OTF Premium The case for the 2000s as Texas' golden era, the Mount Rushmore of Longhorn offensive linemen and a hat tip

[Jeff Howe]

There’s an argument to be made that the 2000s under Mack Brown, not the 1960s under Darrell Royal, are the best decade in the history of the Texas football program.

Only Boise State tallied more wins than the Longhorns’ 110 victories from 2000-09 among FBS clubs. Texas only won two conference championships during the decade. But the Longhorns suffered an upset loss in the Big 12 title game in 2001 and were denied rightful entry to the 2008 game (it’s hard to explain to someone who wasn’t around or didn’t follow college football at the time that a system of computer rankings rendered Texas’ 45-35 win over Oklahoma in arguably the best in the history of the series moot).

The Longhorns won at least nine games in each of those 10 seasons, including nine consecutive seasons (2001-09) with at least 10 wins. Texas was a legitimate national championship contender in three of those seasons (2001, 2004 and 2008) and finished no worse than 12th in any final Associated Press Top 25.

The 2005 national championship team is one of the best in college football history. The argument for Vince Young as the greatest college football player of his era (or any other, for that matter) is strong. Young, Brown, Derrick Johnson and Michael Huff are in the College Football Hall of Fame. The likes of Cedric Benson, Justin Blalock, Quentin Jammer, Casey Hampton, Colt McCoy, Brian Orakpo, Jordan Shipley and Rod Wright helped the program gain and maintain national relevance for those 10 seasons.

If the 2008 squad had its date with destiny against Florida, or if McCoy played the entirety of the title game against Alabama the following season, a second national championship in the decade might be enough for the 2000s to unseat the 1960s as the golden age of Longhorn football. Still, in this discussion, second place isn’t a bad place to be, if that's where one chooses to rank those 10 seasons.

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The No. 60 is chock-full of Longhorn legends, especially with Derrick Johnson wearing it in his last game at DKR (a 26-13 win over Texas A&M, which helped secure a Rose Bowl berth against Michigan at the end of the 2004 season).

With that said, the discussion on the greatest No. 60 in school history starts and stops with Tommy Nobis. Recognizing Nobis on Tuesday, which coincides with the 60-day mark until Texas kicks off the 2026 season, puts into perspective how special the No. 60 has been on the Forty Acres and caps off an incredible run of Longhorn legends who wore a jersey number in the 60s.

For starters, the 60s are bookended with Nobis and Dan Neil, a College Football Hall of Fame nominee and two-time first-team All-American (1995 and 1996) who wore No. 69 during his four seasons (1992-96), is impressive. What’s even more eye-opening is that if Neil is inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (he’s been on the ballot three times, most recently in 2025), he’d be the fourth Longhorn offensive linemen in the Hall of Fame who wore a jersey number in the 60s, joining Bud McFadin (No. 61), Bob McKay (No. 62) and Harley Sewell (No. 66).

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If you’re trying to assemble the Mount Rushmore of Texas offensive linemen, you could do it entirely of guys who wore jersey numbers from 60 through 69.

Along with the three College Football Hall of Fame inductees and Neil, Blalock was a two-time All-American who started all 51 games in his Longhorn career. Blalock’s primary competition to be considered the best No. 63 in school history is Mike Williams, a consensus All-American in 2001 (like Doug Dawson was in 1983, when he wore No. 66 and was a captain for a team that came painfully close to winning a national championship) who was the fourth overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft.

Jake Majors' (No. 65) school record 57 starts over parts of his five seasons (2020-24) could be in jeopardy with five-for-five eligibility looming. Although Majors and Lyle Sendlein (No. 62) wouldn’t be considered for the Mount Rushmore, their names would be up for discussion when picking a center for an all-time Texas offensive line.

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There was more debate than I anticipated over which all-time No. 64 the OTF community preferred: Casey Hampton (1996-2000) or Kasey Studdard (2002-06)?

While I’m a Studdard fan then, now and forever, it’s hard to put Hampton’s dominance into its proper context for those who were too young to remember the two-time first-team All-American’s career or didn’t see one of the best defensive line products the state of Texas has ever produced.

Hampton led the Longhorns in total tackles with 101 in 1999 and 78 in 2000 (tied D.D. Lewis for the team lead), making him the first Texas defensive lineman to lead the team in tackles in consecutive seasons. A nose tackle who was constantly facing double- and triple-teams, Hampton recorded 39 of his 54 career tackles for loss over his last seasons and was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2000.

The best example of what Hampton meant to the Longhorns (and later the Pittsburgh Steelers, the franchise with which Hampton won two Super Bowls, was named to Pro Bowls and was voted to their all-time team in 2007 after he was picked in the first round of the 2001 draft) came in the wake of a 64-13 loss to Oklahoma in 2000. A flustered Brown told Royal that he felt the team quit in the loss to the Sooners, while singling out how hard Hampton played, Royal let Brown know that his assumption wasn’t correct.

"Teams don't quit,” Royal said. “Some players may have given up, and it may look like that. But some of your guys may have gone out and played the best games of their careers."

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[Jeff Howe]

I'm not saying I'm right, but my Mount Rushmore of Texas offensive linemen would be: Kelvin Banks Jr., Justin Blalock (over Dan Neil), Bob McKay and Jerry Sizemore

[Jeffery Elswick]

We beat the U in ‘01 if we don’t lose our minds in the 1h of that CU game. 

[NothinButDaHorns34]

13 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

I'm not saying I'm right, but my Mount Rushmore of Texas offensive linemen would be: Kelvin Banks Jr., Justin Blalock (over Dan Neil), Bob McKay and Jerry Sizemore

If kelvin banks isn’t the first name out of somebody’s mouth when they mention a texas mount rushmore of offensive lineman they need to back and check his credentials. 

[Doc Strangemood]

Texas only lost 3 games from 1961-1964.  Won 30 games in row from 1968-1970 (22 of which happened in the 60s}.  Won two national championships in the 60s.  The 2000s don't compare.  At least not favorably.

[Alex Butler]

58 minutes ago, Jeffery Elswick said:

We beat the U in ‘01 if we don’t lose our minds in the 1h of that CU game. 

We definitely should’ve played them. With that insane collection of talent I don’t think we beat them but it would’ve been a better game than Nebraska for SURE. 

[LonghornFan4Ever]

1 hour ago, Jeffery Elswick said:

We beat the U in ‘01 if we don’t lose our minds in the 1h of that CU game. 

No chance but would've been nice to get to that game.  I will say this, the experience of having to play and lose to the most talented team in college football history would've set the 2002 Texas team up nicely to return to the national title game the next season.  The 2002 team not winning it all hurts more than the 2001 team because it was wide open.  Ohio State won it, but Miami, Georgia, Oklahoma or Texas could've won it all that season.

[LonghornFan4Ever]

Hopefully Texas has a nice run from 2026-2029 so the 2020s are in this conversation five years from now.  Gotta get one this season though because they probably won't be good enough to win it all again until the 2028 season, but so many things can change in two years, so we'll see.

[Doc Strangemood]

5 minutes ago, LonghornFan4Ever said:

Hopefully Texas has a nice run from 2026-2029 so the 2020s are in this conversation five years from now.  Gotta get one this season though because they probably won't be good enough to win it all again until the 2028 season, but so many things can change in two years, so we'll see.

It's always been a game of fate.  

[Myzos]

3 hours ago, Jeffery Elswick said:

We beat the U in ‘01 if we don’t lose our minds in the 1h of that CU game. 

Not a chance.