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Jerry Scarbrough's True Orange
The Internet Newsletter for the True Texas Longhorn Faithful Volume 11, No. 3, October 30, 2000 Longhorns Overcome Slow Start, Blast Bears; Last Three Games Pose Major Challenge The Longhorns spotted Baylor an early 7-0 lead before a sellout crowd in Austin Saturday, then stormed back for a 48-14 win to run their season reco= rd to 6-2 and their Big 12 mark to 4-1. But road trips to Texas Tech and Kansas are next on the agenda and then a home game against Texas A&M wraps up the regular season. All three opponents are dangerous and the Longhorn offense and defense will need to start their motors running a lot quicker or things could get rough down the stretch. But this was Baylor, a team that had been blanked for three straight games. Even a slow start isn't fatal against the Bears. Louisiana-Lafayette and Baylor are the two weakest teams the Horns have faced, and UT trailed La-La 10-0 before coasting to an easy win. Let's hope higher quality opponents motivate the Texas players to start competing better from the opening kickoff. Texas' offense gave Baylor a short field with an early fumble, and it took the Bears less than two minutes to notch their first October TD this year. But the offense warmed up and QB Major Applewhite threw for 297 yards and t= wo touchdowns and even scored on a quarterback sneak. The Bears chose to double cover sensational freshman WR Roy Williams, and h= is classmate and buddy, B. J. Johnson, made them pay by hauling in nine passes for 162 yards and a TD, the best single game ever by a UT freshman. But it was the Longhorn defense that set the tone for this game. After that early lapse, the Texas defense allowed Baylor's offense only one more net yard for the remainder of this first half and forced two turnovers that led to 10 Texas points. Capitalizing on the short field created by the outstanding defensive effort= , the Longhorns kicked two early field goals, then blew the game open with a 25-point second quarter. The Longhorn defenders forced five Baylor turnovers, including four interceptions =01) two by CB Quentin Jammer and one each by SS Greg Brown a= nd backup FS Phillip Geiggar. The defense also held Baylor to 134 net yards =01) 77 passing and 57 rushin= g, while the UT offense amassed 473 yards total offense =01) 383 passing and 9= 0 rushing. The defense forced Baylor into 11 possessions of three downs or less. The Bears only had 16 possessions. Here, briefly, is how the game went: FIRST QUARTER Baylor won the toss and deferred. The Longhorns, like they have all year, struggled out of the starting gate. They made two first downs, but then blitzing Baylor DB Gary Baxter blindsided UT QB Major Applewhite and knocke= d the ball loose. The Bears recovered at the UT 35 and scored in five plays, with QB Guy Tomcheck hitting WR Martin Dossett for the final 18 yards. That put Baylor ahead, 7-0, with 11:37 left. Applewhite hit freshman TE Brock Edwards for 32 yards on the Horns' next possession to set up a 44-yard fiel= d goal by Kris Stockton that cut the Baylor lead to 7-3 with 8:15 left. Starting from their own 34, the Longhorns drove to the Baylor 8 later in th= e quarter, primarily on the strength of a 45-yard pass from Applewhite to freshman WR B. J. Johnson, but the drive stalled and Stockton kicked a 27-yard field goal to get the Horns back within one point at 7-6, with 1:52 left. A bungled Baylor screen pass gave the Horns great field position in t= he final minute of the quarter when RB Darrell Bush was ambushed by DE Cory Redding and fumbled, with LB Everick Rawls recovering for a 14-yard loss at the Baylor 13. TB Hodges Mitchell carried three straight times for nine yards, bringing up a fourth-and-1 at the Bear 4 as the quarter ended. Although they trailed, the Horns had 153 net yards offensively while Baylor had 16. SECOND QUARTER Stockton kicked a 22-yard field goal on the first play of the quarter to give the Horns a lead they would never relinquish at 9-7. Baylor went three-plays-and-out two straight times, and, after the second one, the Longhorns finally found the end zone. Applewhite hit Johnson for 9, Brandon Healy for 16, Mitchell for 16 more and then Montrell Flowers for the final = 5 yards and the TD. Stockton's kick gave Texas a 16-7 lead with 8:59 left. After an exchange of punt, UT safety Greg Brown intercepted Tomcheck's pass at the Bear 21 and returned it to the 17. Applewhite hit Johnson to the 1, then sneaked in for the TD. Stockton's kick made it 23-7 with 5:23 left. After another quick Baylor punt, the Longhorns struck again. Applewhite hit freshman WR Roy Williams for 18, found Mitchell for 25 more and then hit Johnson for 14 yards and the TD. Texas went for two points and Applewhite connected with Mitchell to make it 31-7 with 2:55 left. At the half, Texas had 283 yards offensively to the Bears' 36. THIRD QUARTER Baylor got the ball first and drove to the Texas 21, but a 15-yard penalty and then sacks on successive plays by CB Quentin Jammer and redshirt freshm= an DT Marcus Tubbs pushed the Bears back to near midfield and forced a punt. Neither team mounted another drive until late in the period when Jammer got his second interception and ran it back to the Baylor 46. A pass interferen= ce penalty and an Applewhite pass to Johnson set up a 31-yard Stockton FG to make it 34-7 with 3:15 left. The Longhorns had 340 yards at this point to Baylor's 91. FOURTH QUARTER Chris Simms relieved Applewhite at QB and had the Longhorns on the march at the Baylor 20 before his pass into the right flat was picked off by Bear CB Eric Giddens, who ran it back 72 yards for Baylor's final touchdown to cut the UT lead to 34-14, with 11:14 left. Backup TBs Victor Ike and Kenny Hayt= er alternated short runs and Simms went 3-for-3 for 24 yards before Hayter got another UT touchdown on a one-yard plunge. Stockton's kick gave Texas a 41-= 14 lead with 6:11 left. The Longhorn backups scored again on their next possession driving 72 yards in eight plays, with Simms hitting freshman WR Sloan Thomas for 45 yards and Ike getting the final 10 yards for the touchdown on a fourth-down play. Stockton's kick brought the final score to 48-14 with 2:04 left. 900 Number Updated Daily I update my 900 number daily with football and football recruiting news. Th= e number is 1-900-288-8839. It costs $1.59 a minute. You must be 18 to call. Coach's Corner Coach Mack Brown said Sunday the Longhorns "played really well" defensively against Baylor, but "we just weren't in sync" on offense. After viewing the game tapes, he said the Longhorns are facing a tough fina= l three regular season games and will have to play much better to have a chan= ce to win. "For us to win the next three weeks, we need to be more balanced," Brown said. "We need to be able to run the ball." He also said the Longhorns are more physical than they were early in the year, but he said they need to be more physical, particularly in being able to run the ball. "Baylor put a lot of guys around the line of scrimmage and made it harder f= or us to run the ball," he said. "But we still should have been more physical and we should have been able to run the ball." "The best thing we did offensively was pass protect," he said. "The offensi= ve line did a tremendous job of picking up all the blitzes." He also praised tackles Leonard Davis and Mike Williams, saying they are playing extremely well. Running the ball successfully, he said, "is an attitude. When you take linemen the size of ours and keep pounding, they (the opposing linemen) get tired." "Our staff has taken the position that we're going to make the run work, regardless of how many are stacked in there," he said. " We'll just hang in there and keep working at it." Brown said the coaches decided to play freshman DT Adam Doiron because Shau= n Rogers is still hampered by a sprained ankle, Ryan Haywood is out for the year with a shoulder injury and Stevie Lee might be out for the year with a= n ankle injury. Asked how Doiron played, he said, "He played really well. He was in there f= or 13 plays and he had four tackles, and he got in the right place on just abo= ut every play. I think he has a chance to be a real good player." Brown said Doiron "has wanted to play all year. We'll get a minimum of five games from him. Sometimes you have to play some freshmen when you have injuries. It was at about this time last year that we started playing Bo Scaife." Playing Scaife from mid-season on last year worked out well because he suffered a torn ACL during two-a-day workouts. He was lost for this season, which will be counted as his redshirt year, making him a sophomore in eligibility again next season. True freshman TE Brock Edwards got his first start because Mike Jones is ou= t for the year with a torn ACL. Brown said, "I thought Brock did a really goo= d job for his first game to start. He dropped his first ball, but then made a great catch in the corner and ran well after he caught it." Brown said redshirt freshman DT Marcus Tubbs "played his best game." Tubbs has been starting while Shaun Rogers has been limited with a sprained ankle. He had a sack and three tackles for losses Saturday. Doiron Ninth True Freshman to Play Defensive tackle Adam Doiron played Saturday against Baylor and he is the ninth true freshman to see action this year. Four true freshmen are starting. They are tight end Brock Edwards, defensiv= e end Kalen Thorn-ton and wide receivers Roy Williams and B. J. Johnson. CB Nathan Vasher has started when the Longhorns open with a nickel defense (five defensive backs). Other true freshman who have played are defensive tackle Stevie Lee, safety Phillip Geiggar and wide receive Sloan Thomas. Coach Mack Brown said he probably will redshirt the remainder of the freshm= an class. Fullback Will Matthews has been impressive on the scout team and probably would have played this season, but he was bothered by severe headaches duri= ng the early drills and that set him back. Other freshmen who are redshirting, but who are drawing praise from the starters for their work on the scout teams are QB Chance Mock, RB Sneezy Beltran, WR Tony Jeffery, OT Lionel Garr and LB Austin Sendlein. The current UT freshman class was rated as high as No. 4 in the country by the various recruiting services, and it came on the heels of a 1999 class that was a runaway choice as the best class in the country. The 1999 class was headed by Cory Redding and Chris Simms, the USA Today defensive and offensive players of the year. That was a great class and it is living up to its press clippings. Redding is starting, TE Bo Scaife was to start before his knee injury, OGs Derrick Dockery and Tillman Holloway have started, CB Roderick Babers is a starter and so is safety Dakarai Pearson. DT Marcus Tubbs also has started. But I think the current freshman class is even better, with four players starting as true freshmen and several more playing key roles. Williams already holds the yardage record for Longhorn freshmen receivers, and Johnson is third and holds the freshman single game yardage record. They are the two best freshmen wide receivers I have ever seen, and Thomas and Jeffery make it a great foursome because they are outstanding receivers= , too. The Longhorns will be a lot better next year than they are this year becaus= e all of those top freshmen and sophomores will be a year older and will have one more year of experience. But just think how good they will be when those two classes are juniors and seniors and are backed up by the outstanding class the coaches are recruiti= ng right now and the one they will get next year. Injury Update Offensive guard Antwan Kirk-Hughes was held out of the Baylor game to give his sore shoulder a rest, and he probably will be able to play at Texas Tec= h Saturday. The knee injury TE Mike Jones suffered turned out to be a torn ACL, so he will undergo surgery and will be out for the rest of the season. That leaves freshman Brock Edwards as the only healthy tight end. Fullback = Cha d Stevens, a former tight end, has been working at both positions. Safety Lee Jackson suffered a leg injury in the Baylor game and is questionable for Saturday. Freshman defensive tackle Stevie Lee, who underwent foot surgery to repair = a broken bone about a month ago, is due to be examined again this week to see if he can return this season. Lee is eligible for a medical redshirt year if he is unable to play again this season. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Artie Ellis is having problems with the sam= e shin injury that hampered him during spring practice. He had a stress fracture then, and the same shin is sore again. He is not expected to play = at Tech. Others who are likely to miss the Tech game are outside linebacker O. J. McClintock (sprained knee) and defensive tackle Ryan Haywood (shoulder injury.) The True Orange Fax/E-Mail Service Is a Great Holiday Gift 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) Game Quotes . . "Baylor came out doing a lot of secondary blitzing. We went to four wideout= s to spread things out and take advantage of some matchups. An offense has to have the ability to win both ways (running or throwing). That took away som= e of their blitzes. We also wanted to change the tempo. We weren't pleased wi= th the tempo to start the game." =01) UT offensive coordinator Greg Davis, explaining why the Longhorns went primarily with the passing game out of the shotgun formation * * * * "I thought we played good after that early touchdown. Thank goodness we didn't play for a shutout. Our kids came out and played hard. They made som= e plays that changed field position." =01) UT defensive coordinator Carl Reese * * * * "I have to give Texas credit. They have a very good defensive team. We had = a pretty broad selection of formations and plays, but we never really got in= =20 sync, and Texas had a lot to do with that." =01) Baylor head coach Kevin Steele * * * * "You don't come out and try to set records. It just happens. Setting record= s isn't important. I just want to win." =01) UT WR B. J. Johnson, who caught nine passes for 162 yards, the best da= y ever for a Longhorn freshman receiver * * * * "Gary Baxter is a great cornerback and they tried to do some things on the weak side with him pressing Roy (Williams) and a safety helping out over th= e top. That freed B. J. to get a one-on-one matchup, and he took advantage of it." =01) Texas receivers coach Darryl Drake, discussing how the Bears tried to = put the clamps on one of the Longhorns' outstanding freshmen wide receivers, on= ly to see another one have a record day * * * * "It was pretty tough out there. Baxter is a tough corner and they had a safety helping out a lot." =01) Roy Williams, UT's freshman receiver who still managed to catch three passes for 39 yards and run his season receiving yardage total to 515 yards= , the best ever for a Longhorn freshman * * * * "It's an honor, but it's a team award. The thing I was disappointed in toda= y is that we weren't sharp to start the game. Sometimes it was a bad pass, sometimes it was a drop, and sometimes it was a missed block, but, for whatever reason, we just weren't sharp. We're going to Lubbock next week an= d we'll have to come out sharper. Emotionally, we were ready to play today, b= ut we just weren't very sharp." =01) QB Major Applewhite, who became the Longhorns' all-time passing yardag= e leader. He now has 7,810 yards, passing James Brown, who threw for 7,638 ya= rds Texas-Baylor Statistics Scoring Summary Texas 6 25 3 14 =01) 48 Baylor 7 0 0 7 =01) 14 Bay - Dossett 18 pass from Tomcheck (Stiles kick) 11:37 1Q (35 yds, 4 play= s) UT - Stockton 44 FG 8:15 1Q (53 yds, 7 plays) UT - Stockton 27 FG 1:521Q (57 yds, 8 plays) UT - Stockton 22 FG 14:572Q (9 yds, 4 plays) UT - Flowers 5 pass from Applewhite (Stockton kick) 8:59 2Q (56yds, 8 play= s) UT - Applewhite 1 run (Stockton kick) 5:23 2Q (17 yds, 2 plays) UT - Johnson 14 pass from Applewhite (Mitchell pass from Applewhite) 2:55 2= Q (57 yds, 5 plays) UT - Stockton 31 FG 3:15 3Q (32 yds, 6 plays) Bay - Giddens 72 interception return (Stiles kick) 11:14 4Q UT - Hayter 1 run (Stockton kick) 6:11 4Q (50 yds, 11 plays) UT - Ike 10 run (Stockton kick) 2:04 4Q (72 yds, 8 plays) Official Attendance: 83,092 Team Statistics Texas Baylor First Downs 24 9 Rushing 5 3 Passing 16 3 Penalty 3 3 Rushing Attempts, Net Yards 36-90 32-57 Net Yards Passing 383 77 Passes Comp., Att., Int. 23-50-1 9-33-4 Total Plays, Offense 86-473 65-134 Avg. Gain per Play 5.5 2.1 Fumbles Lost 1 of 1 1 of 3 Penalties, Yards 8-65 9-75 Punts, Avg. 5-43 10-37.9 Time of Possession 31:26 28:34 Third-Down Conversions 7 of 18 2 of 18 Fourth-Down Conversions 1 of 1 1 of 2 Sacks by Team, Yds Lost 5-23 2-9 Individual Statistics Texas Rushing - Mitchell 16-47; Ike 8-46, 1 TD; Hayter 8-3, 1 TD; Simms 1-minus = 2; Applewhite 3-minus 4, 1 TD Passing - Applewhite 18-42, 297 yds, 2 TD, 0 Int.; Simms 5-8, 86 yds, 0 T= D, 1 Int. Receiving - Johnson 9-162, 1 TD; Mitchell 3-58; S. Thomas 1-45; Williams 3-38; Edwards 2-37; Healy 3-29; Robin 1-9; Flowers 1-5, 1 TD Baylor Rushing - Ricks 8-20; Dixon 11-17; Burkins 2-9; Bush 9-7; Tomcheck 1-6; Od= um 1-minus 2. Passing -Dixon 4-17, 59 yds, 0 TD, 3 Int.; Tomcheck 5-16, 18 yds, 1 TD, 1 I= nt. Receiving - Newhouse 3-51; Dossett 1-18, 1 TD; Schoessow 2-11; Dozier 1-6; Davis 1-5; Bush 1-minus 14. Tackles by Texas Players, Unasst., Asst., Total Hampton 5-4-9; Lewis 4-4-8; Brown 3-4-7; Rawls 4-2-6; Pearson 4-1-5; Doiron 3-1-4; Redding 3-0-3; Trahan 2-1-3; Gordon 2-1-3; Jammer 1-2-3; Rogers 2-0-2; Vasher 2-0-2; Tubbs 1-1-2; Geiggar 1-1-2; Babers 1-1-2; Thornton 1-1-2; Wilkins 0-2-2; Trissel 1-0-1; Walker 0-1-1; Ungar 0-1-1. Tackles for Losses: Redding 2-minus 16; Doiron 2-minus 4; Tubbs 2-minus 3; Hampton 1-minus 2; Brown 1-minus 2; Rogers 1-minus 2; Gordon 1-minus 2; Babers 1-minus 1. Sacks: Jammer 1-minus 7; Rogers 1-minus 7; Tubbs 1-minus 5; Thornton 1-minus 2; Lewis 1-minus 2.
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