Message-ID: <4411626.1075857354338.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 04:06:00 -0700 (PDT) From: truorange@aol.com To: truorange@aol.com Subject: True Orange, Oct. 16, 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\Info X-Origin: Dean-C X-FileName: cdean.nsf Scouting Missouri Texas hosts Missouri Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in a game that will not be televised. The Tigers have been an unpredictable team this year, playing Nebraska and Michigan State tough, and getting blown out by Kansas last week. Missouri opened the season with a 50-20 win over Western Illinois, lost to Clemson, 62-9, then played Michigan State down to the wire before losing, 13-10. The Tigers played Nebraska tough the next week before losing, 42-24, then whipped Oklahoma State, 24-10, and lost to Kansas, 38-17. Longhorn coach Mack Brown said he watched part of the Nebraska-Missouri gam= e "and I thought they had a chance to beat Nebraska in Lincoln while I was watching it." TB Zain Gilmore, a 6-1, 222-pound junior is the Tigers' top rusher. He is averaging 55.3 yards per game rushing and has scored six touchdowns. Freshman QB Darius Outlaw, 6-4, 193, is filling in for injured starter Kirk Farmer and has completed 38 of 76 passes for 489 yards and three touchdowns= . But he also has been picked off seven times. Defensively, the Tigers are led by All-Big 12 DE Justin Smith, a 6-5, 265-pound terror. Coach Larry Smith has five offensive and six defensive starters back from a 4-7 team a year ago. This is a game the Longhorns will be favored to win by at least 15 points, and it is one they should win handily if they come out ready to play. Here's how the teams compare statistically (national rank in parenthesis): Texas Missouri Offense (98) 93.3 Rushing Avg. (78) 120.7 (12) 292.3 Passing Avg. (58) 210.5 (45) 385.6 Total Off. Avg. (79) 331.2 (18) 34.7 Scoring Avg (71) 22.3 Defense (19) 101.5 Rushing Avg. (77) 162.7 (29) 181.8 Passing Avg. (82) 224.8 (12) 283.3 Total Def. Avg. (82) 387.5 (41) 20.2 Opp. Scoring Avg (41) 30.8 Big 12 Roundup Oklahoma showed it is ready to challenge for the top spot in the Big 12 las= t week by going to Manhattan and handing No. 2 Kansas State a 41-31 whipping. The Sooners are firmly in the driver's seat in the Big 12 Southern Division= , while top-ranked Nebraska and Kansas State will meet later this season to determine the Northern Division champion. Conventional wisdom holds that two league losses eliminate a team from championship competition. If that is the case, then half the teams in each division have already been eliminated, leaving Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M as the teams in the Southern Division with legitimate title hopes and top-ranked Nebraska, Kans= as State and Iowa State as the teams witha chance to win the Northern Division championship. At least one of the contenders will fall by the wayside this week when Texa= s A&M travels to Ames to take on surprising Iowa State. Other interesting games this week include Colorado at Kansas, Texas Tech at Kansas State and Missouri at Texas. BIG 12 STANDINGS SOUTHERN DIVISION Conference Season W L PF PA Pct. W L PF PA Pct. Oklahoma 3 0 138 51 1.000 6 0 280 86 1.000 Texas 2 1 84 84 .667 4 2 208 121 .= 667 Texas A&M 2 1 76 41 .667 4 2 186 85 .667 Texas Tech 1 2 46 89 .333 5 2 147 115 .714 Baylor 0 3 17 87 .000 2 4 74 141 .333 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. Nebraska 3 0 147 54 1.000 6 0 265 104 1.000 Kansas State 2 1 127 75 .667 6 1 339 102 .857 Iowa State 2 1 91 93 .667 5 1 177 143 .8= 33 Missouri 1 2 65 90 .333 2 4 134 185 .33= 3 Colorado 1 2 61 91 .333 1 5 113 153 .167 Kansas 1 2 67 103 .333 3 3 149 154 .500 Last Week's Results Texas 28, Colorado 14 Texas A&M 24. Baylor 0 Oklahoma 41, Kansas State 31 Nebraska 56, Texas Tech 3 Kansas 38, Missouri 17 Iowa State 33, Oklahoma State 26 This Week's Games Missouri at Texas, 1:30 p.m. Colorado at Kansas, 11:30 a.m. Baylor at Nebraska, 12:30 a.m. Texas A&M at Iowa State, 1 p.m. Texas Tech at Kansas State, 1:10 p.m. 2000 Longhorn Schedule, Record (4-2) 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 28 14 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 75 55 66 - 208 Opponents 30 42 35 14 - 121 Recruiting Roundup There have been a lot of people who have been saying the disaster in Dallas will damage UT recruiting. But the week between the disaster and the victory over Colorado was one of the best of this recruiting season for the Longhorns. The Texas coaches got commitments last week from a great JC punter, the state's best QB and one of the top DE/LB prospects in the country. The latest Longhorn pledge is DE/LB Eric Hall of Clarksville, Tenn. He actually plays quarterback and safety at Clarksville, but Texas, Nebraska, Tennessee and Texas A&M were all recruiting him primarily as a defensive en= d. He said he picked Texas because he was born in Texas and has always had a fondness for the state and for its state university. "I really enjoyed my official visit to Texas," he said. "I just decided it was the place for me.= " Hall was the 19th commitment for the Longhorns. who also had picked up pledges last week from QB Matt Nordgren of Dallas Bishop Lynch and punter Brian Bradford of Trinity Valley JC. Nordgren is easily the top pro-type passer in Texas and Bradford has been rated as the nation's top JC punter by at least one recruiting service. Nordgren chose Texas over LSU, Tennessee and Colorado. He also was recruit= ed by most of the top programs, but had narrowed his choices to those four schools. He told me had had 21 scholarship offers. "It was really a close call between Texas and LSU," he said, "but I decided= I wanted to play for the Longhorns." Nordgren is a 4.0 student who also is a 6-6 high-jumper and 39.5 intermedia= te hurdler in track. He also starts for the basketball team. =01&It came down to a great list of schools," Nordgren said, "but I felt at= home at the UT campus. It=01,s a football program that I know I can help lead to= a national championship." Trinity Valley JC coach Chuck Langston says Bradford, "will punt in the NFL someday. He's the best one I've ever been around." Langston, who played and later coached at Oklahoma, said, "He's better than any of the ones we ever had at OU when I was there. He averages better than 43 yards and he gets tremendous hang time, in the 4.7, 4.8, 4.9 (second) range, which is really outstanding. He really gets great height and great distance." Langston said Bradford "is our team's MVP. He's one of the those guys who turns the field over. He really changes field position." Bradford told me he has "always wanted to play for the Longhorns." He was a full qualifier out of Lufkin High School and said he will transfer to Texas in January so he can go through spring training with the Longhorns. Bradford can be counted against last year's class because he will enroll at mid-year. What I really like about Bradford is his emphasis on hang time. "I concentrate on kicking it high," he said. "I'd rather have a 40-yarder with no return than a 55-yarder that might be returned." It obviously works out because he is averaging 43+ yards per kick, and stil= l getting close to five seconds hang time. Here's a list of the Horns' 19 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 Quarterback (1) Matt Nordgren, 6-5, 225, 4.6, Dallas B. Lynch Running Back (2) Cedric Benson, 5-11, 200, 4.5, Midland Lee Anthony Johnson, 5-11, 195, 4.4, Jefferson Defensive End (1) Eric Hall, 6-2, 240, 4.5, Clarksville, Tenn. 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 Punter (1) Brian Bradford, 6-1, 205, Trinity Valley JC * * * * The Longhorns, with 19 commitments already, will give at least three more and, if things fall right at the end, as many as six additional ones. There are five players =01) LB Derrick Johnson of Waco, S Dewayne Brandon o= f Temple, DL Kaelen Jakes of Valencia, Cal., and DE Jonathan Jackson and TE James Moses, both of Galena Park North Shore =01) who strongly favor Texas. But all of them are highly recruited national prospects and I would be mild= ly surprised if the Horns signed all five of them. Then there are four great players the Horns are still recruiting very hard = =01) DT Tommie Harris of Killeen Ellison, FB James Buchanon of Cardinal Mooney H= S in Sarasota, Fla., and OLs William Winston of Houston Madison and Jami Hightower of Jacksonville. Texas has a pretty good shot at Harris, but the other three are not leaning UT's way at this time. Harris had a great junior year. I saw him play and he was awesome. But he h= as a sprained ankle that has hampered his performance this year. When the ankle was well last summer, he ran a 4.78 40 weighing close to 270 pounds. He's still a super prospect and one the Horns need desperately. UT Basketball Women Start Practice The Texas women's basketball team had its first practice Saturday, and coach Jody Conradt said she is so pleased with her recruiting class that three or four of the newcomers will challenge for starting jobs. The Longhorns are coming off last year's 21-13 season, a second-place finis= h in the 2000 Big 12 Conference Tournament, and the program's 16th trip to th= e NCAA National Championship. Fans can get an early courtside look at the Longhorns at the annual Orange-White game (intrasquad scrimmage) on Thursday, Oct. 26, beginning at= 7 p.m. at the Erwin Center. Admission is free to the Orange-White Game, and there will be an opportunity to purchase season tickets during that scrimma= ge. Texas will play a pair of pre-season exhibition games, hosting Spartak-Moscow-Russia on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. before facing Delta Kosice from the Slovakia Republic at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 6. Both contest= s will be at the Frank Erwin Center. The Longhorns begin their regular season slate on Friday, Nov. 10 when the= y host Wichita State in the first round of the Pre-season WNIT Tournament in Austin (7 p.m. tipoff). The Pre-season WNIT is a 16-team, single-elimination tourney. If UT defeats Wichita State, then the Longhorns will move into the WNIT second round on Sunday, Nov. 12 to face the winner of the Tulane-Grambling State contest. Season tickets and individual game tickets currently are available. UT wil= l play a minimum of a 17-game home schedule, with more home games dependent = on the Horns' advancement in WNIT Tournament play. Reserved season tickets are priced at: $108 per adult; $76 per senior citizen, student or UT faculty/staff member; and $54 for those holders on the Longhorn All-Sports Package. Longhorn All-Sports Package holders have another option of drawing free general admission tickets at the Erwin Center or at Bellmont Hall. Single game ticket prices range from $5-8. For ticket purchase and information, call UT Ticket Master at (512) 477-60= 60 or the UT Athletic Ticket Office at (512) 471-333 or 1-800-982-BEVO. Ticke= ts also may be purchased in person at the UT Athletic Ticket Office on the ground floor of Bellmont Hall (west side of Memorial Stadium). Eight Freshmen Have Played Eight true freshmen Longhorn football players have played this year, and three of them are starters. Defensive end Kalen Thornton of Dallas St. Mark's has started the last thre= e games and wide receivers Roy Williams of Odessa Permian and B. J. Johnson o= f South Grand Prairie were first-time starters Saturday in Colorado. Other true freshmen who have played this year are defensive tackle Stevie Lee and safety Phillip Geiggar, both of Shreveport Evangel, wide receiver Sloan Thomas of Klein, tight end Brock Edwards of Fort Worth Christian and cornerback Nathan Vasher of Texarkana. Men Hold First Practices The University of Texas men's basketball team opened practice sessions for the 2000-2001 season Saturday. Texas starts its season with the annual intrasquad scrimmage at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at Gregory Gym. The Longhorns get their first action against outside opponents when they host Australia Team EZY at 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 5, at the Erwin Center. The Longhorns conclude their exhibiti= on schedule with a contest against EASports California All-Stars at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8 at the Erwin Center. Texas opens the 2000-01 regular season with a home game against Navy on Monday, Nov. 13. in the opening round of the Pre-season NIT. Tip-off for theNavy contest is set for 7 p.m. at the Erwin Center. The game will betelevised by UT's statewide syndicated network, with KVC Channel 13 in Austinand KDFI Channel 39 in Dallas slated to broadcast the contest. For season ticket information, please call 800-982-BEVO, or for individual game tickets call 512-477-6060. 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 23 The next issue will be e-mailed on October 23 and will report on Missouri= =20 game, preview the home game the following week against Baylor and take a lo= ok 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. SUBSCRIPTION COUPONS 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. Name Street Address or Box Number or E-Mail Address City, State and Zip Code Remit to True Orange, P O Box 26530, Austin, TX 78755 Foreign Rates Available on Request. Phone 512-795-8536 E-Mail Address: truorange@aol.com I want to give a gift subscription to True Orange. I am enclosing $45. Ple= as e send an appropriate gift card. For a gift subscription via E-Mail, send $= 35. Name of Person Receiving Gift Street Address or Box Number or E-Mail Address City, State and Zip Code Your Name