A few random thoughts on Mack Brown’s first weekly press conference before the season-opener:

Was mildly surprised that he and Greg Davis promoted true freshman Case McCoy over true freshman Connor Wood as backup quarterback. Both coaches praised the young McCoy’s ability to take command in the huddle, manage the game and avoid turnovers.

When I asked Davis if he feared Wood would transfer as did Jevan Snead to Ole Miss when the staff picked Colt McCoy over him, the Longhorn offensive coordinator said, “No, I don’t right now. It’s a little bit different situation.”

It certainly is because Snead and Colt McCoy were competing for the starting job. But I did find a little disconcerting Davis’ comment that he didn’t think Wood would transfer “right now.” Maybe I’m reading too much into it. …

Was also surprised sophomore Dravannti Johnson was penciled in as the starting strongside linebacker. The coaches hadn’t mentioned him that much during August. My feeling is defensive coordinator Will Muschamp loves his depth at linebacker with former starter Jared Norton and senior Dustin Earnest waiting in the wings along with freshman Jordan Hicks. …

Garrett Gilbert appears anxious to play but at the same very comfortable and relaxed. He said he saw former Lake Travis teammate Andy Erickson at the Lake Travis win over Westlake and said Erickson, a Rice Owl now, had some playful smack talk. “He said he was hoping to get in some kicks (returns) against us.” …

Defensive linemen Sam Acho and Kheeston Randall both were wearing hot pink sneakers, partly because they like them and partly because they wanted to show their breast cancer awareness. “We haven’t gotten into any fights yet (because of them),” Acho said, smiling. “We’ll see later.” …

Greg Davis is still the most honest coach I’ve ever been around, next to Abe Lemons and Cliff Gustafson. Asked if junior Malcolm Williams has been inconsistent this camp, Davis said, “Yes. He’s shown us the ability to make the wow play. He’s going to make a ton of big plays for us, but he hasn’t done it down after down after down.”