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Jerry Scarbrough's True Orange Newsletter
Volume 11, No. 6, November 27, 2000 Longhorns Mangle Aggies, 43-17, with Huge Third Quarter; Await Word on Bowl Matchup After a listless offensive performance in the first half, the Longhorns romped and stomped in the third quarter and wrecked the Aggies "Wrecking Crew" defense en route to a 43-17 victory Friday in Austin. The Longhorns had 492 offensive yards and averaged a whopping 8.3 yards per play. But there was a huge difference in the way the Longhorns played to start both halves. Texas ran only 9 plays for just 13 yards in the first quarter, an average o= f just under 1.5 yards per play. The Longhorns ran 18 plays for 303 yards in the third quarter, an average of 16.8 yards per snap. If not for safety Greg Brown's 10-yard scoring jaunt with an interception o= f a Mark Farris' pass on the Aggies' first offensive play, the Longhorns probably would have trailed at the half. But that quick touchdown and an overall outstanding half by the Texas defen= se allowed the Horns to go in at intermission with a 10-7 lead. Everything changed in the third quarter. Chris Simms, starting because of a knee injury to regular QB Major Applewhite, had been throwing east and west for most of the first half. But he came out throwing north and south to in the second half and it resulted in four touchdowns and 27 points in the third quarter to enable th= e Longhorns to put the game out of reach. Simms hit 16 of 24 passes for 383 yards and three touchdowns, and he was a perfect 8-for-8 for 233 yards in that pivotal third quarter. Simms is just a sophomore and he was throwing primarily to those three tremendous true freshmen all day, and particularly in the third quarter. B. J. Johnson, Roy Williams and Sloan Thomas combined for 12 catches for 34= 6 yards and 3 TDs. The Horns also scored on their first two possessions in th= e fourth quarter, making them 6-for-6 on finishing drives to start the second half. The Longhorns won their final six games after a rocky 3-2 start, and they will land in a major bowl (see page 5 for more on the bowl picture). Here, briefly, is how the game went: FIRST QUARTER Victor Ike ran the kickoff back to the 34, but the Horns went three and out= . Kris Stockton hammered a great punt that died at the Aggie 9. On the Aggies= ' first play, QB Mark Farris threw into the left flat and Texas' safety Greg Brown picked it off and strolled into the end zone for a TD. Stockton's kick made it 7-0 with 12:46 left. But the Longhorn offense failed to make a single first dow= n in the quarter. The Aggies made only three first downs, but they came late = in the quarter and got the Ags to the Texas 22 as the quarter ended. Texas had only nine plays and 13 total yards in the quarter. The Aggies had 18 plays for 40 yards. SECOND QUARTER Aggie TB Richard Whitaker completed the drive when he broke off tackle and scored from the 15 on third-and-10 for a 7-7 tie with 13:17 left. A short kickoff gave Texas the ball at the UT 43. On the second play, Simms found freshman WR B. J. Johnson coming across for 32 yards to the Aggie 23. On th= e next play, Simms hit Johnson again for an apparent touchdown, but a rare offensive pass interference penalty on Johnson negated it. The penalty set = UT back to the 33. Simms connected with TB Hodges Mitchell on an inside screen to the A&M 17, but that was short of a first down because of the penalty. Stockton's 34-yard field goal put UT ack on top, 10-7, with 10:43 left. The Aggies got a 20-yard pass from Farris to WR Chris Taylor and 27 and 10-yard runs by 260-pound RB Ja'Mar Toombs to get to the Texas 10. But Farris was h= it hard by DT Casey Hampton on an option and fumbled, with UT LB Tyrone Jones recovering at the 9. Simms was sacked at the 3. Then the Horns were penaliz= ed half the distance for illegal procedure. On second-and-17, Simms threw long for freshman WR Roy Williams, who made a miraculous catch on his fingertips at the 42. Mitchell picked up two first downs with tough, tackle-breaking runs to get the A&M 37 with just under a minute left in the half. But Simms was sacked twice in a row to take the team out of field goal range as the half ended. THIRD QUARTER The Aggies took the wind, allowing Texas to receive to start both halves. I= t worked in the first half, but it backfired big time in the third quarter. I= ke ran the kickooff back to the 29. Mitchell ran for 6 and 7 for a first down = at the 42. Simms hit a wide-open Johnson for 18 more to the Aggie 40. That mad= e it Roy Williams' time. The freshman phenom lined up wide left, came back on= a reverse and galloped 40 yards for the first UT offensive touchdown. Stockton's kick gave Texas a 17-7 lead with 13:42 left. The Aggies couldn't move and Texas, starting from its own 18, went 82 yards for a touchdown to = go on top, 24-7, with 7:32 left. The big plays were a 35-yard pass from Simms = to Johnson and than a 20-yard touchdown pass to Williams. But the Aggies came back immediately, with Farris hitting WR Mickey Jones behind UT CB Roderick Babers for 56 yards and a TD. The kick cut Texas' lead to 24-14 with 5:49 left. Ivan Williams ran the kickoff back to the UT 44. A holding penalty pushed the Horns back to the 34. Simms hit Williams for 10 yards, than connected with the Longhorns' third true freshman WR, Sloan Thomas, on the sideline and he broke a tackle and galloped 55 yards for another TD. Stockton's kick gave Texas a 31-14 lead with 4:43 left. The Aggies drove de= ep into UT territory again, but had to settle for a 40-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 31-17 with 2:18 left. Starting from the 25, the Longhorns dr= ew a holding penalty to the 15, but Simms hit Williams for 15 to the 30, then pump faked, allowing Johnson to break open and run under his long pass and run untouched intothe end zone to complete a 70-yard scoring play. Stockton= 's kick was blocked, but UT still had a 37-17 lead with 0:41 seconds left. Longhorn CB Quentin Jammer intercepted Farris' pass at the Texas 48 on the final play of the quarter. Simms was 8 for 8 for 234 yards and three TDs - = to three different true freshman wide receivers. FOURTH QUARTER After Jammer's interception, Simms hit Johnson again for 31 yards to set up= a 31-yard Stockton field goal and a 40-17 lead with 12:30 left. UT CB Ahmad Brooks forced a fumble on the third play after the kickoff, with Babers recovering at the A&M 33, setting up a 30-yard field goal by Stockton to complete the scoring at 43-17 with 9:33 left. A&M drove to the Texas 8 in t= he final minute of the game, but Farris' third-and-fourth-down passes fell incomplete. Longhorn Notes . . * The Longhorns racked up 303 of their 492 yards total offense that torrid 27-point third quarter, and sophomore QB Chris Simms and true freshman WRs = B. J. Johnson, Roy Williams and Sloan Thomas accounted for 274 yards of it. Simms completed 8 of 8 passes for 234 yards, and Johnson grabbed three of them for 123 yards and a touchdown, Thomas caught one for 55 yards and a TD and Williams had three catches for 45 yards and a touchdown. Williams also went 40 yards to score on an end around. * Texas is one of only eight teams to win at least nine games during each o= f the last three seasons. The others are Florida State, Florida, Miami, Nebraska, Kansas State, Tennessee and Virginia Tech. The last time Texas ha= d three consecutive nine-win seasons was from 1981 through 1983. 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 he is "really excited about the way we finishe= d the season with six straight wins in three road games and three home games.= " He said the Big 12 "is so hard, with four teams in the top 10 in the Sagari= n ratings (Oklahoma, Kansas State, Nebraska and Texas), and a lot of other ve= ry good teams." "A lot of people gave up on this team," he said after the game Saturday. "They played like a top 10 team today. I'm very proud of them." "Our freshmen receivers are unbelievable," he said. "They really helped us today. This was a great win for us, especially against a team as good as Texas A&M." He said the good kickoff returns by Victor Ike and Ivan Williams in the thi= rd quarter gave Texas good field position and helped launch two of the four third-quarter touchdowns that broke the game open. "This is a young football team with some great seniors," he said. "We'll ha= ve another good recruiting year and the future is bright." "We've won nine games three years in a row and we've won four of the last s= ix against A&M. I was so disappointed when we lost over there last year becaus= e of a poor second half, and we wanted to play a great second half this year.= " While he said the Longhorns played like a top 10 team, he said getting ther= e is just the start. "I want us to finish in the top 10," he said. "We can do that if we win our bowl game." Brown said he doesn't know where the Longhorns are likely to wind up in the bowl derby, but said he expects it to be a good enough bowl "that we will have a really tough opponent." "They've got to understand now how to handle a bowl game because we'll probably be playing a very good team," he said. Brown also said he is "very proud of Chris Simms. This is a hard place to b= e a quarterback. There are a lot of opinions about the head coach, the quarterback and the offensive coordinator each day" He said Simms' situation to start this season was a lot like the team's situation. "More expectations were put on this team than it deserved," he said, "and more expectations were put on Chris, too." Brown said the Longhorn assistant coaches "will go out recruiting immediately. That's our top priority right now. We won't know our schedule until we know the timing of our bowl game." He said he will meet Monday with the members of his staff who are not on th= e road recruiting to decide whether to have any practices this week. Asked to name some players who have exceeded expectations this season, he said, "The three freshman receivers (Roy Williams, B. J. Johnson and Sloan Thomas). We knew they were great prospects, but there was no way we could have anticipated they would play they way they have." He also said true freshman DE Kalen Thorn-ton, redshirt freshman S Dakarai Pearson, redshirt freshman DT Marcus Tubbs, sophomore FB Matt Trissel ("he had 14 knockdowns at Kansas"), and Simms have all played extremely well dow= n the stretch. Horns 12th in Both Polls Texas is ranked 12th in both the Associated Press poll and the USA Today/ES= PN poll. Three other Big 12 teams are in the AP top 25 =01) No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 8 Ka= nsas State and No. 10 Nebraska. Injury Update Coach Mack Brown said Sunday QB Major Applewhite might be ready to play in the Longhorns' bowl game because he will have several weeks to rest his injured knee. But he said sophomore QB Chris Simms has played extremely well in the last two games. "We have two quarterbacks who are good enough to give us a chanc= e to win against anybody," he said. Brown said safety Lee Jackson (leg injury) WR Artie Ellis (shin) and TE Bro= ck Edwards (leg) probably will be able to play in the bowl game. Edwards' injury left the Horns with converted FB Chad Stevens as the only healthy scholarship TE. OG Antwan Kirk-Hughes has been having problems with a shoulder, and it bothered him during the A&M game, but he is expected to be able to play in the bowl game. Longhorns Win Honors Senior OT Leonard Davis made the Football Writers Association's first-team All-America squad, and he and senior DT Casey Hampton made the Walter Camp All American team and were on the Football News All-America second team. Kicker Kris Stockton made the Football News third team. WR Roy Williams and DE Kalen Thornton made the Rivals.com freshman All-America first team and Williams was chosen as the top offensive freshma= n player. Davis, senior RB Hodges Mitchell, Hampton, and junior CB Quentin Jammer on the first-team of the All-Big 12 Team selected by the league's coaches. Hampton was chosen as the league Defensive Player of the Year and Williams, who made the third team, was chosen as the Freshman of the Year. Stockton made the second team and Williams and junior LB De'Andre Lewis made the thi= rd team. Junior OT Mike Williams, sophomore DE Cory Redding and senior DB Greg Brown were Longhorns who got honorable mention. Kansas State had six first-team players, leading in that category, but O klahoma had five first-teamers, headed by Offensive Player of the Year QB Josh Heupel, plus six second-teamers and five third-teamers. Kansas State had 13 players on the three teams, followed by Nebraska with 9= , Texas and Iowa State with 7, Texas Tech with 6, Texas A&M and Kansas with 5 each, Oklahoma State with 4, Missouri and Colorado with 3 each and Baylor with 2. The True Orange Fax/E-Mail Deal Is a Great Christmas Gift I'll Have Frequent Reports on Recruiting And Practice Throughout the Year ! 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 . . "Giving them an easy touchdown to start the game is not what you want, but = we settled down and moved the ball well in the first half. We then had a chanc= e to take the lead, but fumbled close to the goal line. In the third quarter, they hit some big plays, including the reverse, which broke our momentum an= d got things going for them." =01) Texas A&M head coach R. C. Slocum * * * * "We felt like we'd played the first half a little close to the vest and we wanted to loosen things up a little in the second half. Chris Simms did a really great job of thowing the ball into the wind in the third quarter." =01) UT offensive coordinator Greg Davis, explaining how the Longhorns scor= ed four touchdowns going into the wind in the third quarter after making only four first downs in the first half * * * * "I thought our guys did a great job of battling in the first half. We gave = up some plays in the second half, but our offense really took off. Anytime you are a defensive coach and your offense starts playing like that, it's a rea= l good thing." =01) Texas defensive coordinator Carl Reese * * * * "It's unbelievable, isn't it? I focused on it a lot all week. I just wanted to play smart and not make any mistakes. I've made mistakes throughout the year - interceptions that were run back for touchdowns. It seemed like I wa= s doing that religiously. It sure felt good today." =01) UT QB Chris Simms, when asked about how it felt to play well and not t= hrow any interceptions * * * * "They played a different coverage than we have seen them play. I just didn'= t see Greg Brown and he made a huge play for them." =01) Aggie QB Mark Farris, discussing his first pass being intercepted and = run back for a touchdown by UT safety Greg Brown * * * * "My receiver ran out to block a cornerback and I just got in the lane. The ball took forever to get there. It just seemed to hang up there, but it finally came down and I made sure I caught it because I had a clear path to the end zone." =01) UT senior safety Greg Brown, also discussing his early interception an= d touchdown * * * * "Sloan had one and Roy had two, so I thought I had to get one, too. We were really up for this one. If you can't get up for Texas A&M, you really shouldn't be playing for the University of Texas." =01) UT true freshman WR B. J. Johnson, talking about his fellow freshmen R= oy Williams and Sloan Thomas and their touchdowns * * * * "It was great to go out there and beat A&M and win my last home game. =01) UT senior DT Shaun Rogers Texas-Texas A&M Statistics Scoring Summary Texas 7 3 27 6 =01) 43 Texas A&M 0 7 10 0 =01) 17 UT - Brown 10 interception return (Stockton kick) 12:46 1Q A&M - Whitaker 15 run (Kitchens kick) 13:17 2Q (49 yds, 12 plays) UT - Stockton 34 FG 10:43 2Q (40 yds, 7 plays) UT - R. Williams 40 run (Stockton kick) 13:42 3Q (71 yds, 4 plays) UT - R. Williams 20 pass from Simms (Stockton kick) 7:32 3Q (81 yds, 8 play= s) A&M - M. Jones 56 pass from Farris (Kitchens kick) 5:49 3Q (73 yds, 6 plays= ) UT - Thomas 55 pass from Simms (Stockton kick) 4:43 3Q (56 yds, 3 plays) A&M - Kitchens 40 FG 2:18 3Q (51 yds, 7 plays) UT - Johnson 70 pass from Simms (kick blocked) 0:41 3Q (75 yds, 3 plays) UT - Stockton 31 FG 12:30 4Q (38 yds, 7 plays) UT - Stockton 30 FG 9:33 4Q (20 yds, 5 plays) Official Attendance: 84,012 Team Statistics Texas Texas A&M First Downs 16 18 Rushing 6 7 Passing 10 10 Penalty 0 1 Rushing Attempts, Net Yards 35-109 28-81 Net Yards Passing 383 290 Passes Comp., Att., Int. 16-24-0 25-43-2 Total Plays, Offense 59-492 71-371 Avg. Gain per Play 8.3 5.2 Fumbles Lost 0 of 1 2 of 2 Penalties, Yards 6-47 3-20 Punts, Avg. 4-37 4-44.2 Time of Possession 28:10 31:50 Third-Down Conversions 5 of 13 8 of 17 Fourth-Down Conversions 0 of 1 2 of 3 Sacks by Team, Yds Lost 1-7 3-19 Individual Statistics Texas Rushing - Mitchell 25-89; R. Williams 1-40, 1 TD; Johnson 1-1; Team 2-minu= s 2; Simms 6-19. Passing - Simms 16-24, 383 yds, 3 TD, 01 Int. Receiving - Johnson 6-187, 1 TD; Williams 4-85, 1 TD; Thomas 2-74, 1 TD; Mitchell 3-26; Healy 1-11. Texas A&M Rushing - Toombs 13-53; Whitaker 8-32, 1 TD; Weber 1-0-; Goynes 1-minus 1; Fafrris 5-minus 3. Passing -Farris 25-43, 290 yds, 1 TD, 2 Int. Receiving - Taylor 6-72; M. Jones 4-67, 1 TD; Johnson 4-34; Weber 2-34; Porter 3-24; Goynes 1-24; Whitaker 3-16; Toombs 1-15; Madison 1-4. Tackles by Texas Players, Unasst., Asst., Total Brooks 8-1-9; Lewis 5-3-8; Brown 4-4-8; Rogers 3-2-5; Jammer 2-3-5; Pearson 4-0-4; Babers 3-1-4; Hampton 2-2-4; T. Jones 0o-4-4; Trahan 3-0-3; Boyd 2-1-3; Thornton 1-2-3; Radwls 1-2-3; Redding 2-0-2; Tubbs 1-0-1; Ungar 1-0-= 1; Vasher 1-0-1; Geiggar 1-0-1; Pittman 0-1-1. Tackles for Losses: Brown 1-minus 8; Rogers 2-minus 5; Lewis 2-minus 4; Hampton 2-minus 4; Rawls 1-minus 1; Brooks 1-minus 1; Pearson 1-minus 1. Sacks: Vasher 1-minus 7.
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