It’s a straight shot southwest from Austin to San Antonio, about 80 miles down I-35.
There’s nothing tricky about the route the Texas Longhorns will take in the Alamo Bowl either.
Uni vision: Nike has another new, innovative look for Oregon next year, but it’s what’s inside the jersey and helmet that wins games.
UT center Dom Espinosa told Austin American-Statesman sports columnist Kirk Bohls that the Horns want to pound the ball on Oregon. “We want to keep their offense off the field,” he said. Mack Brown has two big running backs in Malcolm Brown (6-0, 225) and Joe Bergeron (6-1, 230) and the offensive line averages 6-5, 305. Reserve quarterback Tyrone Swoopes has been working out with the first team, and he stands 6-4, 245, very physical for a quarterback.
Swoopes hasn’t played much, just 4-7 passing and 12-41 on the ground. He was an Army All-American in the class of 2013 with a 4.77 40. Mack Brown drew criticism for burning his redshirt in an 8-4 season, but the crafty outgoing coach may use him to advantage in the bowl game, a look the Ducks might not have the personnel to handle. Swoopes outweighs all but three players in Oregon’s base 3-4.
He was a four-year starter at Whitewright High in Whitewright, Texas who rushed for 5,341 yards and 73 TDs while passing for 3,850 yards and 41 touchdowns during his career, a graduate of the Elite 11 and The Opening in 2012. Brown and Bergeron will be a load, but if the young quarterback joins them in a package, the Ducks better have an answer.
Whatever the formation and lineup, the Longhorns will be ultra-motivated for the game. Texas safety Adrian Phillips said this week, “We love Coach Brown. We’re just going to fight with Coach Brown to the last straw, and that’ll be against Oregon. We’ve got to send him out right.”
All of that is alarming, because motivation and stopping the run have been the two biggest problems for the Ducks since a win over UCLA back in October. 8-0 then and ranked number two, they looked flat and defenseless in a 2-2 November. After a loss to Arizona just before Thanksgiving, Mark Helfrich told reporters, “Obviously, how we started, in every phase, that is 100 percent my fault. I have to figure out exactly which levers to pull and which buttons to push on.”
Stanford, Arizona and Oregon State all controlled the line of scrimmage against Oregon, and the Longhorns have the scheme and personnel to do the same with big backs and a big offensive line. The Nike Apparel division keeps coming up with striking looks that create an image and a brand for the Ducks, but the trouble is, 320-pound nose tackles don’t look good in them.
After their 26-20 win over UO, Cardinal coach David Shaw said, “If you control the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball, you can beat these guys. We’re a big, physical football team that plays well together.”
The Longhorns will be a big, fast, physical, athletic, highly-motivated team. The Ducks will have to bring it to win, and new uniforms, while stylish and beautifully designed, won’t make a dramatic difference.
A week from Monday, Marcus Mariota and the Webfoot offense may have to outscore Texas to win. In the original shootout at the Alamo, the visitors won, but sustained some heavy casualties.
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