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Part 1 of 3
Jerry Scarbrough's True Orange Newsletter The Newsletter for the True Texas Longhorn Faithful Volume 12, No. 1, October 15, 2001 Simms Ties School Record with 5 TD Passes, Benson Shines in First Start as UT Rips OSU True freshman RB Cedric Benson got his first start Saturday in Stillwater and his hard running opened the airways for QB Chris Simms to toss a school-record-tying five touchdown passes en route to a 45-17 victory over Oklahoma State. The Cowboys started strong and scored on their first possession against the Longhorns' man-for-man defense by hitting four third-and-long passes in a row, the final one for a touchdown. But defensive coordinator Carl Reese switched to zone coverage as his base defense at that point and the Cowboys didn't hit another third-down pass all day. After the slow start that spotted OSU an early 10-0 lead, the UT offense exploded for 31 points in the second quarter to put the game on ice. Benson's early fumble set up Oklahoma State's field goal that put the Horns in the 10-point hole, but his strong runs fueled the first three Texas scoring drives, forcing the Cowboys to bring more defenders in close and setting up the potent UT passing game. He carried 17 times for 92 yards and a 5.4 yard average in the first half en route to a 31-carry, 131-yard performance for the day. This was a day when the run complemented the pass and the pass complemented the run, and it simply gave the outmanned Cowboys too many problems to solve. Simms tried only four passes in the first quarter, completing two of them for a mere two yards as the Horns concentrated on establishing Benson and the ground game. The strategy paid off handsomely, with the Cowboys putting seven and eight defenders in the box to slow Benson, and Simms responded by com-pleting 16 of 28 passes for 233 yards and five TDs in the final three quarters. The 5 TD passes tied a school record set by James Brown against Baylor in 1994. Here, briefly, is how the game went First Quarter Texas won the toss and deferred until the second half. OSU took the ball and Texas got the strong 18 mile-an-hour wind. QB Aso Pogi led the Cowboys on a 12-play, 65-yard touchdown drive after the kickoff. He overcame four third-and-long situations by hitting four straight passes, the final one to WR Rashaun Woods for nine yards and the TD for a 7-0 lead with 10:33 left. After the kickoff, Benson fumbled on the second play and OSU recovered at the UT 30. The Pokes tried the UT middle twice, but DT Marcus Tubbs and others held strong, bringing up a third-and-11 at the 31. Now in a tight zone defense, the Horns forced Pogi into an incompletion and Luke Phillips hit a career-best 48-yard FG for a 10-0 lead with 8:14 left. The Horns went backward on a penalty and a sack after the kickoff, forcing a punt from the UT 11. But safety Nathan Vasher intercepted Pogi's long pass at the UT 21, and Benson started shredding the Cowboy defense. He ran for 2, 12, 13, 8, 7, 3 and 10 yards to get the Longhorns to the OSU 25. Ivan Williams relieved him briefly and got 5 and then 4 to bring up a third down at the 16. Benson got the first down on a tough 2-yard run to the 14 as the quarter ended. Second Quarter Two more Benson runs reached the 9, then Simms hit WR Roy Williams just short of the goal, then scored on a sneak on the next play. Dusty Mangum's kick cut the deficit to 10-7 with 13:09 left. The Longhorn defense forced another turnover when OSU RB Tatum Bell fumbled and UT safety Ahmad Brooks recovered at the Cowboys' 15. Benson ran for 10 to the 5, but a penalty and a stiffening OSU defense forced Mangum to come in and hit a 23-yard field goal for a 10-10 tie with 9:27 left.LB Everick Rawls sacked Pogi and forced a quick punt, and Vasher returned it 15 yards to the Cowboys' 46. Benson got a first down with a 10-yard run, then Simms hit three straight passes, the final one for 27 yards and the touchdown to wide open TE Brock Edwards. Mangum's kick put the Horns ahead to stay, 17-10, with 6:13 left. After OSU failed on a fourth-down gamble at the UT 38, Simms took the Horns on an 11-play, 64-yard scoring drive. His passes for 21 yards to Kyle Shanahan and 11 and 12 yards to Sloan Thomas were the big plays. He connected with Williams for the final five yards and a 24-10 lead with just 25 seconds left. The Horns tried a squib kickoff, and recovered it at the OSU 16, with 15 seconds left. Simms hit Williams down the middle for the touchdown and a 31-10 lead at the half. Third Quarter After an exchange of punts, Benson and Simms went to work again, running and passing UT down to the OSU 27. Then Simms hit Thomas again for 27 yards and the TD. Mangum's fifth conversion made it 38-10 with 6:46 left. OSU safety Chris Massey intercepted a Simms' pass at the UT 21 late in the quarter, but TB Richard Schwarz fumbled on the first play and Vasher recovered. Fourth Quarter With Ivan Williams relieving Benson and ripping off some good runs, the Horns scored again early in the quarter on Simms' fifth TD pass, a 23-yarder to Thomas. Mangum's kick gave Texas a 45-10 lead with 9:02 left. Massey returned David Pino's kickoff 97 yards for an OSU touchdown to wrap up the scoring at 45-17 with 8:45 left. With Major Applewhite relieving Simms at QB, the Longhorns drove deep into OSU territory on their next possession, but declined to kick a short field goal on a fourth-and-3 and fell a yard short. 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 the Longhorns have changed their offensive philosphy to include more traps and counters, and he said true freshman Cedric Benson has won the starting tailback job for the big game with Colorado Saturday. "We need to use more traps, run more gaps and counter gaps," he said, adding that helps slow down blitzing linebackers and gives running backs a better chance to break for long gains. The Longhorns had great balance Saturday in their 45-17 victory at Oklahoma State, rushing for 241 yards and passing for 238 yards. "This was an important game for us," Brown said. "It was important for our offense in general. It was important to get back on track and it was important to have good balance." The Longhorns are 28-0 under Brown when they outrush their opponents and 4-12 when they get outrushed, so it doesn't take a degree in rocket scientistry to figure out why he wants to keep running the ball well. Brown also said Benson "did really well" in his first start. "He was pretty much mistake free and he got better as the game progressed." "We expect him to be much better this week. He will understand that Colorado is much tougher on defense (than Oklahoma State), so it will be a much tougher test." Brown said Benson, who broke all the Class 5A rushing and scoring records in leading Midland Lee to three straight state titless, "has come a long way on blocking because he wasn't asked to block much in high school. Stepping up and taking on a hard-charging linebacker is a hard thing to do." Brown also has stressed that he wants his backs to make yardage after being hit and he said Benson did a very good job of that, getting 70 of his 131 net rushing yards after contact. He said Benson and the offensive line will have to do a really good job this week to give QB Chris Simms and his receivers a chance to succeed. "We've got to stay balanced on offense," he said. "Colorado has won five games in a row and I watched them in their opener (a 24-22 loss to still unbeaten Fresno State) and I thought Colorado outplayed them and had some awful things happen to them." He said Colorado's offensive line "probably will be better than anyone else we play." "I know Gary's (Colorado coach Gary Barnett) teams are going to line up and be really physical. I think they are back to running the football and being very physical and very sound." INJURY REPORT: There were no new injuries in the OSU game and DE Kalen Thornton (knee) and RB Victor Ike (bruised ribs), who missed that game, remain questionable for Colorado. First Issue of 12th Year Last week's issue concluded my 11th year of publishing True Orange and this is the first issue of my 12th year. I want to thank all of you for helping make this a successful undertaking through all those years, and I'm excited about the future because the Longhorn football team is on the right track again. True Orange Speaking Note Many of you have been asking me why I no longer speak at your Longhorn Club meetings. The answer is very simple. Somebody in the UT Athletics Department has blackballed me. In years past, many of the Longhorn Clubs, and particularly the ones in Houston and San Antonio, invited me to speak to their members fairly frequently. I always enjoyed doing it, and I hope you enjoyed having me. If enough of you feel strongly enough about it, you can reverse that decision to blackball me. If you don't, that's okay, too, because the main purpose of this note is to let all of you know that I was not the one who made the decision to stop speaking at Longhorn Club meetings. Recruiting Roundup The Longhorns haven't added any new recruits since my last newsletter. They still have 15 commitments. * * * * The college coaches have found a big, fast linebacker that all the recruiting gurus, including me, missed. He is Michael Williams, 6-3, 220, 4.6, of Lindale, and attesting to his blue-chip status are scholarship offers from Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Baylor, Minnesota and West Virginia. Williams has such speed and quickness that he plays wide receiver on offense. And, in a year when many of the top players are struggling to qualify academically, he already has passed that hurdle. When I talked to him last week, he told me he already is getting weary of the recruiting process and probably will commit to someone in "the next couple of weeks." He also said he plans to attend the Texas-Colorado game Saturday. The Longhorns have a very good chance to get him. With three starting senior linebackers, the Longhorns need to sign several top prospects in this recruiting class. * * * * There are so many national top 100 recruiting lists available that it's hard to keep up with which players are on which list, but one of the better ones is the Rivals 100 list on the internet. The Longhorns already have commitments from three players on that list - No. 21 WR Marquis Johnson of Champaign, Ill.; No. 80 DE Chase Pittman of Shreveport Evangel and No. 83 OL Neale Tweedie of Allen. Texas also has really good shots at seven other players on the Rivals 100. They are: No. 7. DT Roderique Wright of Alief Hastings, No. 11 QB Vincent Young of Houston Madison, No. 16 OL Justin Blalock of Plano East, No. 32 WR Robert Timmons of Flower Mound Marcus, No. 37 DE Larry Dibbles of Lancaster, No. 48 LB Aaron Harris of North Mesquite and No. 71 DT Marco Martin of Mesquite. The Horns also are being mentioned favorably by seven other players on the list, including No. 2 RB Lorenzo Booker of Ventura, Cal., St. Bonaven-ture, No. 29 DE Bryan Pickryl of Jenks, Okla., No. 46 DE Zack Latimer of Aurora, Colo., No. 49 DE Travis Leitko of The Woodlands, No. 59 TE Eric Winston of Midland Lee, No. 75 Ath Edorian McCullough of North Garland, and No. 87 RB Selvin Young of Jersey Village, and could wind up with one of two of them. * * * * Young lists Texas and Miami as his top two schools right now, but he is pretty wide open. If he isn't the top QB prospect in the country, he's very close to the top. He has led Madison to a 6-0 season so far and, in a big district showdown with powerful Houston Lamar Friday night, he had 10 carries for 181 yards, including touchdown runs of 1 and 91 yards, and he completed 6 of 13 passes, including an 81-yard touchdown toss, to lead Madison to a 50-38 victory. For the season, he has completed 47 of 83 passes (57%) for 846 yards and 10 touchdowns, with just 3 interceptions, and he has rushed 37 times for 496 yards and 10 more TDs. That's a 13.4 average per carry, by the way. He is a quarterback who could run Rice's option or Texas' passing attack. If you could build the perfect QB, put another 25 pounds on his 6-5, 200-pound frame without hurting his sub-4.5 speed and you would have a perfect 10. Put him at a good training table and the 25 pounds of added muscle won't be a problem. He's one of the real jewels in this recruiting class and the Horns have as good a shot as anybody and a better shot than most.
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