Message-ID: <21259121.1075857341793.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2000 03:42:00 -0700 (PDT) From: truorange@aol.com To: truorange@aol.com Subject: True Orange, Oct. 9, 2000, Part 2 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\Discussion threads X-Origin: Dean-C X-FileName: cdean.nsf Scouting Colorado Colorado, playing the toughest schedule in the country, was winless in four games before storming into College Station and ending the Aggies' 22-game home winning streak, 26-19, last week. And the Buffaloes get to play the host this week when Texas comes to mile-high Boulder for a 2:30 p.m. game Saturday. It will not be televised. "That sure got my attention," said Texas coach Mack Brown. "College Station is a tough place for the visiting team." Colorado coach Gary Barnett has had a tough year up to last week. The Buffaloes opened the season with a 28-24 loss to Colorado State, then fell = to Southern Cal, 17-14. Next up was Washington and the Huskies prevailed, also by a 17-14 score. Powerful Kansas State pulled away in the second half for = a 44-21 victory. After the K-State loss, Barnett threatened to strip the Buffalo decals off his players' helmets if they didn't start playing better. Barnett went with true freshman QB Craig Ochs all the way against A&M, and he came through big, hitting 15 of 25 passes for 239 yards and one touchdow= n and running 18 yards for another touchdown. Sensational freshman RB Marcus Houston is out with an injury, but Cortlen Johnson dented the tough Aggie defense for 99 yards and a touchdown Saturda= y. WRs Javon Green and Roman Hollowell are swift and productive and TE Daniel Graham also is a threat. Defensively, the Buffs are led by a trio of returning linebacker starters, headed by Jashon Sykes. The Buffs return five offensive and six defensive starters from a team that went 7-5 last year in Barnett's first season at the helm. For the Longhorns to win, the defense has to prove the Oklahoma game was a one-time disaster and go back to playing smash-mouth defense. It also has t= o pressure Ochs into some freshman mistakes. Offensively, the Horns have to come out with their best shots early. They haven't scored an offensive TD all year and haven't moved the ball at all i= n some of their first quarters this season. Unless the offense plays better than it has been playing, it will be tough to win this game. Here's how the teams compare statistically (national rank in parenthesis): Texas Colorado Offense (104) 78.8 Rushing Avg. (65) 135.8 (15) 289.2 Passing Avg. (30) 243.8 (62) 368.0 Total Off. Avg. (54) 379.6 (14) 36.0 Scoring Avg (83) 19.8 Defense (30) 109.4 Rushing Avg. (46) 130.4 (62) 202.6 Passing Avg. (110) 277.2 (32) 312.0 Total Def. Avg. (95) 407.6 (47) 21.4 Opp. Scoring Avg (72) 25.0 Big 12 Roundup Oklahoma travels to Manhattan Saturday to play Kansas State in a battle of top 10 undefeated powers. Texas also visits Colorado in a game that will have a major bearing on the races in both divisions because both teams already have one league loss. Oklahoma is the only team in the Southern Division without a league loss, while Kansas State and Nebraska are the unbeaten teams in the North. BIG 12 STANDINGS SOUTHERN DIVISION Conference Season W L PF PA Pct. W L PF PA Pct. Oklahoma 2 0 97 30 1.000 5 0 239 65 1.0= 00 Texas 1 1 56 70 .500 3 2 180 107 .= 600 Texas A&M 1 1 52 41 .500 3 2 158 85 .= 600 Texas Tech 1 1 43 33 .500 5 1 144 59 .83= 3 Baylor 0 2 17 59 .000 2 3 74 113 .400 Okla State 0 2 17 66 .000 2 3 82 120 .= 400 NORTHERN DIVISION Conference Season W L PF PA Pct. W L PF PA Pct. Kansas State 2 0 96 34 1.000 6 0 308 61 1.000 Nebraska 2 0 91 51 1.000 5 0 209 101 1.0= 00 Iowa State 1 1 58 66 .500 4 1 144 117 .800 Missouri 1 1 48 66 .500 2 3 117 147 .40= 0 Colorado 1 1 47 63 .500 1 4 99 125 .200 Kansas 0 2 29 86 .000 2 3 111 137 .400 Last Week's Results Oklahoma 63, Texas 14 Colorado 26, Texas A&M 19 Texas Tech 28, Baylor 0 Missouri 24, Oklahoma State 10 Nebraska 49, Iowa State 27 Kansas State 52, Kansas 13 This Week's Games Texas at Colorado, 2:30 p.m. Texas A&M at Baylor 11:30 a.m. (Fox Syndicate) Kansas at Missouri, 1 p.m. Oklahoma at Kansas State, 2:30 p.m. (ABC) Nebraska at Texas Tech, 6 p.m. (Fox Sports Net) Iowa State at Oklahoma State 7 p.m. 2000 Longhorn Schedule, Record (3-2) Texas Opp. Sept. 9 Louisiana-Lafayette 52 10 Sept 16 at Stanford 24 27 Sept 23 Houston 48 0 Sept 30 Oklahoma State 42 7 Oct. 7 Oklahoma (Dallas) 14 63 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 12 62 47 59 - 180 Opponents 30 42 21 14 - 107 Recruiting Roundup Texas still has 16 commitments and the Longhorns plan to sign 22 to 25 players, with several of the remaining spots going to defensive linemen. Tommie Harris, the great DT from Killeen Ellison, is the No. 1 guy on UT's wish list, with Kaelen Jakes of Valencia HS in Placentia, Cal., the only other big defensive lineman who is seriously considering the Horns. This is a bad year for the big guys in the middle, so Harris and Jakes are = as important as anyone remaining on the Longhorns' wish list. 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 As you can see, the Longhorns are almost through recruiting offensive linemen, running backs, linebackers and defensive backs. They want to sign one QB, one TE, one or two WRs, Waco's great LB Derrick Johnson (who had 30 tackles in his team's loss to power Tyler John Tyler about 10 days ago) super safety Dewayne Brandon of Temple and any other gre= at prospect who wants to come. They should be able to get a QB and TE, and they might get one WR, but probably won't be able to get two. They lead for both Johnson and Brandon. If things fall like they appear to be developing, there will be at least fo= ur spots left for defensive linemen, and possibly more, depending on whether t= he coaches will sign 25 players. But right now, it doesn't look like Texas will be able to sign a lot of top defensive linemen because the only ones who are leaning the Longhorns' way are Jakes, DE Eric Hall of Clarksville, Tenn., DE Kevin Everett of Port Arthur Jefferson (who might be better suited to playing TE). Harris appears to be wide open. If the Horns don't fill all their defensive line needs this recruiting season, they should be able to next year because there is a much better gro= up of the big guys who are juniors this year. RECRUITING NOTES: QB Matt Nordgren of Dallas Bishop Lynch visited the Texas practice Thursday and spent a lot of time after practice talking to head coach Mack Brown and offensive coordinator Greg Davis, but he said he isn't ready to commit and wants to look around some more . . . The other QB Texas is recruiting, Brent Rawls of Shreveport Evangel, visits Florida State this weekend and says he might be ready to make a decision by next week. He also has visited Texas and Purdue, and Purdue appears to have a slight lead base= d on his belief that he would have a chance to play quicker with the Boilermakers. . . LB/DE Jonathan Jackson of Galena Park North Shore is bein= g recruited by most colleges, including UT, as a defensive end. Colleges are wanting DEs with great speed as outside pass rusher and Jackson ran a 4.56 = at a summer camp. That is very fast for a 6-3, 230-pounder. Olympic Gold Current and former University of Texas student-athletes and coaches accounted for 22 medals at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia which concluded on Sunday, Oct. 1. Longhorns captured 18 medals - seven gold, nine silver and two bronze - whi= le Longhorn coaches worked with teams that won four gold medals. The 18 medals earned by the UT competitors tied Texas for first with UCLA nationally for most medals won by current/former student-athletes among all NCAA institutions. Former Longhorn basketball star Nell Fortner (1981), coached the gold-meal winning U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team, while current Longhorn men'= s track coach Bubba Thornton was an assistant coach forwho helped bring home three gold medals. Thornton tutored the U.S. in three events at the Games - the 400 meters, 400-meter hurdles and the 4x400-meter relay. Coaches do not receive Olympic medals. Here are the current and former Longhorns who won Olympic medals in Sydney: Gold Medals Erin Phenix, Women's 400-Meter Freestyle Relay (Swimming) Gary Hall, Jr., Men's 50-Meter Freestyle (Swimming) Gary Hall, Jr., Men's 400-Meter Medley Relay (Swimming) B.J. Bedford, Women's 400-Meter Medley Relay (Swimming) Laura Wilkinson, Women's 10-Meter Platform Diving Vera Ilyina, Women's Synchronized 3-Meter Diving (Russia) Christa Williams, Softball Silver Medals Gary Hall, Jr., Men's 400-Meter Freestyle Relay (Swimming) Josh Davis, Men's 400-Meter Freestyle Relay (Swimming) Josh Davis, Men's 800-Meter Freestyle Relay (Swimming) Neil Walker, Men's 400-Meter Freestyle Relay (Swimming) Nate Dusing, Men's 800-Meter Freestyle Relay (Swimming) Scott Goldblatt, Men's 800-Meter Freestyle Relay (Swimming) Jamie Rauch, Men's 800-Meter Freestyle Relay (Swimming) Sandie Richards, Women's 1,600-Meter Relay (Track-Jamaica) Merlene Frazer, Women's 4x100-Meter Relay (Track-Jamaica) Bronze Medals Gary Hall, Jr., Men's 100-Meter Freestyle (Swimming) Nanceen Perry, Women's 400-Meter Relay (Track) UT Women Get 2 More Stars College basketball coaches love always try to recruit players with height, quickness, ball-handling ability and a good shooting eye. The trouble is that few players have all of those abilities. But coach Jody Conradt, who already had two outstanding recruits with all four of those traits, landed two more last week for the Texas women's basketball team. Kala Bowers of Woodward, Okla., and Jody Bell of Chestermere High School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, two 6-2 stars who are so versatile that they have played point guard at times, are the latest additions to Conradt's recruiti= ng class. Bowers is a national top 25 player who was one of just four high school underclassmen to be invited to try out for the 2000 junior national team She also considered Colorado, North Carolina, Stanford and Nebraska. She averaged 15.8 points and 7.4 rebounds last season. Her high school is 53-2 for the last two seasons, winning one Oklahoma stat= e title and finishing as the runner-up to the state champion the other season= . "Last year, our point guard got hurt, so Kala played point guard for us," Woodward coach Kim Kramer said. "She's so versatile she can play any position." Bell averaged 14.5 points and 11.4 rebounds for Chestermere High School in Calgary. She was a member of the Canadian junior national team. She considered only warm-weather schools and wound up picking Texas over Arizona State. Chestermere coach Brian Utley said Bell "is a 6-2 player who can handle the ball like a guard, run the floor and shoot the three. She's an inside/outsi= de player with skills you normally don't see in a girl her size." "She has great all-around skills," he said. "Texas got an outstanding playe= r. She really enjoyed her campus visit to Texas and really liked coach Conradt= . She said there were too many good things about Texas for her to go anywhere else." Conradt also has commitments from forward Heather Schreiber, 6-2, of Windthorst, the state's hottest prospect, and 5-11 forward CoCo Reed of Houston Jersey Village. Like Bowers and Bell, they are fine ball handlers and shooters. Schrieber and Bowers are both on at least one national top 25 list. Schrieb= er has led her volleyball team to three straight state championships and alrea= dy has been the state tourney MVP three times, with her senior season still remaining. Support UT Do you love UT athletics? Are you one of the thousands of loyal fans tho tu= rn out for football, baseball and/or basketball games? If you are, then you need to join the Ex-Students' Association. If you hav= e already joined, recruit a Longhorn friend and get him or her to join. There has never been a better time to join because this is the year the Ex-Students Association is sponsoring a membership campaign to better serve the university in many ways, including expansion of the scholarship program that already funnels nearly $2 million annually to deserving students who want a degree from the University of Texas. Jim Boon, executive direction of the association, says all UT supporters ar= e welcome to join, not just those who attended or graduated from Texas. "We're letting people know you don't have to be a UT graduate to join the only organization that serves all of UT-Austin," Boon said. "It's a matter = of pride that the country's largest university have the largest alumni association" "But even more importantly," he said, "we couldn't continue to reward outstanding professors, encourage excellent teachers in our public schools, talk to legislators about improvements in higher education and provide all = of our other behind-the-scenes services without growing our membership." Boon pointed out that whille every UT graduate is a Texas Ex, not every UT graduate is a member of the Ex-Students Association. To learn more about member benefits, call the Ex-Students' Association at 512-471-3819 or 800-369-0023 or visit their website at: www.TexasExes.org A True Orange Subscription Is The Gift You Can Get Every Year for Your Longhorn Friends 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 16 The next issue will be mailed on October 16 and will report on the trip to Colorado, preview the home game the following week against Missouri and tak= e a look at the Big 12 championship races. As usual, I'll have a lot of recruiting news, reports on men's and women's basketball and lots of other stories on the Longhorns' teams in the various sports. I want to subscribe. I am enclosing $45 for the next year, which will inclu= de 26 issues. A two-year subscription is $85. For a one-year subscription via E-Mail, send $35. 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