Texas Longhorns - Roll Left

1996 Big XII Championship Game
James Brown pass on fourth and inches to Derek Lewis
Priest Holmes TD run

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[kjctnorris]

What it comes down to for me is, I was less shocked to see VY run it in than I was when I saw James Brown roll out and throw it to Lewis.

You also have to consider at the time, Texas had spent a ridiculous amount of time prior to that Nebraska win as a mediocre team.

I don't know, you can make an argument for either but to me 4th and 5 was the culmination of great plays by a great player while Roll Left was a defining moment for a team.

[vindiola]

Even more, I think this play was a real turning point for Texas football. Although there had been good years prior ('90 Shock the Nation), it had never been like this. Plus, it was a new conference where we weren't supposed to be able to compete and it was against a great team/program that was where we wanted to be.

I think everything that came after (Simms, VY, Nat'l Champ) can be traced to here. If we lose, I don't think we fire Mac II the next year and hire Mack, etc. Changed everything.

[vindiola]

That's what made the win so special. At the start of the Big 12, Nebraska was the big dog and was supposed to wipe the floor with old SWC teams. However, Texas set the stage for the future that night. Nebraska is 1-7 against Texas since 1996, the one win coming in the 1999 Champ Game. The South was supposed to be the much weaker half.

Since 96, NU is 4-3 vs TTU and 3-6 vs OU. Since 02, NU is 0-3 vs TTU, 0-5 vs OU and 0-4 vs Texas. Good thing you have A&M, Baylor and OSU to play.

[longhorn2615]

gotta love priest

[26michaeluk]

As a Florida fan, this play COMPLETELY opened the door for a national title in 1996

[AdamantAvocado]

Horse Collar Tackle at the end of the play. Would have had even more yardage tacked on if it happened today.

[Nicholas Narveson]

Talk about playing to win the game instead of playing not to lose.



[roo7227]

LOL.. Yeah, I don't think that losing to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl 38-15 was the greatest of cappers to this triumph.. The programme didn't turn around until Mack got here, and started recruiting..

[91Bear]

You're forgetting 1997 - the very next year. The Longhorns finished 4-7, including a loss to Baylor in Waco and John Mackovic was fired.

[65FALCONSG]

Now days that would have been flagged as a horse-collar.

[donteven try]

This is just my opinion... but i think this is the most iconic play in longhorns football history.

[cooljerk]

You can take it back a step further, though. If Ricky Williams doesn't come to Austin in 1995, we don't win the final SWC. We don't play in this game. We don't beat Nebraska in 1998. We never land Vince Young. Ricky Williams gets tons of love from Texas, but not enough. His arrival in Austin breathed life back into the program. One of the most influential Longhorns of all time. It's great to have him back on campus. Hook 'em Ricky, and Run Ricky, Run!

[coppercabisafukinfag]

Nebraska sucks my dick and they like getting cream pied in the face

[jram415]

Nebraska is not in rebuilding mode. The demise of NU football was due to NU finally joining a conference with competition outside of Norman, OK. Plus, once Texas demanded that academic standards were to be raised, Osborne scoffed at the notion b/c he knew that would end NU football b/c NU was allowed to accept illiterate partial qualifiers that could not qualify academically at any other school in the nation for so many years in the Big 8. Parity in a conference killed NU football forever.