Message-ID: <20246205.1075857328684.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 04:33:00 -0700 (PDT) From: truorange@aol.com To: truorange@aol.com Subject: No Subject Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ANSI_X3.4-1968 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-From: TruOrange@aol.com X-To: TruOrange@aol.com X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \Clint_Dean_Dec2000\Notes Folders\All documents X-Origin: Dean-C X-FileName: cdean.nsf Part 2 Scouting Oklahoma State The Longhorns open defense of their Big 12 South championship Saturday at 1= 1 a.m. against Oklahoma State in a game that will be televised by ABC. The Cowboys opened their season with a 36-26 win over Tulsa, then blanked Southwest Texas, 23-0, before suffering their first loss at the hands of nationally ranked Southern Mississipp, 28-6, Saturday. The Cowboys have one of the most balanced offenses in college football, averaging 191 yards rushing and 178 passing. The Longhorns, on the other hand, have lived and died by the pass this season. However, they ran the ball better last week and hope to be able to test the Cowboy's defense, which is No. 1 nationally against the run. QB Tony Lindsay has always played well against Texas, but he has had injury problems throughout his career and he was knocked out of the loss to Southe= rn Mississippi with a shoulder injury in the third quarter. RB Reggie White, a 230-pounder with good speed, has been the go-to guy on t= he ground for the Cowboys. White could pose a problem for the Longhorns because their normally stout middle defense has been weakened by injuries to DTs Shawn Rogers (knee), Stevie Lee (foot) and Ryan Haywood (shoulder). It is doubtful that Rogers, an All-Big 12 selection, will be able to play Saturday. Redshirt freshman Marcus Tubbs played well against Houston after Rogers was hurt, but depth will be a problem unless Lee can return. He and Tubbs were the second-team tackles. Defensively, the Cowboys are led by an outstanding front four, headed by en= ds Zac Warner and Juqua Thomas, who had 13 sacks each last year to lead the te= am. The Cowboys are inexperienced in the secondary, but it won't matter if Warn= er and Thomas can get to the UT quarterbacks before they throw. The Horns should win this one, but it could be close. Here's how the teams compare statistically (national rank in parenthesis): =01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01= )=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)= =01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01)=01) Texas Oklahoma State Offense (106) 65.3 Rushing Avg. (21) 191 (5) 328.7 Passing Avg. (30) 178 (39) 394 Total Off. Avg. (57) 369 (8) 41.3 Scoring Av= g (75) 21.7 Defense (4) 47 Rushing Avg. (1) 30.3 (67) 207.7 Passing Avg. (92) 245 (12) 254.7 Total Def. Avg. (20) 275.3 (13) 12.3 Opp. Scori= ng Avg (38) 18 (52) 35.5 Net Punting (91) 31.6 Big 12 Roundup Texas Tech visits Texas A&M and Kansas State travels to Colorado in the headliners of the Big 12 Conference's first week of league play. Tech and A&M are two of the contenders for the Big 12 South crown, and thei= r early showdown will help determine the pecking order. Colorado is winless, but the Buffaloes have lost by narrow margins to three very good teams and they are always tough in Boulder, so K-State probably will have all it can handle after playing four patsies in a row to open the season. BIG 12 STANDINGS SOUTHERN DIVISION Conference Season W L PF PA Pct. W L PF PA Pct. Texas Tech 0 0 000 000 .000 4 0 101 26 1.000 Oklahoma 0 0 000 000 .000 3 0 142 35 1.000 Texas 0 0 000 000 .000 2 1 124 37 .667 Texas A&M 0 0 000 000 .000 2 1 106 44 .667 Baylor 0 0 000 000 .000 2 1 57 54 .667 Oklahoma State 0 0 000 000 .000 2 1 65 54 .6= 67 NORTHERN DIVISION Conference Season W L PF PA Pct. W L PF PA Pct. Kansas State 0 0 000 000 .000 4 0 212 27 1.000 Nebraska 0 0 000 000 .000 3 0 118 50 1.00= 0 Iowa State 0 0 000 000 .000 3 0 86 51 1.000 Kansas 0 0 000 000 .000 2 1 82 51 .667 Missouri 0 0 000 000 .000 1 2 69 95 .3= 33 Colorado 0 0 000 000 .000 0 3 52 62 .0= 00 Last Week's Results Texas 48, Houston 0 Oklahoma 42, Rice 14 Baylor 28, South Florida 13 Southern Mississippi 28, Oklahoma State 6 Kansas State 55, North Texas 10 Nebraska 42, Iowa 13 Kansas 42, Southern Illinois 0 This Week's Games Oklahoma State at Texas, 11 a.m. (ABC) Texas Tech at Texas A&M, 11:30 a.m. (FOX Synd) Kansas at Oklahoma, 2 p.m. Kansas State at Colorado, 2:30 p.m. (ABC) Iowa State at Baylor, 6 p.m. Missouri at Nebraska, 6 p.m. (FOX Sports Net) 2000 Longhorn Schedule, Record (2-1) Texas Opp. Sept. 9 Louisiana-Lafayette 52 10 Sept 16 at Stanford 24 27 Sept 23 Houston 48 0 Sept 18 Rice Sept 30 Oklahoma State Oct. 7 Oklahoma (Dallas) Oct. 14 at Colorado Oct. 21 Missouri Oct. 28 Baylor Nov. 4 at Texas Tech Nov. 11 at Kansas Nov. 24 Texas A&M Scoring by Quarters Texas 9 48 31 36 - 124 Opponents 16 7 7 7 - 37 Recruiting Roundup Texas has 16 commitments now after getting a pledge last week from Tyler CB Aaron Ross, 6-1, 182, 4.42. Ross, an outstanding man-for-man defender, said he had scholarship offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and others, but sa= id he committed to Texas "because I've always been a Longhorn fan, and I reall= y like the Texas coaches." He said Darryl Drake and Everett Withers were the two Texas coaches who recruited him, and he said Withers, the Texas secondary coach, came to see him play in his second game this season. He is a big, fast corner with long arms, but don't look for him to get many picks this year because he doesn't get many passes thrown his way because h= e is so good at tight man-for-man coverage. I went to Waco Friday night to see the Lions play Tyler Lee. Waco LB Derric= k Johnson scored one touchdown on an 11-yard interception return and just generally wreaked havoc on Lee's efforts to make a game of it. Waco won, 34-9, and Johnson is as good a linebacker as I have seen in Texas recently. He is 6-3 or 6-4, weighs around 205 and he can really run. He has the frame to carry 230 pounds without losing any speed. He says Texas is his No. 1 choice, but he also says he probably will take a= ll five official visits before making a decision. Other schools in contention are A&M, FSU, Oklahoma and UCLA, but he says, "I'd like to play pretty close to home so my friends and family could see m= e play." His teammate, DT Sharod McGowan, is listed in the program as being 6-2 and 260. He doesn't look that heavy, but he is a dominating player, too, on occasion. McGowan is very quick and might be better suited to playing DE at the colle= ge level.He doesn't play with the same intensity as Johnson, but he can domina= te a game when he plays all out. FB James Buchanon of Sarasota, Fla., and DL Kaelen Jakes of Valencia HS in Placentia, Cal., both took their official visits to Texas last weekend, and their families said both had great times. Buchanon was heading home Sunday night, but Jakes wasn't going back to California until Monday morning. Neither had committed as of Sunday night. DE Eric Hall of Clarksville, Tenn., is the only other recruit who has taken an official visit to Texas so far this year. Other recruits who attended Saturday's game were OL William Winston of Houston Madison, safeties Dewayne Brandon of Temple and Rufus Harris of La Porte, and two top recruits who have already committed to Texas =01) super = OL Jonathan Scott of Dallas Carter and DB/WR Brian Carter of The Woodlands. Th= ey were on unofficial visits. Winston, who dominated Aldine's fine DE Lawrence Hooper when their two team= s met earlier this season, said, "He told me last year I was the best offensi= ve lineman he faced all year, and I wanted to be sure he didn't change his min= d." Winston said he enjoyed the game and getting to meet the Texas players and coaches. "They have a classy operation with classy people," he said, adding that UT, A&M, UCLA, Tennessee and LSU are his top five schools right now. Here's a list of the Horns' 16 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 Running Back (2) Cedric Benson, 5-11, 200, 4.5, Midland Lee Anthony Johnson, 5-11, 195, 4.4, Jefferson 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 * * * * RECRUITING NOTES: QB Matt Nordgren of Dallas Bishop Lynch is not blessed wi= th great receivers this year, but his team is 4-0 and it defeated defending private school state champion Houston St. Pius, 22-12 Saturday night, with Nordgren running 14 yards for one TD and hitting a 13-yard pass for another= . He completed six of nine passes for 70 yards and ran four times for 21 yard= s. He says he will visit LSU and Kentucky the next two weekends, and probably will be ready to commit to Texas by Oct. 15. . . Brent Rawls of Shreveport Evangel, the other top QB Texas is pursuing, had an awesome game Thursday i= n a battle between Louisiana powers Evangel and and Shreveport Byrd. Rawls completed 22 of 37 passes for 477 yards and three TDs and ran for 42 yards and two more scores to lead Evangel to a 49-45 comeback victory. He visited Purdue last weekend and will visit Florida State the Oct. 14 weekend. He al= so is considering LSU . . Midland Lee, which had won back-to-back state titles in Texas, picked the wrong year to tangle with Louisiana powerhouse West Monroe. Lee hung with West Monroe for a half before falling, 36-8. Benson, who is running behind all all new offensive line (he is one of only two starters back on offense), scored Lee's only TD when he broke loose for 78 yards on his third carry. He wound up with 151 yards on 23 carries and also caught a 17-yard pass to account for most of the Rebels' yardage. Softball Team Gets Big Pledge Cat Osterman, a super 6-1 left-handed pitcher from Houston Cypress Springs, has committed to play for the Longhorn women's softball team. She said she will sign with Texas during the early signing period that begi= ns in November. In adding to pitching for her high school, she was the ace pitcher last summer for the Katy Cruisers team that won the national title for the ASA 18-and-under Gold Division, which was the top national group. At the ASA National Tournament in St. Louis, she struck out 106 in 53 innin= gs and pitched one perfect game and one no-hitter while going 7-1 against the top high school seniors and college freshmen in the country. Osterman pitched against the U. S. Olympic team last summer while playing f= or the Katy Cruisers and struck out 11 of the 16 batters she faced while allowing just one hit in five innings. The Cruisers were the only team to take the Olympic team to extra innings, losing 1-0 in eight innings. The only other pitchers who struck out more Olympians were professional tea= m pitchers who went seven full innings, and none of them struck out more than 12. Carol Adcock, Osterman's coach at Cypress Springs, said, "She could have go= ne anywhere she wanted. Every top softball program in the nation wanted her." Adcock said Osterman compares favorably with former Longhorn All-American a= nd current Olympian Christa Williams at a comparable stage in their careers. "Cat doesn't throw quite as hard as Christa did in high school," Adcock sai= d, "but she has more movement on her pitches. She is as dominating as any high school pitcher I have seen." Osterman had a 16-4 record last season at Cy Springs. She gave up only one earned run during the season and had an ERA that looks like a misprint at 0.08. Adcock said she struck out 377 in 169 innings last season, averaging 15.6 strikeouts per 7-inning game. Adcock said, "Her best pitch is a rise ball. It's great, but she also has a very good drop ball and a great curve." UT softball coach Connie Clark can't comment on recruits until they sign, b= ut Osterman is clearly the kind of dominating pitcher she has been looking for since Williams skipped her senior season to play on the Olympic team. Osterman's final five schools were Texas, Stanford, Washington, Oklahoma an= d UCLA. She also is an outstanding student who ranks in the top 10% in her class. S= he is dedicated, too. She was pitching to her dad in the family driveway when = I called her Sunday at 6:30 p.m. to confirm her commitment. Top Pitcher Commits to UT Luis Cortez, 5-11, 180, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher with outstandi= ng control, has announced he will sign a baseball scholarship with the Longhor= ns. Cortez had a 0.82 ERA at Sinton last year and he played with a top AAU team= , the Ohio Thunder, this summer and went 4-0 with one save and a 0.91 ERA. He was the youngest player on the Ohio Thunder and was one of only three players on the team with remaining high school eligibility. His best pitches are a slider and a fast ball that has been clocked as high as 92 miles per hour, but is consistent in the 88-89 mph area. He also has = a good curve and a changeup. He averaged two strikeouts per inning at Sinton last season. Cortez also is an outstanding student. He makes straight A's and is fifth i= n his class. If You Know A Longhorn Who Is Hard to Shop For, Have I Got A Deal For You Because A True Orange Subscription Is The Gift You Just Keep on Giving Year After Year 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 October 2 The next issue will be mailed on October 2 and will report on the Big 12 opener with Oklahoma State and preview the big Red River Shootout with the Oklahoma Sooners I'll also have a lot of recruiting news, including my updated Elite 80 and Fabulous 40 lists, plus reports on the men's and women's basketball teams a= nd the baseball team. I want to subscribe. I am enclosing $45 for the next year, which will inclu= de=20 26 issues. A two-year subscription is $85. For a one-year subscription via E-Mail, send $35. 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