11/15/03

Comfort at Home
By David Crabtree

	Nathan Vasher and his mother Monica

Every time Nathan Vasher looked down towards the South end zone on Saturday night, he felt a sense of comfort. Little did it matter that Texas was playing in arguably one of its most dramatic games under head coach Mack Brown or that a trip to a BCS Bowl was on the line against Texas Tech, he knew, whether win or lose, there was a Texas fan sitting in the players lounge of the Moncrief Neuhaus Athletics Complex.

"Any time we lined up on the field facing the south end zone, I could see the outline of my mom up there and that put me at ease," Vasher said. "I knew, no matter what, that she was going to support me, but it also fired me up to win because I also knew how happy that would make her."

Vasher's mom, Monica, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1987 as well as agoraphobia, which causes a fear of open or public places. However, she was determined that nothing was going to cause her to miss her youngest son's final home game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. At the start of the year she marked it on the calendar, and on Saturday, she made her third trip ever to Austin in order to watch a game.

What she witnessed was Texas' most gut-wrenching victory of the year. A last minute catch by senior receiver B.J. Johnson and then a one-yard plunge from junior quarterback Chance Mock for the two-point conversion gave Texas a 43-40 lead, which didn't finally hold up until the Red Raiders hooked their field goal attempt to the left as the clock expired.

"I've never been a part of a game like that," Vasher said. "I couldn't have picked a better ending for a final home game."

Little did Texas fans realize that this would be the way that Vasher would wrap up his home career four years ago. When his high school Coach Barry Norton dropped him off at Jester Dorm for freshman workouts at UT, he was wid- eyed and scared. He fell down in his first attempt to cover Roy Williams and his 160-pound frame hardly resembled that of a collegiate football player.

Now the story is a lot different. Vasher is one of 13 finalists for the Thorpe Award, which recognizes the nation's top cornerback, and he has been instrumental in his senior class tying the school record for 40 wins over a four-year window, while also only dropping one game at home. His 16 career interceptions are only one off the school mark set by Noble Doss, and this summer he will likely follow in the footsteps of his former counterparts in the Texas secondary, Quentin Jammer and Rod Babers, as members of the NFL.

"Nathan's grown from a shy, skinny kid in high school into a team leader and an outstanding young man," head coach Mack Brown said. "He is the type of kid that makes coaching such a joy because I've been able to watch him grow and mature over the last four years into someone I'm very proud of."

After the game Vasher hadn't had time to digest all of those thoughts. He quickly wrapped up interviews with the media and then grabbed a quick shower. Instead of reaching for the cell phone, which he does after every game in order to call his mom back home in Texarkana, he was in a hurry to head upstairs to the players lounge to see his biggest fan.

"It's going to take awhile for everything to sink in," Vasher said. "Right now, I'm just going to talk with my mom, and maybe tomorrow we'll watch some movies at my apartment. Then I'll think about it being my last home game and everything that has happened over the last four years. The best part is right now I know my mom's really happy."

Which is a comfort for Vasher.