective offensive line, Whittaker can provide the depth to take advantage of worn-out defenders. And that makes this team beyond scary. Add in an increasingly healthy Vondrell McGee breaking long runs against Missouri and the Longhorns have clearly established their identity as a team that passes to soften up the defense enough to run the ball.

Vindication about Daniel, et al. In the dark days after losing Vince Young early to the NFL, many fans and media members questioned Mack Brown's decision to pursue Ryan Perrilloux and Colt McCoy. I think it's apparent how lucky Texas is that Perrilloux never set foot on campus. Any lingering remnants of those questions were buried at DKR on Saturday like the Longhorns buried the OU game ball last week. Mack Brown was right in pursuing Perrilloux and McCoy instead of the pint-sized Daniel, who has never led a second half comeback in his career. Being Texas means you only have to offer the prototypes, and Daniel wasn't. Neither were Stryker Sulak and Sean Witherspoon, who were simply blown off the field by the immensely superior Texas offense. Brown made the right decisions in each case and came away with the real Heisman contender.

I love this football team. It was a perfect, cool October night for Texas football on Saturday. And the Longhorns responded by playing the perfect half, leaving stunned Texas and Missouri fans alike. Walking around the concourses during halftime, Texas fans moved around in a stunned euphoria, attempting to contemplate the destruction they had just witnessed, unlike anything they could have hoped for or imagined. It was a raucous crowd, more than answering calls for a true home field advantage in the new stadium.

More than anything else, though, it was a day to believe. A day to accept that this football team has not only the talent to win, but the intangibles to win. The chemistry, the desire. Many mocked the team's motto for the season: "Consistently good to be great." Understandable, certainly, but it might be the best way to summarize the season so far and where it will lead. If the team continues their consistently good play, they will be a great football team. I'm ready to live the dream again. And I believe in this football team. Deeply. The best news in all this? According to Roy Miller, the Longhorns are still looking to play their best game. You can find me next to the cooler of Burnt Orange Kool-Aid drinking my fill. Then maybe a little more.

Stats are for losers. I don't help myself and neither can BRAGGonUT. We just can't quit those stats. Even if we are losers. He has some interesting ones up over at Barking Carnival. Of note are the measly 10 turnovers forced, for an average of 1.43, good for 10th in the Big 12 conference. Last year's team averaged 2.07 a game, but the numbers this season don't account for the 12 turnovers on downs forced. Several of which have come deep in Longhorn territory. Add in the inexperienced secondary and some dropped interceptions and it's easy to understand why the raw numbers don't support a ballhawking defense. Earl Thomas has been close on some balls (did you see Chase Coffman rip that ball away from him in the second half?) and I think as he gains more experience he will find himself in a better position by the half step that he needs to start picking off more balls.

Dez sez, "Gimme the rock!" A significant amount of ink will be spilled this week talking  about the strength of the OSU running game, which is legitimate considering it poses the biggest threat yet to the Texas front seven, which may or may not have injured Jared Norton available (please, please, no kamikaze Bobino). But HenryJames breaks down why Dez Bryant is so scary. How about representing a significant majority of Zac Robinson's completions (48%), yards (54%), and touchdown passes (78%)? Guy's a stud. The million dollar question is whether Muschamp can devise a scheme to slow down Bryant without allowing the OSU running backs and tight end Brandon Pettigrew to run free. My thoughts? In Muschamp I Trust.

The 37 year-old pizza man failed to deliver before halftime on Saturday Night, and as advertised, Texas received their meal free of charge.  It's been a little while since we've thrashed someone's dreams that thoroughly.

Before the game I predicted a 41-30 Texas win.  My reasoning was that Missouri would have some game film on our four-wide formation, and they had a whole week to scheme around defensive line.  The problem with my reasoning is the omission of the Pinkel Factor.  I'd imagine the game plan meeting went a little something like this:

[ten minutes of silence]

Chase Daniel:  Hey, does anyone have a hacky sack?

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... so I thought I'd share with you my favorite signs I've seen on Gameday before I head out to the South Mall.

I [Hook 'em] Corso's Merkin!

I eat boogers too! Go Chase!

An apple a day keeps the doctor away...

See you at the North Gate at five sharp, guys. Bring your bottles.

A hectic day has kept me away from the computer, but as promised, it's time for a prediction. But first, a few potential lessons learned from last week, the digestion of which by one team more than the other could be decisive Saturday night:

• Missouri Lesson #1:  One-dimensional attack against Oklahoma State was a mistake. Commitment to the running game is essential to protect Daniels.
• Missouri Lesson #2:  One-dimensional attack against Will Muschamp will not work for four quarters.
  
• Missouri Conclusion: Try like hell to run the football. Even if it looks grim.
  
  
• Texas Lesson #1:  Greg Davis was successful in playing to win when Texas was the big underdog to a heavily favorited Oklahoma team.
  
• Texas Lesson #2:  Greg Davis historically has been at his worst when he's played conservatively/not to lose.
• Texas Conclusion:  The big concern for Texas--certainly on offense--is hesitancy/tightness/playing to avoid mistakes.
  
  
• Missouri Lesson #1:  The Tigers' strength on defense lies with their extremely physical, talented defenders up the middle.
• Missouri Lesson #2:  Colt McCoy has a tendency to telegraph where the ball is going--be it Shipley or Cosby, who are often slashing into space in the middle of the field.
• Missouri Conclusion:  Be ready both to jump quick routes on the inside and/or lay some hits Texas' can't-lose receivers won't forget.
  
  
• Texas Lesson #1:  Missouri's strength on defense lies with their extremely physical, talented defenders up the middle.
• Texas Lesson #2:  Jordan Shipley has one of the best double moves in college football.
• Texas Conclusion:  Using Missouri's aggressiveness against them with Shipley and/or a trick play will lead to 6 deep.
  
  
• PB Will Worry If:  Texas misses 3-4 key tackles leading to 1-2 long scores for Missouri.
• PB Will Worry If:  Quan or Ship or McCoy takes a hit that knocks them out of the game for any extended period of time.
• PB Will Worry If:  Greg Davis loses the attacker mentality that led to the Oklahoma shreddage.
• PB Will Worry If:  Jeremy Maclin scores on special teams.
• PB Will Cue The Eyes of Texas If:  Texas' pressure disallows Chase Daniel to stay set and make quick throws.
• PB Will Cue The Eyes of Texas If:  Will Muschamp successfully prevents any long scores (20+ yards out).
• PB Will Cue The Eyes of Texas If:  Fozzy Whittaker is healthy enough to complement OG for 15-20 snaps.
• PB Will Cue The Eyes of Texas If:  Brandon Collins and James Kirkendoll take a step forward as guys Colt trusts and for whom the defense must account.
  
• PB Will Cue The Eyes of Texas If:  Will Muschamp has a lead in the second half.

OFFICIAL PREDICTION:  TEXAS 41  MISSOURI 33

Hook 'em, Horns!  Beat Mizzou!

Gregory Gazelles Gig Aggies. What, there are other sports going on right now besides football? What's that you say, baseball? Never heard of it. Oh, and volleyball, too? Wow. Quite an education I'm receiving here. Well, big ups to the Gregory Gazelles, the fine ladies of the Texas volleyball squad, who beat the Aggies in College Station last night, 3-1. The win pushes their record to 7-1 in Big 12 play and was highlighted by 20 kills from viciously swinging vixen Destinee Hooker and the absolutely perfect Lauren Paolini, who had an error-free performance for the fourth time on the season. You go girls.

No "I" in team. However, there is a "me" in team. Which has always make me hate that particular cliche. But hey, the bold leads in Morning Coffee are for cutesy cliches. Onward to the point: This iteration of Texas football is a team. I ended the last Morning Coffee by saying that it's time to believe. My reasoning? Like I said, this is a team, with everything that entails. Senior leaders like Brian Orakpo have pulled the team together and worked to foster camaraderie between upperclassmen and younger players.

Accountability became the buzzword leading up to the Holiday Bowl and during spring practice precisely because there hadn't been any in 2007. Orakpo recalls that the older players didn't identify with the younger ones, and what's worse, didn't try. Recalling as well the close-knit group in 2005, Orakpo and other seniors like Roy Miller demanded teamwork, taking it on themselves to police their teammates on and off the field. It wasn't all tough love, though, as seniors organized team social activities to foster team unity. The results are apparent on the football field, and even though the OU game is the only real adversity the team has faced this season, responding to every OU score with one of their own gives a serious glimpse into the inner workings of this team. It is one in every sense of the word.

What if Daniel was one of us? That's the game played by Columbia Tribune writer Dave Matter, who wonders what would have been had Chase Daniel de-committed from Missouri and come to Texas. I find that type of speculation irritating and pointless, particularly with the incredible play of Colt McCoy this year. Mack Brown talks about it a lot: With 350 Division I players coming out of Texas every year, the vast majority of them go to other schools. Some of them are mad at Texas because they weren't offered. Some of those mad players happen to be excellent football players. To channel my inner Donald Rumsfeld here (didn't know it existed), "You play with the football team that you have, not the football team that you wish you had, or the football team that you may have in the future." 

Offensive scheme against Missouri. Perusing the team defensive rankings on cfbstats.com reveals some weaknesses in the Missouri defense. They rank 81st in the country in opponent third down conversions, allowing just over 40%. Even worse is the pass defense, ranking 114th, right behind (gasp) SMU and four spots lower than Texas. What does that mean for Texas? Well, the obvious answer is that Texas will likely come out throwing early and often, no real surprise since that's the offensive identity of this football team. It seems likely as well that the four wide receiver set will be the base formation moving forward.

Missouri has had major trouble with receivers running free deep down the sidelines (especially against Illinois), so look for more balls thrown down the field. How Missouri choses to defend the Texas passing attack will dictate where the ball goes, but it will be interesting to see if Colt is willing to stand in the pocket and look for the deep ball, since he has preferred the quick short passes he completes with such regularity, which allows for third and short opportunities that Missouri doesn't seem likely to be able to stop. If I called the plays, I would consistently send one wide receiver deep down the sideline and another deep down the seam on the same side and run crossing routes into that vacated space. I expect numerous explosive plays through the passing game.

More Gideon love. Tuesday's Morning Coffee noted that Mack Brown called Blake Gideon the "biggest surprise of the season." The Statesman followed that up with a feature article today chronicling Gideon's recovery from a broken back his sophomore year in high school (he played four games after breaking it). I watched the Rice game with some friends of friends from Leander, who characterized Gideon as being one hard hit from re-injuring his back, before I had heard anything about his old injury. Maybe someone who knows more about medicine than I can weigh in on the potential for re-injury. Whatever the case may be, I'm going to enjoy watching Blake Gideon play football and prove to recruiting services that he deserved more than two stars next to his name.

Smaller, quicker beats bigger, slower. I told PB last week that I was concerned about the size of the OU offensive line and wondered how our undersized defensive tackles would handle their assignments. Consider my worries unfounded and chalk up a victory for PB there. I guess I should add doubting Muschamp even for a moment to the Tuesday night sin purging thread. Shame on me.

Tim Griffin chronicles the rise of the Texas defense, led by Brian Orakpo, on whom Morning Coffee has quite the man-crush. And why not? The man has 10 tfl, 7.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 2 passes broken up. Incredible numbers considering he could have nearly twice as many sacks if opposing offensive linemen weren't forced to hold him multiple times per game. Despite the gaudy sack numbers, Orakpo isn't just a rush end. The 10 tackles for loss are a testament to his ability to keep contain when necessary, with more than a couple of those being open field tackles on smaller, quicker players.

It isn't just Orakpo making the defensive line tick, as Lamarr Houston, Aaron Lewis, and particularly Roy Miller have clogged the middle, vaunting Texas to third in the country in rush defense at barely over 50 yards per game. With the young safety gaining experience by the minute, expect this defense to be even better when the bowl season rolls around.

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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A weekly report on the weekend of Big 12 football.

THE RUNDOWN

BIG XII SOUTH

• Texas 52  Florida Atlantic 10  [Box / Recap / Blog Coverage]
  
  Had two of their first three drives ended with points instead of turnovers in Longhorn territory, the Owls might have scared Texas fans for a while. FAU worked the 'Horns' youthful secondary over for much of the first two quarters, racking up 245 yards of total offense in six drives before half. Given the talent disparity, any upset bid probably required the Owls to hang close with or take a lead over Texas heading into the break; as it was, they found themselves down 28-10 and Texas slammed the door 24-0 in the second half for a lopsided win. Texas' opponents may want to take note: Will Muschamp is known for his halftime adjustments--ask Urban Meyer, for one--and the smart money says a team which beatsTexas this year does so taking a lead into halftime.
  
  
• Oklahoma 57  Chattanooga 2 [Box / Recap / Blog Coverage]
  
  If a team is going to commit the sin of scheduling a team like Chattanooga, it better drop the hammer with all due force come game time. Yeah, it's sort of like scoring a 100 on the junior high exit exams, but at least where the state of Oklahoma and tests are concerned, I suppose "passed with flying colors" should be appreciated in that context--even metaphorically. The Sooners disposed of UT-C immediately on Saturday evening by scoring touchdowns on each of their first seven drives en route to a 50-0 halftime lead. Quarterback Sam Bradford picked up where he left off last year, tailback Demarco Murray remains the boogey man in my RRS nightmares, and the Chattanooga offense finished with a meager 36 yards of total offense.
  
  
• Wake Forest 41  Baylor 13 [Box / Recap / Blog Coverage]
  
  How badly was Baylor beaten in Art Briles' first game at Baylor? Badly enough that the above box score link will route you over to Wake Forest's official site, since the Baylor athletic portal surreptitiously hides the box score behind a page which never loads. If there was a silver lining on Saturday, however, it had to be the impressive debut of true freshman quarterback Robert Griffin, a four star recruit from Copperas Cove with outrageous athletic talent who entertained offers from the likes of Nebraska and Tennessee before settling on the Bears. The dynamic athlete enrolled in Waco early this spring, allowing him to compete in the Big 12 Track and Field championships over the summer, where he won the 400m hurdles--no fluke for the high school state record holder in both the 110 and 200m hurdle events. If Griffin's athletic prowess wasn't enough, he enters Baylor having graduated from Copperas Cove with a 4.71 GPA, good for seventh in his class. All told, it's enough to make you forget Thursday night's debacle against the Demon Deacons and optimistic about the future.
  
  
• Oklahoma State 39  Washington State 13 [Box / Recap / Blog Coverage]
  
  The Cowboys took on one of the BCS' weaker teams in Seattle this Saturday, but as a good team should they disposed of the Cougars with relative ease, outgaining Washington State 367-196 on the afternoon. Oklahoma State nearly reached the 200 yard mark in rushing on 42 carries, the bulk by sophomore Kendall Hunter (23-119, 2 TDs), while junior quarterback Zac Robinson--who gets overlooked only because of his conference--had a quietly efficient day with his 193 yards passing on 20 completions in 27 attempts. Wazzu's young offense wasn't much of a test, but Cowboys fans have to be pleased to see their defense take care of business on the road, with their secondary (three returning starters) in particular living up to heightened expectations.
  
  
• Texas Tech 49  Eastern Washington 24 [Box / Recap / Blog Coverage]
  
  Heading into his ninth season as the Texas Tech head coach, Mike Leach for the first time has all his ducks in a row, with Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree the two brightest stars among 10 offensive returning starters, as well as eight returnees on defense--the Red Raiders' annual Achilles' heel. From this fan's perspective, the season sets up as an entertaining weekly battle between True Tech Believers and Skeptics, with no real proof on the schedule to settle the score until well into November:
  
  True Tech believers will tell you Defensive Coordinator Ruffin McNeal, who took over the job after the Okie State disaster last season, is the man to get the defense to that seemingly within-reach level where the offense can take care of the rest. Already, though, skeptics are pointing to Tech's opener against 1-AA Eastern Washington as proof that things are as they've always been in West Texas. And back and forth they go:
  
  Believer: "You may wanna put a hold on that eulogy, pardner: Though Eastern Washington managed 24 points and 364 yards of total offense before the game's conclusion, it took them 85 plays to get there. Put another way, the Eagles putted down the field at 4.3 yards per play, a rate which--if sustained over the course of a season--would put Tech in fine company."
  
  Skeptic: "Silly Tortilla: this is how it's done."
  
  Seriously, I'm looking forward to two straight months of this. Outside the annual SEC carnival, there's no more entertaining conference of which to be a fan than the Big XII right now.
  
  
• Arkansas State 18  Texas A&M 14 [Box / Recap / Blog Coverage]
  
  My favorite moment from the hysterical (to me) movie Celtic Pride comes after Dan Akroyd and Daniel Stern's beloved Celtics blow a huge lead and lose at the buzzer in what what would have been a title-clinching Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Sitting in the Boston Garden long after all the other fans have filed out, the two remain too stunned to leave their seats. Finally, Akroyd turns to Stern and says hopefully, "Well, it could be worse... We could be fleeing some third world country, stranded in the ocean on a raft with our families, no food, water, or land in sight."
  
  There's a long pause, with Daniel Stern continuing to stare ahead in visible agony, before he finally processes Akroyd's attempt at consolation and erupts, "I WISH I WAS A BOAT PERSON! They're out in the sun! On a boat! With their family! THEIR TEAM DIDN'T LOSE GAME 6 OF THE FINALS!"
  
  Substitute "at home to Arkansas State" for "Game 6 of the Finals" and you have some idea of what it's like to be a fan of Texas A&M football right now.
  
  

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If you spend some time looking closely at last year's stat sheets for Texas' 2008 opponents, you may well find yourself entertaining the same two thoughts that I did:

1. Holy crap the pressure on our redshirt freshmen safeties with zero game experience is going to be intense.

2. Will Muschamp is arriving not a moment too soon.

On the latter point, BZ's chapter in The Eyes of Texas 2008 will provide some relief: each of Muschamp's first years at LSU and Auburn resulted in significant improvement in the teams' pass defenses. While we thank our lucky stars Muschamp is taking over, click through the jump for a look at the challenge he faces.

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