Following their 30-10 loss to Baylor in the Longhorns regular season finale, the job status for longtime head coach Mack Brown became the buzz of the nation. However, in Thursday morning’s press conference in San Antonio, Brown made a concerted effort to push back any speculation of his rumored departure until after the Valero Alamo Bowl versus Oregon.
“I told Mark (Helfrich), with all respect, that I would address it very briefly, but we’re here to talk about the Alamo Bowl and these two teams,” Brown said about his coaching status. “My situation has not changed.”
The period between the conclusion of the regular season and preparation for a postseason opponent can be like a whirlwind for college coaches. With the flurry of traveling to different recruiting destinations, Helfrich hasn’t had much time to dive into game planning for his opponent. But after taking an early look at the Longhorns, their physical ability as a football team is quite evident.
“I’m very excited to prepare to compete against them,” Helfrich said. “As I started watching film on these guys, that’s not much fun. They’re big, fast and physical. This is the toughest time of the year as we’re transitioning to the end of the regular season, to hitting the road for recruiting. We’ll finish up tomorrow afternoon recruiting and begin on the game plan Monday.”
Sometimes in a late-season game like a bowl matchup, upsets will happen due to what coach Brown calls “having an edge.” He believes getting to play a top-10 team in Oregon will help his team maintain that feeling.
“You always worry when you lose your last game, and it means so much, you worry about creating an edge for the bowl game,” Brown said. “To me, the team that has the best edge usually wins. There are more upsets in bowl games then any other time in our season. I thought we were so lucky that we drew one of the best teams in the country. I think it’s a tremendous matchup.”
While Oregon might provide Texas the edge it needs to win, Brown said the Ducks are still going to be an incredibly tough matchup on Dec. 30, especially on offense.
“I don’t think anyone does compare,” Brown said about the Ducks’ offense. “They do a tremendous job running the ball. When their running backs touch it, they have a chance to score every time. Their offense is one everyone is trying to emulate.”
Leading that offense is redshirt sophomore signal caller Marcus Mariota, who announced earlier this month that he would return to Eugene for his junior season. With the production Mariota has provided these past two seasons, Helfrich said retaining his star quarterback is similar to picking up a big-time recruit.
“He’s been hinting at that for a long time and so it wasn’t a huge surprise, but it was certainly a nice pickup in the recruiting class.”
Mariota wasn’t named one of the six Heisman Trophy finalists after being a front-runner for the honor earlier in the season. Helfrich didn’t say he disagreed with the Heisman ballot, he’s just impressed with the six players who beat Mariota out.
“We think Marcus is pretty special. If they’re six better players in the country, then those guys are really great players. Marcus Mariota is a top-notch guy in every form and an incredible football player.”
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @jhoyt42