Since 2000, the Texas Longhorns football team has made a home away from home in San Diego in late December.
Most recently, Texas faced off against the Arizona Sun Devils in the 2007 edition of the game, leaving San Diego with a 52-34 victory. Mack Brown’s team also made the trip to Cali in 2000, 2001, and 2003.
This time around Texas’ opponent will be the California Golden Bears, who finished the regular season with an identical 7-5 record, with a three-point post-Thanksiving loss to the Stanford Cardinal as the most shining attribute on their resume.
Led by junior running back Isi Sofele, sophomore wideout Keenan Allen, and junior quarterback Zach Maynard, the Bears’ offense averaged 29.4 points per game on the season, while giving up 29.4.
The Bears were a pass-heavy team, finishing with a total of 3,022 passing yards and 1,998 yards rushing. Defensively, Cal is led by senior LB Mychal Kendricks who finished with 96 total tackles, and senior LB D.J. Holt who finished with 81 total tackles.
In facing Cal, the Longhorns will encounter one final test for the 2011-2012 season.
After a promising start in the first half against Baylor on Saturday, redshirt freshman quarterback Case McCoy imploded, throwing three interceptions in the second half, as the Longhorns stumbled to a 48-24 loss.
The Holiday Bowl will be the final chance this season for McCoy, and true freshman QB David Ash, to show that they will still be the front-runners for the job in 2012 as spring practice rolls around and highly touted recruit Connor Brewer arrives on campus to shake things up.
A 7-6 finish for the 2011 Longhorns will place a much different stress on Mack Brown’s tenure going forward than an 8-5 finish will. A bowl victory, perhaps, is more important for Brown and his staff this December than at any other time in his tenure.
While the Texas football community as a whole is willing to give the program another year to again reach the “expected” standard of ten wins, this goodwill will continue to flourish through the spring with a victory against Cal.
The 2012 recruiting class will no doubt play an integral role in the future success of the Texas football program, but they don’t take the field until next fall.
It’s up to the current crop of freshmen and underclassmen to finish a rocky season on top and look ahead to the future.
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