tEXas tailgatES talk

It was nice to see everybody play this weekend, and I do mean
EVERYBODY. I think that even I had a few carries, and my wife
had a sack. Good to see Major get one more score, and then
launch the ball 60 rows into the student section. There is no
football game this weekend, but there is plenty going on with
the Longhorns. The basketball season opens the T.J. Ford Era
on Saturday as the 'horns face giant killer Arizona, who already
has beaten #3 Maryland and #9 Florida, all with replacing 4
NBA-bound starters. If you are around Austin Saturday, get
yourself to the basketball game. Let's make it as hard to play
in the Drum as it is in DKR. There is that little matter of OU
going out to Lubbock to play Tech on Saturday as well. Get your
guns up, Longhorns.

59-0

What can I say about this? COMPLETE DOMINATION. Utterly complete.
The 'horns rolled up 606 yards total offense, all three quarterbacks
accounted for touchdowns, every single player who is not redshirting
played. The Defense seems to be getting nastier each week. The
Jayhawks had 67 yards of total offense. 67 yards. The closest
they got to the endzone was the Texas 48. Special teams standout
Michael Ungar outscored Kansas all by himself with a safety of the
Jayhawk punter who bobbled the snap in the endzone. Ungar beat
Kansas, 2-0. Texas also had another safety when Marcus Tubbs sacked
quarterback Mario Kinsey in the endzone, so I guess Tubbs beat
Kansas, too. If Texas wanted to score 100 on Saturday, they would
have made it so. The Jayhawks, in my opinion, quit on their
interim coach Saturday. They came out flat, played flat, and were
immediately flattened by a fired up Texas team ready to honor their
seniors by getting all of them in the game. The only down side to
this game was the kickoff coverage. Kansas seemed to get through
the initial wall and get the ball close to midfield almost every
time. I think this was due to two things:
1. The kickoff coverage team was looking for the knockout blow
that would make SportsCenter
2. They were all exhausted from covering 10 kicks in the game.
I think this problem was unique to the blowout, and will correct
itself by the Aggie game. If that's my worst complaint, then I
guess it's a good day.

The BCS, OU vs. Tech, Bowl Theories

Let's talk about the BCS for a minute. I've heard from some of
you that you don't like the BCS. I concur. I don't see how they
can tell a team it must play in a major conference to be eligible
(BYU will be snubbed due to this), and then amend the rules to
filter it "fairly". See, only 2 teams from one conference can
play in the BCS. The BCS was installed to eliminate the bias of
voters and make sure the best teams make it to the top 4 bowls.
With that being said, how can the NCAA use this system and then
turn around and say, "Oh, I'm sorry, but we can only have 2 teams
from one conference. 3 teams would allow too much money to go to
one conference, and that's not fair." Excuse me? Why does it have
to be fair here? Is it fair that Notre Dame has it's own TV deal
with NBC while better teams never get seen? They make A LOT of
money that other schools don't. Is it fair that one BCS-factoring
poll in Seattle has a 9-1 Pac-10 team at #2, and an Atlanta-based
poll has an 8-1 SEC team #2 (Oregon and Florida have both jumped
Texas in the BCS this week)? Maybe the Dallas Morning News should
start a BCS poll to even the score with it's own polling methods.
It's not fair anywhere in college football, it's not supposed to
be. The Big 10 shouldn't be guaranteed a team in the BCS if they
can't produce 1 in the top 10, penalizing another that has 3. No
conference should. College football is eliminate the weak and
the strong survive, so why be "fair" in deciding a national champion?
It is a shame that Texas, Oklahoma or Nebraska will get left out
so it will be "fair." I will get off of my soapbox.

Like I stated earlier, get your guns up, people. I am officially
jumping on the Texas Tech bandwagon now. One way, please, and
I'd like a window seat, maybe in the emergency exit row?
There's plenty of room for everybody. The Sooners are 8-point
favorites in Lubbock this weekend, but it should be fun to watch
Kliff with a K throwing it all over the place. We really NEED
this game. If Tech can pull this off, Texas plays the Aggies for
the right to go to Dallas. If Tech loses, then Texas has to hope
Nebraska beats OU in the Big XII Championship Game, and the 'horns
get the BCS nod over the 2-loss Sooners, which could happen.
Prepare yourself for this:
Texas will not make the BCS. If OU wins out and beats Nebraska
in Dallas, those 2 will certainly make it to the BCS. In that
case, Texas will end up in Dallas in the Cotton Bowl vs. an SEC
team (Ole Miss or Auburn). I know this isn't the place most of
us want to go, but it might be where we do go. Now Dallas isn't
exactly the end-of-season goal that Texas had in mind, but they
will shake it off and play where they are sent. Many of you
(and I do mean many) have proposed theories and explanations to
me as to why the 'horns would end up BCS-less: the soft schedule,
starting the wrong quarterback, the wrong tailback, not throwing
deep, not running up the middle, and on and on. Some of these
are solid, valid reasons that I cannot argue with, and some are
not.  Whatever the case, no one can change what has (might)
happened, but we can all affect the future.  The Cotton Bowl is
a major bowl, on New Year's Day, national telecast against a
quality team. I, for one, would love to rinse that Arkansas taste
out of my mouth. It will be hard for me to complain about an 11-1
season and a #3 final ranking after a big win over Ole Miss in
Dallas. I think most of you, like me, think of the sour ending to
the 1999 season and associate that with the Cotton Bowl. Don't.
It isn't 1999, and we will not be there because we limped to the
finish (like then), we will be there as arguably the best team in
the country and winners of 6 straight (no offense, Ags) who were
snubbed due to a technicality. Dallas is close. Dallas is fun.
Again, I will get off of my soapbox.

Here are the directions to the tailgate again for Texas A&M.
It will be located in lot 97, near Reed Arena (the basketball
stadium) and the Varsity Tennis Center. There is a map below.
When clicking on the map, lot 97 is located on John Kimbrough
Blvd, in grid D-4 (numbers are vertical, letters horizontal),
southwest of Kyle Field (in this map, north is the top right
corner, south bottom left, west top left, east bottom right).
If you go to the bottom left of the map, you can enlarge it.
John Kimbrough turns into Joe Routt after you cross Welborn
Rd (FM 2154). Kyle Field is located at Welborn and Joe Routt,
just right of lot 62. Lot 97 is about 2 ?  blocks southwest
of Kyle Field (straight left on the map) down Joe Routt/John
Kimbrough. It will begin around 9:00 am.

http://www.tamu.edu/map/gifs/campus1.pdf


For bus information to Texas A&M, click below:

http://www.texasexes.org/news.php3?id=54

News and Notes:
* The defense got their 1st no hitter since last season, when
Texas shut out Houston, 48-0.
* The 67 yards allowed was the fewest since 1990. They also held
their 7th straight opponent to under 300 yards total offense.
* The Longhorns have now won 13 in a row at home. The average
score in those 13 games is 45-9, and Texas has scored over 40
points in the last 12 at DKR.
* The Texas offense racked up 606 yards on the Jayhawks. It was
the high mark for the season, and the most yards the 'horns have
produced since the 637 yard output last year against...
Kansas. Ouch.
* Cedric Benson continues to excel. Ced had 213 yards rushing on
28 carries and 2 touchdowns, and 1 t.d. and 68 yards receiving on
2 receptions. Ced's 213 broke the all-time 1 game freshman
rushing record for Texas (187, Charles Hunter, 1985), and his
281 all-purpose yards are 8th on the all-time list and 1st for
freshmen. Can you say Big XII Offensive Freshman of the Year?
* Chris Simms threw 2 touchdown passes on Saturday, breaking
Major Applewhite's school record of 20 (1999)for a season. Simms
now has 22 this season with 1 game to go.
* Roy Williams is good. Roy W moved into 2nd place on the all-time
touchdown receptions list. The 68-yarder marked his
15th career touchdown reception, 1 behind the leader
(Mike Adams, 16, 1992-96).
This guy is a sophomore. Yikes.
* Place kicker Dusty Mangum had 11 points (5 xp, 2 fg) to give
him 11 points for the day. Mangum now has 87 for the season,
making him the all-time leading scorer for a freshman
(Phil Dawson, 80, 1994).
* Wide out B.J. Johnson extended his streak of games with a
reception to 22, which is a record to start a career. He is 4
behind the all-time leader of consecutive games with a catch,
Mike Adams (1995-96).

Around the Conference:
* Nice offense, Ags. The A&M Aggies couldn't hold onto a 10 point
1st quarter lead in Norman, and were eventually blown out by OU,
31-10. The Aggie defense scored the only touchdown for A&M, as
the farmer offense continues to struggle. Once again, the A&M
offense managed 3 more points than I scored this weekend. No more
complaining about trick plays, Coach Bob. Coach Bob (and some
players) blew up after they lost to Nebraska on the reverse pass
for a touchdown to Crouch ("Trick Plays," they whined). No more.
The Sooners broke the game open with a fake field goal when pk
Tim Duncan caught a pitch and stumbled into the endzone. You hate
losing on trick plays, huh? Glass houses, big rocks, everybody
duck...
* Kliff Kingsbury went off in Stillwater. Kliff with a K threw
for 440 yards and 4 scores as the Red Raiders won their 3rd
straight, beating OSU 49-30. This week Coach Bob visits the
TortillaDome. Guns up, I tell ya!
* The Cornhuskers brought the Wildcats back to earth. Nebraska
beat KSU in Lincoln, 31-21. Kansas State lead at the half, the
1st time Nebraska has trailed at the break this season, before
the Huskers turned it on in the 2nd half to put them away.
* Colorado beat Iowa St, 40-27 in Ames, IA. Buffalo running back
Cortlen Johnson was the 1st back in CU history to rush for over
100 and have 100 in reception yards in 1 game. CU hosts NU on
T + 1 (day after Thanksgiving) for the right represent the North
in the Big XII title game.
* Baylor remains winless in the Big XII, after going to Missouri
and getting slapped around, 41-24. The slapper was Tiger wide out
Justin Gage. Gage had 13 receptions for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns,
and threw a t.d. pass on a reverse. Baylor qb Greg
Cicero threw 3 touchdown passes to Reggie Newhouse.
* The Big XII has 7 bowl-eligible teams right now, with a possibility
for K-St to win it's last 2 and make it 8.

This week's games (home team in Caps):

TEXAS TECH (6-3, 4-3) vs. Oklahoma (9-1, 5-1)
KANSAS STATE (4-5, 2-5) vs. Louisiana Tech (6-3)
KANSAS (2-7, 1-6) vs. Iowa State (5-4, 3-4)
BAYLOR (2-7, 0-7) vs. Oklahoma State (2-7, 0-6)

Everyone have a good weekend.

Hook'em
Trey McLean
Texas Exes

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