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Scouting Texas Tech
Texas travels to Lubbock Saturday to take on dangerous Texas Tech in a 6 p.= m. game that will be televised by the Fox Network. The Red Raiders are 6-3 overall and 2-3 in the Big 12, with losses to Nebraska, Kansas State and Texas A&M. Tech, under new coach Mike Leach, opened the season with a 24-3 win over Ne= w Mexico, then whipped Utah State, 38-16, and North Texas, 13-7, before wrapping up the non-conference slate with a 26-0 shutout of Lousiana-Lafayette. The Raiders fell at Texas A&M, 33-15, to open league play. Then they whitewashed Baylor, 28-0, before getting hammered by Nebraska, 56-3. Then they scared Kansas State in Manhattan before falling, 28-23. They outscored Kansas, 45-39, Saturday in Lawrence, with sophomore QB Kliff Kingsbury hitting WR Derek Dorris for four touchdowns. Leach is the guy who found Josh Heupel and lured him to Oklahoma last seaso= n when he was the Sooners' offensive coordinator. The Sooners' offensive success last year propeled him to the head job at Texas Tech and his offense is a pass first, pass second and pass third offense, just like the one the Sooners use. The difference, however, is that there is only one Heupel. But Kingsbury is very good. He's a sophomore who has thrown a nation's leading 431 passes th= is year and who has hit 60.1% of them. He is No. 8 in the nation in total offense, averaging 285.6 yards per game. One scary statistic is Texas Tech's lofty No. 2 ranking in pass defense. Th= e Raiders are giving up only 146.2 yards per game passing and they have intercepted 10 passes. If the Longhorns don't run any better than they have been running, they wil= l have to have some success throwing to have a chance to win. One other worrisome thing is that Texas Tech is the second best team the Longhorns have played to this point. Oklahoma, with a 7-0 record, is the on= ly other team the Horns have played with a winning record right now. To win in Lubbock, the Longhorns have to pressure Kingsbury and the offense and defense both have to remember to show up in the first quarter. Here's how the teams compare statistically (national rank in parenthesis): Texas Texas Tech Offense (90) 107.8 Rushing Avg. (111) 68.1 (10) 302.4 Passing Avg. (11) 300.6 (32) 410.2 Total Off. Avg. (63) 368.7 (11) 37.8 Scoring Avg (70) 23.9 Defense (20) 101.4 Rushing Avg. (66) 159.9 (10) 168.0 Passing Avg. (2) 146.2 (7) 269.4 Total Def. Avg. (20) 302.1 (23) 18.4 Opp. Scoring Avg (36) 20.2 Big 12 Roundup The conference races have narrowed down to three teams in each division and the Northern Division will come down to just two teams after this week because Iowa State travels to Kansas State in an elimination game. Two huge games are on tap next week when Oklahoma visits Texas A&M and Nebraska travels to Kansas State. If the Sooners and Huskers both win, the races are as good as over and you can count on them meeting again in Kansas City on December 2. BIG 12 STANDINGS SOUTHERN DIVISION Conference Season W L PF PA Pct. W L PF PA Pct. Oklahoma 4 0 169 75 1.000 7 0 311 110 1.000 Texas 4 1 178 110 .800 6 2 302 147 .750 Texas A&M 4 1 132 58 .800 6 2 248 102 .75= 0 Texas Tech 2 3 114 156 .400 6 3 215 182 .667 Okla State 0 4 64 136 .000 2 5 129 190 .286 Baylor 0 5 31 190 .000 2 6 88 244 .2= 50 NORTHERN DIVISION Conference Season W L PF PA Pct. W L PF PA Pct. Nebraska 4 1 220 85 .800 7 1 338 135 .87= 5 Kansas State 3 2 165 124 .600 7 2 377 151 .77= 8 Iowa State 3 2 137 142 .600 6 2 218 193 .75= 0 Kansas 2 3 129 153 .400 4 4 209 180 .50= 0 Colorado 2 3 113 135 .400 2 6 165 197 .14= 3 Missouri 1 4 97 175 .200 2 6 166 270 .250 Last Week's Results Texas 48, Baylor 14 Texas A&M 26, Kansas State 10 Oklahoma 31, Nebraska 14 Texas Tech 45, Kansas 39 Colorado 37, Oklahoma State 21 Iowa State 39, Missouri 20 This Week's Games Texas at Texas Tech, 6 p.m. (Fox) Colorado at Missouri, noon Oklahoma at Baylor, 1 p.m. Texas A&M at Oklahoma State, 1 p.m. Iowa State at Kansas State, 1 p.m. Kansas at Nebraska, 2:30 p.m. 2000 Longhorn Schedule, Record (6-2) Texas Opp. Sept. 9 Louisiana-Lafayette 52 10 Sept 16 at Stanford 24 27 Sept 23 Houston 48 0 Sept 30 Oklahoma State 42 7 Oct. 7 Oklahoma (Dallas) 14 63 Oct. 14 at Colorado 28 14 Oct. 21 Missouri 46 12 Oct. 28 Baylor 48 14 Nov. 4 at Texas Tech Nov. 11 at Kansas Nov. 24 Texas A&M Scoring by Quarters Texas 25 110 66 101 - 302 Opponents 40 51 35 21 - 147 Recruiting Roundup The Longhorns are still at 19 commitments and are headed toward another national top 10 class, and possibly a top five class if things break right = at the end. * * * * Longhorn prize recruit Cedric Benson had 27 carries for 313 yards and all three touchdowns on runs of 4, 22 and 82 yards to lead Midland Lee past arch-rival Odessa Permian, 19-0. It was his sixth career 300-yard game. Benson has rushed for 7,121 yards, the 10th highest total ever for a Texas high school player and the best ever for one in the state's highest classification. He won't have the awesome stats he had last year (3,500 yds, 51 TDs) becaus= e he is one of two offensive starters left from Lee's great back-to-back stat= e championship teams, but he looks even bigger and faster this year than he w= as last year. T. J. Mills, Permian's coach, said, "My kids hit him and hit him and hit hi= m, but he's a load. If you don't get a lot of hats on him on every play, he'll hurt you." Don Shows, the highly successful coach at West Monroe, La., had much the sa= me thing to say after his team mauled Lee, 38-6, in an early-season game. Lee's lone TD came on a 78-yard run by Benson, and it came on the third pla= y of the game. Shows, whose teams are 89-3 since 1995, said, "We don't usuall= y give up runs like that, and we stopped him pretty good most of the time. Bu= t our game plan was to have a lot of people on him on every play, and even then, he made some tough, tough yardage. He's a hard back to stop, especial= ly if he gets a little room." * * * * Not much has changed in the last week. The Longhorns are still waiting on several key players to make their decisions. They will sign six to seven more players, and several of the remaining scholarships are likely to go to S Dewayne Brandon of Temple, LB Derrick Johnson of Waco, DL Kaelen Jakes of Valencia, Cal., and DE Jonathan Jackson and TE James Moses, both of Galena Park North Shore. They fill the key requirements: they like the Horns and the Horns like them= . The most important recruit remaining is super DT Tommie Harris of Killeen Ellison, and others still considering Texas are Athletes Quan Cosby of Mar= t and Joseph Addai of Houston Sharpstown and OLs William Winston of Houston Madison and Jami Hightower of Jacksonville. Super DT Paul Broussard of Blinn JC is still a possibility, but he has some academic hurdles. The Longhorns have as good a chance as anyone with Harris, but he says he i= s still considering six or seven schools and says he is wide open. Harris said he came to the Missouri game Oct. 21 but got there late and didn't get to visit with the other recruits. Harris said he had a good time and said Texas remains one of his top choices. RECRUITING NOTES: Fullback James Buchanon of Sarasota, Fla., picked Florida State over Texas and Boston College. . . One top UT recruit, OL Mike Garcia of Galena Park, is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL, but he says he will be ready for two-a-days next August in Austin. Here's a list of the Horns' 19 early commitments: Offensive Line (7) Jonathan Scott, 6-7, 290, 4.9, Dallas Carter Abe Robinson, 6-6, 270, 4.9, Jersey Village Alfio Randall, 6-6, 300, 5.1, Blinn JC Mike Garcia, 6-5, 280, 5.2, Galena Park Will Allen, 6-5, 300, 5.2, Cypress Falls Roman Reeves, 6-6, 295, 5.2, Livingston Terrance Young, 6-6, 340, 5.5, Longview Quarterback (1) Matt Nordgren, 6-5, 225, 4.6, Dallas B. Lynch Running Back (2) Cedric Benson, 5-11, 200, 4.5, Midland Lee Anthony Johnson, 5-11, 195, 4.4, Jefferson Defensive End (1) Eric Hall, 6-2, 240, 4.5, Clarksville, Tenn. Linebacker (2) Yamil LeBron, 6-2, 240, 4.7, Killeen Ellison Lance McFarland, 6-1, 225, 4.6, Jefferson Defensive Back (5) Cedric Griffin, 6-1, 180, 4.4, San Antonio Holmes Aaron Ross, 6-1, 182, 4.42, Tyler Kendal Briles, 5-10, 175, 4.5, Wolfforth Frenship Braden Johnson, 6-2, 200, 4.5, Euless Trinity Brian Carter, 5-11, 180, 4.5, The Woodlands Punter (1) Brian Bradford, 6-1, 205, Trinity Valley JC Basketball Team Adds 2 Walk-ons Two walk-ons, including a former scholarship player at North Texas State, have been added to the UT basketball team, coach Rick Barnes announced last week. They are 6-6 junior guard/forward Deginald Erskin and 6-1 freshman point guard Drew Gressett. Erskin, a cousin of former Longhorn Kris Clack, is from Gonzales. He played at North Texas State for two years, averaging 12.3 points as a freshman and 18.9 points as a sophomore. He will have to sit out this year, but can practice with the team. Gressett was an All-District guard at Austin Westlake last season, averagin= g 15 points and 6 assists per game.ranking, they get beat. Unbeaten List Down to 3 Two of the five unbeaten teams in Division 1 fell Saturday, with No. 1 Nebraska falling to No. 3 (now No. 1) Oklahoma and No. 5 Clemson getting be= at by Georgia Tech. The -teams left with perfect records are OU (7-0), No. 2 Virginia Tech (8-0= ), and No. 9 TCU (7-0). Whites Win UT Fall Series The White team won the Longhorns' annual Fall World Series last week, takin= g the first two games before losing the finale, behind some strong performanc= es by the highly rated recruiting class. The White team won the opening game, 9-1, Wednesday, behind the pitching of Ryan France, who allowed only one run over five innings while getting three strikeouts. A seven-run second innings for the Whites broke the game open. Freshman Eri= c Sultemeier of New Braunfels had a pair of doubles for the White team. Sophomore Ray Clark took the loss for the Orange team. The White team won a 12-8 slugfest Thursday in the second game. Sultemeier had a three-run homer for the Whites, and fellow freshman Tim Moss of Lancaster went 2-for-3, with two runs scored and two runs batted in. Jeff Ontiveros, the team's leading power hitter last year, also had a home run f= or the White team. Freshman Kasey Baker of Houston Langham Creek homered for the Orange team a= nd freshman Jake Duncan of Marshall had an inside-the-park homer. Sophomore Brantley Jordan, a transfer from Texarkana JC, picked up the win, going five innings and allowing four earned runs. Fellow sophomore starter Ben King, a transfer from Alabama, took the loss. The Orange squad broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the sixth inning with a three-run rally en route to a 5-2 win over the White club in the final gam= e Friday. Derek Denman, a tranfer from Grayson JC, got the victory, scattering three hits and giving up two runs in five innings. Freshman Justin Simmsons of Duncanville, pitched two innings of one-hit relief. The Orange offense was led by Baker and Duncan, who each collected two hits and combined for three runs on the day. Freshman shortstop Omar Quintanilla of El Paso Socorro paced the White attack, going 2-for-2 and scoring two runs. UT Women Picked Fourth The Texas women's basketball team is picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 Conference basketball race behind defending champion Iowa State, Oklahoma a= nd Texas Tech. The Longhorns had their annual Orange-White game Thursday and the White tea= m won, 82-68, behind 22 points from 5-9 freshman guard Kaira White. More good news for the Horns were the strong showings by two tall newcomers= . Annissa Hastings, a 6-2 freshman forward, had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Orange squad, and Stacy Stephens, a 6-1 freshman forward, had 12 points= , 8 rebounds and 2 blocks for the White. Texas will host an All-Star Russian team Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Erwin Center. Texas No. 20, Favored by 10 Texas is No. 20 this week in both the Associated Press and coaches' footbal= l polls and the Longhorns are favored over Texas Tech by 10 points for their Saturday night game in Lubbock. Horns Picked 5th in Basketball The Longhorns were picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 basketball race in = a pre-season vote by the basketball coaches. Kansas was a a unanimous choice to win the title, followed by Oklahoma, Missouri, defending champion Iowa State and then Texas. Longhorn junior guard/forward Maurice Evans was tabbed as the league's Newcomer of the Year. Evans, 6-5, a transfer from Wichita State who sat out last season, was nint= h in Division I scoring with a 22.6 average during his sophomore season at Wichita. The Longhorns did not have a player on the pre-season All-Conference team. Junior center/forward Chris Owens received some votes for the team. He averaged 9.4 points and 5.6 rebounds last season. Texas will open the exhibition season with the Orange-White scrimmage Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Gregory Gym. The Longhorns open the regular season with a home game against Navy at 7 p.= m. on Monday, November 13, in the opening game of the pre-season NIT. THE PERFECT GIFT FOR ANY LONGHORN FOR ANY OCCASION A True Orange Subscription Is The Gift You Can Get Every Year for Your Longhorn Friends A subscription to True Orange is the perfect gift for any occasion for a Longhorn who has everything else. It's only $45 ($35 by e-mail) and I'll send an attractive card announcing your thoughtful gift. The only thing better is a gift of True Orange and the True Orange Fax = =01) and you can give both for just $130 a year ($99 if they take both by e-mail= ). o I am enclosing $45 for a gift subscription ($35 e-mail) o I am enclosing $130 for a gift subscription to the newsletter and the fa= x ($99 e-mail) Name of Recipient Address (& fax no., if applicable) City, State, Zip Your Name Any Message You Want on Card Next Issue November 6 The next issue will be e-mailed on November 6 and will report on the big ga= me at Texas Tech, preview another road test the following week at Kansas and take a look at the Big 12 championship races. I'll have a lot of recruiting news, including my updated Elite 80 and Fabulous 40 lists, reports on men's and women's basketball and lots of othe= r Longhorn sports news. SUBSCRIPTION FORM I want to subscribe. I am enclosing $45 for the next year, which will inclu= de 26 issues. A two-year subscription is $85. For a one-year subscription via E-Mail, send $35. Name Street Address or Box Number or E-Mail Address City, State and Zip Code Remit to True Orange, P O Box 26530, Austin, TX 78755 Foreign Rates Available on Request. Phone 512-795-8536 E-Mail Address: truorange@aol.com GIFT SUBSCRIPTION FORM I want to give a gift subscription to True Orange. I am enclosing $45. Please send an appropriate gift card. For a gift subscription via E-Mail, send $35. Name of Person Receiving Gift Street Address or Box Number or E-Mail Address City, State and Zip Code Your Name
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