Back to Reality -- Football Edition

I'm back after the holiday layoff, which consisted mainly of food coma and Guitar Hero 3. Oh, and football. Lots of football. Some random thoughts:

In the aftermath of the Aggies' thrashing of my Texas Longhorns, I have to say a few kind words about A&M quarterback Stephen McGee. He's brought his A-game for three straight years against Texas and won two of them. The Longhorns dared him to throw and he did. He completed 25 of 36 passes with three touchdowns and two interceptions for a career-high 362 yards. He played with a grit and intensity that is the signature of football played at its best. Hats off to him. I also admire the young man from Burnet for the way he stood by his embattled coach, Dennis Franchione. I wish the Fran-man was worthy of the loyalty, but, as a former S-T colleague once told me years ago, Fran is all about Fran. And, as another Startlegramer pointed out, Fran showed his true colors again on Friday. This, of course, after he left every gadget play on the field to beat the Horns. I'm sure the Agroid faithful wonder where was this Dennis Franchione for most of the past five years? Oh, well, bring on Mike Sherman. Yeah, that is a hire sure to fill the Big 12 with trepidation.

Get used to saying the No.1-ranked Missouri Tigers, at least for one week. After an impressive victory over the Kansas Manginos, they look like a team that can handle Oklahoma this time around, although I'm having a hard time imagining a Gary Pinkel-coached squad reaching the promised land. I'll be rooting for them, which is sure to be the kiss of death for El Tigres. But who wouldn't love to see a Missouri-West Virginia national championship tilt?

If I had a vote in the Heisman race, it would go to Arkansas' Darren McFadden, whom we all owe a debt of gratitude for knocking off No. 1-ranked LSU on Friday and preventing Les Miles from reaching the National Championship. Mizzou-rah's Chase Daniel will get some votes and could have a shot at it. Oregon's Dennis Dixon would have had a chance if he hadn't suffered a season-ending knee injury that sent the Ducks' season south. But DMac is the nation's most exciting player to watch IMO. The real irony of this is that Darren's coach, Houston Nutt, will probably be fired soon anyway. Maybe Houston and Fran can have rousing game of "Remember when we won our last game?"

Another reason Arlington sucks: Texas A&M and Arkansas officials are working out the final details to play an annual non-conference football game between the two schools in the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington, sources from both schools told the San Antonio Express-News on Sunday. An announcement on the series, which would start in 2009 at the earliest, could come as early as this week. My feeling are unchanged. The jihad continues.

The Austin American-Statesman's columnist Kirk Bohls usually takes a lot of shots from the Longhorn faithful for his columns, and I'm sure this one will be no different. But I usually find Kirk to be on target and this one is no different. Mack Brown is still a great coach, but he needs to fix the defensive staff like big time. In the Longhorns' past four games, the defense has given up an average of 512.5 yards and 35.3 points. Does that mean Defensive Coordinator Duana Akina is out the door? It should. The personnel are on campus for a dramatic improvement next year -- I'm talking to your Misters Kindle, Norton and Muckleroy -- but he's got to get the right coach in place to maximize their potential. Is Syracuse done with Greg Robinson yet?