ST. LOUIS -- Roll left. The play call came into the Texas huddle on Saturday with the Longhorns facing fourth down and inches at their own 28-yard line. Two minutes, 38 seconds remained in the game. UT led Nebraska 30-27. Instead of punting, running an obvious quarterback sneak, trying to draw the defense offsides or handing the ball off, the Longhorns gambled. Quarterback James Brown, who magically escaped NU's pass rush all day, was told by Texas Coach John Mackovic to call the roll left. Brown said he and Mackovic had discussed the play all week. If the situation presented itself against the Cornhuskers, Brown was not to question Mackovic's play call. "We'd been contemplating that play all day," Brown said. "If we have a fourth and one, we are going to run that play. We came up and we had a chance to run it, and it turned out to be a big play." Mackovic had a feeling the play would work. From watching films, Mackovic said, he noticed that the Nebraska defense stacked the line on short third- and fourth-down plays. The roll-left call was not a big risk, he said. "I told the quarterbacks that if we were going to go for it on third or fourth down, that would be the play that I would call and not to be surprised when it came in," Mackovic said. "It was so close, and I thought anybody should be able to make two inches if you're going to play for the championship." The play is designed for Brown to roll left, after which time he has the option to run or throw the football. Brown can sprint for the first down or pass to his primary target, tight end Pat Fitzgerald, in the flat. His third and last option is a pass to little-used tight end Derek Lewis. Brown rolled to his left, and NU's Mike Minter eliminated the run. Minter would have thrown Brown for a three-yard loss had the Husker co-captain gotten a hold of the quarterback, who looked off Fitzgerald after noticing that Lewis was wide open. Lewis, a sophomore -- who ironically is from New Orleans -- came off the line untouched, catching Brown's pass and ending NU's hopes for a Sugar Bowl berth. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound tight end raced 61 yards before being caught from behind by Jamel Williams at the NU 11-yard line. Texas running back Priest Holmes iced the 37-27 Texas win by scoring a touchdown on the next play. "It was a beautiful call," said Lewis, who had eight catches for 53 yards this season. His longest reception of the season before Saturday was a 15-yarder against Kansas. "The only thing I told James was come to run," Mackovic said. "You run for the first down, but little did I know that Derek Lewis would break behind everybody and James would flip it over their heads. When I saw his arm cock, I thought, `Oh God.' "Never in my dreams did I think we would gain 503 yards in total offense against what I consider the best defense in America."
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