Message-ID: <22313657.1075862553809.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 08:54:55 -0800 (PST) From: clint.dean@enron.com To: dgagliardi@reliantenergy.com, craig.dean@ey.com Subject: FW: True Orange, November 26, 2001, Part 2 of 4 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: Dean, Clint X-To: David Gagliardi (E-mail) , Craig Dean (E-mail) X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \CDEAN (Non-Privileged)\Dean, Clint\Deleted Items X-Origin: Dean-C X-FileName: CDEAN (Non-Privileged).pst -----Original Message----- From: TruOrange@aol.com@ENRON Sent: Monday, November 26, 2001 10:31 AM To: TruOrange@aol.com Subject: True Orange, November 26, 2001, Part 2 of 4 Part 2 Game Quotes . . "We actually had an Aggie block. We'd worked on it all week, but it wasn't working, so we went back to our regular block ande I just had to beat the guy in front of me. When I saw it was a linebacker, I knew he was in trouble. Linebackers aren't quick enough to block me. If I can't get by a big old guy like that, I don't deserve my scholarship." - Longhorn cornerback Rod Babers, who blocked the punt that resulted in UT's first-quarter touchdown * * * * "We were both on the right side (he and Babers) and they weren't zone blocking like we do. They were in man-for-man, and all we had to do was beat the guy in front of us. That's my first touchdown as a special teams player." - Texas wide receiver Tony Jeffery, who scooped up the ball Babers blocked and ran it in for the game's first touchdown * * * * "We did a good job against the run. I thought Maurice Gordon probably played as good as he's every played for us. Their center (All-Big 12 Seth McKinney) is a good ball player and at times he couldn't block him. I thought all our guys played pretty well today. This was a good old-fashioned football game, with both teams playing good defense, and a break or two deciding the outcome." - UT defensive coordinator Carl Reese * * * * "We felt like if we would just hang in there and hang in there, we'd eventually get the running game going, and Cedric (Benson) and the offensive line did a great job in the fourth quarter. With Cedric, you don't have to abandon the running game because you know he'll break loose sooner or later. We didn't want to take too many chances and give them a short field because we knew they would have a hard time making a long drive with our defense playing so well." - Texas defensive coordinator Greg Davis * * * * "It never got easier, but it did get better. I think our linemen finally wore them down and I started getting a little more room. It would have been nice to get 1,000 yards, but winning the game is the main thing, and we did that." - Texas running back Cedric Benson * * * * "Give the Longhorns some credit. Their defense is really good. It ranks with any we have seen this year." - A&M quarterback Mark Farris * * * * "The game was up for grabs in the fourth quarter. They just made some plays. It was 7-7 and they did what they had to do in the fourth quarter to go up, 14-7. They have some great offensive weapons, and we held them in check for most of the game." - A&M head coach R. C. Slocum Texas-Texas A&M Statistics Scoring Summary Texas 7 0 0 14 - 21 Texas A&M 0 0 7 0 - 7 UT - Jeffery 23 blocked kick (Mangum kick) 7:441Q A&M - Joseph 4 run (Scates kick) 10:45 3Q (5 plays, 27 yds) UT - Benson 5 run (Mangum kick) 7:22 4Q (6 plays, 35 yds) UT - Benson 11 run (Mangum kick) 1:15 4Q (2 plays, 12 yds) Official Attendance: 87,555 Team Statistics Texas Texas A&M First Downs 14 10 Rushing 6 3 Passing 7 6 Penalty 1 1 Rusheas, Net Yards 35-97 31-48 Net Yards Passing 138 117 Passes Comp., Att., Int. 16-33-0 17-38-2 Total Plays, Offense 68-235 69-165 Avg. Gain per Play 3.5 2.2 Fumbles Lost 0 of 1 0 of 2 Penalties, Yards 6-49 6-45 Punts, Avg. 11-31 10-29.3 Time of Possession 28:51 31:09 Third-Down Conversions 4 of 17 4 of 18 Fourth-Down Conversions 1 of 1 1 of 2 Sacks by Team, Yds Lost 4-21 2-9 Individual Statistics Texas Rushing - Benson 27-79, 2 TD; Simms 7-10; Robin 1-8. Passing - Simms 16-33, 138 yds, 0 TD, 0 Int. Receiving - R. Williams 8-56; Scaife 3-40; Robin 2-18; Thomas 2-16; B. J. Johnson 1-8. Texas A&M Rushing - Joseph 23-71, 1 TD; Weber 2-2; Flemming 1-minus 3; Farris 5-minus 22. Passing -Farris 16-37, 123 yds, 0 TD, 2 Int.; Porter 1-1, minus 6 yds, 0TD, 0 Int. Receiving - M. Jones 2-29; Porter 3-26; Murphey 4-23; T. Thomas 2-16; Weber 2-15; Joseph 2-12; Goynes 1-2; Farris 1-minus 6. Tackles by Texas Players, Unasst., Asst., Total Rawls 3-4-7; Pearson 2-5-7; Brooks 0-7-7; Gordon 3-3-6; Thornton 3-3-6; Lewis 2-4-6; T. Jones 2-3-5; Redding 2-3-5; Babers 3-1-4; Trahan 3-1-4; D. Johnson 2-2-4; Ungar 2-1-3; Jammer 0-3-3; Tubbs 1-1-2; Hill 1-1-2; Vasher 0-2-2; Boyd 0-2-2; Robin 0-1-1; Doiron 0-1-1- J. Anderson 0-1-1. Tackles for Losses: D. Johnson 2-minus 8; Thornton 2-minus 7; Redding 1-minus 5; T. Jones 1-minus 5; Gordon 2-minus 4; Pearson 2-minus 2; J. Anderson 1-minus 2; Babers 1-minus 1. Sacks: Tubbs 1-minus 7; Gordon 1-minus 7; Redding 1-minus 4; Redding 1-minus 3. Key Statistics Texas A&M started three drives in Texas territory and the Aggies scored their touchdown on a 27-yard drive on one of them, but missed a field goal and punted on the other two possessions. Texas started two drives in Aggie territory, both in the fourth quarter, and scored touchdowns on both drives. Scouting Colorado Texas and Colorado meet for the second time Saturday at 7 p.m. in Irving's Texas Stadium in the Big 12 Conference Championship Game. It will be televised nationally by ABC and it should be a good one. Texas is an 8-point favorite. The Longhorns mauled the Buffaloes, 41-7, on Oct. 20 in Austin, but that Colorado team bore little resemblance to the one that hung a 62-36 lashing on No. 1-ranked Nebraska Saturday. For starters, Bobby Pesavento, who passed for 202 yards against Nebraska, got his first start against Texas and he looked like a first-time starter. He was a poised, confident sharpshooter Saturday against Nebraska, the perfect complement for the Buffs' power running game that produced 380 yards and eight rushing touchdowns against the proud Blackshirt defense of Nebraska. Sophomore Chris Brown scored a school record six rushing touchdowns while rushing for 198 yards. He had 26 yards against Texas in October. Colorado is 9-2. It's only losses were 24-22 in the season opener with Fresno State and the one at Texas. The nine victories were 41-14 over Colorado State, 51-15 over San Jose State, 27-16 over Kansas, 16-6 over Kansas State, 31-21 over Texas A&M, 22-19 over giant-killer Oklahoma State, 38-24 over Missouri, 40-27 over Iowa State and, of course, the big one over Nebraska. Texas won the first game against Colorado by using four first-half turnovers to take a 24-7 lead and force the Buffaloes the abandon their running game and try to play catchup. In that game, Colorado had 244 yards offensively in the first half, but was stymied by a fumble at the UT 4 on first-and goal, a fumble at the CU 21 that set up a Texas field goal, and another fumble at the Buff 35 that set up another UT touchdown. Unless history repeats and the Horns force more early turnovers, this game will be a terrific challenge for Texas. I think there are three keys to a UT victory: 1. Win the turnover battle again. 2. Keep balance between running and passing, but challenge the Buffs suspect pass defense frequently. 3. Slow down Colorado's power running game, which ranks No. 9 nationally at 229 yards a game. Here's how the teams compare statistically (national rank in parenthesis): Texas Colorado Offense (45) 168.7 Rushing Avg. (9) 229.0 (47) 239.4 Passing Avg. (62) 214.5 (38) 408.1 Total Off. Avg. (15) 443.5 (4) 39.4 Scoring Avg (26) 32.5 Defense (3) 77.4 Rushing Avg. (40) 132.1 (4) 149.9 Passing Avg. (57) 215.7 (2) 227.3 Total Def. Avg. (39) 347.8 (2) 11.4 Opp. Scoring Avg (35) 22.1 Big 12 Roundup Two huge upsets last week played topsy turvey with the Big 12 standings, giving Texas the undisputed Southern Division title and pulling Colorado into a tie with Nebraska in the Northern Division. Since Colorado beat Nebraska in their head-to-head matchup, the Buffs will play the Longhorns Saturday in Irving's Texas Stadium for the league title. SOUTHERN DIVISION STANDINGS Conference Season W L PF PA Pct. W L PF PA Pct. Texas 7 1 295 78 .875 10 1 433 125 .909 Oklahoma 6 2 207 126 .750 10 2 387 166 .833 Texas Tech 4 4 244 215 .500 7 4 386 262 .636 Texas A&M 4 4 130 157 .500 7 4 220 204 .636 Okla. State 2 6 179 241 .250 4 7 226 297 .364 Baylor 0 8 109 329 .000 3 8 205 357 .277 NORTHERN DIVISION STANDINGS Conference Season W L PF PA Pct. W L PF PA Pct. Colorado 7 1 243 190 .875 9 2 357 243 .818 Nebraska 7 1 311 155 .875 11 1 449 189 .917 Iowa State 4 4 203 189 .500 7 4 296 231 .636 Kansas State 3 5 213 166 .375 6 5 327 179 .545 Missouri 3 5 180 249 .375 4 6 233 275 .400 Kansas 1 7 114 333 .125 3 8 182 398 .277 Last Week's Results Texas 21, Texas A&M 7 Oklahoma State 16, Oklahoma 13 Colorado 62, Nebraska 36 Texas Tech 58, Stephen F. Austin 3 Baylor 56, Southern Illinois 12 Kansas State 24, Missouri 3 Iowa State 17, Iowa 14 Kansas 27, Wyoming 14 Saturday's Games Texas vs. Colorado, Texas Stadium, 7 p.m. (ABC-TV) Missouri at Michigan State, 11 a.m. 2001 Longhorn Schedule, Record (10-1) Texas Opp. Sept. 1 New Mexico State 41 7 Sept. 8 North Carolina 44 14 Sept 22 at Houston 53 26 Sept 29 Texas Tech 42 7 Oct. 6 Oklahoma (Dallas) 3 14 Oct. 13 at Oklahoma State 45 17 Oct. 20 Colorado 41 7 Oct. 27 at Missouri 35 16 Nov. 3 at Baylor 49 10 Nov. 10 Kansas 59 0 Nov. 23 at Texas A&M 21 7 Dec 1 Colorado (Irving) Scoring by Quarters Texas 101 130 89 129 - 433 Opponents 24 55 14 32 - 125 Last Meeting Highlights When Texas beat Colorado, 41-7, on October 20 in Austin, QB Chris Simms completed17 of 28 passes for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns, and freshman RB Cedric Benson had 23 carries for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Longhorn defense gave up 244 yards in the first half, but forced four game-turning turnovers. Coach's Corner Coach Mack Brown has told his team and Longhorn fans all season that good things happen to teams who keep winning. After a mid-season loss to Oklahoma, the Longhorns have reeled off six straight wins, and Oklahoma State's stunning upset of Oklahoma Saturday gave Texas the Big 12 Southern Division title. "Obviously," he said, "we are excited about it because it proves to our guys that when people questioned whether their season was over after the Oklahoma game, that it wasn't." "They realized that what they needed to do was take care of their business and there might be some good things that happen at the end." "Our team could've taken the Missouri game or the Baylor game for granted, but they didn't. They took care of their business every week. They didn't worry about the BCS and now they've got themselves in position for a championship game for the second time in three years." "We are really, really excited. I am proud of our team and of the way they played at College Station. What an awful thing it would have been if we had not taken care of business (Friday) in College Station and this would have happened (OU's loss Saturday)." "So, give credit to our team for being mature, playing hard and putting themselves in position to have a rematch with Colorado." He also said the Longhorns' 41-7 victory over Colorado in Austin back on October 20 means little because "this isn't the same Colorado team we played at mid-season." "Any team that can get 62 points against Nebraska gets your attention," he said. " I think it is obvious that Colorado is a great football team. They are running the ball as good as anybody in the country right now." "What a great challenge it will be for our defense, which has played as good as any defense in the country," he said. "That will be a great matchup." Brown said the Longhorn offense had a tough day against A&M. "We will need to play better on offense in this game and what a great challenge it will be to try to stop Colorado from running the ball as well as they ran it against Nebraska," he said. Brown also said Saturday's game is huge because it is for the Big 12 Championship "You always want to win your conference championship," he said. "It is one of your first goals each year. This is our second opportunity to win a conference championship in four years here and are we excited." "The BCS is not an issue today and a bowl game is not an issue today," he said. "This is what you fight to get into, but when you get there, you've got to win. After that, you try to look up and figure out where you are." But Brown said beating Colorado again is a huge challenge for the Longhorns. "If our guys weren't convinced before the Nebraska game, we will convince them that this Colorado team is different," he said. "Give (Colorado coach) Gary Barnett credit. He took his kids to Texas Stadium this summer and said that is where we want to end up, and as of (Saturday), nobody thought that Colorado and Texas would end up in this ball game." "So, give both teams credit," Brown said. "It is two teams that have been down this year and have gotten themselves back up, gone back to work and are playing as well as anyone in the country at the end of the year." "One of the things that we have talked about with this team is respect. You need to respect yourself and your teammates, but you also need to respect your opponent. Every Saturday has to be a real important game for us and a really exciting game for us. Our guys will play hard this Saturday because they understand what is at stake." "To win the conference championship in this league," Brown said, "you have to beat the same team twice a lot of the time. That is something that is just there. To be the champion you have to do it, so we are excited about it. There is no question that it is harder, because they will have a lot of motivation coming in. But we are also going to have a lot of motivation coming in to try to be the champions of the Big 12." He said the players and coaches are excited about the challenge. "This is a championship game week," he said. "You understand that this is like playing your biggest rival and that makes it fun. What we have to do to win the championship every year is play a huge rival like Texas A&M and then play this game the next week. We need to get used to that." "There are a lot of things that are different now in the Big 12 that they were around here for a long time with the Southwest Conference. One of them is being able to play big game after big game and especially at the end of the year." "We have been here before, but we haven't taken the other step yet. This is the week for us to take the other step and win the championship." "Our players are the reason why we are here. Different things have happened throughout the year and this was just the latest one." "The reason we are playing in this game is our assistant coaches and our players have worked really hard to take advantage of every opportunity that they have had since the Oklahoma game. They never got their head down and still believed. They kept themselves in a position to win if the opportunity came up." Brown had planned a big recruiting push this week, but said, 'We will put our recruiting on hold. All of the coaches could go out on Monday for the first time and be in schools and the homes, but the players out there will understand that our recruiting will be better by winning the championship game."