Austin, Texas ? Chris Simms was the suave left-hander from the East Coast, the fashion maven with good looks, great genes and huge expectations.

Chance Mock is the rugged righty straight from the pages of Field & Stream, a great unknown seen by many fans as a place-keeper until red-shirt freshman Vince Young is ready.

Mock couldn’t be more different than the quarterback he replaces on the Texas Longhorns.

Where Simms was supposed to be great, Mock is simply supposed to be capable. His mission is to get the ball to stars Roy Williams and Cedric Benson and move out of the way.

“We’ve got big-time playmakers,” Mock said. “It makes my job a lot easier. The biggest problem I’m going to have is to keep everybody happy.”

A junior with six career completions, Mock debuts with a rare Sunday night game tonight at home against New Mexico State.

“I’m not sure what people expect of me,” Mock said. “Hopefully, they’re expecting good things. If they’re not, then I haven’t done very good, or ya’ll haven’t made me sound very good.”

So just how different are Mock and Simms?

Simms, who grew up in New Jersey, earned the nickname “Limo” the day he arrived on campus in a ride arranged by a posh hotel.

Mock, a Texas native, goes by “The General” because of his admiration of Tommy Franks, who led coalition forces in Iraq.

It was Mock who corralled Simms into attending his first rodeo, driving him there in his green pickup truck with a bumper sticker that reads “American by Birth, Texan by the Grace of God.”

Simms was trendy, usually showing up at news conferences wearing the latest from Calvin Klein and Banana Republic. Mock spoke to reporters Monday wearing shorts, a white T-shirt and a baseball cap bearing the sweat stains of a weekend fishing trip.

Frankly, while Simms was slick, Mock is kind of a hick.

“I’m a little more outdoorsy than Chris,” Mock said, grinning at the comparison. He hails from The Woodlands, an affluent Houston suburb, yet looks like he would fit right in with the piney woods of East Texas — even if he denies the image.

“People portray me as from out in the boonies, hillbilly, live in a log cabin,” he said. “That’s not the case at all. I do wear my Wranglers, my cowboy boots and my hat, but I’m by no means a hillbilly.”