Back during the 1998 college football season, the Texas football program was just attempting its rise to national prominence under the direction of then first-year head coach Mack Brown. In 1998, Brown was in his inaugural season as Texas head coach, coming off his run with the North Carolina Tar Heels. And Brown had a talented roster to make things work in his first year on the Forty Acres.
Most notable among his talented roster was former Texas superstar running back Ricky Williams. In the three previous years playing under John Mackovic as head coach, Williams found a lot of success.