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Texas coach Mack Brown had an interesting take when he was asked about Mark Mangino's volatile coaching situation at Kansas.

While Brown didn't specifically address Mangino's situation, he talked about how his methods of communication have changed since he started work as a student coach at Florida State in 1973.

The Texas coach noted that college football might be the most difficult of coaching jobs, considering the sport has 85 scholarship players and only 11 can be on the field at a given time.

"If we ever get on a kid in practice, we make sure we walk off the field with him and we talk to him in the dressing room before he leaves the field," Brown said. "We don't want him to leave unhappy, and we don't want him to leave with his head down being depressed."

Brown also spoke of how he has changed ways in dealing with athletes over the years -- even in simple communications with them.

"Some kids don't hear what you say. They hear pieces of it," Brown said. "Usually, if I said four (teaching points) that were complimentary, and one that wasn't very good, he'll only remember the one that wasn't complimentary. And usually he won't remember like I said it or like I meant it.

"So I'll say, 'No, here's what you heard and here's what I said.' And we'll go back over it again. So communication is really, really difficult."

That strategy is a good indicator of why Brown is among the very best in his profession.

We all have heard that he is a recruiter first and foremost.

And while Brown has those skills -- in abundance -- he's also pretty good along the sidelines, too.

Redshirt freshman running back Tre' Newton will return to Texas' starting lineup when the Longhorns meet Texas A&M Thursday night in College Station, Texas.

Texas coach Mack Brown announced Monday that Newton will make his second consecutive start after rejoining the Texas lineup against Kansas. Newton rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown against the Jayhawks and also added 36 yards on a career-best three receptions.

Newton started in place of Cody Johnson against Kansas, which was his second start this season.

Brown told reporters the move was being made because of Newton's quickness.

“Tre's got great vision and burst of speed," Brown told reporters. "He can get from here to there really fast. And he moves the pile.”

Johnson still will receive playing time as the Longhorns' designated goal-line runner and perhaps in other situations, Brown said.

“If a play came up we want to go with Cody, we will,” Brown said. “But Tre' will get the start."

Newton leads the team with 370 rushing yards and has scored five touchdown runs. Johnson has added 331 rushing yards and has accounted for 12 of the Longhorns' 25 touchdown runs.

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, Nebraska safety Larry Asante and Nebraska kicker/punter Alex Henery have been selected as the Big 12's players of the week by a media panel.

It was the second time this season and sixth time in McCoy's career that he has been selected. Henery was chosen for the second time this season and third time in his career. And it was Asante's first career honor.

Here's a look at the accomplishments of each player.

Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week

McCoy completed 32-of-41 passes for 396 yards and four touchdowns to direct the Longhorns' 51-20 triumph over Kansas. The victory was McCoy's 43rd of his career, the most wins by a starting quarterback in NCAA history, and earned the Longhorns a spot in the Big 12 title game. McCoy also rushed for 29 yards to register 425 total yards of total offense. McCoy connected on TD passes of 68, 41, 38 and 12 yards. The four scores went to three different receivers. He completed a pass of at least 34 yards to four different receivers and directed the Longhorns to scores on nine of 12 possessions, including six TD drives that averaged 64 yards.

Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week

Asante notched a season-high 10 tackles, caused a fumble and intercepted a pass in Nebraska’s 17-3 North Division-clinching triumph over Kansas State. The senior safety spearheaded a defensive effort that limited its sixth opponent in seven home games to nine points or fewer. His second-quarter interception inside the Nebraska 20 secured a 10-3 halftime lead. He then forced a fumble at the Nebraska 1-yard line in the third quarter as NU maintained its 17-3 final margin.

Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week

Henery punted six times for a 45.5 average, made his only field goal attempt and both conversions in Nebraska’s win over Kansas State. He pinned K-State deep in its own territory on two occasions with punts downed at the KSU 1 and 3-yard lines. Henery leads the Big 12 in punts inside the 20 with 22 through 11 games, including 15 in Big 12 play. Of his 22 punts inside the 20, 13 have been inside the 10, including seven pinning the opponent inside its own 3-yard line. He remained perfect on the season in PATs and improved to 16-of-19 on field goals.

Mark Mangino received solid support from Big 12 coaches when they were asked about the internal investigation being conducted into the actions of the embattled Kansas coach.

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach termed the current situation at Kansas "a witch hunt," and offered strong support for Mangino.

"Heaven forbid somebody should ask a (player) to pay attention and focus in for the sake of all his teammates and coaches and everyone else," Leach said during the Big 12's weekly coaches teleconference. "Well, there’s different ways to ask a guy to do that, and sometimes, after you’ve asked him a number of times, you raise the bar.

"The mean man told some player something he didn’t want to hear," he added, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Well, there’s a mean man in Lubbock that tells people stuff they don’t want to hear, too, and that’s just part of it.”

Leach and Mangino were coaching contemporaries on Bob Stoops' first staff at Oklahoma in 1999. Leach was the team's offensive coordinator and Mangino was the offensive line coach.

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said that Mangino didn't have incidents like he has been accused of when Mangino served on his staff for eight years at KSU.

"That didn't happen to my knowledge," Snyder said. "Not a whole lot slips under the radar from that respect. He handled the players well."

And Stoops said that Mangino cared about his players when he worked on his staff, although he reserved comment on the specific allegations.

“He was very close with them, appreciated them and did everything that was appropriate,” Stoops said.

Mangino said his communications with athletic director Lew Perkins have been "practically none" since Perkins announced an investigation into Mangino's behavior last week.

When asked whether he wished there was more communication, Mangino said he is continuing his work with his team.

"You always like communication with everybody, communication with your players, your coaches, your administrators, your support people. All those people," Mangino said. "But I’m good. I’m working, and my players are really focused.

"Once again," Mangino added, "your question perhaps should not be directed at me, if you understand what I’m saying.”

Mangino said he wished that some parts of the investigation had been handled in a different manner.

"If somebody’s going to have an investigation into something, that’s fine," he said. "I don’t have a problem with that. You would not like for it to be leaked out before anything has been done, even before the investigation actually starts. From that aspect, you don’t like it. But, you know, you live with it."

The 5-6 Jayhawks can earn an unprecedented third-straight bowl trip by beating Missouri on Saturday in Kansas City. Mangino expects more developments in his case in the future.

"It hasn't played out yet," Mangino said. "And it's certainly not over."

Any concerns that Nebraska might be overlooking its final regular-season game were doused a few minutes after Bo Pelini got his first division-winning Gatorade bath.

The Nebraska coach was harping on the Cornhuskers' upcoming game against Colorado in the locker room after beating Kansas State for the division title.

And he's continued to talk about his team keeping its focus ever since.

Pelini said Monday that he won't be talking about the Cornhuskers' Dec. 5 Big 12 title game Texas until after the Colorado game on Friday.

"Texas means nothing to me right now,” Pelini said. “I told the people in the office and the coaches that I don’t want to hear about travel plans, tickets, nothing. That time will come.”

Some of Pelini's concern might be because of the Cornhuskers' sporadic effort against Kansas State. Nebraska had a workmanlike performance against the Wildcats, claiming a 17-3 victory to nail down their first division title since 2006.

Pelini immediately turned the Cornhuskers' focus to 3-8 Colorado, a struggling team that has lost five of seven conference games.

"I still think our best football is out there for us to play, but we have to keep working to get better," Pelini said. "It's an accomplishment to win the Big 12 North, but we want to make sure we turn our focus now to Colorado."

The Colorado-Nebraska rivalry marked the latter stages of the Big Eight Conference, when the schools were dominant programs. And Nebraska nosed past the Buffaloes for the most trips to the Big 12 title game after claiming their fifth title-game berth with the triumph over KSU.

Nebraska has won six of its past eight trips to Boulder, although it did lose a 65-51 game in its last trip there in 2007 in Bill Callahan's last game as coach.

“I know this is a special game to our fans and to Colorado fans,” Pelini said. "The two states are close together and this game is important to our fans in western Nebraska, and they want to have bragging rights. They make a lot of sacrifices driving a long way to see us play, and we’ve got to have their back this week.”

Pelini is concerned with his team's short week of preparation. Colorado dropped a 31-28 game at Oklahoma State last Thursay, and will benefit from a typical work week. The Cornhuskers will have their preparation time trimmed by a day.

Because of that, Pelini wants to guard against any feelings of complacency or thoughts about Texas as the Cornhuskers prepare for Colorado.

"We try to make this a day-to-day process," Pelini said. "I know that distractions are out there and people are already talking about travel and tickets. It's important that we keep our focus heading into the game. I know Colorado will be ready to play in this game."

A strong performance Friday is critical as the Cornhuskers move forward to the championship game, senior defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said.

"We're definitely happy with the situation and what we've accomplished. Our main goal was getting to (the title game)," Suh said. "But we have to close it out at Colorado. We want to dominate the Big 12 North, and the only way to do that is to go to Boulder and finish it out."

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy was among three finalists announced for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award.

McCoy was joined by Florida's Tim Tebow and Houston's Case Keenum among the finalists for the award given to the nation's top quarterback.

The 2009 O'Brien Winner will be announced live on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. The winner will be honored at the 33rd Annual Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner held at The Fort Worth Club next Feb. 15 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Five former Big 12 players have been honored six times since the conference began play in 1996: Two-time honoree Jason White of Oklahoma (2003, 2004), Kansas State's Michael Bishop (1998), Nebraska's Eric Crouch (2001), Texas' Vince Young (2005) and Oklahoma's Sam Bradford (2008).

Remember when the Big 12 used to revolve on its high-powered offenses?

Not too long ago, the exploits of Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree made the conference a Saturday-evening television staple across the country.

Those halcyon days have never seemed farther away than the last few weeks. Nebraska’ soporific 17-3 victory over Kansas State helped the Cornhuskers claim the Big 12 title. Earlier in the season, Iowa State claimed a 9-7 victory over the Cornhuskers in a game where they forced eight turnovers.

McCoy is back and playing for the Longhorns, putting the capper on his record-breaking career with the Longhorns. Bradford has spent most of the season uncomfortably watching action from the sidelines with right shoulder in a sling. Crabtree is catching passes for the San Francisco 49ers and Harrell is flinging them for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.

Those departures and other key injuries and suspensions have helped account for scoring being down 17.1 percent from last season in the Big 12. Total offense is down by almost 11 percent.

"I said last year that it would be difficult to maintain this for much longer," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "And it has been. I always thought the defenses would catch up. "

Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp’s unit has been one of the prime stories in the conference, ranking in the top 10 nationally in eight different statistics charted by the NCAA. "I always look at the quarterbacks," Muschamp told the Oklahoman earlier this year. "Last year in our league, we had a bunch of experienced quarterbacks. If you've got a quarterback, you've got a chance. But If you don't have a quarterback..."

Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin went down with a knee injury in the third game of the season. Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing has been mired in a turnover-induced slump during much of the Jayhawks’ recent six-game losing streak. North champion Nebraska has struggled with inconsistent quarterback play from Zac Lee. Bradford’s replacement Landry Jones has had a streaky season with six touchdown passes in one game and five interceptions in another.

Oklahoma State prime offensive playmaker Dez Bryant missed most of the season after he was ruled ineligible by the NCAA. And top Oklahoma State running back Kendall Hunter, the league’s leading rusher last season, struggled with a foot injury that has kept him out of the lineup for much of the season.

The conference is packed with arguably the best collection of talent in history. NFL draft boards are stacked with large number of Big 12 players who are expected to be taken early in April draft.

But with only one healthy quarterback among that group of players, it’s understandable why scoring has taken a nosedive.

Texas has employed an improved defense to claim the Big 12 South. The Longhorns will be the overwhelming favorite when they meet Nebraska in the Big 12 title game on Dec. 5. But other than that, only Oklahoma State has been consistent team in the top 25 this season.

Oklahoma started the season No. 3, but skidded after losing Bradford in an opening-game loss to BYU. He returned to action briefly but was injured again as the Sooners have fallen to the worst regular-season record under Bob Stoops.

The pinball numbers usually posted by Texas Tech have taken a hit as the Red Raiders started three different quarterbacks. It’s been the first season where Mike Leach has been unable to count on having the same quarterback every week of the season.

And two-time defending North champion Missouri struggled with three losses in four games midway through the conference race when Blaine Gabbert dealt with injuries and inconsistent play. The conference can reclaim some respect on the national level with a strong showing in the bowls.

Much of the conference’s reputation will be staked on Texas if the Longhorns can continue to the BCS title game. The Longhorns were the Big 12’s last national champion in 2005 and are in the midst of a 15-game winning streak that ranks second nationally. If they were to win the national title, the Big 12 might get some respect on a national basis.

But until then, the Big 12 will be wondering whatever happened to all of the points that used to be scored in the conference.

It's about a short work week for many Big 12 teams as they get ready for early games across the conference.

Here are some stories to get you ready for a Thanksgiving week cornucopia of Big 12 football starting on Thursday night:

• The Lincoln Journal-Star’s Steve Sipple explains why he thinks that Mack Brown in the Big 12’s coach of the year.
• The Austin American-Statesman’s Kirk Bohls opines about Mike Leach’s rationale for a move to Louisville and why returning Dan McCarney to the Big 12 would be a wise move for Kansas, among other topics in his weekly nine things and one crazy prediction about college football.
• Members of the 1999 Texas A&M team tell the Austin American-Statesman’s Randy Riggs some of their memories about the “Bonfire game” that season against Texas.
• The Tulsa World’s Bill Haisten discusses Oklahoma State’s BCS at-large possibilities.
• Bob Stoops tells John Hoover of the Tulsa World that backup quarterback Drew Allen's redshirt won’t be removed, despite the recent struggles of Landry Jones.
• The Associated Press' Ralph Russo explains why Stoops might consider moving to Notre Dame and why Texas is the most likely of the "Big Three" to lose this weekend.
• The Boulder Daily Camera’s Kyle Ringo compares Dan Hawkins' current coaching situation to that of Bill Callahan heading into the Colorado-Nebraska game two years ago.
• The Lawrence Journal-World’s Tom Keegan writes of the curious timing of the Kansas athletic department’s probe into Mark Mangino's coaching style.
• Bill Snyder provides some perspective to the Topeka Capital-Journal’s Austin Meek about his return to coaching at Kansas State.
• The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams analyzes Texas Tech’s bowl possibilities.

The worth of a quarterback can’t be measured solely on statistical data.

But one of the league’s most underrated players has had the kind of season that should be placing him in the mix for a berth as the All-Big 12 quarterback if not arguably the league’s player of the year honors.

Let’s take a look at two sets of numbers, before we later examine whose name goes with what set of statistics.


Here’s what makes the description so interesting. One of the players is considered among the favorites for the Heisman Trophy. The other is not.

Player X is Colt McCoy, the Texas senior quarterback who will finish his career as one of the top quarterbacks in college football history. For many reasons, McCoy is considered by most to be among the leading candidates for Big 12 offensive player of the year honors after leading the Longhorns to a perfect 11-0 record so far.

And Player Y is Texas A&M junior quarterback Jerrod Johnson, who helped his team become bowl eligible by beating Baylor last week.

McCoy

Johnson

McCoy is presumed to be the top candidate for many national quarterbacking honors.

But the numbers seem to indicate that Johnson has had just as strong of a season statistically as McCoy -- or any other quarterback in the league.

Johnson is set back by his team’s 6-5 record. And McCoy’s success in leading his team to the South title has to account for some of his expected success as a Heisman challenger.

But when looking at numbers alone in a blind comparison of those quarterbacks -- who will meet Thursday night at Kyle Field -- McCoy and Johnson appear very close in their production totals.

I'm curious what my readers think about this.

Which quarterback has had the best season statistically?

And which one would you rather have playing as your starting quarterback if you were coaching a team?

Bedlam will be a little bit bigger than normal Saturday.

Oklahoma State will be playing its most important game in its Big 12 history when the Cowboys visit Oklahoma.

The Cowboys are playing for style points when they gun for their first victory in Norman since 2001. OSU has produced one of two victories against Bob Stoops at Owen Field in his 11-season coaching tenure for the Sooners.

But an impressive victory in Saturday’s game over the skidding Sooners would boost the Cowboys’ BCS at-large hopes into a possible berth into the Fiesta Bowl.

Since losing to Texas on Oct. 31, the 9-2 Cowboys have played as well as any Big 12 team. Their comeback against Colorado last week was a revelation of the grittiness the Cowboys have shown.

Despite playing without starting quarterback Zac Robinson, and after a sputtering start by backup Alex Cate, third-stringer Brandon Weeden directed the Cowboys back from an 11-point deficit to claim a 31-28 victory over the Buffaloes.

Robinson is considered questionable for Saturday’s game against the Sooners and Weeden has been installed as the Cowboys’ second-stringer if Robinson can’t go.

After zooming from 19th in the BCS standings to 12th last week, the Cowboys remained static in Sunday’s most recent standings. But snapping the Sooners’ nation-best home winning streak would likely have some national bounce, despite the Sooners’ disappointing 6-5 record so far this season.

In order for Oklahoma State to make the BCS as an at-large team, Texas must win the Big 12 title. If the Longhorns are upset in the conference championship game next week by Nebraska, the Cornhuskers would earn the Big 12’s automatic BCS berth and Texas would earn the at-large berth.

The Cowboys must finish in the top 14 in the BCS standings when it is announced after next week's games. Undefeated TCU appears to be a lock if the Horned Frogs can wrap up their season with a victory over New Mexico on Saturday.

Another BCS at-large berth appears likely for the SEC title-game loser. That would leave the Cowboys attempting to make their case for BCS worthiness against other contenders like Boise State, Iowa or Penn State and the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh loser for two BCS at-large spots.

The Fiesta Bowl has had a long association with the Big 12. That connection might boost the Cowboys’ chances when all other things are considered.

The game of football musical chairs will play out over the next few days. But if the Cowboys can finish the season 10-2, they will have a legitimate claim at an at-large spot.

Then, the excitement of fans about the chance to make a BCS bowl will be critical. If Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder can convince bowl officials that his supporters will flock to a BCS game, the Cowboys might be playing in their first BCS bowl game in January and their first major bowl since beating St. Mary’s in the 1946 Sugar Bowl.