From Austin American -Statesman

LONGHORNS FOOTBALL

The top five Horns of all time
Friday, November 20, 2009

THE BEST EVER: OUR PICKS

Who are the best players ever at Texas? The debate is open, but here are our picks for the top five:

Earl Campbell

Campbell was Texas' first Heisman Trophy winner. He won in 1977 when he led the nation in rushing with 1,744 yards. He also was the first winner of the Dave O'Brien Trophy and an All-American. His Texas teams went 34-12-1 in his four-year career (1974-77), though the Longhorns were only 1-2 in bowl games.

Tommy Nobis

Considered one of college football's all-time greatest linebackers, Nobis averaged nearly 20 tackles a game in his three-year career (1963-65). His Texas teams went 27-6, including an 11-0 national championship season his sophomore year. The Longhorns were 2-0 in bowl games with Nobis, beating Navy in the Cotton Bowl his sophomore year and Alabama in the Orange Bowl his junior year. That Orange Bowl win featured Nobis making one of the most famous tackles in Longhorns history, stopping Alabama quarterback Joe Namath on a fourth-and-inches play late in the game. Nobis also played offense, starring as a guard, and legendary Texas coach Darrell Royal called him "the finest two-way player I have ever seen."

James Street

Plain and simple, Street was a winner. He went 20-0 as a starter in his Longhorns career, running Texas' wishbone offense to perfection in 1968 and 1969. As a senior, Street led Texas past Arkansas in The Big Shootout game and then, one month later, to a 21-17 win over Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl to seal the Longhorns' 11-0 season and national championship. He also was a top pitcher for Texas' baseball team, leading the Longhorns to a pair of Southwest Conference titles with two career no-hitters.

Ricky Williams

Williams, Texas' second Heisman Trophy winner, holds or shares 20 NCAA rushing records, and ushered in the Mack Brown era by breaking Tony Dorsett's career rushing mark in the 1998 game against Texas A&M. Texas went 31-17-1 in his four years (1995-98), though Texas was 1-2 in bowl games. His career rushing and scoring records were eventually broken, but he remains at the top of the Longhorns' record books for career yards (6,279) and touchdowns (72).

Vince Young

Like Street, Young was a dynamic leader who made winning an art form. He went 30-2 in his three years (2003-05) at Texas, leaving for the NFL after leading the Longhorns to the 2005 national championship with an 11-0 record. Only Colt McCoy has won more games as a Texas quarterback, and Young's heroics in memorable wins over USC, Ohio State, Kansas and Oklahoma State secure his place in Texas lore.

— Richard Tijerina

I am not going to argue with that list, but try to finish out 6-10. I will put a couple of names in the hat.

1) Quenton Jammar
2) Doug English
3) Derrick Johnson
4) Kenneth Sims
5) Steve Wooster


Names Destined for consideration
1) Colt McCoy
2) Jordan Shipley

Peter Gardere beat the Sooners all four times he started against them, as well as leading Texas to a #3 finish nationally in 1990. He should be on that list somewhere.

Chris Gilbert, a running back in I think the late-60's.

Roosevelt Leaks, RB

Jerry Gray, DB

Michael Huff, DB

Britt Hager, LB

S-Stanley Richard was #### good at UT.

And let's not forget as someone mentioned Gardere, wasn't he 4-0 against OU?

And what about Major Applewhite?

I think some of Applewhite's success was instrumental in Mack Brown gaining the momentum he did when he arrived in '98.

Applewhite didn't win a conference title or play for a national championship, but he was the QB in some HUGE wins when Brown first came to Austin.

How about this question...rank the best QB's in UT history 1-through-5. Think about this a little bit before tossing out some names.

David Smoak

One of the issue in compiling any list is our experience and knowledge. In raising the QB question, a player who might deserve top 5 consideration is Bobby Lane.

The problems in ranking players are they played different styles, different eras, different equipment, etc.....

Top 5 will be tough and one of the top 5 might not be necessarily a popular choice amongst the UT faithful (Simms).

Bobby Lane, Vince Young, Colt MCcoy, Rick McIvor, James Street, Major Applewhite.

in no particular order: james street, james brown, colt mccoy, major applewhite, vince young.

I vote for Chris Simms.

Personal choices

Vince Young QB
Earl Campbell RB
Kenneth Simms DE
Johnnie Johnson DB
Tommy Nobis LB
Derrick Johnson LB
James Street QB

James Brown will be honored at the Kansas game this week and placed into the Texas Hall of Honor.

By the way, he says the pass in the Nebraska Big 12 game was not called. Mackovic told him to run the bootleg on 4th and 2 and Brown said he saw the receiver wide open and decided to throw it. The rest is history as a 7-4 Texas team beat #3 Nebraska for the Big 12 championship.

No love for Rooster Andrews ??? Sorry...

You guys have listed some great names. The degree of difficulty is similar to choosing a "5 Greatest LPs" list

Ryan Perilloux...thanks for decommitting and taking your baggage somewhere else and else again

Great call - on a name that many have forgotten or never heard!

Gardere was 4-0 vs.dirt burglar but 1-3 against agggsy.Not good.
Earl Campbell
James Street
Tommy Nobis
Ricky Williams
Bobby Layne
Vince Young
you'll get 6 and like it !!

Hub Bectoll 3 time All AMERICAN. R.Erxleben-3 time All American, Jerry Sizemore-2 time all American went to Nfl to play number of yrs., Duke Carlise- was one reason for UT first NC, Steve McMichael 2 TIME AA,Scott Appleton-AA, Jerry Gray.,E.Campbell, J.Johnson, Rosey Leaks watched him set single game rushing record vs SMU and Hayden Fry.Booger Red etc...

I was at that game. Rosey was awesome and went through about five tear aways. However, Hayden Fry had moved on before that. HC was Dave Smith.

[quote name='tcobaseball' date='Nov 21 2009, 08:46 AM' post='1282520']
Gardere was 4-0 vs.dirt burglar but 1-3 against agggsy.Not good.

Its going to be hard to find the greatest players that have good record against ou and a&m. Throughtout history Texas always seems to lose to one of them in the season. Thats not a bash on Texas its just fact. A&M never has beaten Tech OU and Texas in the same season i dont think...Its hard for Teams to go 7-1 or 8-0 over their biggest rivals in a college career. I mean even Colt who is the record holder for wins will have a 3-1 record against OU but a 2-2 record against A&M assuming he wins thanksgiving.

I wouldnt count the best players just because of records...Colt IMO has to be in the top 5.