The 2007 Texas Longhorns football team (variously "Texas" or "UT" or the "Horns") represented the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...
in the
2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The regular season began on August 30, 2007 and ended on ...
. The team was coached by
Mack Brown. The Longhorns played their home games in
Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium
Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium (formerly War Memorial Stadium, Memorial Stadium, and Texas Memorial Stadium), located in Austin, Texas, on the campus of the University of Texas, has been home to the Longhorns football team since 1924. The st ...
(DKR).
The Longhorns entered the 2007 season ranked third on all-time college football lists in both total wins and winning percentage.
A pre-season ranking by
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
writer
Mark Schlabach
Mark Schlabach (born in Knox, Indiana) is an American sports journalist, New York Times best-selling author, columnist, and reporter for ESPN.com.
Schlabach joined ESPN.com in July 2006 as a college football and college basketball columnist. He ...
had the Longhorns ranked eighth,
while
College Football News
''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis includ ...
ranked Texas third.
The Longhorns came into the season ranked fourth in both the
Coaches Poll
The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officiall ...
and
AP Poll
The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...
.
During the preceding summer five players had been disciplined for legal infractions, another suspended for NCAA rule violations, and a coach had undergone surgery for cancer. Additional players were suspended during the season.
The Longhorns played games against two opponents they had never faced previously:
Arkansas State University
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osa ...
and the
University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...
(UCF).
The Longhorns narrowly achieved a victory in their home opener with Arkansas State,
and in their first road game of the season, Texas was the inaugural opponent for the
UCF Knights
The UCF Knights are the athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I ( FBS for football) as a member of the Am ...
in their new stadium.
In preseason speculation, games against
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...
(TCU) and
Oklahoma (OU) were considered among the top 20 games to watch during the 2007 college football season.
![2007 Texas Longhorns football team entry](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/2007_Texas_Longhorns_football_team_entry.jpg)
The Longhorns lost
conference games to the
Kansas State Wildcats,
the
Oklahoma Sooners
The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Ru ...
,
and the
Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname " Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also referred to as "A&M" or "Texas Agg ...
.
In two close games, they avoided
upset attempts by lower-ranked
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
and
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
, the latter game involving a 21-point fourth quarter comeback by the Horns.
Texas concluded its season by winning the
2007 Holiday Bowl
The 2007 Pacific Life Holiday Bowl was a college football bowl game played December 27, 2007 in San Diego. It was part of the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season and one of 32 games in the 2007–08 bowl season. It featured the Texa ...
against the
Arizona State Sun Devils
The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member ...
—another first-time opponent for Texas—bringing their season record to 10–3.
The Horns finished the season ranked tenth in the AP poll and in the USA Today coaches poll. After the season, five UT players entered
professional football
In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...
through the
2008 NFL Draft and four others agreed to sign free-agent contracts with NFL teams.
Before the 2007 season
Mack Brown became the head coach of the Texas Longhorns for the 1998 season. Through 2006, he had a win–loss record of 93–22 and the best winning percentage (80.9%) of any football coach in Longhorn history. The
2004 team had the first
Bowl Championship Series win for any Texas team
and the
2005 team won the
National Championship
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...
(the fourth for the UT football program).
The 2006 team had 9 wins and 1 loss through November 4, 2006 but starting
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Colt McCoy
Daniel "Colt" McCoy (born September 5, 1986) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas, where he won several awards and honors as a senior in 2009. McC ...
was injured in the 11th game and Texas lost the final two regular season games, including a 12–7 home loss to division rivals Texas A&M.
This took the team out of contention for the conference championship,
as well as the national championship.
Between the 2006 regular season and the
bowl season, back-up quarterback
Jevan Snead
Jevan Bryce Snead (September 2, 1987 – September 21, 2019) was an American football quarterback. He played college football at Mississippi after Colt McCoy won the starting quarterback position over him for the Texas Longhorns football team. ...
transferred to another school,
and Longhorn
defensive coordinator Gene Chizik
Eugene C. Chizik Jr. (born December 28, 1961) is an American football coach who is currently the Assistant Head Coach for Defense at North Carolina. A veteran of the coaching ranks, Chizik previously was UNC's defensive coordinator for the 2015 ...
accepted the head-coaching job at
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...
.
The Longhorns ended up accepting a
bowl invitation to the
Alamo Bowl
The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Since 2010 it matches the second choice team from the Pac-12 Conference and the secon ...
against the unranked
University of Iowa Hawkeyes, who had finished in eighth place in the
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
.
Colt McCoy was cleared to play for the Horns
and led Texas through a back-and-forth affair to a 26–24 win.
The Longhorns finished the season with a record of 10 wins and 3 losses and received a final ranking of 13th in the nation by both the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
AP Poll
The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...
and the
USA Today Coaches Poll
The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officiall ...
Texas entered the 2007 season ranked third in the
all-time list of both total wins and winning percentage.
They were ranked in the Top 10 by
numerous pre-season polls. For instance, a pre-season ranking by
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
writer
Mark Schlabach
Mark Schlabach (born in Knox, Indiana) is an American sports journalist, New York Times best-selling author, columnist, and reporter for ESPN.com.
Schlabach joined ESPN.com in July 2006 as a college football and college basketball columnist. He ...
had the Longhorns ranked eighth;
Rivals.com ranked them ninth;
College Football News
''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis includ ...
and Real Football 365 both ranked Texas third. The Longhorns came into the season ranked fourth in both the
Coaches Poll
The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officiall ...
and AP Poll.
Facilities and equipment
![2007 Texas Longhorn helmet bluebonnet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/2007_Texas_Longhorn_helmet_bluebonnet.jpg)
Following the final home game of 2006, construction workers demolished the north end of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. This section was rebuilt to make the lowest seats closer to the field while planning for luxury boxes and an upper-deck.
The lower deck was ready for 2007, while the upper deck and luxury boxes are planned to be ready for 2008.
The modifications put the north
end zone
The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...
seats thirty yards closer to the field of play. This results in several game day changes, such as
Smokey the Cannon moving to the south end-zone near
Bevo
Bevo may refer to:
*Bevo (beverage), a non-alcoholic malt beverage brewed in the United States
*Bevo (mascot), University of Texas at Austin mascot
*Bevo HC, Dutch handball club
*JetAfrica Swaziland (callsign BEVO), see List of airline codes
*Beve ...
.
Each 2007 Longhorn football helmet featured a
Texas bluebonnet decal. The decal was chosen to honor President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
,
Lady Bird Johnson
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson (''née'' Taylor; December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She previously served as Second Lady from 1961 to 1963 whe ...
and the Johnson family. Brown said President Johnson used to enjoy discussing football with former UT coach
Darrell K Royal, while the first lady was known for her conservation efforts, particularly the spread of native
wildflowers.
For the second straight year, UT merchandise products were the top-selling products among clients of
Collegiate Licensing Company
The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) is an American collegiate trademark licensing and marketing company. Founded in 1981 by Bill Battle in Selma, Alabama, CLC is the largest and oldest collegiate licensing company in the United States and curre ...
. UT entered into a marketing arrangement with
Bluetooth SIG
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) is the standards organization that oversees the development of Bluetooth standards and the licensing of the Bluetooth technologies and trademarks to manufacturers. The SIG is a not-for-profit ...
to deploy
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...
kiosks throughout the stadium. These kiosks broadcast free game-day information to Bluetooth-enabled cell-phones in the stands.
Practices and preseason injuries
![Godzillatron Closeup](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Godzillatron_Closeup.jpg)
The Longhorns played their 2007 Spring Jamboree
Scrimmage on March 31, 2007
and reported for fall practice on August 5, 2007.
A public scrimmage scheduled for August 18, 2007 was canceled due to safety concerns related to the weather and to ongoing stadium construction. With rain expected over the weekend and no working pumps to help remove water from the field, Brown held a closed practice indoors instead.
During fall practice, receivers
Limas Sweed
Limas Lee Sweed Jr. (born December 25, 1984) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He was part of their Super Bowl XLIII championship team, beating the A ...
,
Billy Pittman
Billy Pittman (born September 19, 1984) is a former American football player. He played college football as a wide receiver for the University of Texas Longhorns from 2003 to 2007 and was the leading receiver on the 2005 Texas team that won the ...
, and
Jordan Shipley
Jordan Shipley (born December 23, 1985) is a former American football wide receiver. Shipley played college football for the University of Texas, and received consensus All-American recognition. He was picked by the Cincinnati Bengals in the t ...
were injured. Sweed suffered a sprain to his left wrist on August 15. Pittman sprained his left shoulder during practice on August 17. Head UT athletic trainer Kenny Boyd said, "We will continue to evaluate
ittmanand monitor his progress in hopes of getting him back in time for the season opener."
Jordan Shipley had to limit his practice due to a strained
hamstring
In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury.
In quadrupe ...
. The receiver position was considered one of the deepest positions on the team; coaches said veteran players
Quan Cosby
Quantwan Juaray Cosby (born December 23, 1982) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football ...
(Texas' second-leading receiver) and Nate Jones performed well in training camp. Coach Brown said he expected to be able to play three freshman receivers in 2007: Brandon Collins, Malcolm Williams and James Kirkendoll.
On August 29, 2006 Brown announced that Sweed was "probable"
for the season opening game, but that Shipley was "doubtful".
Coaches
![Texas warmups prior to KSU game 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Texas_warmups_prior_to_KSU_game_2007.jpg)
Prior to the first game of the season, the
University of Texas Board of Regents voted unanimously to raise Brown's salary by $300,000, bringing his annual compensation to $2.81 million and keeping him among the five highest-paid coaches in college football. The package also includes up to $3 million in bonuses, including "$100,000 if he wins the Big 12 Championship and $450,000 for a national championship, as well as bonuses based on the percent of players who graduate."
At the time, Brown's contract extended through the 2016 season and included buy-out clauses should another school attempt to hire Brown.
Greg Davis, who entered his 10th season with Texas, was the team's
offensive coordinator and
quarterbacks coach
In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators.
Common ...
.
Duane Akina
Duane Akina (born October 22, 1956) is the defensive backs coach for the Stanford Cardinal football team.
In 28 years of coaching football, Akina has coached three Thorpe Award winners in Darryll Lewis (1990), Michael Huff (2005), and Aaron Ro ...
was the
defensive coordinator, and took the position vacated by Gene Chizik when he left the program. During the 2007 season, Akina performed his job on the sidelines while
Larry Mac Duff provided input from the press box. UT
running backs coach
In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators.
Common ...
Ken Rucker announced in August that he had
prostate cancer and that he would have surgery on August 27. He coached practices until just prior to surgery and returned to the team before the end of the season.
Rucker's health concern coincided with player incidents that created Brown's most tumultuous off-season since arriving at Texas.
Player suspensions
![Sergio Kindle-Army](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Sergio_Kindle-Army.jpg)
The school suspended a total of seven players for at least a portion of the season. Six were suspended for alleged illegal activities, and one was suspended for a violation of
National Collegiate Athletics Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...
(NCAA) rules. Defensive end
Henry Melton
Henry James Melton (born October 11, 1986) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football for the University of Texas, where he was a running back for the 2005 National Championship team, and also played on special te ...
and linebacker
Sergio Kindle
Sergio Valent'e Kindle (born September 20, 1987) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the Ravens in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas, and was the first player ever to be a final ...
were both arrested during the summer on charges of
driving while intoxicated
Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
.
Freshman defensive tackle
Andre (Dre) Jones (who had not yet played for Texas but did join spring practices) and former UT player
Robert Joseph
Robert G. Joseph (born 1949) is a senior scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy and professor at Missouri State University. He was the United States Special Envoy for Nuclear Nonproliferation, with ambassadorial rank.Amb. Robert J ...
were charged with
aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Jones was one of the team's most highly touted
recruits; his
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
football career honors included Prep All-American, three-time all-state selection, first-team All-American by Parade Magazine, and Texas 4A Defensive Player of the Year by the Texas Sports Writers Association
The university suspended Tyrell Gatewood indefinitely after he was arrested on two drug possession charges.
James Henry was arrested on third-degree felony charges of "obstruction or retaliation and tampering or fabricating physical evidence."
The University of Texas suspended Billy Pittman for three games because he violated NCAA rules when he accepted the use of a friend's car over the summer.
Coach Brown
and University of Texas President
William Charles Powers Jr. issued statements concerning the importance of team discipline and
zero tolerance
A zero tolerance policy is one which imposes a punishment for every infraction of a stated rule.zero tolerance, n.' (under ''zero, n.''). The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Ed. 1989. Retrieved 10 November 2009. Italy, Japan, Singapore China, Indi ...
policy for infractions.
Schedule
Players
Roster
Watch lists
![UT sacks McGee of A&M 2006-11-24](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/UT_sacks_McGee_of_A%26M_2006-11-24.jpg)
Longhorns listed on preseason
All-America
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
n or "All-Conference" teams or on award watch lists:
* Jamaal Charles
**
Maxwell Award
The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best al ...
watch list
**
Doak Walker Award
Since 1990 the Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. It is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Football Le ...
watch list
**
Athlon Sports
Parade Media (previously known as AMG/Parade and Athlon Media Group) is a publisher founded in 1967 that is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville's Spencer Hays was its majority stockholder. It was purchased by The Arena Group in 2022 and now ...
third-team All American
** Athlon Sports first-team All Big 12
* Jermichael Finley
**
Mackey Award
The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, ...
watch list
* Marcus Griffin
**
Outland Trophy
The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Am ...
watch list
** Athlon Sports second-team All Big 12
*
Robert Killebrew
** Athlon Sports third-team All Big 12
*
Tony Hills
Tony Hills is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Mark Homer from 7 September 1995 to 15 April 1999.
Storylines
Tony arrives in Walford from Norfolk on 7 September 1995 with his sister, Sarah Hills (Daniell ...
**
Lombardi Award
The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lomba ...
watch list
**
Outland Trophy
The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Am ...
watch list
** Athlon Sports first-team All Big 12
* Drew Kelson
** Lott Trophy
* Derek Lokey
** Lombardi Award watch list
** Outland Trophy watch list
**
Nagurski Trophy
The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...
watch list
**
Lott Trophy
The Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented annually to the college football defensive IMPACT player of the year. IMPACT is an acronym for: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity. The award purports to equally recognize th ...
** Athlon Sports first-team All Big 12
* Colt McCoy
** Maxwell Award watch list
** CBS Sportsline.com
Heisman Trophy Watch
** Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year Award watch list
** Athlon Sports first-team All Big 12
**
Davey O'Brien Award
**
Manning Award
The Manning Award has been presented annually since the 2004 football season to the collegiate American football quarterback as judged by the Sugar Bowl Committee to be the best in the United States. It is the only quarterback award that incl ...
* Roddrick Muckelroy
** Athlon Sports second-team All Big 12
* Frank Okam
** Lombardi Award watch list
** Outland Trophy watch list
**
Bednarik Award
The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and professional Ameri ...
watch list
** Athlon Sports first-team All Big 12
* Brian Orakpo
** Athlon Sports third-team All Big 12
* Limas Sweed
**
Biletnikoff Award
The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...
candidate
**
Maxwell Award
The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best al ...
candidate
**
Walter Camp Football Foundation
The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...
Player of the Year Award watch list
**
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
Scouts Inc. Top 10 professional prospects list
** Athlon Sports second-team All Big 12
Recruiting
Texas’ 2007 recruiting class was rated by Scout.com as third-best in the nation, behind Florida and USC. Of their picks for the top 100 incoming freshman, Texas signed #8 Tray Allan (offensive lineman), #14 Curtis Brown (cornerback), #30 Andre (Dre) Jones (defensive tackle), #31
John Chiles (wide receiver), and #81 Russell Carter (defensive end). Carter made the preseason roster as a defensive end while Chiles was listed as a quarterback.
Jones was suspended from the team due to legal trouble.
Game summaries
Arkansas State
![2007-09-01 Cobb scores on touchdown pass](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/2007-09-01_Cobb_scores_on_touchdown_pass.jpg)
The first Longhorn game of the season marked the first-ever meeting between Texas and Arkansas State,
an
NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision team from the
Sun Belt Conference. Pre-game media attention played upon the fact that both schools won national football championships in 1970. Both schools entered the game with a level of controversy attached to their teams. Arkansas State was facing criticism over its team name. The team was nicknamed "Indians" in honor of the
Osage Nation that inhabited the area until the 1800s. The
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
enforced restrictions on the use of Indian mascots, saying that they were derogatory to
American Indians. In 2008, the Indians changed their name to the Red Wolves. The University of Texas was dealing with
player suspensions, and passed a large pay raise for Mack Brown one week prior to the game. As part of the package, Brown received a $100,000 special payment upon completion of the game.
Two days prior to the game,
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
casinos
favored Texas by 39points.
Sportswriters John Bridges and Kirk Bohls of the
Austin American-Statesman predicted the Longhorns would have a big lead early in the game and that true-freshman quarterback
John Chiles would enter the game in the second or third quarter as the backup to Colt McCoy.
Redshirt
Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi
* Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...
freshman quarterback
Sherrod Harris was on the injured list and was not expected to play. Those predictions were off the mark as the Indians almost kept up with the Horns and McCoy stayed in for the entire game.
Texas scored a
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...
on its first
possession
Possession may refer to:
Law
* Dependent territory, an area of land over which another country exercises sovereignty, but which does not have the full right of participation in that country's governance
* Drug possession, a crime
* Ownership
* ...
and Arkansas State answered with a
field goal. Texas made another touchdown to end the first quarter. Neither team scored in the second quarter. Texas scored seven points in the third quarter, while Arkansas State was scoreless. In the fourth quarter, Arkansas State scored ten points to pull within eight points of Texas. With approximately one minute left to play, Arkansas State attempted an
onside kick
In gridiron football, an onside kick is a kickoff deliberately kicked short in an attempt by the kicking team to regain possession of the ball. This is in contrast with a typical kickoff, in which the kicking team intends to give the ball to the ...
. State recovered the ball, but a controversial
illegal formation
In gridiron football, a penalty is a sanction assessed against a team for a violation of the rules, called a foul. Officials initially signal penalties by tossing a bright yellow colored penalty flag onto the field toward or at the spot of a ...
penalty forced them to re-kick. On the re-kick, Texas recovered the ball and was able to
run out the clock
In sports, running out the clock (also known as running down the clock, stonewalling, killing the clock, chewing the clock, stalling, time-wasting (or timewasting) or eating clock) is the practice of a winning team allowing the clock to expire thr ...
to preserve a 21–13 win. Colt McCoy threw two touchdown passes and two
interceptions; he also made two
punts. Jamaal Charles accounted for the third touchdown.
![Eyes of texas football](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Eyes_of_texas_football.jpg)
Starting Longhorn defensive end Brian Orakpo injured his right knee during the game.
The team reported Orakpo did not need surgery but that it was uncertain when he would return.
Kirk Bohls was among commentators who were unimpressed by the Longhorns performance, saying, "if this becomes the pattern, look for a 7–5 season."
On September 5, Arkansas State coach
Steve Roberts said he was told by the Big 12 Conference's supervisor of football officials that game officials wrongly overturned ASU's recovery of the onside kick. He said the Big 12 Conference Supervisor of Officials told Arkansas State there had been no illegal formation, that no penalty should have been called, and that Arkansas State should have been awarded possession of the football. A Big 12 Conference spokesman said he could not confirm or deny that such a conversation took place and that any such conversation was confidential.
TCU
![UT Sideline vs TCU 2007-09-08](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/UT_Sideline_vs_TCU_2007-09-08.JPG)
The second Longhorn game of the season was the first meeting of the former
Southwest Conference
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...
(SWC) rivals since the conference disbanded following the 1995 season.
Texas held a 60–20–1 (win-lose-tie) record vs. the
TCU Horned Frogs
The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The sc ...
.
Their most recent meeting was a 27–19 Longhorn victory.
In their annual season preview magazine,
CBS SportsLine.com
CBSSports.com (formerly CBS SportsLine.com and SportsLine USA) is an American sports news website operated by Paramount Streaming, itself a division of Paramount Global. It is the website for CBS's CBS Sports division that features news, high ...
selected two Longhorn games — vs. TCU and against OU — as ranking in their 17 "must see" games for 2007.
CBS Sportsline.com also selected TCU as one of the potential "BCS Busters" for 2007, saying, "The Horned Frogs will have one of the best defenses in the nation with nine starters back on a squad that allowed only 12.3 points per game last year, including a 12–3 victory over Texas Tech. Garry Patterson has made the Horned Frogs one of the best BCS non-AQ conference schools in the nation, but unlike Utah and Boise State, they had not received the opportunity to play in a
Bowl Championship Series bowl. If TCU can get past Texas on Sept. 8, it might finally be time for the Horned Frogs to invade the BCS party."
Texas' narrow win versus Arkansas State in week one, together with TCU's victory over Baylor, fueled speculation that the
2007 Horned Frogs might have a chance at an
upset victory over the Longhorns.
Texas dropped three places to number seven in the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, while TCU moved up three places to number nineteen.
One day prior to the game, Las Vegas casinos picked Texas to win by 9½ points.
![TCU-at-Texas-second-half](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/TCU-at-Texas-second-half.jpg)
Both teams were scoreless in the first quarter. In the second quarter, TCU's Torrey Stewart faked a
blitz
Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to:
Military uses
*Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign
*The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War
*, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...
, then dropped back and caught an interception from Colt McCoy before running in for a touchdown. Later in the quarter, McCoy threw a pass that was tipped by a defender and intercepted by David Roach. The Longhorn defense kept the Horned Frogs out of the end zone following the interception, but the Frogs scored on a 19-yard field goal by Chris Manfredini. The first half ended with TCU leading, 10–0.
The Longhorns' first second-half drive culminated in a 33-yard touchdown pass to Nate Jones. A
fumble by TCU gave Texas good
field position, but the Longhorns were stopped on the
two-yard line and settled for a game-tying field goal. The Horns held TCU to seventeen yards of offense and no first downs in the quarter.
In the fourt quarter, Colt McCoy set up the go-ahead score with a
scramble
Scramble, Scrambled, or Scrambling may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* ''Scramble'' (video game), a 1981 arcade game
Music Albums
* ''Scramble'' (album), an album by Atlanta-based band the Coathangers
* ''Scrambles'' (album)
...
to the TCU one-yard line. Vondrell McGee scored a touchdown two plays later. Texas' next possession resulted in a second field goal by Ryan Bailey. The Longhorn defense held TCU to a
three-and-out
A down is a period in which a play transpires in gridiron football. The down is a distinguishing characteristic of the game compared to other codes of football, but is synonymous with a "tackle" in rugby league. The team in possession of the ...
but TCU's
punter fumbled the ball, and Brandon Foster ran the ball in for a touchdown, capping 27 straight points for Texas. The Frogs came back and scored 37-yard field goal by Manfredini and then attempted an
onsides kick
In gridiron football, an onside kick is a kickoff deliberately kicked short in an attempt by the kicking team to regain possession of the ball. This is in contrast with a typical kickoff, in which the kicking team intends to give the ball to the ...
but Texas recovered the ball. UT's Jamaal Charles made a 39-yard
rushing touchdown for the game's final score. Texas won, 34–13.
The attendance for the game, 84,621, was the third-largest crowd ever to watch a TCU football game.
UCF
![UCF on offense against Texas cropped2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/UCF_on_offense_against_Texas_cropped2.jpg)
The third game of the season was the first-ever meeting between the Longhorns and the
UCF Knights
The UCF Knights are the athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I ( FBS for football) as a member of the Am ...
.
Texas was the first opponent in the Knights' new stadium,
Bright House Networks Stadium
FBC Mortgage Stadium (formerly known as Bright House Networks Stadium and Spectrum Stadium, also known as the Bounce House) is an American football stadium located in Orlando, Florida, United States, on the main campus of the University of Centra ...
,
and the game was the first of three scheduled meetings between the schools.
The Knights opened their season with an
upset of
North Carolina State
North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The unive ...
; the victory was their second victory over a BCS opponent and the first time for the Knights to beat a BCS school since 2000. They followed the win with a week off, giving them two weeks to prepare for Texas. It was just the sixth time Texas had played in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and was the team's first appearance in the state since 1965. The number six-ranked Longhorns were the highest rank team the Knights had ever played. UCF coach
George O'Leary said prior to the game, "When you talk about elite teams, Texas is an elite team from an athletics, traditions and overall standpoint."
Several Longhorn players missed the game due to injuries or suspensions. Starting defensive end Brian Orakpo missed his second straight game as a result of suffering a knee sprain against Arkansas State. Starting offensive tackle Adam Ulatoski was listed as doubtful. Backup quarterback Sherrod Harris was also injured and had not seen action since spraining his knee on August 12. Wide receiver Jordan Shipley participated in his first game since a preseason injury.
Defensive end Henry Melton, linebacker Sergio Kindle and receiver Billy Pittman were serving the last game of their three-game suspensions.
On September 13, Tyrell Gatewood joined Andre Jones and Robert Joseph in receiving an indefinite suspension due to alleged illegal activities.
The day prior to the game, sports books in Las Vegas picked Texas to win by 18 points.
A sell-out crowd greeted the Longhorns in Florida. UCF received the opening kickoff in their end-zone and took a
touchback
In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to tra ...
.
UCF was not able to get a first down and before punting the ball to Texas. The Horns drove inside the UCF 20-yard line before being stopped on fourth-and-short and settling for a field goal.
On their second possession, the Knights drove the ball down the field for a touchdown and a four-point lead.
Shortly thereafter,
lightning
Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...
was spotted near the stadium and both teams were sent into their locker rooms for approximately 15 minutes before play resumed.
Texas' first drive after the delay culminated in a six-yard touchdown pass to Nate Jones. When the first quarter ended, the Longhorns had a three-point lead and the Knights had the ball. In the second quarter, the Longhorns and the Knights each fumbled inside the UCF ten-yard line. Texas scored ten points in the quarter to UCF's three. The score at halftime was 20–10, Texas.
![UCF at the Texas goal line](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/UCF_at_the_Texas_goal_line.jpg)
Texas began the scoring in the third quarter with a 49-yard field goal. UCF needed just five plays to reply with a touchdown and cut Texas' lead to 23–17. After two punts by the Horns and one by the Knights, UCF turned the ball over on downs. On the next play, McCoy threw an interception and UCF's resulting drive culminated in a touchdown to give the Knights a 24–23 lead with 13:38 left in the game. The Longhorns regained the lead with two field goals and a touchdown. A Longhorn attempt at a
two-point conversion
In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...
failed, making the score 35–24.
This decision was later criticized by commentators who said that the decision allowed UCF a chance to tie the game.
With 2:14 remaining, Longhorn Jamaal Charles committed his second fumble of the game. UCF recovered the ball and completed a touchdown and a two-point conversion to cut Texas' lead to 35–32 with 35 seconds remaining. When the Knights were unable to recover their onside kick attempt, Texas was able to run out the clock and preserve a three-point victory.
Jamaal Charles of Texas rushed 22 times for 157 yards and Kevin Smith of UCF rushed 27 times for 150 yards for UCF. McCoy completed 68% of his passes for a total of 227 yards; UCF's
Kyle Israel completed 35% of his passes for a total of 133 yards. McCoy's 47 passing attempts tied a UT single-game record. His 32 completions set a new school record, besting the 30 completed by
Vince Young
Vincent Paul Young Jr. (born May 18, 1983) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons. Young was drafted by the Tennessee Titans as the third overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, and ...
during the
2006 Rose Bowl
The 2006 Rose Bowl Game, played on January 4, 2006 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was an American college football bowl game that served as the BCS National Championship Game for the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. It feature ...
and by
Major Applewhite
Major Lee Applewhite (born July 26, 1978) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the South Alabama Jaguars. He served as head coach at the University of Houston from ...
during two 1999 games. Due to his performance in the game, Texas cornerback Brandon Foster was named the Big 12's defensive player of the week. For the second week in a row, Foster scored a touchdown on defense. Foster was recognized by the conference the previous week for his work on
special teams
In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...
, making him the first Longhorn to get back-to-back conference honors since running back
Hodges Mitchell in 2000. Kicker Ryan Bailey tied a school record with five field goals. Combined with his previous attempts, the five kicks made him seven-of-nine for the season at that point.
Rice
Prior to the 2007 season, Texas and
Rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...
had competed in football on 89 prior occasions. The series, which began in 1914, is the fourth oldest (by number of games) in Texas history.
The Owls were 21-67-1 against Texas heading into the game,
including the
sixth-longest streak of one college football team winning over another team.
After their narrow victory over the UCF Knights, the Longhorns remained in sixth place in the coaches’ poll and dropped from sixth to seventh place in the Associated Press poll. Jeff Sagarin, whose computer rankings are used as a component of the
Bowl Championship Series rankings, had the Longhorns at number twelve coming into the game. Sagarin's system had Rice ranked as the worst team in Division I-A and 181st in the country, behind many
I-AA teams. Four days prior to the game, Las Vegas favored UT by 39 points.
The Longhorns suspended special teams player James Henry prior to the game,
but three Longhorn players—Billy Pittman, Henry Melton, and Sergio Kindle—were able to rejoin the team after serving three game suspensions. Brian Orakpo missed his third straight game due to an injury received in the season-opening game.
The Owls came into the game 0–3 after losing the previous week to
Texas Tech
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...
by a score of 59–24.
The Longhorns started the game on offense and had no success on their first drive. On the first play, Colt McCoy threw an incompletion, and on the second play, Jamaal Charles fumbled the ball to the Owls. The Texas defense held Rice to a field goal attempt, which was no good. Texas scored a touchdown on a 13-play drive that included converting a 4th-and-two situation.
The Longhorns extended their lead to 41–0 before Rice scored a touchdown with 18 seconds left in the first half. In the second half, Texas scored two touchdowns and one field goal, and Rice scored one touchdown. Texas won 58–14.
![UT band during Rice game](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/UT_band_during_Rice_game.jpg)
McCoy completed 20 of his 29 passing attempts, accumulating 333 yards through the air.
For the first time in the season, he did not throw an interception.
McCoy and most of the Longhorn starting players were replaced by backups after the first drive of the second half.
True freshman quarterback
John Chiles made his first appearance as a Texas player in the first quarter, when he participated in a single play. He came out of the game after the play before returning in the third quarter as McCoy's replacement. On his first drive, Chiles led the Longhorns 80 yards to a touchdown, carrying the ball 4 times for 49 yards. He also threw one incomplete pass (one of two he threw in the game) and handed off to
Vondrell McGee three times for thirty-one yards.
Redshirt
Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi
* Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...
freshman Sherrod Harris replaced Chiles for the final two drives of the game.
Chiles' strong performance immediately led to media speculation as to how the Longhorns could get him more playing time.
McGee was the game's leading rusher, and had 8 carries for 80 yards. Jamaal Charles rushed 14 times for 72 yards, and John Chiles ran 9 times for 72 yards.
Limas Sweed was the leading receiver with 5 catches for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns
as he set a new career high for receiving yards in a single game. Sergio Kindle injured his knee, and defensive end Eddie Jones injured his shoulder, but neither injury was thought to be serious.
Kansas State
![Colt McCoy passing against KSU cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Colt_McCoy_passing_against_KSU_cropped.jpg)
Texas first played Kansas State in 1913 and held a record of 5–4–0 in the series prior to 2007.
Since the
Kansas State Wildcats belong to the north division of the Big 12 Conference, Texas plays KSU two out of every four years.
In the
2006 meeting, fourth-ranked Texas was favored by 16 points over an unranked Kansas State team;
Colt McCoy was injured early in the game and KSU went on to defeat Texas 45–42.
This defeat snapped the Longhorns' 17-game road winning streak as well as the national-best 21-game conference winning steak.
One day prior to the 2007 game, Las Vegas casinos picked Texas to win by 15 points.
Kansas State got the ball to start the game and scored a touchdown on their opening drive. Texas answered with a touchdown on a drive that featured backup quarterback John Chiles in the game alongside Colt McCoy for some plays. The first quarter ended with the score tied 7–7.
In the second quarter, Kansas State took a 24–14 lead
and Colt McCoy was injured and headed to the locker room just before halftime. McCoy came back as the Longhorn quarterback at the start of the third quarter,
but Texas was never able to erase the deficit and lost, 41–21.
With about two minutes left in the game, McCoy again headed to the locker room early and Chiles led the Longhorns' last drive.
![UT alumni band during KSU game 2007 cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/UT_alumni_band_during_KSU_game_2007_cropped.jpg)
McCoy threw for 200 yards and had four interceptions
during the worst performance of his college career.
''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
'' selected him as one of the season's 10 "Most Disappointing College Players" and noted that his nine interceptions thrown to that point in 2007 were already two more than he threw during the entire 2006 season. Kansas State had no turnovers and scored 21 points on defense and special teams.
The Wildcats scored one touchdown on a punt return, one on a kick return, and one on an interception. Previously, Texas had never allowed all three types of scores in a single season.
The 41 points were the most scored against Texas in Austin since UCLA handed the Longhorns a 66–3 loss in 1997.
The loss to Kansas State was the worst home defeat in the Mack Brown era at Texas.
Stewart Mandel of ''Sports Illustrated'' listed several factors that contributed to the Longhorns' struggles. He cited the off-field problems as evidence that no UT player has been able to show the superior leadership skills of Vince Young. Mandel said that McCoy, still only a sophomore, had not been able to completely fill that gap and that McCoy's play had not been as good as during 2006. He also said part of the blame should be placed on an offensive line that lost several starters and had not been able to consistently protect McCoy. Finally, he noted that the running game had been "equally inconsistent".
The win over UT was the Wildcats' first road victory over a top–ten team in school history.
Oklahoma
![2007 Torchlight parade at the UT tower](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/2007_Torchlight_parade_at_the_UT_tower.jpg)
The game against the
2007 Oklahoma Sooners football team marked the 102nd meeting of the
Red River Shootout
The Oklahoma–Texas football rivalry is a college football rivalry game between border rivals Oklahoma and Texas. The two teams first played each other in 1900, and the rivalry has been renewed annually and uninterrupted since 1929 for a tota ...
, which has been called one of the greatest sports rivalries in college football.
It is Texas' second-longest running rivalry, just behind its rivalry with Texas A&M.
Prior to 2007, Texas led the series 57–39–5,
including the last two consecutive wins.
The last match-up was a 28–10 Longhorn victory.
Since 1929, the game has been held at the
Cotton Bowl in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
typically in mid-October with the
State Fair of Texas
The State Fair of Texas is an annual state fair held in Dallas at historic Fair Park. The fair has taken place every year since 1886 except for varying periods during World War I and World War II as well as 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It ...
occurring adjacent to the stadium.
CBS Sportsline.com
CBSSports.com (formerly CBS SportsLine.com and SportsLine USA) is an American sports news website operated by Paramount Streaming, itself a division of Paramount Global. It is the website for CBS's CBS Sports division that features news, high ...
listed the game sixth on its list of games to watch during the 2007 season, saying, "The annual Red River Shootout in Dallas will once again feature two top-ten teams with the winner being the front-runner for not only a Big 12 title but a factor in the national title picture. The game will also feature one of the best match-ups of the year with Limas Sweed and Billy Pittman of the Longhorns facing against Oklahoma's excellent secondary."
Like Texas, Oklahoma suffered a defeat one week before the Red River Shootout, losing to the
Colorado Buffaloes
The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffalo ...
. Texas' loss pushed it to number 16 in the coaches poll and number 19 in the AP poll; OU fell to number 10 in both polls. The ranking marked Texas' 114th straight week to be listed in the AP poll, the longest active streak in the country
and tying the school record.
The Longhorns had been ranked 142 straight weeks in the coaches poll, the longest UT streak in any poll and the country's longest active streak in the coaches poll.
On the morning of the Red River Shootout, oddsmakers favored Oklahoma to win by 12–13 points.
![2007 Red River Shootout kickoff](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/2007_Red_River_Shootout_kickoff.jpg)
The game was a back-and-forth affair ultimately won by Oklahoma, 28–21. OU's freshman quarterback,
Sam Bradford
Samuel Jacob Bradford (born November 8, 1987) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, most notably with the St. Louis Rams and Minnesota Vikings. He was also a member of the ...
, was 21–of–32 for 244 yards and 3 touchdowns. UT's McCoy was 19–of–26 for 324 yards and two touchdowns,
earning the most passing yardage against an Oklahoma team since the
2004-season National Championship Game vs.
USC. McCoy threw one interception, and Jamaal Charles lost a fumble inside the Oklahoma five yard-line.
For the second straight week, the Texas defense did not cause any turnovers.
McCoy, who suffered a concussion the previous week, played the game with his throwing arm bandaged from mid-forearm to biceps and took four
sacks and a blind-side late hit after one play had been whistled dead.
With the loss, Texas opened conference play 0–2 for the first time since 1956.
A bright spot for the Horns was tight end
Jermichael Finley
Jermichael Decorean Finley (born March 26, 1987) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. With the Packers, he attended the Super Bowl XLV win over the Pittsburg ...
, who caught four passes for 149 yards.
Jamaal Charles ran for 79 yards and John Chiles carried once for four yards. Counting the sacks to McCoy, Texas had a total of 61 yards rushing.
![McCoy and Chiles in pre-game warmups Red River Shootout 2007 crop2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/McCoy_and_Chiles_in_pre-game_warmups_Red_River_Shootout_2007_crop2.jpg)
Receiver
Limas Sweed
Limas Lee Sweed Jr. (born December 25, 1984) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He was part of their Super Bowl XLIII championship team, beating the A ...
left the game early because he re-injured his left wrist. He later had surgery to tighten the ligaments in the wrist
but the injury ended his collegiate career.
The Austin American-Statesman reported "
Quan Cosby
Quantwan Juaray Cosby (born December 23, 1982) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football ...
likely will move to Sweed's spot at split end, with
Nate Jones moving to flanker. The Longhorns likely will decide between
Billy Pittman
Billy Pittman (born September 19, 1984) is a former American football player. He played college football as a wide receiver for the University of Texas Longhorns from 2003 to 2007 and was the leading receiver on the 2005 Texas team that won the ...
and
Jordan Shipley
Jordan Shipley (born December 23, 1985) is a former American football wide receiver. Shipley played college football for the University of Texas, and received consensus All-American recognition. He was picked by the Cincinnati Bengals in the t ...
at slot receiver when Texas is in its base, three-receiver set."
Defensive end
Aaron Lewis
Aaron Lewis (born April 13, 1972) is an American musician who is best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and founding member of the nu metal band Staind, with whom he released seven studio albums. Since 2010, he has pursued a solo ca ...
fractured his elbow in the game and was taken out of the lineup indefinitely.
The Austin American-Statesman reported "A depth chart issued Monday shows Lamarr Houston moving to Lewis' spot at power end, with Brian Orakpo regaining his starting job at quick end. The Longhorns have been dealing with injuries at defensive end all season."
Fullback
Luke Tiemann also required surgery to repair a broken wrist,
but was expected to miss only two games.
![2007 Red River Shootout viewed from the skyway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/2007_Red_River_Shootout_viewed_from_the_skyway.jpg)
Jeff Duarte of the
Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...
made note of Charles' fumble, McCoy's interception and the low rushing yardage. He said, "the Texas Longhorns went back and forth with Oklahoma for most of the game Saturday before eventually succumbing to the same problems that have taken them from a Top 10 ranking to the verge of dropping out of the national polls for the first time in seven years." The win kept the Sooners in position to win the south division of the Big12 Conference and could even allow them back into the national championship race.
Asked to assess his personal performance after the loss to Kansas State, Colt McCoy said, "I think I've had some bad luck, I'm definitely a better quarterback, definitely more experienced—I've just had some bad luck. Things that can go the wrong way, have gone the wrong way — tipped balls and that stuff."
He also said there was room for improvement, "Teams are blitzing us a lot more. We've handled it well for the most part, but there's so many things we can do better... If you ask every person on this offense, they'll tell you there's something individually they can do better."
After the loss to Oklahoma, Mack Brown said he did not want to hear about bad luck, "By saying we're unlucky is just a cop-out, this game isn't about luck. If you knock balls loose you should get on them. If you tip balls in the air you should catch them. We're not going to have any excuses." Brown cited the lack of big plays on defense, particularly the lack of forced turnovers, as a problem for Texas. Both Brown and Greg Davis hinted that Jamaal Charles could face less playing time as a result of his problems hanging onto the ball.
Iowa State
Texas first played Iowa State in 1979, and the Longhorns had won all six matchups coming into the 2007 season.
Their last meeting in 2006 concluded with a 37–14 Texas victory.
The
Cyclones football team was coached by
Gene Chizik
Eugene C. Chizik Jr. (born December 28, 1961) is an American football coach who is currently the Assistant Head Coach for Defense at North Carolina. A veteran of the coaching ranks, Chizik previously was UNC's defensive coordinator for the 2015 ...
who was co-defensive coordinator for Texas from 2005–2006.
Like Texas, the Cyclones were 0–2 in conference play, but they had only a 1–5 record overall. Their lone victory of the season had been against Iowa when they made a game-winning 28-yard field goal with :01 remaining.
As with Kansas State, Texas plays the Cyclones two out of every four years as part of the Big 12 Conference schedule.
Despite losses to Kansas State and Oklahoma, Texas remained in the Top 25 coming into the game with Iowa State. The Horns were number 22 in the USA Today coaches poll and number 23 in the Associated Press media poll. Texas extended its streak in the coaches poll to 143 weeks and its streak in the AP poll to 115 weeks. Mack Brown said that he would not change the game plan in facing Chizik but that he needed to adjust sideline signals and snap counts since they were known to the former Texas co-coordinator.
![Texas vs Iowa State 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Texas_vs_Iowa_State_2007.jpg)
The Austin American-Statesman predicted Iowa State's quarterback
Bret Meyer Bret or BRET may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Bret (given name), a personal name, including a list of people and fictional characters
* Bret (surname), a list of people
Other uses
* a regional name for either the brill or the ...
and wide receiver
Todd Blythe
Todd Blythe (born March 31, 1985) is a former gridiron football player who played in the Arena Football League (AFL). He was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Iowa State Universit ...
would pose the biggest threat for the Longhorns. The paper also called the Cyclones the worst team in the Big 12 North and predicted that Texas would be 2–2 in conference play after facing Iowa State and Baylor, the worst team in the south division. The Daily Texan reported that the game offered an opportunity for Gene Chizik to get a "signature win" if his team could beat Texas. Two days prior to the game, oddsmakers favored Texas to win by 16 points.
The Longhorns were in control from the beginning and routed Iowa State 56–3, the worst loss for the Cyclones since 1997.
Iowa State got the ball to start the game and made a first down with a pass from Bret Meyer to Todd Blythe. The UT defense prevented them from gaining another first down and the Cyclones punted from their own 37 yard-line; Texas took over at their 42 yard-line.
On the first play from scrimmage, Colt McCoy scrambled away from a blitz and saw that Jordan Shipley had broken off his route and was 10 yards behind any Cyclone defender. Shipley caught the pass from McCoy and sped away from the Cyclones to score a 58-yard touchdown.
From that point, the Longhorns never relinquished the lead. They led 14–3 at the end of the first quarter and 28–3 at halftime. In the second half, Texas added another 28–points, en route to a 56–3 blowout.
The Longhorns' success passing the ball eventually gave way to the running game. John Chiles led the Longhorns with 54 yards on 9 carries. McCoy rushed for 50 yards, while Jamaal Charles carried the ball 7 times for 44 yards. The Longhorns finished with 514 total yards – 298 via the air, and 216 on the ground.
The Longhorns forced three turnovers, including two interceptions, without surrendering any themselves. Brandon Foster intercepted a pass from Bret Meyer and returned it for a 39-yard touchdown. Deon Beasley also picked off Meyer, who completed only 17 passes for 111 yards and no touchdowns.
![Iowa State band at halftime 2007 vs Texas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Iowa_State_band_at_halftime_2007_vs_Texas.jpg)
Texas
fullback Antwan Cobb sprained his left
anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament
Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...
late in the game, an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season. Cobb's injury left the Longhorns without a true fullback, although they had not utilized the position often during the season. The only other fullback on the team, Luke Tiemann, was expected to miss one more week with a wrist injury. Mack Brown said Chris Ogbonnaya, the second-team tailback, would move to fullback for the Baylor game. Freshman tight end Blaine Irby had taken some practice at fullback and could also be used in that position.
Robert Killebrew was benched after committing two personal foul penalties, a consistent problem for him in the 2007 season.
Without a veteran fullback, Texas planned to either run the ball out of the
shotgun formation
The shotgun formation is a formation used by the offensive team in gridiron football mainly for passing plays, although some teams use it as their base formation. Instead of the quarterback receiving the snap from center at the line of scrimmag ...
or simply focus on the passing game.
Representatives from the
Holiday Bowl
The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has ...
were in attendance. According to the Austin Statesman, one of them said, "We’d love to have Texas, but they’re still hoping to wind up at the Fiesta Bowl."
In order to reach the
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been pla ...
, Texas needed Oklahoma to lose two games, giving Texas a spot in the
Big 12 Conference Championship game, which Texas would then have to win. Another possibility was for Oklahoma to make it to the
National Championship game and Texas being selected for an at-large
Bowl Championship Series bid."
Baylor
![Marcus Griffin interception2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Marcus_Griffin_interception2.jpg)
The game against Baylor was played in
Floyd Casey Stadium in
Waco, Texas
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...
, approximately 100 miles (161 km) north on
Interstate 35
Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...
from Austin, the home of the University of Texas. Because home UT games are usually a sell-out, Texas games at Baylor have found numerous Texas fans driving to Waco to watch the game.
The Longhorns first played the
Baylor Bears in 1901 and faced them annually during the days of the
Southwest Conference
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...
. In the 96 meetings through 2006, Texas' record against the Bears was 70 wins, 22 losses, and 4 ties. The rivalry with Baylor is Texas' third-longest by number of games: only Oklahoma and Texas A&M have faced Texas more times on the football field.
Texas won the
2006 meeting 63–31.
In the week prior to the 2007 game, Baylor assistant coach
Eric Schnupp was charged with a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct and reckless exposure after he allegedly urinated on the bar of a Waco nightclub. He was suspended indefinitely from the program. Baylor's starting quarterback,
Blake Szymanski, was questionable for the game because of a mild concussion he suffered in a game against Kansas.
Although Szymanski had been physically cleared to play, back-up quarterbacks Michael Machen and John David Weed were sharing snaps in practice and Baylor coaches said any one of them could get the start against Texas.
Two days prior to the game, oddsmakers favored Texas to win by 25 points.
The game was initially a close-fought contest; Texas led by only a touchdown before Deon Beasley intercepted a pass at the Baylor 43-yard line with nine minutes remaining in the game.
Texas scored two more touchdowns to outlast the Bears in a 31–10 victory.
Texas accumulated 293 passing yards, all by McCoy, compared to 284 by Machen and Weed of Baylor. Vondrell McGee was the leading rusher for Texas, contributing 57 of the team's 177 yards. Baylor's Jay Finley was the Bears' leading rusher, but Baylor was held to only 8 yards rushing overall because of the sacks forced by the Texas defense. It was the tenth straight victory for UT over Baylor.
Nebraska
Texas first played the Nebraska
Cornhuskers
The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...
in 1933, and the Longhorns held a 7–4–0 record against Nebraska though 2006.
As with Kansas State and Iowa State, Texas plays the Cornhuskers two out of every four years as part of the Big 12 Conference schedule.
On the morning of the game, oddsmakers favored Texas to win by 21 points.
The weather forecast called for a high of and sunshine with winds NNE at to . Texas stuck with their passing game for three quarters and was trailed Nebraska most of the way; the Cornhuskers led 17–9 to start the fourth quarter. The Associated Press reported, "Once Texas figured out it should be running against one of the nation's worst run defenses, things turned out all right for the Longhorns."
Early in the fourth quarter, McCoy took a hard hit as he scrambled outside the pocket. He was shaken up badly enough to leave the game for a play. John Chiles came in at quarterback; his one play, a
zone-read handoff to Jamaal Charles, produced 24 yards. According to the Associated Press recap of the game, "suddenly Texas had figured out how to beat a Cornhuskers' team that had been steamrolled on the ground in recent weeks. Texas only threw three passes in the fourth quarter."
Once Texas switched to the
zone read offense, they quickly started gaining yards and points. Charles ran for a career-high 290 yards, including 216 yards and three long touchdown runs in the fourth quarter. His tally also set a new record for rushing against the Cornhuskers, surpassing the old record of 247 yards by Oklahoma's
Billy Simms. Charles explained "It was my time to show everyone what I can do. When I saw a hole, I blasted through it."
Texas finished with 181 yards passing and 364 yards rushing; Nebraska had 315 yards passing and 132 yards rushing. The running back was named the
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...
Football Foundation National Offensive Player of the Week.
The game was a milestone for one coach and a millstone for another; it was the 100th win for Mack Brown at Texas; and it put more pressure on beleaguered Nebraska coach
Bill Callahan. Brown remarked on his victory, "A hundred is nice. I knew the game was going to come down like it did. It didn’t surprise me. They made sure that I’ll remember it the rest of my life."
Callahan was fired five weeks later.
Oklahoma State
![Texas at OSU 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Texas_at_OSU_2007.jpg)
From 1916 through 2006, Texas had played the
Oklahoma State Cowboys football
The Oklahoma State Cowboys football program represents Oklahoma State University–Stillwater in college football. The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference and competes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Cowboys are ...
(OSU) program 21 times and held a 19–2–0 record.
Texas came into the 2007 game with a nine-game active winning streak against OSU. The Cowboys' only two victories occurred in 1944 and 1997.
The day before the 2007 game, oddsmakers favored Texas to win by 3 points.
The pre-game festivities included an appearance by
Challenger, the first
bald eagle ever trained to free-fly into sports stadiums, and a fly-over by four
F-16 Fighting Falcons
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...
from the
Oklahoma Air National Guard
The Oklahoma Air National Guard (OK ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Oklahoma, United States of America. It is, along with the Oklahoma Army National Guard, an element of the Oklahoma National Guard.
As state militia units, the units in ...
's
138th Fighter Wing
The 138th Fighter Wing (138 FW) is a unit of the Oklahoma Air National Guard, stationed at the Tulsa Air National Guard Base at Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If activated to federal service as a United States Air Force unit, th ...
piloted by Oklahoma State alumni.
In the 2007 game, Oklahoma State took an early lead and led 35–14 at the start of the fourth quarter. For the fourth time in five years, the Longhorns staged a big rally to win the game. This time, Texas overcame a 21-point fourth quarter deficit to win by three points as time expired in the game.
It was the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in
Texas Longhorn
The Texas Longhorn is an American breed of beef cattle, characterized by its long horns, which can span more than from tip to tip. It derives from cattle brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the Americas by Spanish conquistadores from the t ...
history.
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...
selected Jamaal Charles and Jacob Lacey as their players of the game for Texas and Oklahoma State, respectively.
Charles averaged 11.3 yards per carry.
ESPN remarked, "For the second straight week, Jammal Charles led a late charge for the 15th-ranked Longhorns. He scored two of his three touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Texas (No. 14 AP) outscored Oklahoma State 24–0 in the final 15 minutes."
OSU's leading rusher was Dantrell Savage with 102 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries. McCoy was 20 of 28 passing attempts for 283 yards. He had one touchdown pass and three interceptions; he also rushed for 105 yards.
Zac Robinson was 30 of 42 for 427 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions. Robinson's passing yardage broke the school record, previously held by current head-coach
Mike Gundy
Michael Ray Gundy (born August 12, 1967) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at Oklahoma State University. Gundy played college football at Oklahoma State, where he played quarterback from 1986 to 1989. ...
. Together, the teams had 1,170 yards of offense.
The 594 yards allowed by Texas was the most in the 2007 season.
Oklahoma State ran 87 plays and used 35:11 minutes of ball possession, compared to 70 plays and 24:49 for Texas.
The Longhorns suffered several injuries during the game. According to the
Austin American-Statesman, "Center Dallas Griffin left the game with a knee injury, linebacker Jared Norton left with a right shoulder injury and Eddie Jones left with a shoulder injury. Brandon Foster injured his chest in the third quarter, and Drew Kelson left the game with a left knee injury."
The paper also reported that Griffin's removal from the game may have contributed to several mistakes in
snapping the ball to McCoy and that UT might not have been able to win if any of the resulting handling mistakes had been picked up by OSU.
Texas Tech
![2007 Tech at Texas Flag](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/2007_Tech_at_Texas_Flag.jpg)
Texas' rivalry with the
Texas Tech Red Raiders
The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams use the "Red Raider ...
began in 1928 and through 2006, the Longhorns were 42–14–0 against Tech.
In the
2006 contest, fifth-ranked Texas barely came away with a 35–31 win over an unranked Texas Tech team.
Two days before the 2007 game, oddsmakers favored Texas to win by 6½ points.
Pre-game speculation continued about what bowl game might select Texas. Various media predictions included the
Gator Bowl,
Cotton Bowl Classic
The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...
, and
Holiday Bowl
The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has ...
. Holiday Bowl executive director Bruce Binkowski said his bowl would be very interested in pitting Texas against the
USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred ...
, whom Texas defeated in the
2006 Rose Bowl
The 2006 Rose Bowl Game, played on January 4, 2006 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was an American college football bowl game that served as the BCS National Championship Game for the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. It feature ...
. A BCS bowl was also still mentioned as a possibility, with ''Sports Illustrated'' saying the Orange Bowl could take Texas.
Texas Center Dallas Griffin injured his
anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament
Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...
against Oklahoma State and was out for the season. Griffin was a senior, meaning his career with the Longhorns ended due to the injury.
Backup defensive end Eddie Jones and reserve safety Drew Kelson were also out for the game against Texas Tech.
Linebackers Jared Norton and Sergio Kindle were listed as "questionable" and "probable", respectively.
The Red Raiders were 7–3 on the season and 3–3 in the Big 12 after beating Baylor 37–7 in their most recent game. Quarterback
Graham Harrell
Graham Stanton Harrell (born May 22, 1985) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current offensive coordinator for the Purdue Boilermakers. He played college football at Texas Tech from 2004 to 2008. He played in the ...
passed for over 4,000 yards for the second season in a row, becoming the fifth quarterback in NCAA Division I-FBS (formerly Division I-A) to have multiple 4,000-yard seasons. The Austin American-Statesman reported, "Defensively, Texas must hope that the injured are quick healers because it's a given that the Longhorns will need every available body against the Red Raiders. Texas Tech fields the most dynamic passing offense in the country, and the Red Raiders also stay on the field an average of 77.3 plays per game. Tech further frustrates a defense by often going for fourth downs. They've been successful on 14 of 23 fourth-down attempts this season. A year ago, Tech was one of three on fourth downs in a 35-31 loss to Texas."
With the game falling on
Veterans Day
Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces (who were discharged under conditions other than d ...
weekend, a
pre-game ceremony
A pre-game ceremony or pre-match ceremony is an on-field ceremony occurring before a sporting event. Such ceremonies may celebrate a past event, honour a retiring athlete, commemorate a deceased athlete, or promote a cause.
Celebrating past event ...
honored veterans and commemorated the 60th year of Texas'
ROTC program. Four army helicopters from
Fort Hood
Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarter ...
flew over the stadium after the
national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
. It was also Senior Day for Texas, with 25 players making their last home game appearance. As a group, they had a 42–6 record coming into the game, which represented the third-highest win total for any Texas class. The temperature at kickoff was 84 degrees.
On their first offensive series, the Horns scored a touchdown on a pass from McCoy to Shipley. Their defense held Tech to a field goal. Texas offensive tackle
Tony Hills
Tony Hills is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Mark Homer from 7 September 1995 to 15 April 1999.
Storylines
Tony arrives in Walford from Norfolk on 7 September 1995 with his sister, Sarah Hills (Daniell ...
injured his leg and left the game on a cart. Texas scored another touchdown on a run by Vondrell McGee to create a 14–3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Tech's Graham Harrell threw a touchdown pass and Texas answered with a rushing touchdown. On the ensuing kick, Texas used a
pooch kick which was tipped by a Texas Tech player. The Longhorns' kickoff team recovered the ball, helping put their offense to rush for another touchdown. Tech brought the game to 28–20 with another touchdown. Texas drove into field goal range but tried to throw a touchdown pass with 11 seconds remaining in the half. The pass was intercepted for a
touchback
In American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by an official when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to tra ...
and the Red Raiders ran a short play to end the half.
Jamal Charles and tight end Jermichael Finley were injured in the second half but were able to return. In the fourth quarter, McCoy suffered a cut to his head but he did not miss any plays due to the injury. McCoy threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more. Both teams kept running their first team offense until late in the game; they combined for 47 points in the final 12 minutes
and each scored a touchdown within the final two minutes of play.
Tech attempted two
onside kick
In gridiron football, an onside kick is a kickoff deliberately kicked short in an attempt by the kicking team to regain possession of the ball. This is in contrast with a typical kickoff, in which the kicking team intends to give the ball to the ...
s in an effort to come from behind, but Texas recovered both kicks.
During his post-game
press conference
A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...
, Texas Tech head coach
Mike Leach excoriated the officiating crew for incompetence and bias.
He speculated that the officials may have favored Texas because the head official lived in Austin, because the officials were incompetent, or because the conference wanted Texas to appear in a BCS bowl because of the increased appearance fees that such a bowl generates for the conference.
Jim Vertuno of the Associated Press wrote "Leach was upset officials disallowed two Tech touchdowns in the third quarter. The first was overruled when video replay clearly showed the receiver let the ball hit the ground. On the next play, a touchdown pass was negated by a holding penalty. Leach also wanted, but didn't get, a flag for roughing the quarterback."
The ''
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal'' reported, "Big 12 policy prohibits coaches from commenting publicly about game officials, so Leach's actions leave him open to reprimand, fine or worse."
ESPN reported, "Leach's rant will likely draw a fine from the league and possibly a suspension." The Big 12 fined Leach $10,000, the largest fine in conference history.
The win ensured that 2007 was the 10th straight season the Longhorns won nine or more games, a record streak for the Horns. Including Mack Brown's final two seasons at
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
, Brown became the only coach in the nation to lead his program to nine or more victories in 12 straight seasons.
Texas A&M
![2007 Texas at TAMU](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/2007_Texas_at_TAMU.jpg)
This game marked the 114th meeting between the Aggies and the
Texas Longhorns
The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...
and was the fourth year of a multi-sport rivalry named the
Lone Star Showdown
The Lone Star Showdown is the traditional rivalry for all varsity men's and women's athletics competitions between Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin. The name comes from ''Lone Star State'', which is the nickname of the s ...
. The football rivalry began in 1894 and continues to be the longest-running rivalry for both the Longhorns and the Aggies; it is the third-longest rivalry in NCAA Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football. Texas A&M came into the 2007 contest with a 35–73–5 record against Texas.
Since the series began in 1894, the game has traditionally been played on
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
or Thanksgiving weekend.
The 2007 game marks the fourteenth straight game to be scheduled the day after Thanksgiving.
The Aggies scored on their opening possession with a 35-yard touchdown with a
screen pass
A screen pass is a play in gridiron football consisting of a short pass to a receiver who is protected by a screen of blockers. During a screen pass, a number of things happen concurrently in order to fool the defense into thinking a long pass is b ...
from
Stephen McGee
Stephen Richard McGee (born September 27, 1985) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was ...
to
Mike Goodson
Michael Darryl Goodson Jr. (born May 23, 1987) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Texas A&M. Goodson was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He also played for the ...
. The Longhorns mustered two first downs, but were forced to
punt. Texas A&M ended their subsequent drive three plays later with a punt of their own. The Longhorns again successfully penetrated into Texas A&M territory, but Mack Brown opted to call a
pooch punt by Colt McCoy on fourth down and four from the Aggie 37-yard line. The Aggies answered with an eighteen-play drive that stalled on the Texas-14 yard line and the Aggies had to settle for a 31-yard field goal by
Matt Szymanski.
The second quarter started with the Longhorns driving only six yards and being forced to punt again. The Aggies continued to press their advantage and drove down the field until Stephen McGee threw an ill-timed pass that was intercepted by Deon Beasley at the Longhorn 25. Two first-downs later, Texas was forced to punt and pinned Texas A&M on their own five yard line. Stephen McGee led the offense with several long passes and the Aggies drove to the Texas 5 but again were held short on 3rd down. On 4th and three, the Aggies
faked the field goal and the placeholder,
T.J. Sanders, ran the ball in for his first career touchdown giving the Aggies a 17–0 lead. The Longhorns started their next drive on their own 20-yard line, where Colt McCoy threw a 62-yard pass to Jamaal Charles. The drive stalled and the Longhorns had to settle for a field goal and went to halftime trailing their arch-rival, 17–3.
The third quarter started with promising drives by both teams, each ending when the ball was intercepted.
Brandon Foster ran the Longhorns' interception back to the A&M eight-yard line and Texas scored a touchdown on the next play to pull the Longhorns within seven points. The Aggies drove to the Texas 34 yard line, but the drive stalled out and Texas took over on downs as the fourth-down attempt failed. Colt McCoy fumbled a few plays later to give the ball back to Texas A&M. Five plays later, Stephen McGee scampered into the end zone for a five-yard touchdown to put the Aggies up 24–10. The Longhorns took little time to answer with a touchdown of their own. Quan Cosby returned the following kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown to pull Texas within seven once again. The next drive started on the Aggie 49-yard line, courtesy of a 42-yard
kickoff return
A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in gridiron football. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team". The receiving team is then entitled to ''return' ...
by
E.J. Shankle. The quarter ended on a seven-yard pass to Mike Goodson.
The final quarter of play began with A&M still moving the ball. Stephen McGee threw a 44-yard pass to Mike Goodson for a touchdown to put the Aggies ahead by the score of 31–17. The Longhorns again went
three and out
''Three and Out'' is a 2008 British black comedy film directed by Jonathan Gershfield and starring Mackenzie Crook, Colm Meaney, Gemma Arterton, Imelda Staunton, and Kerry Katona. It premiered in London on the 21 April 2008 and was released in ...
and were forced to punt. The Aggies went down the field quickly and scored another touchdown on a 66-yard pass completion to Earvin Taylor, putting Texas A&M up by 21 points. Colt McCoy fumbled the ball two plays later, but A&M was forced to punt the ball away three plays after recovering the fumble. McCoy and the Longhorn offense drove the length of the field to score a touchdown, taking only 99 seconds off the clock in the process. The Aggies lost seven yards over the next three plays and were forced again to punt. The Longhorns drove 73 yards from their own 27, converted two fourth downs, and scored a touchdown. Ryan Bailey missed the extra point, but left the Longhorns only down by eight points. The Aggies took possession on their own 33 and ran the clock out to win the game, 38–30.
During the postgame celebration, ABC commentator Jack Arute asked Dennis Franchione whether he would return to the team the following year. Coach Franchione responded by asking the announcer to let the players enjoy their victory. At the beginning of the subsequent press conference, Coach Franchione announced his resignation, effective immediately. Shortly thereafter, Texas A&M announced defensive coordinator Gary Darnell would lead the Aggies in their
bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...
.
Holiday Bowl
![UT cheerleaders San Diego 2007-12-26](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/UT_cheerleaders_San_Diego_2007-12-26.jpg)
The Longhorns concluded the season in the
2007 Holiday Bowl
The 2007 Pacific Life Holiday Bowl was a college football bowl game played December 27, 2007 in San Diego. It was part of the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season and one of 32 games in the 2007–08 bowl season. It featured the Texa ...
on December 27 against the
Arizona State Sun Devils
The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member ...
.
With the loss to Texas A&M, the Longhorns fell out of contention for a
Bowl Championship Series game; their bowl situation was to be decided largely by the play of other Big 12 teams. Number four
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
beat number two
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...
to win the Big 12 North Division.
Missouri rose to the top spot in the BCS rankings
prior to facing Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game. Oklahoma won the game to become the Big 12 Conference champion and secure a berth in the
2008 Fiesta Bowl
The 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game. It was part of the 2007–2008 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Played annually since 1971, first at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus o ...
. Even though Missouri defeated Kansas, won their division, and outranked Kansas in the BCS standings (sixth compared to eighth)
the
Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...
selected Kansas instead of Missouri to play in the
2008 Orange Bowl
The 2008 FedEx Orange Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Kansas Jayhawks on January 3, 2008, at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Spread bettors favored Virginia Tech by three ...
. The Tigers were invited to play in the
2008 Cotton Bowl Classic; the Cotton Bowl Classic had first pick of Big 12 teams after BCS bowls have made their selections. The
Holiday Bowl
The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has ...
had the next selection and chose Texas.
[ ]
Arizona State University was ranked number 11 in the BCS standings; they completed a 10–2 regular season and won a share of the Pac-10 Conference Championship. The Sun Devils finished the regular season ranked number 11 in the final BCS rankings, number 11 in Coaches poll and number 12 in the AP rankings while Texas was number 19 in the BCS and number 17 in both the coaches and AP rankings.
The Sun Devils were eligible for a BCS bowl themselves, but like Missouri, ASU was left out of the BCS selections.
Texas dominated the first quarter and set two Holiday Bowl records. The Longhorns' first score, a two-yard pass from Colt McCoy to nose tackle Derek Lokey, was the quickest in game history, and took place with 13:39 remaining in the first quarter. The Longhorns scored 21 points in the first quarter—two more than previous record-holder
SMU scored against BYU in 1980. Texas’ defense forced two turnovers and held the Sun Devils scoreless for the period.
The game included one of the most bizarre plays of the football season.
ASU's
Rudy Carpenter fumbled the ball as ASU was close to scoring a touchdown.
Chris Jessee, a member of the Longhorns football operations staff and Mack Brown's
stepson
A stepchild is the offspring of one's spouse, but not one's own offspring, either biologically or through adoption.
Stepchildren can come into a family in a variety of ways. A stepchild may be the child of one's spouse from a previous relationshi ...
, stepped onto the field and may or may not have touched the ball as it bounced near the sideline. The ball was recovered by Texas, seemingly preventing an ASU touchdown. However, after a twelve‑minute review, the officials awarded the ball to Arizona State; the Sun Devils scored a touchdown on the next play.
The Longhorns won the game, 52–34. The 52 points were the most ever scored by the Longhorns in a bowl game.
Joseph Duarte of the
Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...
called the Holiday Bowl the "biggest victory of the season in what could serve as a springboard for a preseason Top 10 ranking next season."
After the season
Two Longhorns were named to postseason
All-American lists. Marcus Griffin was selected to the ESPN list and
Tony Hills
Tony Hills is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Mark Homer from 7 September 1995 to 15 April 1999.
Storylines
Tony arrives in Walford from Norfolk on 7 September 1995 with his sister, Sarah Hills (Daniell ...
was selected by the
Walter Camp Football Foundation
The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...
.
Towards the end of the season, speculation intensified about which players might enter
professional football
In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...
though the
2008 NFL Draft. In November, Jamaal Charles said he would return for his senior season rather than enter professional football in the
NFL. In December, sources reported Charles and Jermichael Finley had filed paperwork with the
NFL to evaluate their draft potential if they decided to enter professional football in the NFL Draft instead of returning for their senior season. Quan Cosby, who spent three years in professional baseball, was reported to be still deciding whether to file the paperwork. Defensive tackle Roy Miller said he would definitely be back for his senior season. Mack Brown did not comment about specific players but said, "We always try to help our guys get as much information as possible when it comes to the NFL. We encourage and help them go through the process ... All of our underclassmen have told us they will be coming back, but if you're playing well enough to be considered an NFL prospect, going through the process can only help you better understand it and realize what you need to work on to improve your status."
Charles said he would not go pro unless he was predicted to be chosen in the first round of the draft.
After the Holiday Bowl Charles said, "Right now, I’m probably coming back. I didn’t think I did that good in the game. Next year maybe I’ll be up for the Heisman. I will come back." From 2000–2007, the Longhorns have had seven players taken in the first 10 picks of the NFL draft, more than any other school.
On January 2, 2008, Charles announced that he was rescinding his earlier decision and would leave Texas for the NFL. Despite skipping his senior year, Charles ranks fourth on the list of total rushing yards by a UT player, behind
Ricky Williams
Errick Miron (born Errick Lynne Williams Jr.; May 21, 1977) is an American former football running back who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the Canadian Football League (CFL).
After playing baseball ...
,
Cedric Benson
Cedric Myron Benson (December 28, 1982 – August 17, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns and was recognized as a co ...
, and
Earl Campbell
Earl Christian Campbell (born March 29, 1955), nicknamed "the Tyler Rose", is an American former professional football player who played as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints. K ...
, with 3,328 yards. Williams and Campbell each won the
Heisman Trophy in their senior seasons. With Charles' departure,
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Colt McCoy
Daniel "Colt" McCoy (born September 5, 1986) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas, where he won several awards and honors as a senior in 2009. McC ...
becomes the leading returning rusher for the Longhorns.
Tight end
The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...
Jermichael Finley
Jermichael Decorean Finley (born March 26, 1987) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. With the Packers, he attended the Super Bowl XLV win over the Pittsburg ...
also declared he would forgo his senior season to enter the NFL.
The draft concluded with five Longhorns selected: Limas Sweed (53rd pick), Jamaal Charles (73rd), Jermichael Finley (91st),
Tony Hills
Tony Hills is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Mark Homer from 7 September 1995 to 15 April 1999.
Storylines
Tony arrives in Walford from Norfolk on 7 September 1995 with his sister, Sarah Hills (Daniell ...
(130th), and
Frank Okam
Franklin Nonyelu Okam, Jr. (born October 16, 1985) is an American football coach and former defensive tackle who is the defensive line coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant co ...
(151st).
In addition,
Brandon Foster,
Marcus Griffin,
Nate Jones and
Derek Lokey agreed to sign free-agent contracts with NFL teams.
On January 2, 2008, the Longhorns announced that defensive co-coordinator Larry MacDuff would not return for the 2008 season
and Duane Akina was demoted to "Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Backs".
The Longhorns hired
Will Muschamp
William Lawrence Muschamp (born August 3, 1971) is an American football coach and former player. He is the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at the University of Georgia. He served as head football coach at the University of Florida fr ...
as defensive coordinator; he will also coach UT's
linebackers
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pla ...
.
Muschamp was defensive coordinator at
Auburn University and will earn a $425,000 salary at Texas.
Running backs coach Ken Rucker transferred to a newly created position with the athletic department where he will act as a liaison to
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
athletic programs. On January 16, 2008 Texas replaced Rucker by hiring former UT quarterback
Major Applewhite
Major Lee Applewhite (born July 26, 1978) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the South Alabama Jaguars. He served as head coach at the University of Houston from ...
.
References
External links
{{Texas Longhorns football navbox
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
Texas Longhorns football seasons
Holiday Bowl champion seasons
Texas Longhorns football
The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate team representing the University of Texas at Austin (variously Texas or UT) in the sport of American football. The Longhorns compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision ...