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.