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Jerry Scarbrough's True Orange
The newsletter and fax/e-mail service for the True Texas Longhorn Faithful Volume 10, No. 21, August 28, 2000 Stronger Defense, Improved Punting, Explosive Offense Give Horns Chance to Stay in Top 10 With two-a-day workouts almost over and the opening game just around the corner, there is some great news for Longhorn football fans. That 17-year absence from the final top 10 could be over for three big reasons: 1.The defense looks even stronger than last year's unit, which ranked No. 6 nationally. 2. Kris Stockton is punting so strongly that coach Mack Brown says the pros are interested. 3. The offense, which couldn't score in the final ten quarters of last season, is so explosive that it should be able to score on anybody. But let's temper that great news with a word or two of caution about the offense. While it is capable of breaking a long touchdown play against anyo= ne on the schedule, it still doesn't look like an offense that can make long, time-consuming drives against a quality opponent. It won't be as quick to punt or score as the offenses at the really pass-happy schools on the schedule this year, but there might be a scary number of three-and-outs against good defenses. That won't necessarily be fatal to the Longhorns' high hopes, if the offens= e and special teams can avoid costly mistakes that leave the defense a short field to defend. The Longhorn defensive unit is so strong that it will force most teams to punt quickly, too. Another great asset this season will be defensive depth. When the Longhorn offense sputtered down the stretch last year, the defenders sometimes simpl= y wore down through repeated exposure. But the second defensive unit has been formidable in practice. It allowed t= he No. 1 offense one touchdown in seven possessions in Saturday's scrimmage. Brown said the only big difference in the first and second units is at defensive tackle, where the first team has All-American Casey Hampton and a guy the pros like even better, Shaun Rogers. But Rogers says the dropoff at tackle isn't that great when the second unit comes in. "When Casey and I come out, Stevie (Lee) and Marcus (Tubbs) are really good young players who are just going to keep on getting better and better." While Hampton and Rogers are seniors, Lee is a true freshman, who enrolled = in January so he could go through spring practice, and Tubbs is a redshirt freshman who came to Texas as a tight end before growing into a formidable defensive tackle. The Longhorns are still a very young team, with Hampton, Rogers and free safety Greg Brown the only senior starters on defense, and tackles Leonard Davis and Cory Quye the only likely senior starters on defense. Stockton, w= ho will handle the punting and place kicking, also is a senior. Brandon Healy is starting at wide receiver now, but the fifth-year senior i= s being pushed by the heralded freshmen, who are developing rapidly. Let's take a look at what the Longhorn offense did last year and what it meant to the team. The figures below show game-by-game rushing, passing and total offense yardage, plus the number of sacks the opponents garnered. * * * * Rush Pass Total Sacks NC State (L, 23-20) 56 316 372 4-34 Stanford (W, 69-17) 178 380 558 1-6 Rutgers (W, 38-21) 141 244 385 2-14 Rice (W, 18-13) 209 246 455 1-15 Baylor (W, 62-0) 233 353 586 0-0 K-State (L, 35-17) 34 271 305 4-40 Oklahoma (W, 38-28) 225 328 553 0-0 Nebraska (W, 24-20) 62 213 275 1-8 Iowa State (W, 44-41) 129 345 474 3-31 O-State (W, 34-21) 177 242 419 2-11 Texas Tech (W, 58-7) 217 287 504 4-28 Texas A&M (L, 20-16) 89 183 272 2-20 Nebraska (L, 22-6) 6 172 178 7-44 Arkansas (L, 27-6) -27 212 185 8-64 * * * * It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the Longhorns were 7-0 when they had more than 400 yards offensively and an even more impressive 8-0 wh= en they had 100 yards net rushing. The flip side of that coin is that they were 2-5 when they had less than 40= 0 yards offensively and an ever worse 1-5 when they had less than 100 yards n= et rushing. They also had five games in which they gave up more than four sacks and the only one of those they won was against Texas Tech. To keep history from repeating itself, the Horns need to start percolating = on offense. Now, let's look at the upcoming season. Coach Brown doesn't mind the pollsters picking UT No. 7 in the country, and he also is glad they think t= he Longhorns can contend for the national championship. "We've sold 50,000 season tickets because of the fans' enthusiasm and support," he said Sunday. "The fans are talking about winning a national championship, too, and we haven't finished in the top 10 in 17 years, but that's a good thing, too. We have high expectations and we want the fans to have high expectations for us." Brown said the team has a chance to be good if it can eliminate some of the mental mistakes that cropped up last year and continue to improve. Texas ranked near the bottom nationally last season in net punting, averagi= ng slightly under 30 net yards per kick. He said the goal this year is to average 38 yards net punting, and he said Stockton is punting so well in practice that "the pro scouts are showing so= me interest." "Overall, our punting is so much better than it was last year," he said. Brown also said he thinks starting tailback Hodges Mitchell is even quicker than he was last year and will be able to get the Horns some yardage as the primary punt returner, and he said backup tailbacks Ivan Williams and Victo= r Ike will be the primary kickoff returners. "We think we will be better in all those areas," he said. True freshman CB Nathan Vasher ran a punt back 79 yards for a touchdown in Saturday's scrimmage, and Brown said he probably will use him as a punt returner at some point in the season. Here's a look at how the team is developing, on a position-by-position basi= s: OFFENSE Quarterback Major Applewhite, the Big 12 Co-Offensive Player of the Year last season after throwing for a school record 3,357 yards and another school record 21 touchdowns, seems to be fully recovered from off-season knee surgery, but h= e is locked in a battle with super talented sophomore Chris Simms for the starting job. Brown says he thinks both will play in the NFL and he says it's a great problem to have. "I've had teams with no quarterbacks," he said. "I like th= is a lot better." Brown also says everyone has an opinion about who will start, "but I'm the one who will make the decision because I'm the one who will get fired if it doesn't work out." He also said both will play a lot this season. Beau Trahan, a high school quarterback who switched to safety at UT, has be= en moved back to quarterback, and he threw a touchdown pass in Saturday's scrimmage. He is very mobile and has a good arm. Chance Mock, the heralded recruit from The Woodlands, is a great prospect. He's built like a linebacker at 6-2, 215, but he runs like a wide receiver and has a powerful, accurate arm. Brown wants to redshirt him, and he want= s to redshirt. Running Back All Big 12 tailback Hodges Mitchell is back after rushing for 1,343 yards a= nd catching 32 passes for 343 more yards. Converted linebacker Matt Trissel is the fullback, and he is a good one. He= 's an outstanding blocker, good receiver and tough power runner. Sophomore Victor Ike, the fastest of the tailbacks, has been looking good i= n practice, and currently is running ahead of Kenny Hayter and Ivan Williams for the backup tailback job. Converted tight end Chad Stevens and Brett Robin are the backup fullbacks. Freshmen TB Sneezy Beltran and freshman FB Will Matthews are looking good i= n practice, but could be redshirted because of the depth at their positions. Tight End The coaches spent much of the spring building a passing attack around multi-talented sophomore Bo Scaife, a 235-pounder with great speed. He was slowed last season after undergoing knee surgery following his senior seaso= n in high school, but was sensational during spring drills. On the very first day of fall practice, he hurt the other knee in a non-contact drill and has already undergone surgery to fix it. He is out for the season, but Brown said the injury was not as severe as th= e one to the other knee and said he should be ready to go by spring practice. Since he played as a true freshman, this will be his redshirt year. Junior Mike Jones is an outstanding blocker and good receiver, and he came back 15 pounds lighter and a little quicker. He will do a fine job, but he won't scare people with his speed. Freshman Brock Edwards is a big, fast prospect and the coaches are working hard to get him ready to play. He isn't as fast as Scaife, but he is very fast for a 6-5, 260-pounder. Wide Receiver Redshirt freshman Artie Ellis and fifth-year senior Brandon Healy are the starters, but true freshmen Roy Williams and B. J. Johnson have been outstanding in practice and will play a lot, even if they don't start. Williams, 6-3, 205, and probably the fastest player on the team, has been making sensational catches almost every day in practice, and Johnson, 6-1, 185, and super fast, too, caught a 75-yard scoring pass from Applewhite against the first-team defense in Saturday's scrimmage. Two other true freshmen, Sloan Thomas and Tony Jeffery, are 6-2 speedsters who also are pushing for playing time. There is little experience, but a lot of young talent at wide receiver. The youngsters may struggle in the early games, but some of them will help a lo= t this season and all of them are fast enough to scare defenses. Line Four starters return, and super sophomore Derrick Dockery, the lone new starter, might be the best of the bunch. The line did a good job early last season, but caught much of the blame for the late-season collapse. Center Matt Anderson is getting a strong challenge from sophomore Beau Bake= r at center, and Cory Quye is holding off Mike Williams at right tackle for now. Dockery is a fixture at left guard, Leonard Davis is getting some All-America mention at left tackle and Antwan Kirk-Hughes is in control at right guard. Brown has called Dockery "the best true freshman lineman I have ever coache= d." Sophomore Robbie Doane is a strong backup at tackle, and redshirt freshman Tillman Holloway is a talented newcomer at guard. The line will be better because of the extra year's experience. The key question is the degree of improvement. DEFENSE End Nine starters return from a fine defense, but both seniors in 1999 were the two defensive ends. Sophomore Cory Redding, the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year last year= , looks like a future All-American at right end. He is a great pass rusher an= d an improving run stopper. Defensive coordinator Carl Reese plans to try to fill the left end spot by using three or four players. Jermain Anderson, quick but undersized at 232 pounds, is the starter. He is a fine pass rusher, but is too small to play full time. Sophomore Cole Pittman has moved over from tackle because of his run-stopping ability. Maurice Gordon and Adam McConathy also will play. The= y, like Anderson, excel at rushing the passer. Reese likes the size and quickness of true freshman Kalen Thornton, who is about 6-3 and 265. He says he will try to work him in early this season to see what he can do. Tackle Seniors Casey Hampton and Shaun Rogers are a formidable duo and probably ar= e the best pair of tackles in college football. Hampton was a first-team AP All-American last year, and Rogers is bigger, quicker and at times even mor= e dominating. True freshman Stevie Lee, who graduated from high school early so he could = go through spring practice at UT, and redshirt freshman Marcus Tubbs are outstanding backups. Another redshirt freshman, Ryan Haywood, has a lot of potential. Linebacker Reese has four outstanding linebackers who are concentrated at two position= s, which is why he plans to play nickel (five defensive backs, only two linebackers) defenses at least half the time Juniors De'Andre Lewis in the middle and Everick Rawls on the weak side (opposite the tight end) are returning starters who just keep getting bette= r. Sophomore O. J. McClintock also has been looking great on the weak side, an= d redshirt freshman Reed Boyd is pushing Lewis in the middle. So, there is great quality and depth at two of the three spots. On the strong side, however, juniors Tyrone Jones and Marcus Wilkins have n= ot drawn a lot of praise from Reese. He just says the Longhorns play five or six teams who pass most of the time and he will pull his strong side backer and play an extra defensive back. He likes to have his quickest players in the game and all of his cornerback= s are good tacklers Look for five or six defensive backs to letter before either strongside backer letters. Secondary All four starters return, but junior Quentin Jammer and sophomore Roderick Babers appear to be beating out returning cornerback regulars Ahmad Brooks and Ervis Hill. Jammer, living up to his name, is great when it comes to jamming receivers and keeping them from getting off the line. He is big and physical. Babers is a speedster who played a lot as the nickel back last year. He has great man-for-man coverage skills and always looks for the pick. Regardless of who wins the starting jobs, all of the cornerbacks will play = in Reese's nickel and dime packages. He also plans to substitute them a lot because they do so much running. True freshman Nathan Vasher also is pushing for playing time. At safety, senior Greg Brown and junior Lee Jackson are returning starters. Backing them up are redshirt freshman Dakarai Pearson, who is looking very good this fall, and true freshman Phillip Geiggar, who graduated early so h= e could go through spring practice at Texas. Geiggar also looks like a future star. Reese usually plays extra cornerbacks in his nickel and dime lineups, but h= e has been working Pearson as a nickel back in some situations. Football Notes . . Two freshmen =01) running back Tyrone Richardson and linebacker Aurmon Satc= hell =01) have left the team at least temporarily to resolve some academic probl= ems. Richardson won't be back until January at the earliest. Satchell said he hopes to get his problems resolved by the NCAA Clearinghouse in time to rejoin the team this week. * * * * Backup linebacker O. J. McClintock and freshman cornerback Nathan Vasher ha= ve intercepted a lot of passes in practice. * * * * Coach Brown says junior guard Antwan Kirk-Hughes is the most improved offensive lineman, but he also said, "We feel like all five (offensive line starters) will be quality players." * * * * Josh Doiron, older both of freshman defensive end Adam Doiron, is walking o= n as a tight end. Josh Doiron attended Kansas State for a year on a football scholarship, but quit the team and attended Oklahoma last year. He did not= =20 play football at OU. After sitting out this year at UT, he will have two years of eligibility remaining. * * * * Redshirt freshman Monti Collier has been switched from cornerback to safety= . * * * * Coach Brown says the true freshmen will have their first chance to move up late this week. "We like to get through two-a-days before we do a lot of moving up and down with the freshmen," he said. "We have to be sure they ca= n play at a high level on a consistent basis." * * * * True freshman WR Roy Williams makes at least one or two sensational catches in every practice, and fellow true freshman WR B. J. Johnson also is making= a strong bid for early playing time. It's a Great Time to Subscribe To The Fax/E-Mail Service I'll Have Frequent Reports on Recruiting And Practice Throughout the Season ! Get Instant Updates for Pennies a Day ! Save As An E-Mail Subscriber ! The True Orange Fax/E-Mail Service is the way to keep up with Longhorn football and Longhorn recruiting =01) instantly. Follow Mack Brown and the Longhorns with frequent fax updates. There are at least 99 timely faxes a year, primarily about football and football recruiting. To subscribe, sen= d your check to True Orange, Box 26530, Austin, Texas 78755, and copy or clip the coupon below and fill in the blanks. If you want it mailed, or by E-Mai= l, just include the right numbers. o I'm enclosing $99 for the 99-fax package for the next year o I'm enclosing $130 (a $14 saving) to renew my subscription to True Orange and to subscribe to the 99 faxes. o I'm enclosing $79 for the 99-fax package for the next year by E-Mail (a $= 20 saving) o Here's $110 to renew my subscription to True Orange and to subscribe to the 99 faxes by E-Mail (a $31 saving) o Here's $99 to subscribe to True Orange by E-Mail and to subscribe to the 99 faxes by E-Mail (a $42 saving) Name Fax No. (or E-Mail or mailing address) 900 Number Updated Daily I update my 900 number daily with football and football recruiting scoops. The number is 1-900-288-8839. It costs $1.59 a minute. You must be 18 to ca= ll. Texas Gets Top RB Cedric Benson as Lucky 13th Recruit Cedric Benson, 5-11, 200, 4.5, of Midland Lee, the all-time Class 5A champ = in yardage gained and touchdowns scored, is a future Longhorn. Thirteen is supposed to be an unlucky number, but not in this case because Benson is the Longhorns' 13th early commitment, and he is a rare jewel. He ran for an incredible 3,526 yards and scored an equally incredible 51 touchdowns last season to lead Lee to a 15-0 State Championship season. Benson scored 44 TDs rushing and caught 14 passes for 360 yards and the oth= er seven scores. He ran roughshod over a very good Aldine Eisenhower team in the state final= s, rushing for 192 yards and four touchdowns and bolting 78 yards with a scree= n pass for another TD in a 42-21 victory. That was just another typical day for Benson, who had 238 yards and five TD= s in the state finals as a sophomore en route to a 2,000-yard season and 37 touchdowns. Why did he pick the Longhorns over all the other top schools who offered scholarships? "I've always liked the University of Texas," he said. "I like the way they use their running backs and have a balanced offense. The UT offense is a lo= t like the one we run here at Lee." Benson said he was pulling for Ricky Williams to win the Heisman Trophy in 1998, and said Texas has been his top choice since he started drawing recruiting attention. Asked how many scholarship offers he has received, Benson said he quit counting after 20. He also said the only other team he seriously considered was Miami, "but I like Texas better and it's a lot closer to home." Legendary high school coach Gordon Wood, who won multiple state titles at Stamford and Brownwood before retiring several years ago, says Benson "is the best running back I ever saw in high school." Wood's teams had some great backs and they played against some other great backs, so he has seen more than his share of the great ones. Benson is a back who sets up blockers extremely well and seems to sense whe= re a hole will be before it opens. He is an instinctive runner who is shifty a= nd hard to bring down. He is on all the national top 100 lists as are fellow Texas pledges Jonatha= n Scott of Dallas Carter and Abe Robinson of Houston Jersey Village, both offensive linemen. OL Alfio Randall of Blinn JC, another Texas commitment, was a national top 100 prospect two years ago at Houston Yates. Randall had hoped to enroll at Texas in January, but he needs 24 more hou= rs at Blinn, so he will have to remain at the junior college through the sprin= g semester to graduate. That will delay his enrollment at Texas until next fa= ll. Here's a list of the Horns' early commitments: Offensive Line (7) Jonathan Scott, 6-7, 290, 4.9, Dallas Carter, is a national top 100 player. He is super quick for his size and has the long arms college coaches want f= or the key left tackle spot. Abe Robinson, 6-6, 270, 4.9, Jersey Village, is another national top 100 player. He plays tight end at Jersey Village and is the top blocker for sup= er junior RB Selvin Young, who ran for 2,204 yards last year as a sophomore. Alfio Randall, 6-6, 300, 5.1, Blinn JC, was a national top 100 player two years ago. He is super strong and extremely quick. Mike Garcia, 6-5, 280, 5.2, Galena Park, broke the Aggies' hearts by changi= ng his early commitment to Texas. He is an offensive lineman with a defensive linemen's aggressive temperament. Will Allen, 6-5, 300, 5.2, Cypress Falls, is another highly recruited star who has quick feet and great lateral movement Roman Reeves, 6-6, 295, 5.2, another of the state's top eight offensive linemen. He is a physically dominating blocker with good footwork and a strong upper body. Terrance Young, 6-6, 340, 5.5, Longview, has a very quick start and, like Garcia, is aggressive with his blocks. Running Back (1) Cedric Benson, 5-11, 200, 4.5, Midland Lee, the state's top running back an= d another national top 100 player. Linebacker (1) Yamil LeBron, 6-2, 240, 4.7, Killeen Ellison, was the middle backer the Longhorns targeted early. He is very physical and tough, and he has great quickness. Defensive Back (4) Cedric Griffin, 6-1, 180, 4.42, San Antonio Holmes, one of the state's top two cornerbacks. He is the kind of tall, fast (10.5 100 meter time) corner who loves man-for-man coverage and is very good at it. Kendal Briles, 5-10, 175, 4.5, Wolfforth Frenship, a great option QB who wi= ll play safety at Texas. He was the Class 4A Offensive Player of the Year last season while leading Stephenville to the Class 4A state title. He moved to the suburbs of Lubbock because his father, Art, left his job as head coach = at Stephenville to become an assistant at Texas Tech. Braden Johnson, 6-2, 200, 4.5, Euless Trinity, a fine athlete who will play QB this season. He is a real head hunter Brian Carter, 5-11, 180, 4.5, The Woodlands, a two-way star at WR and CB. So far, only seven member of Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine's 24-man Super Team have committed to colleges, and the Longhorns have six of them. Benson is the only high school player ever to grace the cover of the state'= s top football magazine and he is joined on the Super Team by Briles, Griffin= , Scott, Young and Robinson. The other Super Team player who has committed is Madisonville running back David Underwood, who says he will sign with Michigan. * * * * RECRUITING NOTES: The Longhorns' search for a quarterback recruit has been narrowed down to the best one in Texas and the best one in Louisiana. Matt Nordgren of Dallas Bishop Lynch is the top Texas QB recruit and Bret Rawls = of Shreveport Evangel is the top one in Louisiana. Rawls backed up superstar Brock Berlin last year, but has soared to the top of the recruiting charts after attending several major college summer camps. . . Eric Hall, the outstanding defensive end prospect from Clarksville, Tenn., still plans to take his official visit the Sept. 9 weekend. . . With 13 recruits already committed and no defensive lineman among them, that is where at least five = or six of the remaining scholarships will be awarded. DT Tommie Harris of Killeen Ellison is the key one because he is the top-rated DT in the nation and because he is the only great one in the high school ranks in Texas this year. Paul Broussard is a great one at Blinn JC, and he is very interested = in Texas, but he has a lot of work to do in the classroom. The Longhorns are recruiting some big DEs who good grow into tackles, like Kaelen Jakes, 6-5, 260, 4.8, of Valencia, Cal. He lived in Plano during junior high. Last Open Scrimmage Wednesday The Longhorns will end two-a-days Monday and Tuesday with 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. practices at Whitaker Field, then have their last open scrimmage Wednesday = at 6 p.m. at Royal Memorial Stadium. Coach Mack Brown said he plans to give the team Friday, Satuday and Sunday off, then begin game week preparations next Monday.
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