We all knew the Kansas Jayhawks offense had a chance to be lethal this season with quarterback Todd Reesing and wide receivers Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier setting the pace.
Well, the trio took it to a ridiculous level Saturday as the receivers bested each other during the Jayhawks' 41-31 win over Iowa State. First Briscoe set the school record for career receptions, then Meier jumped ahead of him. Meier, a converted quarterback, has 167 career catches while Briscoe sits at 165 after making 12 catches for 186 yards and two touchdowns Saturday.
It was of little surprise Monday when Texas coach Mack Brown named redshirt freshman running back Tre' Newton as the starter for Saturday's UTEP game.
Newton gave the second-ranked Longhorns everything they had been looking for in a tailback for the last two seasons during Saturday's win over Texas Tech, picking up difficult yards and moving the chains. Filling in for injured starter Vondrell McGee in the second half, Newton rushed for 88 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries.
His 18 carries for 81 yards in the second half proved pivotal in keeping Texas Tech's explosive offense off the field as the Longhorns escaped with a 34-24 win. It was the inability of the Longhorns backs to pick up critical yards late that paved the way for their upset loss to Tech last season.
Texas junior Vondrell McGee has held off Fozzy Whittaker and will be the top running back for the No. 2 Longhorns to start the season.
Whittaker, who has battled injuries throughout his Texas career, is a little "dinged up" right now, according to coach Mack Brown, which paved the way for McGee to assume the No.1 tailback spot.
"Vondrell's had an outstanding camp," Brown said. "He's been really good, he's tough, he's 205 pounds probably, he's in really good shape, he's catching the ball and he's just a warrior. We're excited about watching him play. He's tough as nails."
It's hard to argue with much when a team goes 12-1 and comes within a lucky last-second play of going undefeated during the regular season as well as having a chance to play for the national title.
That is unless you play in the backfield at the University of Texas, where high production at running back is an expectation. The Longhorns, relying heavily on a group of inexperienced running backs, didn't put up the kind of running numbers that have become commonplace in Austin, where immortals like Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams once did their work.
Junior running back Vondrell McGee knows that this season the running back corps will have to make considerable strides to quiet detractors who insist the Longhorns ground attack has fallen off.
Big 12 ... cattle country ... the plains ... cowboys ... boots ... If this were the Pac-10 we'd be talking about filling sandals. I'm a shoe man, personally. Anyway. Some Big 12 figures are going to be difficult to replace, although it's not as bad as you think (similar to last year). Let's review.
TOM OSBORNE, NEBRASKA
Nebraska didn't simply terminate Bill Callahan last year, they terminated the heir to Osborne's throne. Bo Pelini isn't replacing Callahan, no sir. He's replacing his boss Tom Osborne in attempting to transition Nebraska football back to another dominant era. No pressure or anything.
So far Osborne's replacements are 0 for 2, but the program thinks it has found its man in former assistant and last year's defensive coordinator at LSU, Bo Pelini. Pelini doesn't possess Osborne's steely but quiet command of his team, but no coach nowadays could. He's a spirited barker demanding tremendous effort and sacrifice. He's tasked with picking up the pieces of mistrust that led to last year's collapse and the worst defensive performance in the program's deep history.
We'll start at Texas, where the biggest question mark of the spring is who will replace Jamaal Charles? Charles led the Big 12 in rushing in 2007 on the strength of a fantastic second half of the season. Three backs will fight it out over the starting running back gig in 2008.
Sophomore Vondrell McGee will get first shot at the starting job after serving as Charles' understudy a year ago. When Charles was having consistency problems at midseason in 2007, McGee actually got more playing time, specifically on short-yardage and goal-line plays. He gained 297 yards overall and scored eight touchdowns.
Redshirt freshman Fozzy Whittaker and McGee share the same, low-to-the-ground build. Both resemble miniature linebackers.
Whereas McGee prefers the I-formation, Whittaker is more comfortable running out of the shotgun. That's how he made his yardage at Pearland High School, where he finished with the sixth-best rushing total in Class 5A history.
The third member of the committee is Chris Ogbonnaya, a well-known offensive commodity. The Longhorns often turned to Ogbonnaya on third-down situations last fall because he was as adept at running pass routes as he was at picking up the blitz. He caught 21 passes a year ago. To prepare for this season, the fifth-year senior dropped 12 pounds to improve his speed. He's now at 215.
We'll look elsewhere in the Big 12 after the jump.
We all knew the Kansas Jayhawks offense had a chance to be lethal this season with quarterback Todd Reesing and wide receivers Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier setting the pace.
It was of little surprise Monday when Texas coach 
Texas junior 
It's hard to argue with much when a team goes 12-1 and comes within a lucky last-second play of going undefeated during the regular season as well as having a chance to play for the national title.
Nebraska didn't simply terminate Bill Callahan last year, they terminated the heir to Osborne's throne. Bo Pelini isn't replacing Callahan, no sir. He's replacing his boss Tom Osborne in attempting to transition Nebraska football back to another dominant era. No pressure or anything.
We've already 
