Young Longhorns Back to Work After BCS Disappointment

The sting is still there from the disappointment of January's BCS National Championship Game.

It had been a two-year quest for the Texas Longhorns to reach that point with senior quarterback Colt McCoy, but after just a handful of plays, he was lost to injury and so was any realistic hope the second-ranked Longhorns would defeat No.1 Alabama that night. Texas suffered a 37-21 defeat to the Crimson Tide despite a spirited effort at the end.

Less than two months later, the Longhorns are back on the field, perhaps with not as lofty goals as reaching the National Championship next season, but they are looking to remain one of the top teams in the Big 12 while setting the foundation for another national title run soon.

"It's new hope, it's a new team," UT coach Mack Brown said last week as the Longhorns opened spring football practice. "Even for a guy like myself or our staff you have to start like it's your first day at Texas and you have to reinvent your team because each team's a little bit different."

On the surface, so many of the stalwarts are gone. McCoy has moved on after becoming the winningest quarterback in FBS history, as has reliable receiver/return man Jordan Shipley. Defensively, there are some big shoes to fill as well, with the loss of playmakers like Earl Thomas, Roddrick Muckelroy, Sergio Kindle and Lamarr Houston from a unit that ranked third in the country.

But if there is a program that has seemed to replenish seamlessly, it has been Texas under Brown. So for every loss of a McCoy there is a touted recruit like quarterback Garrett Gilbert waiting to step in his place.

"Since the National Championship Game we've gone right back to work," Brown said. "It's really an interesting time when you have to change leadership because new guys have to step up. It's a chance for some veterans who haven't played to play or some young ones to get a new spot, so spring practice is really an interesting time for all the players."

But most of the attention will obviously be on Gilbert, who was thrust into the spotlight sooner than expected when McCoy went down against Alabama. The 6-foot-4 freshman certainly seemed overwhelmed against the attacking Crimson Tide defense, but he gave the Longhorns faithful some hope with the way he played most of the second half.

Now, this is officially Gilbert's team.

He has the tools to eventually become an even better passer than McCoy, but it's likely offensive coordinator Greg Davis will bring him along slowly by trying to establish the running game in the fall.

"Garrett will be different than Colt. Colt was very different than Vince Young," Brown said. "One of the interesting, fun things this spring will be to see what changes we're going to make because Colt became a guy who was as good as anybody in the country's ever been at throwing and completing passes, and we couldn't get away from that because he was so good."

Brown admits more emphasis will be placed on a downhill running attack, led by Tre Newton as the starting tailback. The Longhorns plan to go to a more pro-style rushing attack with two backs out of the I-formation.

The ability to run the football and become more a possession team should be a huge help to a defensive unit that will have several holes to fill. Defensive end Alex Okafor is the premiere returner, but the Longhorns will need to prepare players like Emmanuel Acho and Keenan Robinson to step up the way their predecessors did in Will Muschamp's scheme.

"This team will be more like the 2008 team because there are a lot of great kids, who are good players that have not played yet, so they are going to have to step up," Brown said. "The expectations will be lower, but they are going to have fun. I can just watch them work in the offseason and see that they are going to be a team that likes to play."