The last time the Texas offense took the field the showing was terrible.

Watson said the Longhorns will go as fast as they can in the new-look offense when they hit the field against Notre Dame.

The Longhorns tallied a mere 59 yards of total offense against Arkansas, rushing for just two yards on 18 carries in a humiliating Texas Bowl loss. It's tough to shake some of the images of the debacle last December, but Shawn Watson has turned the page.

Texas' assistant head coach for offense is confident the burnt orange faithful will see a better offense than the one that stunk up NRG Stadium when the Longhorns take the field against No. 11 Notre Dame Saturday night (6:30 p.m., NBC).

“We're just totally different because of a lot of things,” Watson said. “We're not battling the same issues we battled a year ago.”

The transition to an up-tempo offense was made easier due to many of the players on that side of the ball having played in tempo offenses in high school. Speed is the agent Texas will rely on to induce more yards and points. The Longhorns hope to snap the ball every 23 seconds, three seconds faster on average than the team did last season.

“We want to go as fast as we can,” Watson said. “You want to press the tempo and be inside of that. Go as fast as and – depending on what speed we're at or what gear we're in – we can go faster.”

This is a big year for Watson, and he, like the players, can't wait to see what happens following the offseason overhaul.

“I want to get out there and let our kids take all of the hard work we've poured into it and turn it loose and let them play,” Watson said. “Let them have some fun.”

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There's no need to be disappointed in Heard, said Watson, who feels he's progressing at a good rate.

Watson graded the Texas quarterbacks every day during their competition, and the end result had Tyrone Swoopes beating out Jerrod Heard for the right to start Saturday's opener. Watson said Heard made it a true competition, and also noted the redshirt freshman is developing faster than Swoopes did at this point last year.

But what caused Heard to come up short in the QB race?

“Jerrod is really, honestly about where Ty was a year ago,” Watson said. “The nice thing about that is that he's got Ty in front of him and someone to learn from, whereas Ty was learning by himself.”

Watson remains high on Heard's skill set and upside. Whatever playing time Heard receives against Notre Dame will be earned, Watson said, and getting in the game and experiencing the bright lights is a huge part of the former U.S. Army All-American quarterback's development.

“His transition is just continuing to feel comfortable in a game,” Watson said. “I think he's learning, but learn and feel comfortable and be instinctive as opposed to processing.”

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“I think we have two players we can certainly win with in both of those guys,” Watson said of Swoopes and Heard.

He wants Heard to learn from Swoopes and prepare himself to play. But the 6-foot-4, 244-pound signal caller can't be concerned about Heard's improvement to where he's looking constantly looking over his shoulder.

Watson has challenged Swoopes to take the improvements he made in the offseason and apply them starting with the Notre Dame game.

That can't happen if Swoopes, or any quarterback for that matter, is going to be successful.

“They can't play inhibited,” Watson said. “They've got to keep that competitive edge. They can't let thoughts like that creep into their mind, but I think it all goes back to how we manage it as a staff.”

The good thing regarding the declaration by Watson and Charlie Strong is they haven't painted themselves into a corner regarding when Heard will play. Only the staff knows the length of the leash they'll have on Swoopes Saturday night, but nothing said publicly indicates the staff is in a rush to get Heard onto the field in South Bend.

Swoopes has a confidence right now he didn't have last season according to his teammates and coaches, something that needs to be reflected in his play Saturday night. He's done what's been asked of him in the preseason, but now he's got to take the improvements in his game and apply them where it counts.

“That's his next step,” Watson said. “This is the real world we live in. We're not going to sugarcoat things for the kids. Practice is one thing, the game is another, so we've got to prove it on the big stage.”