Message-ID: <22251996.1075852132535.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 08:38:25 -0700 (PDT) From: truorange@aol.com To: truorange@aol.com Subject: True Orange, July 30, 2001, Part 1 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: TruOrange@aol.com@ENRON X-To: TruOrange@aol.com X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \CDEAN (Non-Privileged)\Dean, Clint\Info X-Origin: DEAN-C X-FileName: CDEAN (Non-Privileged).pst Part 1 of 3 Jerry Scarbrough's True Orange Newsletter The Newsletter for the True Texas Longhorn Faithful Volume 11, No. 19, July 30, 2001 Longhorns Enter Fall Football Workouts With Lofty Ranking, but Several Problem Areas Coach Mack Brown, speaking at the annual Big 12 football coaches and media meeting in Dallas Friday, cited "three primary areas of concern heading into this season." He also scoffed at pre-season polls, which have UT high in the top 10, saying, "The only polls that matter are the ones at the end of the season." Offensively, he said, "We do not have a tailback who stepped out (during the spring) and showed he is ready to start." On defense, Brown said, "Casey Hampton and Shaun Rogers were great players at defensive tackle last year. Casey was a first-round draft choice and Shaun would have been if he had been healthy. Replacing them is a real concern." On special teams, he cited the departure of Kris Stockton, who handled all the kicking duties last season, and said developing a good kicking game will be a key to having a succesfful season. The freshmen report next Monday (August 6) and the varsity on August 9 (a full practice schedule is on page 3). My view is that the first two problem areas he mentioned are minor ones compared to the place-kicking woes. In the spring, the tailbacks looked solid, if not spectacular, and, with super recruit Cedric Benson coming in to bolster that spot, it shouldn't be a lingering problem. At defensive tackle, sophomore Marcus Tubbs started three games last season when Rogers' sore ankle limited his availability, and he played extensively in all 12 games. Tubbs had 5.5 sacks and 10 other tackles for losses and showed great promise for the future. He and most of the other defensive tackles are smaller and quicker than Hampton and Rogers, which should help the front four show a lot of improvement in pass rushing. The tackles this year won't be as good against the run as Hampton and Rogers, who were run-stoppers deluxe, but they will be pretty good at it, and, lets face it, the best teams on the UT regular-season schedule are geared to passing. So two of the three problem areas Brown cited probably can be handled without much difficulty. But let's hope some of the walk-on kickers the UT staff rounded up after the spring problems surfaced can kick field goals. If they can't, and if this team is as good as it has a chance to be, Brown could find himself in the same boat as Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who lost a couple of national championships in the 1990s because he didn't have guys who could make a chip-shot field goal when the game was on the line. I haven't seen any of the walk-on kickers in action, so I'll report on them in depth in my next newsletter. They are supposed to be pretty good, and they will need to be. Brown said the Longhorns will have more experience this year and that will help the team. "We've had a lot of participation in the voluntary workouts this summer, probably the most we've had," he said. "There is more excitement and maturity on the team and that's always a positive." When asked if he thinks there is a lot of pressure on him this year, he said he wants a job where there is pressure because that means people want to win, but he said some folks are chronic gripers. "My wife told me when we first got married 10 years ago that if you look at the gripers that are negative people, they probably griped about the meal they had for lunch, they didn't like the last movie they saw, and they're mad at their wife before they get home. So they're just mad at me." "I don't worry about those folks. I figure when you're selling 55,000 season tickets and 66 luxury suites and you've sold out 13 straight at home, somebody's happy." 900 Number Updated Daily I update my 900 number nearly every day with football and football recruiting news. The number is 1-900-288-8839. It costs $1.59 a minute. You must be 18 or older to call. My Big 12 Picks I think this is the year the Big 12's Southern Division really becomes a dominant force. So, instead of picking the Southern and Northern Divisions, I'm going to pick the way I think the Big 12 shapes up, from top to bottom, as a single entity. Here goes: 1. Texas 7. Texas A&M 2. Oklahoma 8. Iowa State 3. Nebraska 9. Missouri 4. Kansas State 10. Oklahoma State 5. Colorado 11. Kansas 6. Texas Tech 12. Baylor Obviously, the way I picked them means I think the winner of the Texas-Oklahoma showdown in Dallas on Oct. 6 will win the whole thing. Big 12 Coaches Give OU Edge The Big 12 coaches picked Oklahoma to edge Texas in the South and Nebraska to nose out Kansas State in the North. Since they picked Texas last year and the Sooners won the national title, let's hope what goes around comes around. The vote was really close in the South, with the Sooners nipping the Horns, 6-5, with Texas coach Mack Brown abstaining. Brown says he isn't going to get caught up in pre-season hype this year because it doesn't make sense to try to predict how a team will do when it hasn't even started practicing. The media picked a pre-season All-Big 12 Team and it included four Longhorns on the first team. They are senior OT Mike Williams, sophomore WR Roy Williams, junior DE Cory Redding and senior CB Quentin Jammer. Nebraska QB Eric Crouch was chosen the top pre-season offensive player and Oklahoma LB Rocky Calmus won the defensive honors. McClintock Undergoes Surgery DE O. J. McClintock was released from the hospital Saturday after undergoing emergency surgery Friday to repair what UT trainer Tom McVan said was "significant damage to muscles and tendons in his right arm." McClintock, a 6-2, 250-pound junior, said Sunday he suffered some pretty deep cuts when a relative stumbled and he rammed his hand and arm through a window trying to grab the relative and keep him from falling. "I've got to do some rehabilitation for my hand," he said Sunday. "The doctors told me I could start working out again in three or four weeks and, if I miss any games, it shouldn't be more than the first one or two." The Longhorns were already thin at defensive end, and they could be critically short if McClintock is out for a significant period of time. "It's very unfortunate that O. J. was injured," said head coach Mack Brown. "He did a tremendous job making the transition to defensive end (from linebacker) in the spring and is a guy we have high hopes for this season." If McClintock's injury is serious enough to cause him to miss part of the season, it will leave Texas with only senior Jermain Anderson and incoming freshman Lance McFarland to back up starters Kalen Thornton and Cory Redding. Another DE, Adam McConathy, was granted a release to transfer earlier. He said he wanted to go to a school where he has a better chance to log some playing time. If the injury does cost McClintock significant playing time, the coaches will make some moves to provide more depth. Incoming freshman Eric Hall, who had been ticketed forfullback, would be a good candidate for a switch to defensive end. Mack Brown Notes, Quotes. . Coach Mack Brown, speaking at the Big 12 coaches' meeting in Dallas Friday, said the Longhorns "can be really, really good but we've got to do a better job day to day and week to week. We had three games we let get away last year. Our goal is always to win every game we play." He also said the coaches and players "are proud that our team is being looked at" as one of the best in the country in the pre-season, but then he said "pre-season rankings mean absolutely nothing. We have to go out and take care of business." He also downplayed expectations for heralded running back recruit Cedric Benson, saying, "We're not sure if freshmen will be involved in major roles as early as they have." "Hopefully," he said, "we can let a freshman grow into it instead of just throwing him out there." But he also said the coaches plan to play the best players at each position. If Benson lives up to all the hype and if none of the other tailbacks emerge quickly, I think he'll play and play a lot early in the season. Dollars and More Dollars Texas and Nebraska far outdistance the other teams in the Big 12 when it comes to raising and spending money. The Collegiate Financial Service of Madison, Wis., compiles budget total every year and here are the most recent ones for all 12 conference members: 1. Texas $42,212,472 2. Nebraska $41,206,201 3. Oklahoma $27,463,682 4. Colorado $27,293,883 5. Texas A&M $26,091,278 6. Kansas $22,211,690 7. Kansas State $20,347,617 8. Texas Tech $19,981,852 9. Missouri $19,945,025 10. Oklahoma State $18,862,474 11. Iowa State $18,695,912 12. Baylor $18,553,621