ESPN College Football

Iowa quarterback James Vandenberg has been brushing up on Greg Davis' history, both recent and ancient.

Since the Hawkeyes hired Davis as offensive coordinator, Vandenberg has watched numerous clips of former Texas quarterbacks Vince Young and Colt McCoy. Davis' last coaching stop took place in Austin, where he helped mold both Young and McCoy into elite college signal callers. As Vandenberg acclimates himself with Davis, he wants to get a sense of the system Davis has run and the quarterbacks he has coached.

But Vandenberg also is keenly aware he's not Young or McCoy. He's a different player with different skills. Will that be a problem for Davis? Hardly.

That's where the ancient history comes in.

"The one thing I always think of is he coached Gary Kubiak, who's the coach for the [Houston] Texans," Vandenberg told ESPN.com. "[Davis] was his college coach when [Davis] was only 28 years old. So he's been in the business for a long time and really knows the ins and outs and has done it with a lot of different people and systems."

Vandenberg is excited to be the next man in line. Before this offseason, Iowa hadn't made any coordinator changes -- offensive or defensive -- during head coach Kirk Ferentz's tenure.

While Vandenberg enjoyed working with former coordinator Ken O'Keefe, he echoes the seemingly program-wide excitement about having new voices in the football building and on the practice field this spring.

"It's some fresh blood," Vandenberg said. "That's what has everybody excited. There was nothing wrong with the old system, and we had a great coach. But the excitement comes with learning a new offense and hearing plays called from a new play-caller. There's a lot yet to be seen, but all these unknowns and knowing the success he's had is what has us all excited right now."

Davis' tenure at Texas ended on a down note in 2010, but his most recent success took place with McCoy and Young. The Longhorns had a top 25 offense every year between 2003-08. They led the FBS in scoring behind Young in 2005 en route to a national title and finished fifth in scoring behind McCoy in 2008.

Under Davis, Texas averaged 39 points per game between 2000-09, which ranked second nationally and first among teams from BCS automatic-qualifying leagues. While the numbers are notable, Davis' versatility has stood out to Vandenberg on tape.

"He knows how to play to his personnel," Vandenberg said. "When he had Ricky Williams there, he knew he was going to get 30 carries a game. When he had Vince Young, there was a lot of zone-read stuff. With Colt McCoy, there was a lot of empty stuff. He's adjusted to the guys he had and been successful in every aspect of offense, from power football to spread football.

"We're all excited to see what his wrinkle is for us."

Vandenberg, who racked up 3,022 pass yards with 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions in his first year as Iowa's starter in 2011, said he's familiar with most of the plays Davis wants to run, but needs to absorb new terminology and some different reads. Davis stresses the need to complete passes and get the ball out quickly, two areas Vandenberg feels are strengths of his.

Accuracy is a focal point this spring for Vandenberg, who completed just 58.7 percent of his attempts in 2011. His goal: 65 percent or better. He also wants to play smarter in games. To do so, he'll have to absorb Davis' system better than anyone else on the field.

"I'm able to bring guys along right now," he said. "I've had a little more time studying it. These practices are vital, just being to make sure we're all on the same page with all these new plays and all these new situations."

Change is in the air this spring at Iowa. The Hawkeyes have two new coordinators for the first time in Kirk Ferentz's tenure, one from the outside (OC Greg Davis) and one from within the program (DC Phil Parker). Ferentz also hired two new assistants, offensive line coach Brian Ferentz and linebackers coach LeVar Woods, and moved offensive line coach Reese Morgan to defensive line. For an Iowa staff built on continuity, this represents a a major shakeup. The coaches also will be working with a very young roster, as evidenced by the pre-spring depth chart issued this week. It all should make for an interesting spring in Hawkeye Country.

The Hawkeyes opened practice Wednesday, and ESPN.com caught up with Ferentz on Thursday.

Here are his thoughts.

What is the atmosphere like this spring being on the field with this group after all the changes?

Kirk Ferentz: Certainly we have a lot of learning to do for two reasons. Number one, our youth and inexperience, and secondly, with some of the staff changes. We have a lot of different elements involved. It's certainly different than when we finished up in December. It's a lot of positions, and some of it's schematically and that type of thing. We're all on edge a little bit, and that's good.

You made some of your hires fairly recently. How do you feel about where the offensive and defense schemes are at this point?

KF: We're pretty well down the road that we need to be on. We've had some really good meetings over the last several weeks. A little bit more intensive on the offensive side with Greg being hired at the end of February, but I think we've had good meetings. He certainly has a good grasp of what he likes to do and what he's comfortable with. We've been able to blend and mesh things. I think we're pretty much on the same page right now. It's been fun actually, just invigorating to re-examine some things. And the players, they always pick it up faster than the older guys.

When you sat down and talked with Greg, how close was your offensive philosophy to his?

KF: One of the things that really impressed me so much is his experience with various styles of offense. He's been with a lot of different types of players, quarterbacks, going back to Eric Zeier at Georgia, the guys he worked with at North Carolina, and at Texas, they ran several styles of attack. There was a lot of evolution when they got Vince Young. The thing is, he has a system that's been proficient and that he's comfortable with. It really is very flexible and adaptable. That part has all been good.

Very impressed with Greg, starting with all the recommendations I got, people who I have a lot of respect for in football who spoke so highly of him as a coach and so highly of him as a human being. And after a month of being with him, I can see why all of those things were said. He's really been tremendous. We've been fortunate to have great coaches here. You're always a little nervous when you lose somebody as good as Ken, but Greg has been outstanding.

I read your comments from the other day and wanted to clarify something. Did you expect to make some changes even if you didn't have the coordinators leaving?

KF: Absolutely. I was entertained a bit reading the reports of the press conference. The headlines were a little bit overstated. But that was something Ken and I had talked about, and Norm [Parker] and I had talked about as the year went on last year. You're 13 years into it, and we're all feeling good about being here such a long period of time. The great thing about stability is we all know each other.

But the other point, too, and every year you look back at things, but I remember specifically in Cleveland one year in '94 where we looked back and went through our playbook step by step. Steve Crosby had become our coordinator after the '93 season. We went through everything. The advantage of doing it is if you've been somewhere for a while, you add this one year and then you add that, and things don't always mesh or make as much sense as they should, so there's a cumulative effect there. So it's a good exercise to do, and I think it was time for us to do that regardless. And in the case of getting new coordinators, you have to do that anyway. It's been really healthy, it's been invigorating, and hopefully we'll be a more efficient operating group here moving forward.

You've talked about wanting to see better execution. What can you stress in the spring to help you execute better as a team?

KF: That's always the challenge in football. There were complaints about us. The perception is we're a conservative offense, and we threw the second-most amount of passes we had in 13 years last year, so I said they must have been conservative passes because we didn't get any credit for that. But overall, that's the name of the game, whatever you're doing, offensively, defensively or special teams, the key is how you execute those things. Certainly what you call can affect that, but at the end of the day, it's about the team that executes the best. That's the never-ending battle.

You have some guys out on the defensive line, but it's definitely one of the younger groups you've had there. With Reese Morgan moving over to that side, how do you see that group shaking out in the spring, and how will Reese's experience help there?

KF: It's maybe not identical, but it's similar to what we went through in 2005. We graduated four guys that were all in NFL camps after that season. Three of those guys are still active players -- Jonathan Babineaux, who's done a good job in Atlanta; Matt Roth's had a nice career; Derreck Robinson continues to be rostered; and Tyler Luebke is the other guy, was with the Redskins as a free agent. That's the price you pay when you graduate some good players. The last two years we've had a high number of seniors go out both years, and some NFL players in that group. It's something we anticipated, we knew it was going to be a challenge, but all that being said, we're optimistic.

One of my motivating factors for moving Reese over to that spot is Reese is just a tremendous teacher. That's the No. 1 thing I saw in him when we hired him here. He took Pat Flaherty's spot. He's a real builder, and he's done that with the offensive line. You look at last year, we had Riley Reiff, who people are talking about, but we also had Markus Zusevics and Adam Gettis, who both I think are going to get drafted here. They were both roughly 225, 230 [pounds] when they came out of high school and built themselves into players. Reese was a key component of their development, and that's what he does a great job of. I think we've got the right guy with the right group. We've got a lot of work to do, but at the end of the day, that group will be fine, just like in '05.

What would you like to see out of James [Vandenberg] during the spring?

KF: Just continued improvement. We expect him to play his best football next year and lead even better than he did. He played well last year and he led well, but he's going to have to do better. With a young team like this, it's going to be imperative that our most experienced guys play their best and lead our football team. It sure helps when you're playing better. And he's totally capable. We have confidence in James.

Is Keenan [Davis] another guy who fits into that category, needing to play his best as an older guy?

KF: Most definitely. If you look at the improvement Marvin McNutt made throughout his career, from making a move [from quarterback] in the middle of the '08 season, to the records he set, it didn't happen just by accident or just by him hanging around. He worked hard, he got better each year, and his hard work and effort, certainly in production and yardage, that's what we need from Keenan. Marvin's not here, quite obviously, so Keenan has to be the guy and take a very prominent role as a receiver. And he's certainly capable, so we expect to see that growth from him.

What would you like to see from the running back group by the end of the spring?

KF: Development and maturation. We have three guys that are working at that position who are talented enough. They're all capable, but they're young. Jordan Canzeri missed a significant amount of time last year with a hamstring issue. Damon Bullock, we moved him around enough that it probably rendered him ineffective. We'll let him settle at the running back position. And we think De'Andre Johnson has potential as well, but he's got to mature. He missed his first year because he was coming off an ACL injury from high school, so he's a little bit behind that way. But he's got every opportunity to develop and be a good player. It sure would help our football team.

When you're this young, are you more tempted to play freshmen if they come in and show that ability, or do you have to work with the guys who have some experience?

KF: We'll have a better grip on where we are at the end of spring practice. We're going to need some help at some spots, that's a given. Bottom line is for the most part, the guys that demonstrate they can play and help us, they're going to get that opportunity. We had the case with Allen Reisner. Back in '07, we had to throw him in. He was a true freshman. He wasn't necessarily ready to go, but we ran out of guys, so he had to go in there. We hopefully won't be in that situation. But anybody [who] can help us win next year, if it's special teams or on offense, defense, we'll give them an opportunity.

Greg came in from the outside, while Phil Parker has been there. What's it been like seeing him in this role? Do you see him putting his personality on the defense?

KF: We're early into the process right now. To the casual fan, it's not going to look a lot different, probably, but there will be some subtleties and some things not only Phil, but the entire staff talked about. It's like anything else, you're always trying to evolve and progress, move forward a little bit without losing your identity. That's probably what you'll see from that group. Phil's a veteran coach. He's had several chances to leave here for BCS coordinator positions and has chosen to stay here, so I don't think there's any question he's ready to go. He'll do a great job. He's very detailed and he's a good leader.

From a leadership standpoint, do you have some guys in mind, especially on defense, who you could see moving into those roles this spring?

KF: Most definitely. The guys that we're really counting on, you start with Micah Hyde. He's probably our most experienced player on defense, most proven, so we're counting on that from him. James Morris and Chris Kirksey, they're only third-year students next year, but they've played a lot of football, too, and good football. They're playing a leadership position at linebacker. And up front, I'd say Steve Bigach's a guy we're really counting on to really help set the tempo of the group. He's already been doing that, and I think he'll do a good job.

Missouri and Texas made their living with NFL quarterbacks behind center over the last half decade. Vince Young and Colt McCoy at Texas and Chase Daniel and Blaine Gabbert at Missouri took the program to new heights and did so with thousands of pass attempts.

This season? Both programs are grounded.

"There’s a little bit of a contrast there with all the wide-open offenses and the quarterbacks and the passing yards we’ve had this year and traditionally in this league the last few years," said Missouri coach Gary Pinkel. "Both of us run the ball here pretty good."

A bit of an understatement, perhaps.

While a pair of wide-eyed, first-year starters in David Ash and James Franklin take snaps, Missouri and Texas have developed the Big 12's top two running games.

"We can throw it well, but we’d like to be at least 50-50 or 60-40 run to pass," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "And if you can run the ball and and stop the run in college football, you’ve got a chance."

Texas has averaged better than 246 yards a game on the ground this year, enjoying the fruits of consecutive 400-yard weeks on the ground for the first time since 1977.

Missouri, meanwhile, averages just fewer than 245 yards a game this year. The Big 12's next best, Kansas State, averages just 217 yards a game.

Both teams, best known for slinging it this decade, rank outside the Big 12's top half in passing offense.

"We didn’t need the passing game much the last two weeks. We threw it some and threw it downfield," Brown said. "But we do feel like over the next four weeks here, we’re going to have to be more balanced. We’ll still be physical. We’ll still run the ball, because that’s what we’re doing best right now, but we also feel like when people are stacking the box, it’ll alleviate some of the pressure in the passing game."

Both have the advantage of running quarterbacks. Ash ripped off runs of 47 and 18 yards against Texas Tech and Missouri's Franklin is 11th in the Big 12 with 599 rushing yards, second among quarterbacks behind Kansas State's Collin Klein.

Franklin also leads the team with 10 touchdowns, third in the Big 12. The Tigers' Henry Josey leads the Big 12 in rushing with 1,149 yards, fifth nationally and 234 more yards than any Big 12 back.

The Longhorns are led by freshman Malcolm Brown and his 635 yards, but even though he was sidelined in Saturday's game, fellow freshman Joe Bergeron exploded for 191 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries.

"We’re doing a pretty consistent job of running the football, but I don’t think our offense is very consistent," Pinkel said of his 4-5 team. "We’re very hot and cold. We’re having to work through that, and we’re not working through it fast enough."

For both coaches, the aim is balance. Brown cited his Rose Bowl champion team in 2004 that was outside the top 100 in passing and second nationally in rushing. With McCoy at the helm, those numbers were reversed.

Texas has shown the ability to do both with its offense, just rarely in the same season.

"We’d like to get back to where we do both really well," Brown said.

The Longhorns finally have the physical running game they looked for last year, but outside of handing it over to offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin and offensive line coach Stacy Searels, Brown couldn't venture a guess as to why it's worked this year and didn't in 2010, when the Longhorns won just five games.

But expect this game to look markedly different than the Big 12 matchups the league has become known for.

"It will be a great test," Brown said, "a real physical game and a fun game to watch."

DALLAS -- Oklahoma has been the more experienced, more prepared and more aggressive team through the first half.

As a result, the Sooners have opened up a big lead and looked dominant while doing it. If not for early red-zone struggles, this could be even more lopsided.

Even still, at 34-10, this looks ugly for the Longhorns and it's a strong statement for Oklahoma to try and gain back some of the ground it lost in the polls in past weeks.

Turning point: Trailing 13-3, Texas quarterback David Ash threw an interception downfield to Tony Jefferson, who returned it 13 yards to the Texas 33-yard line to set up an eventual five-yard touchdown pass from Landry Jones to Ryan Broyles. That put Oklahoma up 20-3 and the game began looking out of reach for Texas. It still looks out of reach.

Stat of the half: Texas had 60 yards of offense in the first quarter. The Longhorns had 38 in the second quarter, including 18 on a pass to Mike Davis on the scoreless final drive of the half. Oklahoma's defense is playing physical, pressuring the quarterback, and making big plays. Demontre Hurst already returned David Ash's second interception of the day 55 yards for a touchdown.

Best player in the half: Jones. The Sooner signal caller has made a good Texas defense look bad for most of the first half, racking up 305 yards and three touchdowns on 23-of-35 passing and kept the Sooners offense humming throughout the half. Unbelievable stats against a pretty good, albeit inexperienced, Texas secondary.

What Oklahoma needs to do: Quit giving up big plays. Oklahoma looked like it was ready to send the Longhorns back to Austin after going up 27-3 late in the second quarter, but the Longhorns stuck around when Fozzy Whittaker took the ensuing kickoff back 100 yards for a touchdown. He also cued the Oklahoma critics crying for a special teams coordinator. Texas' offense isn't built like Oklahoma's and can't sustain consecutive systematic drives. It doesn't have the experience. Big plays are all that can keep Texas in it, and if Oklahoma prevents them, it's over.

What Texas needs to do: Petition the Big 12 to vacate the results of the first half on account of ... uh ... something. Then figure out a way to shoehorn Philadelphia Eagles backup QB Vince Young into its 2011 lineup. After that, find a way to help its young core freshmen to come out of the tunnel with another year or two of experience.

In 2008, USC produced one of the all-time great college defenses. It took just two years for the unit to become mediocre-to-bad.

Last fall, the Trojans surrendered 44 plays of 20 or more yards, which ranked 102nd in the nation. By comparison, the 2008 unit yielded just 14, the lowest total over the past three years by six.

So what happened?

Well, for one, Pete Carroll, who'd built one of the nation's premier defensive powers, bolted for the Seattle Seahawks. Next: The talent he left behind for new coach Lane Kiffin wasn't nearly as good as it had been from 2002-2008. Then Kiffin, worried about injuries, significantly limited tackling during preseason camp. Finally, it seemed that the Trojans never fully figured out new coordinator Monte Kiffin's Tampa-2 scheme, which had been so successful in the NFL.

The result? A unit that surrendered a Pac-10-high 30 TD passes (five more than ninth-place Washington State) and wasn't much better against the run, ranking sixth in the conference (140.5).

But if you're wondering why many still rate the Trojans as the favorites in the Pac-12 South Division and believe they will improve upon their 8-5 finish of a year ago, the defense is a good place to start.

"I feel like we know what we're doing a little bit better as far as it being the second year in the system," Lane Kiffin said. "And in scrimmage formats, we're tackling better."

That will be put to its first test Saturday when Minnesota comes calling to the Coliseum.

The Trojans welcome back seven starters from last year's unit. They look strong at end with Nick Perry, Devon Kennard and Wes Horton. And few teams boast a better safety-cornerback combination than All-American T.J. McDonald and Nickell Robey. But there are questions at linebacker, where they will be young around injury-prone Chris Galippo.

The Golden Gophers shouldn't provide too difficult a test. Coming off a 3-9 season in which Tim Brewster got fired and was replaced by Jerry Kill, who rebuilt Northern Illinois, they are replacing three starters on their offensive line and they don't look like a team that will be throwing the ball well. They are, however, intriguing at quarterback. That's where MarQueis Gray steps in. He's a 6-foot-4, 240-pound junior who has been primarily a receiver, though he got behind center in "Wildcat" formations. Passing the ball over the past two years, he's just 8-of-23 for 86 yards with a TD and an interception.

Of course, Kiffin went the "oh, no" route and compared him to former Texas quarterback Vince Young.

"It's very scary for us," he said. "We've got our hands full. This is a big-time challenge for our defense."

USC won at Minnesota 32-21 last year, a victory that was part of a 4-0 start. But the Trojans proved inconsistent on both sides of the ball once conference play began, inspiring some questions of motivation because NCAA sanctions made them ineligible for the postseason. That's an issue again this fall, though it's probably not one in the season-opener, when everyone is fired up to play.

"I don't think the motivation shows up as much early in the year," Kiffin said. "It becomes more of an issue towards the end of the year or if you hit one or two losses in a row there."

Still, with Matt Barkley at quarterback and a strong crew of receivers, the Trojans should at least be a factor in determining other team's postseasons. As for the South Division, that probably hangs on how much the Trojans' defense reverts back to its old ways. Preseason optimism about knowing the scheme better and improved tackling only goes so far.

Said Kiffin: "That all sounds good but it won't mean anything if come Saturday we don't do it when it really counts."

The BCS officially vacated USC's 2004 national title on Monday afternoon, and it's pretty clear how this affects the Big 12.

The Trojans beat Oklahoma 55-19 in the Orange Bowl to win the title and cap a perfect season, but history has been altered by heavy NCAA sanctions, including bowl bans, resulting from violations during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

That produced an obvious question that at least a few asked via my mailbag in the hours that followed: Does Oklahoma get to claim the title now?

The answer is simple: No.

Just as Vince Young won't be collecting Reggie Bush's vacated Heisman, Oklahoma won't add an eighth national title. Neither will Auburn (led by now-Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville) or Utah, who both went undefeated in the 2004 season but were left out of the title.

Vacated means simply that: No one won the title that year, and from now on, that's how the history books will remember the 2004 season. USC's players and fans may disagree, and I'm sure millions recall that game happening, but college football history won't.

What that means is certainly up for debate, but what isn't is Oklahoma's trophy case, which won't be adding another title unless it wins one in 2011.

1. Tom “Scrap” Bradley played at Penn State. He has coached defense for Joe Paterno since 1979. He has been designated as the obvious guy to replace Paterno for as long as anyone can remember. And now Bradley is in the running to become head coach at Pittsburgh, once the Nittany Lions’ fiercest rival. It reminds me of how Pat Dye coached for Bear Bryant for years before he became head coach at Auburn. I hope Bradley is as successful as Dye. He’s in the Hall of Fame.

2. Auburn quarterback Cam Newton spoke with reverence Wednesday of being in high school watching Vince Young lead Texas to the 2005 national championship. Five years later, Newton is on the precipice of a national title, and one week away from leaving for the NFL a year early, just as Young did. The Tennessee Titans announced Wednesday that they would release Young next month. It sure doesn’t seem as if Newton needs another year of college football. And then you see what has happened to Young.

3. Tigers offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn won the Frank Broyles Award as the assistant coach of the year and turned down the Vanderbilt job, which appeared to make him a shoo-in for Mr. Hot Assistant 2010. Don’t look now, but Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst is making a late charge. Chryst appears to be a candidate both as the head coach at Pitt and to replace Greg Davis as OC at Texas. Hey, I’m not saying Chryst isn’t a good coach. But he doesn’t get to take that Badger offensive line with him.

Colorado coach Dan Hawkins took to the microphone last month and explained one of the handful of reasons he was no longer the Buffaloes' head coach.

"There is way too much negativity around the program," he said. "It's important to move on and garner some energy."

Perhaps more than anything else, the same reason could be given for Greg Davis' tenure at Texas ending today. He's had "much-maligned" tacked on to the front of his job title for awhile now, and his supporters -- in Austin and elsewhere -- were dwindling.

The disaster that was Texas' 2010 campaign apparently turned the one who mattered most: Mack Brown.

The Longhorns' offensive struggles were more evident this season:

• The Longhorns' "power running game" produced no 1,000-yard rushers and a late switch back to a more pass-oriented offense was too late for a 1,000-yard receiver to emerge.
• Early-season struggles to top 35 points against Rice and Wyoming proved more than troublesome; Texas didn't score more than 22 points in a conference game this year.
• Scoring averages aside, how's this for a number: Texas scored 68 touchdowns in 2009. It scored 31 in 2010.

Even 2009 with senior Colt McCoy at quarterback saw plenty of struggles. Against two of the best defenses Texas faced all season, Nebraska and Oklahoma, the Longhorns mustered just 13 and 16 points, respectively.

Fortunately for Davis, the Longhorns' dominant defense and clutch kicking eked out a pair of wins to keep Texas perfect and on track for an appearance in the national championship game.

Davis had plenty of happy days and years as Brown's offensive coordinator, with a pair of Heisman-worthy quarterbacks and a national title for the pair's 13 years together in Austin after coming over from North Carolina.

Those years looked long gone, especially this season.

Now, with the negativity gone and the possibilities almost endless, the Longhorns can move on.

Missouri and Kansas played the one rivalry game with the most on the line in 2007, but there's no doubt the Big 12's defining rivalry over the past decade has been Oklahoma and Texas' annual battle for Big 12 South supremacy. The two titans clash in Dallas every year with the burnt orange and crimson fans split by the 50-yard line, and the pair has combined for eight Big 12 titles in the last 10 years, as well as six national championship game appearances and two national titles.

The aromas of corny dogs and other guilt-riddled delicacies fill the Cotton Bowl at the State Fair of Texas every year, surrounding the field where so many legends were born. Some of the best players to ever wear a college uniform -- such as Vince Young, Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy and Adrian Peterson -- have written their legacies just in the past decade in the Red River Rivalry.

Every year, there's plenty on the line, but never more (during the last decade, anyway) than 2008's 45-35 Texas win that became a dominant storyline in the chase for the national title the rest of the season. As Nebraska leaves for the Big Ten to begin the 21st century's second decade, don't expect the Longhorns and Sooners' yearly clash to leave its perch as the Big 12's best rivalry.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Mike Gundy says he got plenty of text messages during the week from various people within the program. He sensed unease. His answer: "You sound nervous."

Most, he says, replied, "Should I be?"

It didn't matter what Gundy told them. His team said plenty, answering with a resounding "No,"and beating Texas 33-16 after giving up two late touchdowns in front of a spattering of lefover fans from the 100,659 in attendance at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

"It was our time," Gundy said.

Oklahoma State had been there before. Three times Oklahoma State held big leads at halftime against the squad with a darker shade of orange.

Texas erased them each time. First, the 28-pointer in 2004. Then, the 19-pointer the next year and a 21-pointer in 2007.

On Saturday, Oklahoma State trotted into the locker room with a 23-point lead.

They flew back home with a 17-point win, taking another big step toward a first-ever appearance in the Big 12 title game.

"Texas has had our number for quite awhile, so it's good for the players," Gundy said.

This is not the same Oklahoma State team that spent the last decade under the thumb of Big 12 South powers Texas and Oklahoma. Justin Blackmon, Kendall Hunter and Brandon Weeden leave no doubt about that. Mack Brown lauded the offense before the week, and told reporters after the game that it was by far the best Oklahoma State team he's seen in more than a decade at Texas.

Granted, this isn't the same Texas team, either. There was no Heisman candidate to run past or throw over this Oklahoma State defense. Colt McCoy and Vince Young are too busy in the NFL to worry about the beatdown their alma mater suffered on Saturday.

"We really struggled offensively," Brown said, a rarity with either McCoy or Young at the helm.

Oklahoma State came to Austin on a business trip and took care of exactly that, dispatching the Longhorns as they have every other team beneath them in the Big 12 South standings. Texas wasn't the team that has tormented the Cowboys, preventing them from leaving Austin with a win 11 times between 1944 and Saturday. They were just another bunch of guys in pads, and another team Oklahoma State beat handily, just as they did against Baylor at home a week ago.

"I feel really good about our team," Gundy said. "I have a lot of confidence in this team and I expected them to play well, but obviously you're in a tough environment. There's 90-something thousand people here and you're competing against guys that are very athletic and anything can happen."

The Cowboys saved the drama for next year.

Blackmon had more than 100 yards receiving early in the second quarter, when he hauled in a gorgeous deep ball over his shoulder for a 67-yard touchdown that gave Oklahoma State an early double-digit lead. He finished with nine catches for 145 yards, continuing his streak of nine consecutive games of more than 100 yards receiving.

"When you have a guy that can make big plays like that, they change games," Gundy said of Blackmon's long score.

The Cowboys have three that can change games.

Weeden threw for 409 yards, his second consecutive week of more than 400.

Hunter ran 23 times for 116 yards, his eighth game of more than 100 yards this season.

"We were due. Oklahoma State was due to make a few plays against Texas," he said.

Gundy called it a "complete game" on offense, defense and special teams.

None of it was strange or new, even if the sight of Oklahoma State at the top of the Big 12 South standings and Texas floundering at the bottom is both.

"This was really special for Oklahoma State," Gundy said. "I'm really happy for our fans, because we want those Oklahoma State followers to wear orange and be proud and stand tall and wave their flag and say they're coming from Oklahoma State.

"I think tonight will help them do that even more so."

Well done, everybody. Slap a helmet sticker on for your efforts today.

Missouri: Just ... everything. There's nothing to single out. The offense. The defense. The coaches. The fans were decked out in gold and loud from before dawn at a College GameDay record crowd of 18,000, throughout the 36-27 upset win over Oklahoma, and afterward carrying the goalposts off the field following a well-deserved field storming. Saturday was a good day for all things black and gold.

Baylor Bears: Hey, maybe we're going to have to back order some of our patented stickers, but another program got a huge boost on Saturday. The Bears beat Kansas State, 47-42, and became bowl-eligible for the first time since 2005. And the cherry on top for Baylor? With Oklahoma's loss, they lead the Big 12 South.

Taylor Martinez, QB, Nebraska: Oklahoma State' defense leaves something to be desired, but Martinez turned in a downright Vince Young-ian stat line on Saturday. He threw for 323 yards and five touchdown passes, and ran for 112 yards on 19 carries in a 51-41 win over No. 14 Oklahoma State. What a way for the freshman to bounce back after being benched last week against Texas.

Paul Rhoads, Iowa State: The second-year coach continues to prove he's one of the most underrated in all of football. After suffering 41- and 52-point defeats the past two weeks, Rhoads rallied his team, which walked into Austin and won for the first time in program history, beating the No. 19 Longhorns 28-21. And yes, Iowa State has already put his postgame locker room speech on YouTube. Here it is. And yes, it's awesome once again.

Mike Sherman, Texas A&M: That couldn't have felt good, but it was the right thing to do. Sherman rotated in backup quarterback Ryan Tannehill, benching Big 12 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Jerrod Johnson, and the move paid off. Tannehill completed 12 of 16 passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns in the Aggies' 45-10 win over Kansas.

When a player like Denard Robinson comes along, the natural response is to identify a suitable comparison.

Not surprisingly, the first name mentioned is Pat White, the former West Virginia star who, like Robinson, thrived in Rich Rodriguez's spread offense. Rodriguez has acknowledged some links between White and Robinson, although "Shoelace" has a long way to go to catch up with one of the best players in recent college football history.

Others saw Robinson's quick start for Michigan and likened him to Vince Young, college football's ultimate dual-threat superstar. ESPN's Stats & Info crew produced a chart for last week's notes comparing Robinson's first five games to Young's first five at Texas in 2005. Turns out, Robinson had a better completion percentage (69.8-62.4), more rushing yards (905-355), more rushing touchdowns (9-2) and almost as many pass yards (1,008-1,021), although Young had three more pass touchdowns (10-5).

But Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz might have come up with the best comparison when discussing Robinson last week.

"What he's done is amazing, remarkable," Ferentz said. "The first thought I had was of my early years trying to prepare for guys like [Antwaan] Randle El. ... It brought back some good scar tissue."

Iowa went just 1-3 against Indiana when Randle El quarterbacked the Hoosiers between 1998-2001. The Hawkeyes aim for better results Saturday in their first matchup against Robinson and Michigan at Michigan Stadium.

Randle El preceded the wave of dual-threat quarterbacks in college football and certainly was a novelty in the Big Ten. The Indiana star earned Big Ten MVP honors in 2001 and Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in 1998, and he still holds league records for quarterback rushing in a career (3,895 yards) and in a season (1,270 yards in 2000).

Robinson already occupies the top two spots on the Big Ten single-game quarterback rushing chart -- he set the record with 258 yards against Notre Dame and tied Mike Kafka's mark with 217 against Indiana. Randle El's name, meanwhile, appears throughout the top performances. He had five rushing performances of 150 yards or more, including bursts of 210 yards and 209 yards during the 2000 season.

"I just remember any time Iowa played Indiana, there was this guy running around," Iowa safety Tyler Sash recalled. "He could run like a running back and throw the ball like a quarterback. If coach Ferentz is comparing [Robinson] to Antwaan Randle El, who is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks the Big Ten's ever had, that speaks highly of Denard and his abilities."

Both Robinson and Randle El wasted no time making an impact as starting quarterbacks.

Robinson piled up 197 rush yards and 187 pass yards in his first career start Sept. 4 against Connecticut. Randle El passed for 385 yards and three touchdowns and added 82 rush yards and three more scores in his collegiate debut against Western Michigan in 1998, breaking Indiana's single-game total offense record with 467 yards.

"They're a little bit different players," Ferentz said, "but they put the same kind of pressure on you and they're the catalysts of a very explosive, high-powered offense. That was true when Randle El was at Indiana. They were a very tough team to defend, and I think Michigan is the same way."

Rodriguez didn't coach in the Big Ten during Randle El's run, but he admired the Indiana star from afar.

"He was such an explosive player," Rodriguez said. "He'd sure be a lot of fun to have in this offense. Denard has some of those same qualities, not only from an athletic, running and throwing standpoint, but also from what I understand from a leadership and a take-charge standpoint.

"Denard's just a young guy, this is his first year starting, but I think he has a lot of those same qualities."

Here's a look at how Robinson's first six starts compare with Randle El's in 1998 (Randle El sat out the 1997 season as a partial qualifier).

Former Texas star Vince Young was the first quarterback ever to throw for 3,000 yards and run for 1,000 more. He deserved the Heisman, even though Reggie Bush won it.

Now that Bush has voluntarily handed over the Heisman, he may get it. Young said on Monday he "definitely" wants the trophy, and good for him if he gets it. I'd have no problems with it, even though I'm not sure the Heisman Trust would agree.

We've talked about the issue plenty on the blog, and now Bush's forfeiture have made the hypothetical a reality.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Few folks outside the Marshall locker room actually think Ohio State is in danger of losing tonight's season opener.

The Buckeyes are one of the nation's most complete teams, and their debut at The Shoe is viewed as the first step toward a potential national championship push.

So why should you pay attention to the game? Terrelle Pryor, of course.

Regardless of the final score, Pryor's performance against the Thundering Herd will be heavily scrutinized. Can he build off of his masterful performance in Pasadena against Oregon? How are his decision-making skills? Has he fully earned coach Jim Tressel's trust to operate in an expanded offensive system? Is he a legit Heisman Trophy candidate or just a byproduct of the college football hype machine?

Pryor is always the story at Ohio State, good or bad. He doesn't particularly like it, but he accepts it. He's used to being the center of attention.

"Everyone just praises you and holds you on a pedestal all the time," Pryor recently told ESPN.com. "Sometimes, it’s hard when you're getting more recognition than some of your teammates. I don't like that individually because I feel like everyone really should get the same recognition. But at the same time, that's the life we live in, the game that we play, and people love the quarterbacks and they put some people on different pedestals.

"You have to humble yourself."

Pryor sounds more humble these days, admitting that Ohio State's dominant defense has "bailed me out in a lot of games." The Buckeyes junior certainly has his share of critics, who harp on his passing mechanics and decision-making.

Many view him as overhyped and scoff at his 19-3 record as Ohio State's starting quarterback. Most agree that he has a lot more to prove this season.

"It comes with it," Pryor said of the criticism. "I watch a lot of Vince Young and Michael Vick and guys like that, they’re scrutinized guys and [critics] try to jump on people. I'm in the learning process, and whatever people have to say about me, that's what they've got to say.

"It's not going to bother me, it's not going to stop me from doing what my goals are and what I want to accomplish."

His short-term goals are simple: don't turn the ball over, make his throws in the right place and take checkdowns when necessary. Time will tell if Pryor is a better quarterback, but he sounds like a smarter one after two full years in the program.

"He's made light years [improvement] in his accuracy," wide receivers coach Darrell Hazell told reporters this week. "Understanding coverages, he's light years [ahead]. He'll be fun to watch this year."

Asked about the Heisman race, Pryor delivers the first of many stiff-arms this season.

"To tell you the truth, I just go out and ball, that's it," he said. "Lead the offense, put points on the board. It doesn't matter who we're playing. We do our thing, and we'll go into every game and execute, execute, execute.

"We do that, we'll be fine."

Quick: Name the best college football game you've seen. The 2005 national title game, Vince Young and Texas ending USC's bid for a third consecutive national title with a 41-38 thriller, right?

Me too. And guess what? USC and Texas are going to go at it again, though this time in a home-and-home regular-season series.

You'll have to wait until 2017 and 2018, but the good news is that by then the Trojans should have restocked their roster after NCAA sanctions.

USC will host the Longhorns in the Coliseum on Sept. 16, 2017, then the Trojans will play in Austin on Sept. 15, 2018.

The Trojans hold a 4-1 lead in the series with Texas, with wins in 1955 (19-7) and 1967 (17-13) in the Coliseum and in 1956 (44-20) and 1966 (10-6) in Austin.

But most folks only remember the game in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4, 2006.

Let us now pause and say "thanks" to each athletic department for having the guts to schedule a game like this. Lots of elite programs try to avoid tough nonconference games, but it doesn't get much better than USC-Texas.

Of course, a lot could change in seven years. By then, it's possible that elder statesman Lane Kiffin will be widely lauded as a distinguished pillar of coaching class, accomplishment and stability.

Hey, it's possible.