Horns Get 2 Top Recruits

The Longhorns have 14 commitments after getting pledges from two top 100
national recruits since my last newsletter.
As expected, DE Chase Pittman, 6-5, 263, 4.7, of national powerhouse
Shreveport Evangel, committed to Texas during ceremonies at his church on
Sunday, September 16.
The other national top 100 pledge the Horns got recently was from LB Garnet
Smith, 6-3, 221, 4.54, of Arlington Lamar,  who first committed to Oklahoma
Monday, Sept. 17, then switched to Texas two days later and said he is solid
for the Longhorns.
The Longhorns are close to getting a commitment from Tyler DB Matthew Melton,
5-11, 190, 4.43, who is being highly recruited because he is big enoough to
play safety, fast enough to play corner, and, unlike many of the state's
other top DBs, is a full qualifier.
Tyler is 4-0 this season and is one of the state's top teams. Melton missed
one game with a sprained ankle, but he had 21 tackles and one interception in
the other two games prior to their game Saturday.
"I'm very close to committing to Texas," he said. "I'll probably do it in the
next month."
Pittman chose Texas over LSU at the end, but he was recruited by top schools
from all over the country.
He is the brother of Cole Pittman, the sophomore Longhorn DT who was killed
in a vehicle accident in February while returning to Texas for spring
football practice.
I went to Lufkin Friday night to watch Evangel play Lufkin, one of the top
teams in Texas. In last week's USA Today rankings, Lufkin, led by QB Reggie
McNeal, an A&M pledge, was rated No 4 in the country, and Evangel, led by
sophomore QB John David Booty, 6-3, 185, 4.5, and Pittman, was rated No. 20.
Evangel defeated Lufkin, 33-17, primarily because of Booty's throwing and a
stout defense led by Pittman. But Booty isn't the only stud sophomore on the
Evangel team.
DE Chris Bowers, 6-2, 230, 4.6, is a budding star on the side opposite
Pittman.
Lufkin ran away from Pittman's right DE spot all night, but he still had, by
my count, a sack, three QB pressures and eight tackles.
McNeal is a 10.3 sprinter, but Pittman twice came from the  far side to run
him out of bounds. He has outstanding speed and quickness and is on many
national top 100 teams.
Lufkin has an underclassman who will be a big man in recruiting circles next
year. He is TE-WR-QB Terrance Parks, 6-4, 220, 4.6. With McNeal struggling
early in the game, he moved to QB and brought Lufkin back from a 19-0
deficit. He, not McNeal, was named the Panthers' offensive player of the game.
Texas also is trying to sign Jonathan Wade, a 5-11, 170-pound cornerback at
Evangel. He has committed to Tennessee, but took an official visit to Texas
the weekend of the North Carolina game. He is the top sprinter in Louisiana.
With a 1,200-plus SAT, Smith said UT's academic superiority over OU was a big
factor.
Despite his early commitment to OU, Smith said. "I'm sure now. I am solid on
this. I definitely know where I want to go and it is Texas."
Smith said, "I want to go where I will be happy, and I feel like I will be
happy in Austin. The Texas people have said nothing but nice things to me,
even when I was committed to Oklahoma, but the OU people haven't been that
nice."
He also said he had never realized how much difference there is in the two
schools academically until he looked at an academic rating of colleges.
"Oklahoma just can't compare to Texas academically," he said.
Smith  said his head coach and several of his assistant coaches are Oklahoma
graduates and have been "pushing me to go to Oklahoma."
Smith is the closest thing out there this year to sensational UT freshman LB
Derrick Johnson.
If Smith's commitment holds up, look for Johnson and Smith to be outstanding
outside backers, one on the weakside and one on the strongside, for years to
come at UT.

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Game Quotes . .
"We had some unfortunate things happen to us right at the end of the first
half, and then we had the good drive to start the second half and fumbled
inside the Texas' 25 when we had a chance to retake the lead. We had our
chances, but we weren't able to execute."
- Houston head coach Dana Dimel
* * * *
"Gosh, we really missed a lot of tackles. We just didn't play well at all on
defense. I may have them out there practicing tomorrow (Sunday). That's how
concerned I am. We have to tackle better than that to do the things we want
to do this year."
- Texas defensive coordinator Carl Reese
* * * *
"Houston played some good football early in the game, but we just had to keep
fighting. On the long one, I just faked in and cut outside and I was wide
open and Chris (Simms) dropped it right in there."
- UT WR B. J. Johnson, who had a 92-yard TD reception and 124 yards on four
catches
* * * *
"I got some great blocking and I just tried to run hard on every carry. It
felt great to go over 100 yards. I felt like we were able to pound on them
and wear them down in the second half. We also were able to get a lot of
balance on offense."
- Longhorn RB Ivan Williams, who became the first UT back to gain 100 yards
rushing this year with 19 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown
* * * *
"Those 10 points in the last eight seconds of the first half really gave us a
lift. I love to play smash-mouth football with a big back and that's whaqt we
had tonight with Ivan (Williams)."
- Texas' senior OT Mike Williams
* * * *
"We had to fight through a lot of adversity in the first half, but we took
the lead and the momentum back when we scored twice at the end of the first
half. I think this was the best offensive game we've had this year."
- UT QB Chris Simms, who passed for 311 yards and three touchdowns
* * * *
"Their receivers made some phenomenal catches and they all have some great
moves to go with their speed. We busted some coverages, and you can't do that
and survive against receivers like Texas has."
- Houston CB Jason Parker
* * * *
"That was a crucial mistake on my part. I was trying to get through the pile
and get the first down and somebody's helmet hit the ball and it popped out.
We hit some big plays on their defense, but they came up with a big hit on
that one."
- Cougar QB Kelly Robertson, talking about losing  the ball on a fourth-down
plunge inside the Texas' 30 on Houston's last chance to take the lead again

Texas-Houston Statistics
Scoring Summary
Texas           10     10       13      20  -     53
Houston      7        7         0      12   -     26

UT - Mangum 41 FG 9:52 1Q (14  plays, 56 yds)
UT - Johnson 92 pass from Simms (Mangum kick) 7:47 1Q (1 play, 92 yds)
UH - Reynolds 38 pass from Robertson (Patterson kick) 6:06 1Q (5 plays, 60
yds)
UH - Thompson 3 pass from Robertson (Patterson kick) 1:19 2Q (12 plays, 47
yds)
UT - Jeffery 17 pass from Simms (Mangum  kick) 0:08 2Q (8 plays, 60 yds)
UT - Mangum 47 FG 0:00 2Q (1 play, 0 yds)
UT - Williams 1 run (run failed) 8:50 3Q (7 plays, 73 yds)
UT - Williams 1 run (Mangum kick) 1:59 3Q (7 plays, 44 yds)
UT - Edwards 1 pass from Simms (Mangum kick) 14:55 4Q (4 plays, 25 yds)
UH - Middleton 80 pass from Robertson (kick failed) 9:53 4Q (3 plays, 80 yds)
UT - Scaife 3 pass from Applewhite (Mangum kick) 5:21 4Q (3 plays, 14 yds)
UH - Reynolds 2 run (pass failed) 3:56 4Q (4 plays 75 yds)
UT - Benson 2 run (kick failed) 0:43 4Q (5 plays, 43 yds)
        Official Attendance: 31,784

Team Statistics

                        Texas           Houston
First Downs           27             17
Rushing           11               5
Passing           14             11
Penalty             2              1
Rushing Attempts, Net Yards         39-193           30-68
Net Yards Passing        341            364
Passes Comp., Att., Int.                22-37-1         20-33-1
Total Plays, Offense                 76-534      63-432
Avg. Gain per Play                 7.0         6.9
Fumbles Lost                    1 of  3      2 of 2
Penalties, Yards                      6-58        9-84
Punts, Avg.                  2-30.5      3-36.3
Time of Possession      32:06        27:54
Third-Down Conversions              9 of  13        4 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversions     0 of  0      1 of 3
Sacks by Team, Yds Lost      3-22         2-9

Individual Statistics

Texas
Rushing - Williams 19-103, 2 TDs; Benson 14-74, 1 TD; Jeffery 1-17; Ike 1-2;
Robin 1-0; Simms 3-minus 3.
Passing -  Simms 20-35, 311 yds, 3 TD, 1 Int.; Applewhite 2-2, 30 yds, 1 TD,
0 Int.
Receiving - B. J. Johnson 4-124, 1 TD; R. Williams 4-49; Scaife 5-59, 1 TD;
Robin 2-38; Jeffery 2-37, 1 TD; Thomas 1-15; Edwards 1-1, 1 TD.

Houston
Rushing -  Reynolds 15-62, 1 TD; Bell 2-15; Ross 1-6; K. Robertson 6-9; Penn
5-6; C. Robertson 1-3.
Passing - K. Robertson 20-33, 364 yds, 3 TD, 1 Int
Receiving - Middleton 3-117, 1 TD; Reynolds 3-49, 1 TD; B. Robertson 2-43; G.
Thompson 2-27, 1 TD; Penn 2-17; Ross 1-7; Bell 1-4.

Tackles by Texas Players, Unasst., Asst., Total
Brooks 6-5-11; Jammer 4-3-7; D. Johnson 4-2-6; Redding 2-4-6; T. Jones 3-2-5;
Thornton 3-2-5; Babers 3-1-4; Tubbs 0-4-4; Trahan 2-1-3; Lewis 1-2-3; Rawls
0-3-3; Lee 1-1-2; Vasher 0-2-2; Boyd 1-0-1; J. Anderson 1-0-1; Stigall 1-0-1;
Collier 1-0-1; Hunt 0-1-1; Gordon 0-1-1; Pearson 0-1-1; Doane 0-1-1; Ungar
0-1-1; Hedgecock 0-1-1; Ike 0-1-1; S. Thomas 0-1-1; Doiron 0-1-1; Wilkins
0-1-1.
Tackles for Losses:  T. Jones 2-minus 2; D. Johnson 1-minus 5; Redding
1-minus 3; Wilkins 1-minus 1.
Sacks: Thornton 2-minus 14; Lee 1-minus 8.

Scouting Texas Tech

The Longhorns open Big 12 play Saturday at 6 p.m. in Austin against a
dangerous Texas Tech team that is 2-0 after opening with a 42-30 triumph over
News Mexico  and then hammering North Texas, 42-14, Saturday.
QB Kliff Kingsbury is the Big 12's leading passer with 65 completions in 95
attemps (68.4%) for 650 yards, an average of 325 per game. He has thrown 5 TD
passes with two interceptions.
UT QB Chris Simms has completed 54 of 103 passes (52.4%) for 660 yards, an
average of 220 a game. He has had five touchdown passes and allowed one
interception.
The Raiders also have a better running game than they did last year, with TB
Ricky Williams averaging 4.5 yards a carry and 74.5 yards per game.
  Williams also is Kingsbury's favorite target, leading the Big 12 with an
average of 10 receptions and 95 yards per game receiving.
Texas coach Mack Brown said the Longhorn defense has to put pressure on
Kingsbury and has to tackle better than it did against Houston.
At 5-8 and 195 pounds and with blazing speed and outstanding moves, Williams
has proven he is a difficult man to corral. How the UT defense copes with his
dual threat will be a major key in determing who wins the game.
Kingsbury's other favorite target is speedy redshirt freshman Nehemia Glover,
who is averaging 5.5 catches for 63.5 yards per game.
Tech head coach Mike Leach loves the short passing game. He was the offensive
coordinator at Oklahoma in 1999 before taking the Tech job, so the Longhorns'
next two opponents run very similar offenses.
How the Longhorns defend against Tech will provide an advance hint about how
they will do against the Sooners.
To win, the Longhorns must:
1. Tackle much better than against Houston.
2. Defend against misdirection much better than they have all season.
3. Win or get a push in the turnover battle.
4. Be able to run and pass effectively.
The Raiders have only four returning starters on defense, but one of them is
strong safety Kevin Curtis, one of the Big 12's top players.

Here's how the teams compare statistically (national rank in parenthesis):
Texas                       Texas Tech
Offense
(33)   174.3         Rushing Avg.        (101)   91.5
(39)   245.4         Passing Avg.             7) 325
(53)   419.7        Total Off. Avg.        (27) 416.5
(8)      46      Scoring Avg           (10)   42

Defense
(39)   110.7         Rushing Avg.          (87) 185
(37)   181       Passing Avg.            (9) 123.5
(33)   291.7        Total Def. Avg.        (45) 308.5
(31)     15.7    Opp. Scoring Avg          (64)   22