Meanwhile, this week before the annual Texas-OU weekend, there is more than the usual trepidation in Longhorn circles over the big game.

Most of the concern results from the hammering that the Longhorns took last Saturday to an unheralded but underrated UCLA team. But the seeds of this discontent actually have their root in what appear to be a series of decisions that Mack Brown made after the 2006 National Championship game.

Ever since Vince Young left the UT program, it appears that Brown and his offensive coordinator, the much-maligned Greg Davis, have been attempting to move the Longhorns offensive scheme away from the Spread Zone Read offense in which Young excelled to a pro-style scheme that balances the pass with a power running attack.

Frankly, Brown’s decision was not an unreasonable one. Talents such as Young come along only once every generation and the big downside to the Spread is the injury risk that it places on the QB. Texas experienced that risk in spades during the early stages of the last year’s National Championship Game when QB Colt McCoy was injured on an ill-conceived option play. McCoy was UT’s most effective rusher last season out of the Spread.

Moreover, Brown has been recruiting top defensive talent to Texas for years in large part on the premise that the players will be schooled in an pro-style defense that will prepare them for the NFL. It makes sense that Brown would want to recruit offensive players in the same manner. He can’t do that running the Spread, which will likely never be an effective pro offense.

Inasmuch as McCoy replaced Young and was quite comfortable in the Spread, Brown’s grand plan was delayed somewhat over the past four seasons. However, particularly last season, it was apparent that Brown and Davis were attempting to implement – with limited success – a more straight ahead power running attack than the the delay and trap blocks that are the hallmark of the Spread.

Now, this season, with sophomore QB Garrett Gilbert at the helm, Brown and Davis began the season firmly committed to implementation of the pro-style attack. However, as the offense sputtered through the first four games, Brown and Davis frantically find themselves trying to integrate the pro-style scheme with the Spread scheme that the players appear to feel more comfortable with. The result has been a mess, punctuated by UCLA shutting down the UT offense completely this past Saturday.

Not exactly the kind of warm and fuzzies that the Longhorn fan base wants to feel leading into this Saturday’s showdown with Oklahoma. Or the Horns’ next game two weeks later against no. 6 Nebraska, which is still itching from arguably favorable treatment that the Horns received from officials at the end of last year’s Big 12 Championship Game.

Inasmuch as Brown pretty much has the pick of the best assistant coaches and the best Texas high school players each season, how does he find himself in this situation?

Well, each football team has an identity, but every football program develops a culture that transcends a particular team’s identity. Brown is now attempting to change the offensive line culture at Texas from a Spread blocking unit to a power running unit.

The physical requirements and techniques are considerably different for blocking in the Spread than in an power running scheme. Changing the blocking techniques, the type of lineman recruited and sometimes even the assistant coaches doing the teaching takes time. Texas remains in the process of this cultural shift.

That’s why it sometimes appears that Brown and Davis are attempting to place a square peg – i.e., a bunch of Spread blocking offensive linemen – in the round hole of a pro-style power rushing attack. Add to that a group of running backs who are not dominant and before you know it, the Horns are not well-equipped to run either the Spread or a pro-style power rushing scheme.

So, what should UT do?

My sense is that the Horns should play to their strength, which is their defense. Play ball control on offense, limit turnovers, punt well, play excellent special teams and try to win as many games as possible by scores of 17-10 or 20-14. Heck, UT’s secondary is so talented that they are probably good for a score a game if the Horns emphasize field position and place the opposition’s offense in difficult positions. 

This is clearly a rebuilding year for UT, so a 3-4 loss season is certainly not out of the question. On the other hand, the Longhorn’s defense is really good and will keep the Horns in games in which the UT offensive mistakes don’t give the opposition too many easy scores.

For example, the Horns are quite capable of beating Oklahoma, which has also struggled during much of its first four games. But the Horns will not beat the Sooners if the Horns’ offense and special teams give OU the field position that UCLA enjoyed in the first half last Saturday.

Long term is another issue. Brown and Davis clearly need to re-assess the type of offensive linemen that they are recruiting if they want to complete the cultural shift to a pro-style offense. But even more troubling is that Texas is not attracting the top running back talent anymore — Texas does not have one of the top five RB’s in the Big 12 South on its current roster. Getting back to attracting dominant RB’s has a way of making even difficult transitions look better.

Given the Horns and Sooners’ problems, this may just be the season that one of these two teams finally wrests control of the Big 12 South title away from the Texas-Oklahoma stranglehold. The Oklahoma State-Texas A&M ESPN Thursday night game tonight should be a highly entertaining affair with yet another interesting subplot.

First-year Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen – who helped Kevin Sumlin develop the University of Houston’s devastating version of the Spread during the 2008 and 2009 seasons – is pitted once again against first-year Texas A&M defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, who was formerly at Air Force. Holgorsen and DeRuyter matched wits during three Houston-Air Force games during the 2008-2009 seasons.

DeRuyter clearly got the better of Holgorsen in their most recent matchup, which was Air Force’s decisive 2009 Armed Services Bowl victory when the Falcons forced UH QB Case Keenum into six interceptions and held UH to a relatively paltry 331 yards of total offense.

However, Holgorsen got the better of DeRuyter in the two previous games. One was Houston’s 2008 Armed Services Bowl victory when the Cougars rolled up over 400 yards of total offense. The other was the earlier game that season (a 31-28 Air Force win) that UH’s clueless athletic administration at the time inexplicably forced the Cougars to play in Dallas while Hurricane Ike was devastating the Houston area. Even with that distraction, Holgorsen’s Cougar offense ran up over 500 yards in total offense on DeRuyter’s defense in that game.

I’d say that Holgorsen and DeRuyter have fought to a draw in their matchups so far. So, it definitely will be entertaining to see what each of them pulls out of their respective hats in the next round of what is becoming one of the fascinating personal rivalries that makes big-time college football so compelling.

We are only a month into the seemingly endless football season, but this one is already shaping up as one of the most interesting in quite awhile.

Now, note that I didn’t say the best season. Simply one of the most interesting.

Inasmuch as I am no longer posting weekly reports on the local teams, the next three posts are going to be about some of the interesting stories that are playing out during this season.

First up, the Texans.

Despite Sunday’s home loss to the Cowboys, if the Texans can figure out a way to defeat an improved but beatable Raiders team in Oakland on Sunday, then the local club will be 3-1 and ready to receive one of their best defensive players – LB Brian Cushing – back into the fold after a four-game suspension.

Even more amazingly, the Texans quick start has not appeared to trigger unrealistic expectations in Houston’s rabid and success-deprived professional football fans. Most folks seem to understand that the Texans are a curious mix of an explosive offensive team, a decent defensive front, a chaotic defensive secondary and reasonably good special teams.

That mix can definitely win some games in the NFL, but it is also prone to losing its share. Most locals seem to understand this and simply hope that a few random breaks can turn the Texans from the 8-8 team they appear to be into a 10-6 playoff contender.

A few things to watch for with regard to the Texans over the coming weeks:

QB Matt Schaub’s health. Although the Texans’ offense is impressive, one chink in its armor is the tendency of the offensive line to break down against particularly strong, bull rushing defensive fronts and Schaub’s tendency to hold onto the ball too long trying to make the long downfield throw. Those two tendencies result in Schaub taking a large number of sacks and hard hits, which in turn increases injury risk for a QB who has a history of shoulder problems. Inasmuch as Schaub’s backups (Dan Orlovsky and Matt Leinart) have, at least to date, done nothing in the NFL to distinguish themselves, an injury that disables Schaub for any appreciable amount of time would likely doom the Texans’ nascent playoff chances.

RB Arian Foster’s health. Through the first three games of the season, the undrafted Foster is one of the top running backs in the NFL. He clearly is comfortable running in the Texans’ scheme and the Texans’ OL has done a good job to date giving Foster enough daylight to excel. However, the NFL season is brutal, particularly on RB’s who are getting pounded by the opposition 20 times a game. Foster’s backup is Steve Slaton – who has inexplicably gone from a spectacular rookie season two seasons ago to resembling a miniature Ron Dayne now – so don’t count on the Texans being able to maintain their productive rushing attack if Foster gets dinged up. And if the threat of running the ball effectively recedes, the risk of injury to QB Schaub increases as the defensive fronts load up against the passing attack.

Andre Johnson’s ankle. Needs no further explanation.

The secondary’s development.  It is rare for a secondary to perform as badly as the Texans’ has during the first three games of the NFL season and the team still come out of it with a winning record. Texans management made a conscious decision to go with youth and potential over experience and mediocrity in the secondary this season, so growing pains for this group certainly are not unexpected. But for the Texans to be able to win games when its offense is not clicking on all cylinders, the secondary is now going to have to fulfill that potential. Such development is certainly not impossible as NFL players now frequently show dramatic improvement over the course of a season. Moreover, a more effective pass rush – a definite possibility with the return of Cushing – also could help the secondary improve. However, make no mistake about it, if the secondary continues over the balance of the season chasing rainbows as they have during the first three games, then an 8-8 record for this Texans team would be a moral victory.

Thus, the Raiders (1-2) game this Sunday will provide key insight into this Texans team. The Raiders are likely not a playoff team, but they are strong defensively. They are challenged offensively, but it appears that even an Industrial League team could scorch the Texans’ secondary at this point. So, the Texans definitely are at risk of loss.

On the other hand, a win makes the Texans 3-1 at the quarter pole of the regular season with a quality reinforcement returning to help in upcoming games. That would seem to be enough motivation for the Texans to take another step in changing their losing culture, don’t you think?

We’ll find out Sunday afternoon. Stay tuned.