|
|
Enron Mail |
-----Original Message----- From: TruOrange@aol.com@ENRON Sent: Monday, October 22, 2001 10:09 AM To: TruOrange@aol.com Subject: True Orange, October 22, 2001, Part 1 of 3 Jerry Scarbrough's True Orange Newsletter The Newsletter for the True Texas Longhorn Faithful Volume 12, No. 2, October 22, 2001 Longhorn Defense Stifles Buffs; Simms, Benson Spark Offensive Fireworks in 41-7 Romp The Texas defense forced four turnovers and totoally shut down Colorado's offense in the second half to lead the No. 9 Longhorns to a 41-7 victory over No. 14 Colorado in Austin. The offense also had a great day, with QB Chris Simms throwing for 234 yards and three touchdowns and true freshman RB Cedric Benson getting 100 yards for the second straight Saturday. He also scored two touchdowns and caught three passes for 59 yards. Benson had the day's biggest offensive play. It came with the Longhorns leading 17-7 and facing second-and-20 at their own 5 just before the the half. The Horns were going into a stout wind and Colorado was threatening to get the ball back in great field position. But Simms dropped back and, just before he was hit, flipped a shovel pass to Benson, who caught it, put an awesome move on two Buff defenders and sped 40 yards to launch the Longhorns on an 85-yard scoring drive that broke the game open. The UT defense forced four Buffalo turnovers - three fumbles and a pass interception - and held the potent Colorado offense to just two first downs and 45 net offensive yards in the second half. The three fumbles Colorado lost all came in the first half and cost the Buffs a first-and-goal at the UT 4 with Texas ahead only 7-0, and set up short Longhorn scoring drives for the field goal that made it 10-0 and the touchdown that gave Texas a 17-7 lead. Colorado's starting QB, Craig Ochs, did not play because of a concussion he suffered in the victory over Texas A&M last week. His replacement, Bobby Pesavento, is a better passer, but Ochs is a much better runner and his absence caused the Buffaloes to change their offensive strategy to include more passing and less double tight end power running. The Longhorn defense also had something to do with that. Here, briefly, is how the game went First Quarter Texas won the toss and deferred. Colorado took the ball and the Longhorn defense stuffed the Buffs' power running game and forced a quick punt. Starting at their own 40 after a short punt into the stiff wind, the Horns scored quickly. Benson ran for 5, then Simms hit TE Bo Scaife for 7. A wide receiver reverse was beautifully blocked, allowing B. J. Johnson to gallop 35 yards to the Buffalo 13. Benson carried three times for a first down at the 3, then Simms, after a fake to Benson going right, rolled left and hit WR Roy Williams for the TD. Dusty Mangum's kick gave UT a 7-0 lead with 9:09 left. On the first play after the kickoff Pesavento hit two big passes to the UT 21. Then he threw into a crowd at the Longhorn 10, but WR Derek McCoy wrestled it away from three Horns and bulled to the four before fumbling. Freshman LB Derrick Johnson recovered for Texas. The Horns couldn't move and a short punt gave the Buffs the ball at their own 48. Colorado went to its power running game and rolled to a first down at the UT 15 before the Longhorn defense stiffened and forced a 29-yard field goal try that was wide. CU led in first downs, 6-4, and in total offense, 126-82, but the Longhorns led, 7-0, because they scored on their only foray deep into Buff territory, while the Buffaloes' fumble at the 4 and missed chip-shot FG killed both their scoring chances. Second Quarter DE Kalen Thornton forced a fumble that was recovered by UT CB Roderick Babers at the CU 21. The Horns drove to the 4 before Mangum kicked a 21-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead with 11:47 left. UT's kickoff into the wind went out of bounds, giving Colorado good field position at the 35 and the Buffs got their running game going and swept in for the TD in just seven plays to cut the lead to 10-7 with 8:32 left. UT drove into Buff territory, but Simms was sacked to kill the threat. The third Colorado fumble of the half set the Horns up at the Buff 35 and they capitalized, but they they had to score two TDs to get credit for one. First, Simms hit Williams in the end zone and Williams got a foot down in bounds, but the official waved it off. Benson got the TD on a 12-yard run and Mangum's kick gave UT a 17-7 lead with 3:22 left. A quick defensive stop gave the Horns another possession at their 15 with 2:08 left. Simms was sacked at the 5 on the first play, but Benson took a shovel pass, juked two defenders off their feet at about the 10 and scampered 40 yards down the sideline. Simms passed to WR B. J. Johnson for 22 and to Williams for 29 before Benson scored from the 4 with 1:10 left for a 24-7 lead. Texas led in first downs, 8-4, and in total offense, 144-118 in the quarter. Third Quarter Texas couldn't move into the wind and had to punt. Colorado drove to the Texas 32 and went for it on a fourth-and-2, but the Longhorn defense held Brown to a 1-yard gain to end that drive. The Longhorn offense then drove 69 yards in 7 plays for another TD, with the payoff coming on a 24-yard pass from Simms to WR Sloan Thomas. Mangum's kick gave Texas a 31-7 lead with 6:47 left. The UT defense stifled Colorado's next effort and Nathan Vasher ran the Buffalo punt back 44 yards to the CU 18, setting up a 34-yard Mangum FG for a 34-7 lead with 3:53 left. Texas led in first downs, 7-2, and in total offense, 101-35, in the quarter. Fourth Quarter Simms found Thomas all alone in the end zone for 29 yards and the game's f inal score on the Horns' first possession in the quarter. Major Applewhite and Chance Mock took over at QB after that. The Longhorn defense did not allow Colorado a single first down in the period and the Buffs had only 10 plays for 10 net yards. Drive Chart Here's the drive chart for the game, showing how each team fared on each possession: First Half CU - 6 plays, 12 yards, 1 first down, punt UT - 7 plays, 60 yards, 3 first downs, TD, 7-0 CU - 5 plays, 73 yards, 3 first downs, fumble UT - 3 plays, 6 yards, 0 first downs, punt CU - 9 plays, 41 yards, 2 first downs, missed FG UT - 5 plays, 21 yards, 1 first down, punt CU - 2 plays, 7 yards, 0 first downs, fumble UT - 7 plays, 16 yards,1 first down, FG, 10-0 CU - 7 plays, 65 yards, 2 first downs, TD, 10-7 UT - 7 plays, 30 yards, 1 first down, punt CU - 3 plays, 17 yards, 1 first down, fumble UT - 4 plays, 35 yards, 2 first downs, TD, 17-7 CU - 3 plays, 7 yards, 0 first downs, punt UT - 5 plays, 85 yards, 3 first downs, TD, 24-7 CU - 4 plays, 22 yards, 1 first down, punt UT - 1 play, minus 2 yards, half ends Second Half UT - 3 plays, minus 2 yards, 0 first downs, punt CU - 5 plays, 20 yards, 1 first down, downs UT - 8 plays, 69 yards, 3 first downs, TD, 31-7 CU - 3 plays, minus 9 yards, 0 first downs, punt UT - 4 plays, 1 yard, 0 first downs, FG, 34-7 CU - 2 plays, 11 yards, 1 first down, interception UT - 7 plays, 20 yards,1 first down, punt CU - 3 plays, 3 yards, 0 first downs, punt UT - 4 plays, 47 yards, 3 first downs, TD, 41-7 CU - 3 plays, minus 1 yard, 0 first downs, punt UT - 3 plays, 3 yards, 0 first downs, punt CU - 3 plays, 4 yards, 0 first downs, punt UT - 6 plays, 19 yards, 1 first down, punt CU - 3 plays, 7 yards, 0 first down,s punt UT - 6 plays, 24 yards, 2 first downs, game ends 900 Number Updated Daily I update my 900 number every day with football and football recruiting news. The number is 1-900-288-8839. It costs $1.59 a minute. You must be 18 or older to call. Coach's Corner Coach Mack Brown said Sunday studying the films of the Longhorns 41-7 victory over Colorado Saturday "proved what we felt all along - our guys played really well and really hard all day." He also said Colorado "is a much better team than yesterday's score would indicate. That was just a game that got out of hand because of turnovers." He said he was very pleased with the shovel passes, wide receiver reverses and other misdirection plays the Horns used very successfully Saturday. "If you are moving the ball, they usually work," he said. "We've talked about needing a little more misdirection. All of them are things we need to run because it makes our regular plays work better." He had said last week wanted to "use more traps, run more gaps and counter gaps," saying it slowed defensive pursuit and created more doubt in the minds of defenders. After using a lot of them against the Buffaloes, he said they will remain a part of the UT offense. Colorado came into the game on a five-game winning streak and with a powerful running game that ranked No. 13 nationally at 224.7 yards a game and a strong rushing defense that was No. 15 nationally, allowing only 91.8 yards. That had allowed the Buffs to dominate time of possession against their foes. They were averaging about 36 minutes a game, compared to about 24 minutes for their opponents. But Texas dominated the time of possession, 33:33 to 26:27, held the Buffaloes to 124 net rushing yards, 100 yards below their average, and rushed on the Buff defenders for 161 yards, about 70 more than they had been allowing. Brown said the Longhorn defense did an outstanding job against the CU power runners, and he said the Texas' offense was successful because it was able to "stay two dimensional." But he said the early UT lead, helped along by the Colorado turnovers, "forced them to try to play catch-up, and playing catch-up is not their game." "I think Colorado is really good," he said. "We've played so well at home, and our crowd gives us a big advantage at home. I think Colorado will win a bunch more football games this year." Longhorn true freshman RB Cedric Benson picked up 100 yards rushing on 23 carries and scored two touchdowns in his second start. It marked the first time all season a running back has hit the Colorado defense for 100 yards. "That's a credit to our balance, our offensive line and to Cedric," Brown said. "He's a fine running back who has great vision and who almost always falls forward. He's getting better every week." Brown said he and his assistant coaches talk constantly to their players about the need to show up ready to play every week, and he also said it's way too early to worry about the BCS bowl situation "because there are a lot of football games still to be played before that comes into play." "We talked to our team after Florida lost to Auburn about how you can't control anything except what you do. Anybody can beat anybody."{ "Our guys understand the only thing they can do is be the best football team they can be and be ready to play Missouri this Saturday. What we've got to do is try to win four more football games and see where that takes us." Longhorn Notes, Quotes . . They say football is a game of inches and UT QB Chris Simms will buy into that, particularly after executiing the shovel pass to freshman RB Cedric Benson just before the half that went for 40 yards and helped break the game open. "I was nervous dropping back," Simms said. "I was in the end zone and saw the defensive end coming, and I didn't know if our tackle got a good piece of him, and I'm thinking, 'Gosh, I have to get it out.' Cedric's still turning around, and I kind of threw it just as I was about to get hit and hoped he could catch it." "Cedric just got turned around and he caught it and then made an unbelievable move down the sideline." As for Benson, he says college football is a little more complicated than he thought it would be. "In high school, it was basically run left, run right," he said. "Here, I'm learning how to block, how to fake better and how to run better routes." Simms said Benson "is going to be great. He runs so hard on every play, and the thing I like about him is every time I drop back to pass and he protects for me, he turns around after his block and goes, 'Did I do okay?' " "I say, 'I didn't get hit, did I?' You did okay."
|