Texas finally has an identity. In games against Nebraska and Oklahoma State, Texas ran the football really well in the fourth quarter and ended up with more than 300 yards rushing in each game. But the Longhorns were still using the pass to set up the run early in those games.

Not anymore. On Saturday against Texas Tech, Texas was finally able to run the ball from the first quarter and dominate a game on the ground.

Texas ran for 283 yards, 184 of them in the first half. Twelve of Jamaal Charles' 23 carries came in the first quarter for 85 yards (7.1 ypc). Charles had 18 carries for 165 yards rushing at halftime (9.2 ypc) before injuring his left ankle and missing much of the third and fourth quarters.

"I was aiming for 300," Charles said after the game.

Colt McCoy continues to be a threat to run. Against Tech, he ran 11 times for 51 yards and two touchdowns and is averaging 61.2 yards rushing over the last five games with an average yards-per-carry of 5.9.

"Teams are respecting the zone read now with Colt," Charles said. "He believes in himself that if he takes the ball from me, he can make some yards with his feet. It's opening up the run game. People were criticizing him because he couldn't run and wasn't Vince Young. But he's just grown more confident in making plays with his feet."

Now, when teams show blitz on a pass play, instead of checking to a different pass protection, McCoy is checking to a quick-hitting run like the zone read or counter. Texas is burning the blitz with Charles' legs.

Last year, Texas had 37 total explosive runs – runs of 12 yards or more – with 14 of those coming from Charles. This season, Texas has 53 explosive runs, with Charles providing 28 of those. Thirty-three of those explosive runs have come in the last five games, when McCoy became a threat to run. That total almost matches the explosive runs for all of last season.

Texas is averaging 318 yards rushing the last three games, giving the Longhorns an identity they didn't have last season going into the Texas A&M game. Back then, UT was completely dependent on Colt McCoy's still-injured arm. This season, Texas is counting on his legs.

On to the questions...

Q: Why is Texas' secondary struggling?

Jordan R.

BROWN: Texas fell from 87th in pass defense to 103rd nationally after giving up 466 yards through the air against Texas Tech. UT has given up 2,944 passing yards for the season and will break the school season record of 3,071 set last year. The 267.6 passing yards being given up per game are also the most in school history. But it's not like teams are just throwing over the top of the secondary. Much like last year, a lot of the passes are short passes that turn into catch-and-runs because of missed tackles by the linebackers.

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Q: With Jamaal Charles now carrying the ball 20 to 30 times, Texas is a much more explosive team and a better team. We, the fans and media of southeast Texas knew, because of Jamaal's history, that he needs the carries to be effective. What took Greg Davis so long to recognize this? Was he pressured into giving Charles more carries, or did he decide on his own?

J.R. Kennon

BROWN: This will go down as one of the great story lines of the season. After needing to set up the run with the pass for the early part of the season because of an inexperienced offensive line, it took Colt McCoy getting knocked out of the Nebraska game for one play (with 13:05 left in the fourth quarter) for coaches to rediscover the shotgun option or zone read. John Chiles came in, Davis ran zone read and Charles made 25 yards on that carry. The coaches just kept running it and ended up with 364 yards rushing – 248 of which came in the fourth quarter after going to the zone read. Because McCoy is more comfortable running than he was last year, the defense is having to play contain on the backside to make sure McCoy doesn't get loose. So there are more running ***s for Charles. So Davis realized, almost by accident, that McCoy and Charles could be effective with zone read.

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Q: Can you explain the bowl picking order for the Big 12 this year for the Gator, Cotton, Holiday, and why is it different than years past?

Derek

BROWN: If the Big 12 gets one team into the BCS, the Gator Bowl will pick second after the Fiesta, followed by the Cotton, Holiday, Alamo, Insight, Independence and Texas bowls. If the Big 12 gets two teams into the BCS, the Cotton would pick second after the Fiesta, followed by the Holiday, Gator, Alamo, Insight, Independence and Texas bowls. It's almost a certainty the Gator will take a Big 12 team this year, because the Gator has to take the Big 12 in two of the next three years and also has a tie-in with Notre Dame during that span. So the Gator will go Big 12 this year and hope Notre Dame at least gets bowl eligible next season so the Gator could take the Fighting Irish in 2008.

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Q: I know Mack is beholden to UT tradition, but what about "Mack the Marketeer"? Why doesn't UT ever change its uniforms? Why not try orange pants with the white jerseys or maybe gray pants similar to the gray of the basketball team? I know college football has its classic looks, like Penn State, but look at all the colorful uniforms out there that include colored pants. Will we ever see anything besides white pants, white shirts and white helmets?

James, Oklahoma City

BROWN: Not as long as Darrell Royal is walking the earth. Texas will honor its tradition established under Royal. The Longhorns went to black, visitor uniforms in basketball against Duke a couple of years ago, and Royal, for one, couldn't stand them. So Texas has never brought them out again. Looks like white pants, white uniforms and white helmets on the road.

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Q: Regarding Chris Hall, I think he should be considered an MVP on this offense. I know MVPs are supposed to go to guys with stats, but this guy has held the offensive line together: playing all five positions, not missing a beat when he had to replace Tony Hills (broken leg). I know it's far-fetched for O-linemen to get MVPs, but Colt doesn't get completed passes and Jamaal doesn't get big runs without them.

Darryl

BROWN: Hall has been amazing. He just might get a co-MVP on offense with Colt McCoy and Jamaal Charles at the team's year-end banquet. When Hall starts at left tackle against Texas A&M, he will start a game at his fifth different position. Line coach Mac McWhorter said Hall's flexibility kept freshmen such as Buck Burnette, Michael Huey and Kyle Hix from getting thrown into the fire before they were ready. Hall simply has been plugged in wherever needed. Now that Burnette, Huey and Hix have had some seasoning, they are much better prepared to contribute. McWhorter said he uses Hall as an example in every aspect of life: "On the field, off the field, in the classroom, work ethic," McWhorter said. "If I had five Chris Halls on the field at all times, we'd be in great shape."

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Q: Can UT stop the Aggies' running game this year? Last year the defense could not get off the field, which severely limited the number of offensive snaps.

Carl, Dallas

BROWN: The last time Texas faced a team that could run as well as Texas A&M, UT gave up 164 yards rushing to Oklahoma State. Of course, the Cowboys also threw for 430 yards. A&M hasn't thrown for more than 250 yards in any game this season. The Longhorns gave up ground to Central Florida (192 yards) and Oklahoma (170 yards). There were a lot of missed tackles by the linebackers in those games. So if the tackling is better at that position, Texas should be able to keep A&M from running wild. This will be a great game to feature UT's young linebackers – Jared Norton, Sergio Kindle and Rod Muckelroy – who are solid, physical, downhill, run-stoppers.

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Q: Is there anything going on with Larry Mac Duff? He is never seen and never talks. Akina does all the talking for the defense. Since they haven't had a good defensive year, is Mac Duff going to take a fall?

Tom

BROWN: Are you kidding? Mac Duff taught Texas a foolproof way to recover all those onside kicks (five of them this season). Instead of having a bunch of receivers and good hands people out there, Texas now has four or five players block for Brandon Foster and Nate Jones so that opponents can't get to the ball, and Foster and Jones get an uninterrupted chance to catch the ball. "It's so simple," Mack Brown said this week. "It only took 23 years in my coaching career to get that concept." Seriously, it's doubtful anyone on the staff will change, unless they decide to take another job.

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Q: We are spoiled. Like most Orangebloods, I wish we beat OU more often than not, and that we won the Big 12 championship more than twice in 12 years, but my gosh, we are spoiled. Is it true that UT is the only program in the nation that has had at least nine victories a year for the last 10 years, with a chance to make that 10 victories with a win over A&M? It's easy to forget the slim years, but Mack has done an incredible job over an extended period of time, and we need to be thankful and supportive!

Steve W.

BROWN: No doubt. Mack Brown has been the perfect man for the Texas job. He put the UT family back together after the fractures suffered when Darrell Royal retired and was not allowed to name his successor. (Royal, who was also UT's athletic director, wanted Mike Campbell. Then-Texas regent Frank Erwin and former Texas Gov. Allen Shivers barred Royal from making the decision and hired Fred Akers.) Brown also keeps his kids playing for him, no matter the adversity. This team looked like it was going to implode at several points this season, and here they are at 9-2. Mack Brown deserves all the credit.

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Q: What do you think of Texas' team chemistry and leadership now? Granted they are not sexy, but they do seem to be very resilient and find ways to win. Will that be enough to overcome the possible announcement right before the A&M game that Fran has agreed to a buyout?

Mike M., Murphy, Texas

BROWN: Texas seems to be focused and excited about its new identity as a running team. Mack Brown assessed his team's recent improvement this way: "A lot of the young guys are getting more experience and more confidence," Brown said. "We did not feel like early in the season that we had an identity. We were not running the ball well. We were inconsistent in our passing game. We were winning in a lot of the cases, but we weren't winning pretty. We weren't winning with confidence. We were just hanging in there. These kids have won a lot of games, so they thought they were going to win, but we weren't playing well. The last couple weeks on offense we're running the ball for over 200 yards, and that makes your protection better and then Colt just keeps getting better and better. I think Colt's leadership is helping us as well."

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Q: What has happened to John Chiles? Seems like he was being worked into the game in the first half of the season, but lately he has disappeared. Do the coaches feel like the resurgence of Jamaal Charles and the newfound running of Colt McCoy are enough to keep Chiles on the bench? How is his morale?

Chris

BROWN: It's been a frustrating year for Chiles, because he was never worked into the first-team offense on a regular basis. We saw a couple plays for him early on, and then he became part of a wholesale platoon of the second-team offense. But we haven't seen that move the last three weeks. So Chiles is probably frustrated. But all indications are that he is not considering transferring. Said Colt McCoy this week, "John is doing fine. His morale is fine. He just wants to win like everyone else."