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AUSTIN — The Heisman Trophy candidate completed lots of underneath passes but led the Texas offense on only two touchdown drives. The ground game was virtually nonexistent.
But the special teams and defense saved the day, as well as the second-ranked Longhorns’ undefeated record, in a 38-14 victory over Colorado. What those units may not have saved was enough face to keep Texas ahead of No. 3 Alabama when poll voters cast ballots today.That remains to be seen. But the Longhorns (5-0, 2-0 in Big 12) clearly did not put their best foot forward Saturday against the Buffaloes (1-4, 0-1) in Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Especially in the ground game, which managed a meager 46 yards on 25 carries (1.8 per attempt) after topping the 300-yard mark in its last outing, a 64-7 pasting of UT-El Paso on Sept. 26. The dropoff was meteoric and across the board, triggering postgame concerns from coach Mack Brown and offensive coordinator Greg Davis.Clearly, it did not help that both of the tailbacks listed as co-starters on the Longhorns’ depth chart — Vondrell McGee (left shoulder) and Southlake Carroll graduate Tre Newton (mild concussion) — departed with injuries, causing Brown to speculate that he may have to dig deep into his mix-and-match collection of tailbacks in next week’s Red River Rivalry matchup against No. 19 Oklahoma (3-2, 1-0). By the end of Saturday’s game, short-yardage specialist Cody Johnson had emerged as Texas’ leading rushing (20 yards, 2.2 per carry), with oft-injured Fozzy Whittaker scoring the lone rushing touchdown on a 12-yard jaunt in the fourth quarter — his only carry of the contest.Get used to that tandem, Texas fans. Brown hinted that you may be seeing a lot of it in the Cotton Bowl."I thought Fozzy did great and Cody did some good things," Brown said. "We may have to use both of them next week."Even before McGee (7 carries, 15 yards) and Newton (no carries) left the game, Colorado found a way to stymie the Longhorns’ ground game. Yes, the same Buffs’ defense that Toledo gutted for 305 rushing yards in a 54-38 victory on Sept. 11 managed to hold three different Texas tailbacks to a combined 46 yards on 17 carries."My mood is not very good," Davis said after the game. "I wasn’t very pleased with the running game. We’ve got to look at that."In its absence, quarterback Colt McCoy — the Longhorns’ Heisman hopeful — completed 32-of-39 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown. But the offense was inconsistent, at best.If not for three touchdowns from the return game, the Longhorns would have been fighting tooth and nail until the fourth quarter with a Colorado team that appears destined to finish in the North Division cellar. That’s hardly high praise for a team ranked No. 2 in the polls heading into next week’s nationally televised showdown against OU.Brown experimented with several different combinations Saturday in an effort to jump-start the dormant ground attack.
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