CONFERENCE CALL
By Danny Reagan / Abilene, Texas
Updated 11:25 a.m.: I was able to ask Mack Brown one more partial question about his concerns about the quarterback situation before other questions started flying and interrupted me.
Brown said if Colt McCoy isn't ready to play, they'll have to go with the senior Matt McCoy (no relation), a 5-year, non-scholarship veteran of the program. Brown also said they are planning on an "emergency quarterback" scenario, and he and his staff would talk more about that. The press conference ended on that note.
Earlier, someone had asked Brown about Vince Young, and the coach said he missed him. "He's doing for the Titans what he did for us last year," he said. Laughing, Brown also said he remembers "calling some of those same plays (third and 12)," and Young was still running them "with a smile on his face and no dirt on his jersey."
A couple of times Brown was asked about the defensive coordinator opening and reiterated he would not comment until after the Alamo Bowl.
Brown's comments about bowl games in general were interesting: "If you're not playing in a BCS bowl, you want to go somewhere that wants you," he said. "The other bowls around the country are not getting as much attention as they deserve. If you can play a great team you respect, before a full house on ESPN, it just doesn't get any better than that."
Then he took a little jab at the BCS, in my opinion. "You're seeing some bowl matchups that aren't as exciting anymore." He also said he was very proud Texas fans bought tickets so quickly.
Updated 11:10 a.m.: Actually got to ask Mack Brown a question - "If you could rate Colt McCoy 1-to-10, with 10 being 100% ready to play, what would you rate him?"
His response was brief: "It's entirely too early to rate him, because it's a wait-and-see process."
Updated 11:05 a.m.: The press conference didn't actually start until about 10:55 a.m., with talk about the Alamo Bowl being at capacity.
Coach Kirk Ferentz mentioned that his Hawkeyes really enjoy visiting the Alamo Bowl, and are looking forward to the challenge of playing Texas. Iowa was in San Antonio in 2001 and really enjoyed the experience.
Coach Mack Brown echoed that he and his team were excited about playing in San Antoinio, "an opportunity they haven't had" in the past, and he's looking forward to all the UT fans being in attendance. Brown also talked about the importance of a bowl game, but didn't think a win or a loss would affect recruiting.
Both coaches, of course, talked about mutual respect for each other's squads.
At 10:30 a.m. (CST) today (it still hasn't started at 10:50), I'll be listening in on an Alamo Bowl conference call that will include Mack Brown and Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, and maybe others.
I'll keep you posted of anything important during the call. BTW: The Alamo Bowl is definitely a sell-out - which means at least 65,685 fans will be in attendance.