tEXas tailgatES talk

I hope everyone has a great holiday coming up. With the
exception of the NCAA Tournament, this is my favorite
time of the year. Bowl season. I will watch them all.
Every single one of them. That New Orleans Bowl, wow.
North Texas, at 5-6, makes a bowl? You must be kidding,
right? Colorado State put the wood to the Mean Green,
and I watched the whole thing. The good news for the
participants in the New Orleans Bowl? You went to a
bowl game. The bad news? Now you have to go back and
take your finals.

The BCS
I'm not sure how in the world Nebraska ended up in the
Rose Bowl. If I am an Oregon fan, I am livid. The Ducks
finished the year 10-1, won the PAC-10 and did everything
that was asked of them, and were left out. Nebraska got 62
pinned on them in late November and still got in. Unacceptable.
The mantra of college football for years has been if you
lose, lose early - unless you're Nebraska. I don't think
Colorado should be there, either (2 losses), but at least
they won the conference.  I figured out a little system
within the BCS that might work, and here it is:

1.  Only conference champions are eligible for the national
title. Nebraska or Florida can still go to a BCS bowl, but
only the champs can win it. This year that would be Miami,
Oregon, Colorado, Illinois and Maryland. You can use the BCS
to determine the top 2. (This would obviously have to be
modified for independent teams like Notre Dame, but that's
for smarter people than me)

2.  If a case like the Oregon/Colorado situation comes up,
where the 2 teams are so close that a clear-cut #2 cannot
be determined, have them play 2 weeks from the BCS announcement
day, which is around the 16th. Pick a place half way between
each school, maybe Vegas for this one, and the BCS can pick
up the bill for both teams, their staffs and bands. The revenue
made from it being the only televised college game that day
would more than make up for the costs. The winner goes to the
title game and the loser goes to a pre-determined bowl.
The 2-week interval would give the kids time to take their
finals, go to award ceremonies (like the Heisman), and still
have a solid week of practice in there for the game. It would
not affect the preparation for the bowl game, since most teams
don't start that until around Christmas. The only down side I
see is it's a long, NFL-like year for the kids. Trust me when
I say it would have bothered no one in Eugene or Boulder if
there was a game last weekend to see who would draw Miami.

The Holiday Bowl in San Diego
Washington
7:30 pm (Austin Time)
ESPN

Texas goes back to Cali to exorcise some west coast demons. The
'horns went 0-2 there in 2000, with a bad effort against Stanford
and a nail biter v. Oregon. Texas is a heavy favorite in this
game for good reason, at least on paper. The Longhorns finished
the season ranked #1 in defense, allowing only 236.3 ypg. The
Huskies are a passing team, and are 16th nationally with 279.5 ypg.
Texas is 12th v. the pass, allowing only 173.7 ypg. They say to
beat a team, make them one-dimensional. Washington already is
one-dimensional. They are 96th nationally in rushing at 111.7 ypg,
which plays right into the hands of the 6th ranked Texas rush
defense, which yields only 89.5 ypg. If Ivan Williams played for
the Huskies, he would be their 2nd leading rusher (trailing the
leader by ~20 yards) and he hasn't seen the field since day light
savings. The Texas defense has to be licking their chops for a
redemption game after the Big XII Championship, and this one could
be just what the doctor ordered, at least on paper.
The match-up of the day will be Quentin Jammer vs. Reggie Williams.
You all know Jam's story, but if you haven't heard of Reggie
Williams, pay attention. The 6'4" 215 lb. freshman is Udub's
"Real Deal."   He had 973 yards on 55 catches and was the PAC-10's
Freshman of the Year.  If he gets loose in the secondary, look
out. The other side of field will be just as intriguing,  with
Rod Babers locked up with burner Paul Arnold, who is their main
deep threat. Babers is a great cover corner, but will have to
bring his A-game to keep up with Arnold. The main problem for
Washington this year has been their o-line. They have given up
25 sacks this season, and are only 38% in 3rd down conversions.
If the Texas front 7 can bring heat on qb Cody Pickett, the Husky
offense could be in trouble.  Major Applewhite starts his final
college game. The offense will not change in scheme, since neither
Texas qb likes to run. Look for some shotgun, though, since Major
likes it and Chris doesn't. If Benson goes (check in the news and
notes section for more on Ced), Texas will look to exploit the
weakness of the Huskies- their run defense. Washington gives up
162 ypg on the ground,  which is exactly what Texas averages.
They allow 4.2 per carry and a whopping 20 touchdowns on the
ground. Senior dt Larry Tripplett is in the Casey Hampton mold,
and the All-American is a great run stopper, but the linebacking
corps is hasn't played consistent enough to help on run defense.
The secondary is young and inexperienced. They have had their
moments, but as a whole, good teams can beat them.  If the Texas
o-line can spark up the running game, Applewhite will pick them
apart with his vision. Look for Washington to bring the house at
Major, and if the o-line repels the borders, Husky fans will be
leaving VERY early.

CORRECTION:

I gave you the wrong address for Moose McGillycuddy's.
Apparently there are 2, and I picked the wrong one.
Here it is:
Moose McGillycuddy's
535 5th Avenue
San Diego, CA 92101
619/702-5595

Here is a link for maps and more info:
http://sandiego.citysearch.com/profile/86556

tEXas tailgate
We are meeting for lunch and watching the Aggie game at a sports
bar on the Trolley route to the stadium. This is not a typical
tailgate party. There will not be balloons or ribbons or any
fanfare, nor will there be any band or reserved seating or anything.
This is simply a gathering place to watch the Aggies and Frogs
and eat something before heading over to the game. We will be
there from 12:30 on. If you have a party of 8 or more, call for
reservations.

Trophy's
7510 Hazard Center Drive
San Diego, CA 92108
619/296-9600
Trolley Exit: Hazard Center

Here is a link to maps and more info:
http://sandiego.citysearch.com/profile/86394

Thursday night we will be at Moose McGillycuddy's (info above)

The team will arrive at QualComm at 3:30 on the west side of
the stadium between gates E and F.


Let's get that 11th win! See you all in San Diego.

News and Notes:
* Don't expect Cedric Benson to play. He is having trouble
with his neck after his Big XII Championship stinger. Look
Victor Ike and Ivan Williams to get the call.
Welcome back, I-Train.
* The 2001 Texas Longhorns could be only the 5th Longhorn
team ever to win 11 games in a season if they beat Washington.
* Texas last finished in the Top 10 in 1983, that will change
if they win this game.
* Texas has received commitments in the last few days from Marco
Martin, super dt out of Div.1 5-A State Champion Mesquite, the
#1 dt recruit in all the land Rodrique Wright out of Alief Hastings,
the #1 player in the state of Oklahoma,  de Bryan Pickryl, and
the #1 rb in Texas, Albert Hardy of Galena Park. Texas already
has the #1 recruiting class in the country right now, and 1 or
2 more of these guys could make the best class to EVER sign with
Texas.
* Washington has had an interesting few weeks since the Miami
game. 1st, backup tight end Kevin Ware, from Spring, TX by the
way, was suspended indefinitely for violating team rules.
Attacking police officers is never a good idea, my man. I hope
he gets himself straightened out, he's a player. Meanwhile, back
up qb Taylor Barton and 2 walk-ons were arrested on the University
of the Pacific campus for trespassing after refusing to leave the
grounds. I'm sure they had their reasons...
So now Washington is left with 2 options at 2nd team qb: Casey
Paus, who is redshirting this season and would lose it for even
1 play, or Adam Seery, a converted linebacker who hasn't thrown
a pass or lettered in his 3 years at Udub.  Now this is a qb
controversy. With the way their o-line plays, all 3 might see
the field and/or the medical personnel.
* Washington had 4 All-Americans this year: dt Larry Tripplett
(3rd team), and wr Reggie Williams, kr Charles Frederick
(both 1st team Freshman All-America),  and punter Derek McLaughlin
(2nd team Freshman All-America).
* The Huskies beat 3 top 11 teams this season
(#11 Michigan, #10 Stanford, #9 Washington State).
* Washington gave up more points than the scored this season.
They average 28.2 points per game, while giving up 29.4. That
tells me you when win you win close, and when you lose, you
lose big.

Around the Conference:
The Bowl Matchups (in the order picked by the Conference):

The Rose Bowl- Miami v. Nebraska - Jan. 3rd
Will karma catch the Huskers? Yes. If the Hurricanes were in the
NFC east, they would have won the division by Thanksgiving.

The Fiesta Bowl- Colorado v. Oregon - Jan. 1st
The best game of the big 4, CU's running game vs. Mike Belotti's
brain. Oregon will have to find away to stop the run, something
they haven't had to do all year.

The Cotton Bowl- Oklahoma v. Arkansas - Jan. 1st
The inverted Longhorn Hand Sign Bowl. The good news is one of
these teams HAS to lose. Coach Bob v. The Nutt, yuck. Moving on...

The Alamo Bowl- Texas Tech v. Iowa - Dec. 29th
This should be a good one. Tech's offense on indoor turf should
be too much for the Hawkeyes. Watch out for the goal posts,
Hawkeyes...

The Insight.com Bowl- Kansas St. v. Syracuse - Dec. 29th
Which Wildcat team will show up? It will be easy to tell: K-State
wins bowl games in blowouts, and loses the close ones.

The MainStay Independence Bowl- Iowa St. v. Alabama - Dec. 27th
The line has Alabama by 6 1/2, but I disagree. This is a well
coached and veteran Cyclone team. They will give Bama all they
can handle.

The Galleryfurniture.com Bowl- Texas A&M v. TCU - Dec. 29th
Whew. A renewal of a classic rivalry from the old days of the
SWC, can TCU... I can't do this. NO ONE CARES. Lose and go away.


That's it for now. I will talk to you after the bowl games.

HOOK'EM
Trey McLean
Texas Exes

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