College Football
Texas notebook: Longhorns best team without national title?

By Bob Condotta
Seattle Times staff reporter

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SAN DIEGO — Quiz time: Name the three winningest college-football programs in the nation the past three years.

The first two should be easy — Miami (34-3) and Oklahoma (35-5).

And No. 3 you ask? Texas (32-6), Washington State's opponent in Tuesday's Holiday Bowl here.

Agreed, that's not exactly a shocker. But consider that Miami and Oklahoma each have won a national title in that time and each has played in two national title games (including Oklahoma's date in the Sugar Bowl next week), while Texas has been limited to two Holiday Bowls and a Cotton Bowl.

The problem? Texas just can't beat Oklahoma. The Longhorns, in fact, have lost four in a row to the Sooners, all by decisive margins (including 65-13 this year). Reverse just two of those games and the Longhorns would rival those two as the dominant football programs in the country the past four years.

Instead, Texas hasn't even played in a BCS bowl in that time.

"I don't know what it is about that game," said senior receiver Roy Williams.

Oklahoma and Texas always play in early October, and losing has generally all but eliminated Texas from the national title. The Longhorns did rally in 2001 to get into the Big 12 title game, but were upset by Colorado, lending more credence to those who say Texas, and coach Mack Brown, can't win the big one.

Longhorns players, however, say they should get some credit for not folding after the losses to Oklahoma. Three times in the last four years, including this season, Texas won its final six regular season games after losing to the Sooners.

"You can't let one game get you down or beat you twice," said senior cornerback Nathan Vasher.

Texas didn't do that this season, rebounding from the OU loss to win five of its last six games by 21 points or more (the close call was a 43-40 defeat of Texas Tech).

And Longhorns players say they have plenty of motivation against WSU, in large part to get an 11th win for the third straight season. Note

• Many Texas players were hit by a flu bug earlier in the week, including receiver Williams, who missed one practice. But Brown said his team is getting back to full strength.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company