Did The Longhorns' Old Dogs Learn A New Trick Saturday?

The Texas Longhorns narrowly escaped another upset(ting) loss Saturday, this time to the lowly Nebraska Cornhuskers. The escape artist's name? Jamaal Charles.

Charles came within a few yards of setting a new NCAA record for yards rushing in one quarter when he went off on the Huskers in the fourth quarter for 216 yards. The fleet back had a total of 290 yards on 33 carries, the most ever gained by any back against the storied Huskers' Blackshirts defense, and the fourth most ever by a Texas running back.

For three quarters, things looked as bleak as ever for the struggling running back and his underachieving teammates. Going into the final stanza, the Horns trailed 17-9 and Charles had only rushed for 74 yards on 20 carries. But then offensive coordinator Greg Davis began mixing in the zone read shotgun option offense that had worked so famously during the Vince Young era, and Jamaal began breaking off long runs, three of them for touchdowns.

What Saturday proved to me was that the Shotgun Option offense is a nice change-of-pace attack for the current offensive personnel. It should not be the featured package, but sprinkle it in here and there and you catch the defense flat-footed or headed the wrong direction. That's when the world-class speed of a Jamaal Charles becomes a game-changer.

You have to believe that when upcoming opponents break down the game film from this contest, they will conclude that sneaking eight, or sometimes nine, men into the box might be prudent. Imagine what that will do for Texas' talent-laden receiving corps. They might actually become the scoring machine they ought to have been all along.

Of course, this offensive epiphany comes a couple losses too late for this season to be anything special. But hey, Greg Davis and Mack Brown are what they are...and you know what they say about old dogs and new tricks.