Bevo’s Daily Roundup: Texas football has a winning history at the Alamo Bowl

If history has a say, the Valero Alamo Bowl may spell good news for the Texas Longhorns.

New Year’s Eve will mark the fourth time the Longhorns have appeared in San Antonio bowl game. Texas (7-5) is set to face off against the No. 11 Utah Utes (11-2), who, as we noted in yesterday’s roundup, were on the cusp of the College Football Playoff before their hopes were dashed by the Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 Conference Championship game last weekend.

But let’s back and up and take a stroll through Texas’ history at the Alamo Bowl, if you will.

The last time the Longhorns were in the Alamo Bowl they were coached by none other than College Football Hall of Fame head coach Mack Brown. In what would be Brown’s last stand as the Texas head coaching honcho, the 8-4 Longhorns fell to Oregon 30-7, ending Texas’ season at 8-5. The year prior, in 2012, No. 23 Texas was on a two-game losing streak when they met with No. 13 Oregon State in the Alamo Bowl. The Longhorns were ultimately successful, pulling off a 31-27 upset. And before that in the Longhorns’ inaugural appearance in the Alamo Bowl, in 2006, with redshirt freshman Colt McCoy under center, No. 18 Texas beat Iowa 26-24 after falling behind by a two-possession lead at the first half.

So, it seems, history may be on our side. Texas stands 2-1 overall in Alamo Bowl play.

NEWS FROM ELSEWHERE IN LONGHORN LAND

• The eyes of Texas are upon the Longhorns volleyball team as they work towards the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four. But if they’re going to get there, No. 2 seed Texas will have to beat the Louisville Cardinals and either the No. 10 Florida Gators or the No. 7 Minnesota Golden Gophers this weekend. Their match against the Cardinals starts at 3 p.m. Friday.

• In Big 12 Conference news: Jalen Hurts, the Oklahoma senior quarterback who ate Texas’ lunch earlier this season when he carried the ball 17 times for 131 yards and went 16-for-28 through the air for 235 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, was named a Heisman Trophy Finalist last night. The Texas native’s stat lines over the course of his career at Alabama and then Oklahoma as a senior graduate transfer speak for themselves.

• As we noted in yesterday’s roundup, former Texas quarterback and national champion of 2005 Rose Bowl lore Vince Young was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this week. Young, a Heisman Trophy runner-up behind USC running back Reggie Bush, would later be the No. 3 overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft to the Tennessee Titans, where he’d remain until 2010, prior to his time as another NFL journeyman. Watch his comments below: