December 30th 6:45 PM (Eastern)
San Antonio, Texas (Alamo Dome)
Texas Review
16 years, 158 victories, and undefeated 2005, and a national championship, that sums up Mack Browns Texas coaching career. After one hell of a ride, Brown will ride out into the sunset after Monday's game going out as one of the most prolific coaches in college history.
Mack will look to go out with one final victory after a sour season filled with uncharacteristic losses including two of their last three in ugly fashion to finish their season 8-4. On top of losing to Brown, Texas nation will have to fill the void of senior quarterback Casey McCoy.
McCoy had an off year along with most of his other teammates, throwing for just 1,885 yards with 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Although the Longhorns returned an abnormally large amount of starters from last year, injuries plagued them early and often throughout the season.
In weeks two and three against BYU and Ole Miss, Texas gave up 84 points and a combined 1,128 yards preheating the oven on the Mack Brown hot seat very early in the year.
Those losses had bigger implications for defensive coordinator Manny Diaz who was fired after the embarrassing three game stretch.
The move worked as the Longhorns ripped off six straight victories to stay in the Big 12 hunt. In the end however, Texas couldn't beat anymore significant teams, finally losing to Baylor 30-10 to end their title hopes and giving Brown the ideal timing to resign.
Oregon Review
Heading into November the Ducks were still undefeated and ranked number two in the polls. Breaking score boards six points at a time Oregon scored 55 points in six of their first eight games and at least 42 in the other two games.
Then came those nerdy Stanford Cardinals. Their stingy defense was too much for the Ducks as they struggled all night on third down and in turn could not find a way to slow down their power running game.
As they chewed up the clock on the ground they chewed up their national title hopes as well, eventually losing by a score of 26-20. Defense and third down inconsistencies were the achilles heel again in their second and final loss by the hands of Arizona 42-16.
But, with Oklahoma claiming a Sugar Bowl bid, Oregon was forced to the Alamo Bowl even with the Ducks finishing with a record of 10-2 and staying inside the top-10 in the BCS poll rankings.
Now that its all said and done Oregon's down falls can be placed on two things. The Injury of quarterback Marcus Mariota, who never looked 100% healthy after the knee injury hobbled him midway through the season.
Secondly, the losses of linebackers Dion Jordan and Kiko Alonso proved to be too much as their defense regressed against the run and never gained their swagger back from the 2012 season.
Game Matchup
On paper this is a mismatch. Oregon is 14 point favorites in Vegas and rightfully so. When Texas has faced a run-option team they have been outmatched, specifically against Taysom Hill from BYU. It's safe to say the Ducks are much more talented and advanced than BYU when it comes to the option game with Mariota finally healthy which is something that can't be stressed enough. Texas quarterback Case McCoy didn't leave a lasting impression in his last regular season game against Baylor and leaving little to hang their hat on putting the pressure on Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron to move the chains for the Longhorns.
So far sounds like game, set, match, right? Let's not forget the Longhorns are playing in their own backyard and would like for nothing more but to send their prestige coach riding out in the sunset with a little bit of style. A major key in that type of upset will be defensive ends Jackson Jeffcoat and Cedric Reed continuing their run of dominance. The two have combined for a ridiculous 21 sacks and 39 tackles for loss and could disrupt Mariota and force them out of their game plan. Mariota who was projected as a top-5 pick will be tough to contain, but if Jeffcoat and Reed can get in his head early a close game for Mack Brown is more realistic than people think. Easier said than done.
Draft Impact
Plenty of big names and rich talent will be played in this game. Here's a quick snapshot of each prospect that is draft eligible and projected to hear their name called come draft weekend.
Ifo Ekpre-Olomu is the Duck's best cornerback and is in the discussion as one of the best cornerbacks in this years draft class. His combination of athleticism and swagger are second to none as he has grown into a shut down corner. Olomu might be the first cornerback taken, but he still hasn't officially declared as of now.
As mentioned above, Jackson Jeffcoat has put on a freak show at times this year from the defensive end. Coming from NFL bloodlines, Jeffcoat has all the intangibles you want from a prospect. Injuries and consistency are the only reason Jeffcoat has red flags hanging over his head.
Taylor Hart lines up at defensive end and defensive tackle for the Ducks. He has been one of the most consistent players on their defensive line and will add great depth to one of the 32 teams at the next level. Not doing anything great but everything very wel,l Hart is looking at a fringe day two pick, with worst case hearing his name called on day three.
Quandre Diggs was Texas' best cornerback throughout the 2013 season. Diggs' draft stock will hinge on his success or failure at the NFL combine with a ceiling of a third round pick to a floor of a fifth round pick.
De'Anthony Thomas was the reciprocant of a successful run-option game. Thomas regressed slightly this year but only because he had to live up to the video game numbers he put up the year prior like averaging 7.0 yards per touch. Thomas is extremely talented and could have a few teams falling in love with him after he shows off his explosiveness at the combine. With running back falling out of high priority in the NFL third to fourth round is most realistic. However, it wouldn't surprise anyone to see him taken in the second round based off his pure potential and raw ability.
Mike Davis was the go-to target for whoever was at the helm for the Longhorns. Davis measures in at 6'2" 200 pounds and showed flashes of big play ability. Inconsistent quarterback play hindered Davis' success and his numbers took a big blow because of it. No doubt Davis will be drafted, however, exactly where he is selected is a mystery for everyone.