AUSTIN, Texas — No. 2 Texas started getting ready to face No. 1 Alabama for the national championship without a game plan or a depth chart. At least not yet.
With the BCS title game not being played until two weeks from Thursday, coach Mack Brown is taking his time.
Brown’s practices thus far, and for the next few days, are focused mostly on fundamentals. He calls them similar to summer two-a-days, except with full contact.
“What we’re doing is we’re going back and being really, really hard on the guys,” Brown said Monday. “We’re having a lot of tough, physical drills, and we’re changing the depth chart daily.”
The Longhorns will get back freshman kick returner D.J. Monroe, who was suspended for three games after a arrest on drunken driving charges. Monroe set a school record by returning two kickoffs for touchdowns this season.
Lepak could miss Sun Bowl.
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has lost track of how many centers he has had to start this season. Add in the guards and tackles who have been sidelined and the number of offensive linemen the Sooners have gone through is almost staggering.
Ten days before the Sooners face Stanford in the Sun Bowl, the total could be on the rise again. Stoops said that Brian Lepak, a transfer from Colorado State, could miss the bowl game with a sprained knee, putting the Sooners in position to start a fourth player at center.
Footnotes.
Florida’s Brandon James, who leads the team in all-purpose yards (1,324 yards), will not play in the Sugar Bowl after surgery on his right foot. Coach Urban Meyer said Chris Rainey, Jeff Demps and Joe Haden will take over punt and kickoff return duties against No. 4 Cincinnati on Jan. 1.
• USC tight end Anthony McCoy and tackle Tyron Smith, both starters, and defensive end Averell Spicer, a key reserve, will not play Dec. 26 against Boston College in the Emerald Bowl because of academic ineligibility.
• Former Rutgers assistant Brian Jenkins is the new coach at Bethune-Cookman.
The Associated Press
