Texas football: Assembling the all-time Mack Brown team

Ricky Williams, RB

This was a tough choice for the running back slot on the all-time Longhorns team from the Mack era on the 40. Ricky Williams only played under Mack for one amazing season, which also happened to be Brown’s first as Texas’ head coach. Meanwhile, Cedric Benson was the best running back Mack had for four years in the early 2000s.

But it’s hard not to give it to Williams, the running back that won the most recent Heisman Trophy for the Longhorns during the 1998 season. Williams had one of the best individual seasons in recent memory in college football in 1998, going off for more than 2,100 rushing yards and 27 rushing touchdowns.

In fact, Williams’ 1998 campaign was so impressive that he was among the most convincing Heisman Trophy winners among running backs in the award’s history. Williams got 714 first-place Heisman votes in 1998, the second-most in the award’s history among running back winners. He only ranks behind USC running back OJ Simpson, who had 855 first-place votes in 1968.

But it’s worth noting that there were more Heisman voters in 1968 and 1976, giving OJ an edge in that department over Williams.

Another good measure that shows just how impressive Williams was in 1998 was the percentage of possible points he got from the Heisman ballots. He landed more than 85 percent of the possible points for the Heisman vote in 1998, most of any running back in college football history.

Had Williams played for Mack for more than one season, it would be easier to choose him over the late and great Benson. But the margins are pretty slim here.

There’s no losing with choosing either of these running backs on the all-time Longhorns team from the Mack era.

Honorable mention: Cedric Benson