Remember the Alamo Bowl

So the Horns are officially headed to the Alamo Bowl for the first time to play the 6-6 Iowa Hawkeyes, an erstwhile top-10 team that has lost five of its last six. Now that Jevan Snead has requested a transfer, the Longhorns will probably carry only Matt McCoy as the backup, with Billy Pittman or Quan Cosby as the "Dear God, we need a quarterback now" third-stringers, just in case a Hawkeye defenseman decides to pull a Kellen Heard stunt.

Colt McCoy's pinched nerve in his neck should hopefully be healed up by the time Dec. 30th rolls around. With a healthy McCoy, the Horns should be able to torch the Iowa secondary and shatter whatever game plan Iowa Coach Ferentz dreams up. The problem is that UT's defense, which looked utterly baffled by K-State, will face Iowa quarterback and Texas native Drew Tate, who led the Hawkeyes to the number 2 passing offense in the Big 10. Iowa's offense has been shaky, to say the least, and here's hoping Gene Chizik's departure bring some long overdue changes to the Horns' defensive unit.

Alamo Bowl officials now have permission to dance their victory jig. A new title sponsor (Adios, Mastercard) should soon sign on for the game now that 20,000 Longhorns fans will descend on San Antonio and clog Highway 281 with burnt orange flags protruding from many a car window. Oddly, Iowa will be the home team, facing off against thousands of overflowing "visiting" Texas fans (including myself - thankfully I now can call off intensive negotiations with my wife over traveling to the Gator Bowl.)

A UT loss would be devastating - finishing with nine wins for the first time in several years, dropping out of the top 25, and forcing Mack into recruiting overdrive to stave off any losses to Oklahoma or the resurgent Aggies.