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Horns Get 2 Top Recruits
The Longhorns have 14 commitments after getting pledges from two top 100 national recruits since my last newsletter. As expected, DE Chase Pittman, 6-5, 263, 4.7, of national powerhouse Shreveport Evangel, committed to Texas during ceremonies at his church on Sunday, September 16. The other national top 100 pledge the Horns got recently was from LB Garnet Smith, 6-3, 221, 4.54, of Arlington Lamar, who first committed to Oklahoma Monday, Sept. 17, then switched to Texas two days later and said he is solid for the Longhorns. The Longhorns are close to getting a commitment from Tyler DB Matthew Melton, 5-11, 190, 4.43, who is being highly recruited because he is big enoough to play safety, fast enough to play corner, and, unlike many of the state's other top DBs, is a full qualifier. Tyler is 4-0 this season and is one of the state's top teams. Melton missed one game with a sprained ankle, but he had 21 tackles and one interception in the other two games prior to their game Saturday. "I'm very close to committing to Texas," he said. "I'll probably do it in the next month." Pittman chose Texas over LSU at the end, but he was recruited by top schools from all over the country. He is the brother of Cole Pittman, the sophomore Longhorn DT who was killed in a vehicle accident in February while returning to Texas for spring football practice. I went to Lufkin Friday night to watch Evangel play Lufkin, one of the top teams in Texas. In last week's USA Today rankings, Lufkin, led by QB Reggie McNeal, an A&M pledge, was rated No 4 in the country, and Evangel, led by sophomore QB John David Booty, 6-3, 185, 4.5, and Pittman, was rated No. 20. Evangel defeated Lufkin, 33-17, primarily because of Booty's throwing and a stout defense led by Pittman. But Booty isn't the only stud sophomore on the Evangel team. DE Chris Bowers, 6-2, 230, 4.6, is a budding star on the side opposite Pittman. Lufkin ran away from Pittman's right DE spot all night, but he still had, by my count, a sack, three QB pressures and eight tackles. McNeal is a 10.3 sprinter, but Pittman twice came from the far side to run him out of bounds. He has outstanding speed and quickness and is on many national top 100 teams. Lufkin has an underclassman who will be a big man in recruiting circles next year. He is TE-WR-QB Terrance Parks, 6-4, 220, 4.6. With McNeal struggling early in the game, he moved to QB and brought Lufkin back from a 19-0 deficit. He, not McNeal, was named the Panthers' offensive player of the game. Texas also is trying to sign Jonathan Wade, a 5-11, 170-pound cornerback at Evangel. He has committed to Tennessee, but took an official visit to Texas the weekend of the North Carolina game. He is the top sprinter in Louisiana. With a 1,200-plus SAT, Smith said UT's academic superiority over OU was a big factor. Despite his early commitment to OU, Smith said. "I'm sure now. I am solid on this. I definitely know where I want to go and it is Texas." Smith said, "I want to go where I will be happy, and I feel like I will be happy in Austin. The Texas people have said nothing but nice things to me, even when I was committed to Oklahoma, but the OU people haven't been that nice." He also said he had never realized how much difference there is in the two schools academically until he looked at an academic rating of colleges. "Oklahoma just can't compare to Texas academically," he said. Smith said his head coach and several of his assistant coaches are Oklahoma graduates and have been "pushing me to go to Oklahoma." Smith is the closest thing out there this year to sensational UT freshman LB Derrick Johnson. If Smith's commitment holds up, look for Johnson and Smith to be outstanding outside backers, one on the weakside and one on the strongside, for years to come at UT. Subscribe To The E-Mail/Fax To Get Year-Round Football & Recruiting Scoops ! Save Big As An Internet Subscriber ! Whether you live close to Austin or far away, the True Orange E-Mail/Fax Service is the way to keep up with Longhorn football and Longhorn recruiting - instantly. It has about 110 to 120 timely e-mail/faxes a year, primarily about football and football recruiting. To subscribe, send 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-Mail, just include the right numbers. o I'm enclosing $99 for the 99-fax package for the next year o I'm enclosing $130 (an $11 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 via the Internet and to subscribe to the 99 faxes by E-Mail (a $42 saving) Name Fax No. (or E-Mail or mailing address) Game Quotes . . "We had some unfortunate things happen to us right at the end of the first half, and then we had the good drive to start the second half and fumbled inside the Texas' 25 when we had a chance to retake the lead. We had our chances, but we weren't able to execute." - Houston head coach Dana Dimel * * * * "Gosh, we really missed a lot of tackles. We just didn't play well at all on defense. I may have them out there practicing tomorrow (Sunday). That's how concerned I am. We have to tackle better than that to do the things we want to do this year." - Texas defensive coordinator Carl Reese * * * * "Houston played some good football early in the game, but we just had to keep fighting. On the long one, I just faked in and cut outside and I was wide open and Chris (Simms) dropped it right in there." - UT WR B. J. Johnson, who had a 92-yard TD reception and 124 yards on four catches * * * * "I got some great blocking and I just tried to run hard on every carry. It felt great to go over 100 yards. I felt like we were able to pound on them and wear them down in the second half. We also were able to get a lot of balance on offense." - Longhorn RB Ivan Williams, who became the first UT back to gain 100 yards rushing this year with 19 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown * * * * "Those 10 points in the last eight seconds of the first half really gave us a lift. I love to play smash-mouth football with a big back and that's whaqt we had tonight with Ivan (Williams)." - Texas' senior OT Mike Williams * * * * "We had to fight through a lot of adversity in the first half, but we took the lead and the momentum back when we scored twice at the end of the first half. I think this was the best offensive game we've had this year." - UT QB Chris Simms, who passed for 311 yards and three touchdowns * * * * "Their receivers made some phenomenal catches and they all have some great moves to go with their speed. We busted some coverages, and you can't do that and survive against receivers like Texas has." - Houston CB Jason Parker * * * * "That was a crucial mistake on my part. I was trying to get through the pile and get the first down and somebody's helmet hit the ball and it popped out. We hit some big plays on their defense, but they came up with a big hit on that one." - Cougar QB Kelly Robertson, talking about losing the ball on a fourth-down plunge inside the Texas' 30 on Houston's last chance to take the lead again Texas-Houston Statistics Scoring Summary Texas 10 10 13 20 - 53 Houston 7 7 0 12 - 26 UT - Mangum 41 FG 9:52 1Q (14 plays, 56 yds) UT - Johnson 92 pass from Simms (Mangum kick) 7:47 1Q (1 play, 92 yds) UH - Reynolds 38 pass from Robertson (Patterson kick) 6:06 1Q (5 plays, 60 yds) UH - Thompson 3 pass from Robertson (Patterson kick) 1:19 2Q (12 plays, 47 yds) UT - Jeffery 17 pass from Simms (Mangum kick) 0:08 2Q (8 plays, 60 yds) UT - Mangum 47 FG 0:00 2Q (1 play, 0 yds) UT - Williams 1 run (run failed) 8:50 3Q (7 plays, 73 yds) UT - Williams 1 run (Mangum kick) 1:59 3Q (7 plays, 44 yds) UT - Edwards 1 pass from Simms (Mangum kick) 14:55 4Q (4 plays, 25 yds) UH - Middleton 80 pass from Robertson (kick failed) 9:53 4Q (3 plays, 80 yds) UT - Scaife 3 pass from Applewhite (Mangum kick) 5:21 4Q (3 plays, 14 yds) UH - Reynolds 2 run (pass failed) 3:56 4Q (4 plays 75 yds) UT - Benson 2 run (kick failed) 0:43 4Q (5 plays, 43 yds) Official Attendance: 31,784 Team Statistics Texas Houston First Downs 27 17 Rushing 11 5 Passing 14 11 Penalty 2 1 Rushing Attempts, Net Yards 39-193 30-68 Net Yards Passing 341 364 Passes Comp., Att., Int. 22-37-1 20-33-1 Total Plays, Offense 76-534 63-432 Avg. Gain per Play 7.0 6.9 Fumbles Lost 1 of 3 2 of 2 Penalties, Yards 6-58 9-84 Punts, Avg. 2-30.5 3-36.3 Time of Possession 32:06 27:54 Third-Down Conversions 9 of 13 4 of 12 Fourth-Down Conversions 0 of 0 1 of 3 Sacks by Team, Yds Lost 3-22 2-9 Individual Statistics Texas Rushing - Williams 19-103, 2 TDs; Benson 14-74, 1 TD; Jeffery 1-17; Ike 1-2; Robin 1-0; Simms 3-minus 3. Passing - Simms 20-35, 311 yds, 3 TD, 1 Int.; Applewhite 2-2, 30 yds, 1 TD, 0 Int. Receiving - B. J. Johnson 4-124, 1 TD; R. Williams 4-49; Scaife 5-59, 1 TD; Robin 2-38; Jeffery 2-37, 1 TD; Thomas 1-15; Edwards 1-1, 1 TD. Houston Rushing - Reynolds 15-62, 1 TD; Bell 2-15; Ross 1-6; K. Robertson 6-9; Penn 5-6; C. Robertson 1-3. Passing - K. Robertson 20-33, 364 yds, 3 TD, 1 Int Receiving - Middleton 3-117, 1 TD; Reynolds 3-49, 1 TD; B. Robertson 2-43; G. Thompson 2-27, 1 TD; Penn 2-17; Ross 1-7; Bell 1-4. Tackles by Texas Players, Unasst., Asst., Total Brooks 6-5-11; Jammer 4-3-7; D. Johnson 4-2-6; Redding 2-4-6; T. Jones 3-2-5; Thornton 3-2-5; Babers 3-1-4; Tubbs 0-4-4; Trahan 2-1-3; Lewis 1-2-3; Rawls 0-3-3; Lee 1-1-2; Vasher 0-2-2; Boyd 1-0-1; J. Anderson 1-0-1; Stigall 1-0-1; Collier 1-0-1; Hunt 0-1-1; Gordon 0-1-1; Pearson 0-1-1; Doane 0-1-1; Ungar 0-1-1; Hedgecock 0-1-1; Ike 0-1-1; S. Thomas 0-1-1; Doiron 0-1-1; Wilkins 0-1-1. Tackles for Losses: T. Jones 2-minus 2; D. Johnson 1-minus 5; Redding 1-minus 3; Wilkins 1-minus 1. Sacks: Thornton 2-minus 14; Lee 1-minus 8. Scouting Texas Tech The Longhorns open Big 12 play Saturday at 6 p.m. in Austin against a dangerous Texas Tech team that is 2-0 after opening with a 42-30 triumph over News Mexico and then hammering North Texas, 42-14, Saturday. QB Kliff Kingsbury is the Big 12's leading passer with 65 completions in 95 attemps (68.4%) for 650 yards, an average of 325 per game. He has thrown 5 TD passes with two interceptions. UT QB Chris Simms has completed 54 of 103 passes (52.4%) for 660 yards, an average of 220 a game. He has had five touchdown passes and allowed one interception. The Raiders also have a better running game than they did last year, with TB Ricky Williams averaging 4.5 yards a carry and 74.5 yards per game. Williams also is Kingsbury's favorite target, leading the Big 12 with an average of 10 receptions and 95 yards per game receiving. Texas coach Mack Brown said the Longhorn defense has to put pressure on Kingsbury and has to tackle better than it did against Houston. At 5-8 and 195 pounds and with blazing speed and outstanding moves, Williams has proven he is a difficult man to corral. How the UT defense copes with his dual threat will be a major key in determing who wins the game. Kingsbury's other favorite target is speedy redshirt freshman Nehemia Glover, who is averaging 5.5 catches for 63.5 yards per game. Tech head coach Mike Leach loves the short passing game. He was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma in 1999 before taking the Tech job, so the Longhorns' next two opponents run very similar offenses. How the Longhorns defend against Tech will provide an advance hint about how they will do against the Sooners. To win, the Longhorns must: 1. Tackle much better than against Houston. 2. Defend against misdirection much better than they have all season. 3. Win or get a push in the turnover battle. 4. Be able to run and pass effectively. The Raiders have only four returning starters on defense, but one of them is strong safety Kevin Curtis, one of the Big 12's top players. Here's how the teams compare statistically (national rank in parenthesis): Texas Texas Tech Offense (33) 174.3 Rushing Avg. (101) 91.5 (39) 245.4 Passing Avg. 7) 325 (53) 419.7 Total Off. Avg. (27) 416.5 (8) 46 Scoring Avg (10) 42 Defense (39) 110.7 Rushing Avg. (87) 185 (37) 181 Passing Avg. (9) 123.5 (33) 291.7 Total Def. Avg. (45) 308.5 (31) 15.7 Opp. Scoring Avg (64) 22
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