Texas players said the team will get a lift from having redshirt freshman quarterback Colt McCoy back in the lineup Friday. He was sidelined by a stinger in the loss at Kansas State.
"It's a big boost because of the leadership he brings," said offensive lineman Justin Blalock, who is returning from a knee injury. "This is not a slight at Jevan [Snead], but Colt's got control of the offense and puts us in the right plays."
Said center Lyle Sendlein: "Colt's important to our offense from a standpoint of getting the ball out and being a leader, which is crazy to say because he's a freshman. But he's got a presence out there on the field."
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Left tackle Tony Hills added: "Jevan is a great player, and we appreciate the things he did for us. But based on what Colt has done in the comebacks against OU, Nebraska and Texas Tech, he's had more of a chance to prove himself."
Texas A&M offensive guard Kirk Elder is the son of two Aggies, but he's got Longhorns family connections, too. His cousin Candace Powers is a captain of the UT cheerleading squad. His stepfather, Tom Rohrer, played guard for the Longhorns in the late 1960s.
Elder's mother told him that A&M really, really needed to win.
"We want to win it, too," Kirk Elder replied.
"Well," she said, "you've got to win it so I can rub it in Tom's face just once."
Elder's tongue-in-cheek response: "Mom, there's a good reason. Thanks."
Co-defensive coordinator Duane Akina, who coaches the secondary, did his best to explain why UT is 111th nationally in pass defense (giving up 249 yards per game) and have already set a school record for passing yards given up in a season (2,739).
UT gave up 323 passing yards in a 45-42 loss to Kansas State, including touchdowns of 36, 32 and 30 yards. The last 13 scoring passes given up by UT have gone for an average of 30.5 yards.
"We went into the season saying we have to stop the run," Akina said, noting UT's top-ranked rush defense (42 yards per game). "The way to do that is with a nine-man front. In doing that, you lose some of the margin for error we've had in past years in pass coverage."
He said the secondary has been too susceptible to play-action: "One could argue we're too aggressive, and I would agree with that.
Texas A&M had the nation's worst pass defense last season (304.6 yards per game) and is 48th (189.3) this season.
Although much has been made of Texas A&M's improved pass defense, the run defense has also improved – from 139.2 yards a game last season to 127.8. ... When asked about how UT has fumbled less (23) but lost more (13) than last year's team, which fumbled 35 times and lost nine, coach Mack Brown said, "This has not been a lucky football team." ... Asked if Texas players were mad about losing to K-State and possibly costing themselves a shot at playing for a second straight national title, left tackle Tony Hills said, "Dogs get mad. We were disappointed."
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