 "Photo: Mary Kang/The Daily Texan")
Through Texas’ eyes, the situation is eerily similar. Same record, same opponent, same stakes. But that’s about where the similarities end.
While the uniforms and playbook look the same, there’s little of last year’s Missouri to be found in this season’s edition as 6-0 Texas marches in after a win over Oklahoma.
Chase Daniel, the face of the school for the past two years, is gone, taking with him receiver Jeremy Maclin and tight end Chase Coffman.
Offensive coordinator Dave Christensen departed, too, handing the reigns and the bubble screens to quarterback coach David Yost.
All of these factors add up to a team that’s very different from the one Texas dismantled on national television in front of a frenzied Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium 12 months ago.
“You don’t base anything from last year to this year,” said Texas defensive end Sam Acho. “They had a different quarterback, a different coordinator. We’re not really worried about last year.”
It’s a difference that has shown up on the scoreboard. After a promising 4-0 start, the Tigers have limped into conference play, dropping hard-fought games against Nebraska and Oklahoma State. Sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert has taken over the offense but has been held back by a sprained ankle as the Tigers sputtered to poor second-half showings the past two weeks.
“Their quarterback has a cannon — the dude can throw the ball, he’s a very impressive athlete,” Acho said. “They have good receivers. It’s going to be interesting to see how we play them this week.”
Of course, Texas is a little different, too.
The Longhorns haven’t hit last year’s highs on offense, seemingly regressing over the past three weeks to a unit that put up just 251 yards and 16 points against the Sooners.
That comes under particular focus when compared to their performance against Missouri in 2008. Quarterback Colt McCoy had possibly the best performance of his career against the Tigers, completing 29 of 32 passes for 337 yards and two touchdowns, with two more scores coming on the ground.
Texas scored five offensive touchdowns in the first half, two more than they’ve scored in their last two games combined, en route to a 35-3 lead at the break.
This year, it’s been the Texas defense carrying the load, an opponent the Tigers should be familiar with. The Longhorns dominated Missouri in the first half last year before the Tigers ran riot in second-half garbage time for a more respectable 56-31 score.
But don’t expect any easy scores this time around. The Longhorns have locked down opponents in the second half this season, not allowing Oklahoma to convert a third down and shutting out Colorado in the second period.
“At times, we’ve had to outscore people,” said Texas head coach Mack Brown. “Right now, we don’t have to score 50 points to win a game. We can be smarter and play the field position game.”
Acho leads a defensive front that has consistently put pressure on the quarterback while two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of Week Earl Thomas has become the ball-hocking safety the secondary needed last year. Thomas is tied for the national lead with five interceptions and leads outright in passes defended.
“They’ve got a great offense. We’ve seen what they can do,” Thomas said. “There’s a hostile environment, anything can happen. We’re just using that as an edge to finishing games, not leaving anything to the computers [this time].”
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