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tEXas tailgatES talk
I hope everyone has a great holiday coming up. With the exception of the NCAA Tournament, this is my favorite time of the year. Bowl season. I will watch them all. Every single one of them. That New Orleans Bowl, wow. North Texas, at 5-6, makes a bowl? You must be kidding, right? Colorado State put the wood to the Mean Green, and I watched the whole thing. The good news for the participants in the New Orleans Bowl? You went to a bowl game. The bad news? Now you have to go back and take your finals. The BCS I'm not sure how in the world Nebraska ended up in the Rose Bowl. If I am an Oregon fan, I am livid. The Ducks finished the year 10-1, won the PAC-10 and did everything that was asked of them, and were left out. Nebraska got 62 pinned on them in late November and still got in. Unacceptable. The mantra of college football for years has been if you lose, lose early - unless you're Nebraska. I don't think Colorado should be there, either (2 losses), but at least they won the conference. I figured out a little system within the BCS that might work, and here it is: 1. Only conference champions are eligible for the national title. Nebraska or Florida can still go to a BCS bowl, but only the champs can win it. This year that would be Miami, Oregon, Colorado, Illinois and Maryland. You can use the BCS to determine the top 2. (This would obviously have to be modified for independent teams like Notre Dame, but that's for smarter people than me) 2. If a case like the Oregon/Colorado situation comes up, where the 2 teams are so close that a clear-cut #2 cannot be determined, have them play 2 weeks from the BCS announcement day, which is around the 16th. Pick a place half way between each school, maybe Vegas for this one, and the BCS can pick up the bill for both teams, their staffs and bands. The revenue made from it being the only televised college game that day would more than make up for the costs. The winner goes to the title game and the loser goes to a pre-determined bowl. The 2-week interval would give the kids time to take their finals, go to award ceremonies (like the Heisman), and still have a solid week of practice in there for the game. It would not affect the preparation for the bowl game, since most teams don't start that until around Christmas. The only down side I see is it's a long, NFL-like year for the kids. Trust me when I say it would have bothered no one in Eugene or Boulder if there was a game last weekend to see who would draw Miami. The Holiday Bowl in San Diego Washington 7:30 pm (Austin Time) ESPN Texas goes back to Cali to exorcise some west coast demons. The 'horns went 0-2 there in 2000, with a bad effort against Stanford and a nail biter v. Oregon. Texas is a heavy favorite in this game for good reason, at least on paper. The Longhorns finished the season ranked #1 in defense, allowing only 236.3 ypg. The Huskies are a passing team, and are 16th nationally with 279.5 ypg. Texas is 12th v. the pass, allowing only 173.7 ypg. They say to beat a team, make them one-dimensional. Washington already is one-dimensional. They are 96th nationally in rushing at 111.7 ypg, which plays right into the hands of the 6th ranked Texas rush defense, which yields only 89.5 ypg. If Ivan Williams played for the Huskies, he would be their 2nd leading rusher (trailing the leader by ~20 yards) and he hasn't seen the field since day light savings. The Texas defense has to be licking their chops for a redemption game after the Big XII Championship, and this one could be just what the doctor ordered, at least on paper. The match-up of the day will be Quentin Jammer vs. Reggie Williams. You all know Jam's story, but if you haven't heard of Reggie Williams, pay attention. The 6'4" 215 lb. freshman is Udub's "Real Deal." He had 973 yards on 55 catches and was the PAC-10's Freshman of the Year. If he gets loose in the secondary, look out. The other side of field will be just as intriguing, with Rod Babers locked up with burner Paul Arnold, who is their main deep threat. Babers is a great cover corner, but will have to bring his A-game to keep up with Arnold. The main problem for Washington this year has been their o-line. They have given up 25 sacks this season, and are only 38% in 3rd down conversions. If the Texas front 7 can bring heat on qb Cody Pickett, the Husky offense could be in trouble. Major Applewhite starts his final college game. The offense will not change in scheme, since neither Texas qb likes to run. Look for some shotgun, though, since Major likes it and Chris doesn't. If Benson goes (check in the news and notes section for more on Ced), Texas will look to exploit the weakness of the Huskies- their run defense. Washington gives up 162 ypg on the ground, which is exactly what Texas averages. They allow 4.2 per carry and a whopping 20 touchdowns on the ground. Senior dt Larry Tripplett is in the Casey Hampton mold, and the All-American is a great run stopper, but the linebacking corps is hasn't played consistent enough to help on run defense. The secondary is young and inexperienced. They have had their moments, but as a whole, good teams can beat them. If the Texas o-line can spark up the running game, Applewhite will pick them apart with his vision. Look for Washington to bring the house at Major, and if the o-line repels the borders, Husky fans will be leaving VERY early. CORRECTION: I gave you the wrong address for Moose McGillycuddy's. Apparently there are 2, and I picked the wrong one. Here it is: Moose McGillycuddy's 535 5th Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 619/702-5595 Here is a link for maps and more info: http://sandiego.citysearch.com/profile/86556 tEXas tailgate We are meeting for lunch and watching the Aggie game at a sports bar on the Trolley route to the stadium. This is not a typical tailgate party. There will not be balloons or ribbons or any fanfare, nor will there be any band or reserved seating or anything. This is simply a gathering place to watch the Aggies and Frogs and eat something before heading over to the game. We will be there from 12:30 on. If you have a party of 8 or more, call for reservations. Trophy's 7510 Hazard Center Drive San Diego, CA 92108 619/296-9600 Trolley Exit: Hazard Center Here is a link to maps and more info: http://sandiego.citysearch.com/profile/86394 Thursday night we will be at Moose McGillycuddy's (info above) The team will arrive at QualComm at 3:30 on the west side of the stadium between gates E and F. Let's get that 11th win! See you all in San Diego. News and Notes: * Don't expect Cedric Benson to play. He is having trouble with his neck after his Big XII Championship stinger. Look Victor Ike and Ivan Williams to get the call. Welcome back, I-Train. * The 2001 Texas Longhorns could be only the 5th Longhorn team ever to win 11 games in a season if they beat Washington. * Texas last finished in the Top 10 in 1983, that will change if they win this game. * Texas has received commitments in the last few days from Marco Martin, super dt out of Div.1 5-A State Champion Mesquite, the #1 dt recruit in all the land Rodrique Wright out of Alief Hastings, the #1 player in the state of Oklahoma, de Bryan Pickryl, and the #1 rb in Texas, Albert Hardy of Galena Park. Texas already has the #1 recruiting class in the country right now, and 1 or 2 more of these guys could make the best class to EVER sign with Texas. * Washington has had an interesting few weeks since the Miami game. 1st, backup tight end Kevin Ware, from Spring, TX by the way, was suspended indefinitely for violating team rules. Attacking police officers is never a good idea, my man. I hope he gets himself straightened out, he's a player. Meanwhile, back up qb Taylor Barton and 2 walk-ons were arrested on the University of the Pacific campus for trespassing after refusing to leave the grounds. I'm sure they had their reasons... So now Washington is left with 2 options at 2nd team qb: Casey Paus, who is redshirting this season and would lose it for even 1 play, or Adam Seery, a converted linebacker who hasn't thrown a pass or lettered in his 3 years at Udub. Now this is a qb controversy. With the way their o-line plays, all 3 might see the field and/or the medical personnel. * Washington had 4 All-Americans this year: dt Larry Tripplett (3rd team), and wr Reggie Williams, kr Charles Frederick (both 1st team Freshman All-America), and punter Derek McLaughlin (2nd team Freshman All-America). * The Huskies beat 3 top 11 teams this season (#11 Michigan, #10 Stanford, #9 Washington State). * Washington gave up more points than the scored this season. They average 28.2 points per game, while giving up 29.4. That tells me you when win you win close, and when you lose, you lose big. Around the Conference: The Bowl Matchups (in the order picked by the Conference): The Rose Bowl- Miami v. Nebraska - Jan. 3rd Will karma catch the Huskers? Yes. If the Hurricanes were in the NFC east, they would have won the division by Thanksgiving. The Fiesta Bowl- Colorado v. Oregon - Jan. 1st The best game of the big 4, CU's running game vs. Mike Belotti's brain. Oregon will have to find away to stop the run, something they haven't had to do all year. The Cotton Bowl- Oklahoma v. Arkansas - Jan. 1st The inverted Longhorn Hand Sign Bowl. The good news is one of these teams HAS to lose. Coach Bob v. The Nutt, yuck. Moving on... The Alamo Bowl- Texas Tech v. Iowa - Dec. 29th This should be a good one. Tech's offense on indoor turf should be too much for the Hawkeyes. Watch out for the goal posts, Hawkeyes... The Insight.com Bowl- Kansas St. v. Syracuse - Dec. 29th Which Wildcat team will show up? It will be easy to tell: K-State wins bowl games in blowouts, and loses the close ones. The MainStay Independence Bowl- Iowa St. v. Alabama - Dec. 27th The line has Alabama by 6 1/2, but I disagree. This is a well coached and veteran Cyclone team. They will give Bama all they can handle. The Galleryfurniture.com Bowl- Texas A&M v. TCU - Dec. 29th Whew. A renewal of a classic rivalry from the old days of the SWC, can TCU... I can't do this. NO ONE CARES. Lose and go away. That's it for now. I will talk to you after the bowl games. HOOK'EM Trey McLean Texas Exes _________________________________________________ 750 bucks and your IN for LIFE! Upgrade to the Life Member Level. Pay it all now or choose the installment plan. http://www.TexasExes.org/join ______________________________________________________ FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO A FRIEND! Texas Tailgate Talk is free service for members of the Texas Exes and graduates of The University of Texas. To subscribe to the Texas Tailgate Talk send this email to texasexeschapters@alumni.utexas.edu with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Be sure and include YOUR FULL NAME in the body of the email. 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