Jerry Scarbrough's True Orange
The Internet Newsletter and E-Mail Service for the True Texas Longhorn
Faithful

Volume 10, No. 22, September 11, 2000

Applewhite, Freshmen Receivers Lead Horns
To 52-10 Opening Win; UT No. 5 in AP Poll

The Longhorns opened their season at home Saturday by falling behind a
45-point underdog Louisiana-Lafayette team, but Major Applewhite came off the
bench to spark a 31-point second quarter that paved the way for a 52-10
victory and a No. 5 ranking in the latest Associated Press Poll.
Heralded sophomore Chris Simms got the starting nod at quarterback over
Applewhite, who underwent off-season knee surgery after earning Big 12
Offensive Player of the Year honors in 1999.
But Simms had a rocky start, and when his sideline pass was intercepted and
returned for a touchdown that gave the Ragin' Cajuns a shocking 10-0 lead
with 1:27 left in the first quarter, the coaches turned to Applewhite to try
to pump some life into the dormant Longhorn offense.
And he delivered big time. He led the Longhorns to seven straight scores )
six touchdowns and a field goal ) before retiring for the day and letting
Simms handle the mop-up duties.
For the day, Applewhite was 18 of 26 for 315 yards and four touchdowns ) and
that was in less than two quarters. He came in for the final 1:27 of the
first quarter, played all the second quarter and then left for keeps just
4:51 deep into the third quarter with the Longhorns on top, 45-10.
Coach Mack Brown still says the team has two first-team quarterbacks and he
still says he won't name a starter for the Stanford game, but there is little
doubt that the quarterback controversy is over and Applewhite is the starting
quarterback once again.
These coaches grade on performance and his scoring percentage Saturday was
perfect ) seven possessions, seven scores that turned a 10-0 hole into a
45-10 romp when he left the game.
True freshmen wide receiver Roy Williams also had a big day. He caught six
passes for 105 yards, including a super one-handed grab for 40 yards to get
the Longhorns off their two-yard line.
Heading into this game, the Longhorns had four big questions, and three of
them got positive answers.
Unfortunately, the one that didn't get the positive answer was the key one.
Here are the questions, and the answers, at least for the short term:
1. Will the offensive line do a better job of blocking?
This is the one that didn't get the positive answer. It actually did a good
job of pass protecting, but the Longhorns couldn't run the football against a
bad team that has small defensive linemen.
Unless the line improves and the Horns can run with some success, the good
defensive linemen will do just what our defensive linemen do against the
Oklahoma's of the world, which is pin their ears back and harass the
quarterback on every play.
2. Will those young wide receivers be able to pick up the slack for Kwame
Cavil, Ryan Nunez and Jeremy Jones, last year's big three?
Yes! Yes! Yes! Williams, B. J. Johnson and Sloan Thomas, the three heralded
true freshmen, combined to catch 11 passes for 182 yards, and another gjuy
seeing his first action, redshirt freshman Artie Ellis, tacked on four more
catches for 38 more yards and two touchdowns. As Darrell Royal used to say,
"if a dog will bite, he'll bite as a pup." These pups have big teeth and they
know how to use them.
3. Will the special teams be better?
They were Saturday. Brown said the kicking game "was the best since we've
been here," and that tells the story. Kris Stockton punted for a 48-yard
average, the kickoffs went team, and the Longhorn punt and kickoff returners
got some positive yardage.
4. Will the young defensive ends be able to fill in for four-year starter
Aaron Humphrey and Cedric Woodard, a three-starter, first at tackle, then at
end?
Sophomores Cole Pittman and Cory Redding, who was still bothered by a knee
sprain, and true freshman Kalen Thornton all played well, and junior Jermain
Anderson, who is swift but undersized, did a good job of rushing the passer.
This is a Longhorn team with a lot going for it in terms of talent, coaching
and a more favorable schedule, but the lack of a dependable running game
could prove fatal against a team that can pressure the quarterbacks.
Here, briefly, is how the game went:

FIRST QUARTER
With the temperature at 85 and rising, the Longhorns won the toss and
deferred The Cajuns ran the deep kickoff back to the 19, then drove 77 yards
in 15 plays, using up nearly half of the first quarter, before stalling at
the Longhorn 4 and settling for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 7:55
left. Simms, getting the start over Applewhite at quarterback, led the Horns
on a 40-yard drive that ended when Kris Stockton was wide on a 52-yard field
goal try. The Cajuns couldn't move and had to punt, but Simms' third-down
pass was picked off by Terrance Hunter at the UT 43 and he dashed in for the
score to give the 45-point underdog Cajuns a 10-0 lead with 1:27 left. Victor
Ike ran the kickoff back to the 46 and Applewhite came in and  hit TB Hodges
Mitchell for 17 yards, then found Williams twice, for 9 and 24 yards, to
reach the Cajun 4 as the quarter ended.

SECOND QUARTER
Mitchell darted over right tackle for four yards and the touchdown on the
first play of the quarter to get UT back in the game at 10-7. On the Horns'
remaining four possessions in the half, Applewhite swiftly moved them 80 and
98 yards for touchdowns, nine yards for a field goal and 28 yards for a
touchdown after a Joe Walker interception. That 31-point explosion put Texas
comfortably on top at 31-10 at intermission. In that decisive second quarter,
Texas had 290 yards offensively and Louisiana had 77.

THIRD QUARTER
Ivan Williams ran the kickoff back to the UT 45 and Applewhite took Texas on
two more quick scoring jaunts, first zipping 55 yards in five plays and then
going 58 yards in four plays for two more TDs to push score to 45-10 and give
him a perfect seven scores in seven tries. Simms relieved him at that point
and hit three straight passes to lead Texas to its final touchdown with 6:53
left in the quarter. Neither team threatened serious for the remainder of the
quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
The Longhorns went back to trying to run the ball in the final quarter,
without much success. The Cajuns did have one late drive that got to the
Texas 16 before stalling, but that was the last serious drive by either team.

True Orange Observations

It was feast or famine for the Longhorns in the running game. Here's the net
gain on each running play in chronological order:
0, 12, 0, 11, 5, 3, 0, 4, 1, 9, 1, minus 1, 0, 0,28, 7, 0, minus 4, 2, 7, 1,
minus 5, 4, 2.
That is the primary reason Texas had the ball only 21:19 and Louisiana had it
38:41.
Most of the successful runs were draw plays. There were very few times when
normal running plays made any yardage.
In a 52-10 romp past an overmatched opponent, this is no big deal. But it
could cost the team two or three games down the line unless the regular
running plays start being more productive on a consistent basis.


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Coach's Corner

Coach Mack Brown says the Longhorns had to quit trying to run the ball
Saturday because Louisiana-Lafayette had "guys lined up in  every gap and
they blitzed on every play."
He said he really wanted to establish a running game early, but it was much
more sensible to go to an all-out passing attack because of the defense the
Ragin' Cajuns were playing.
Brown said, " I was surprised Major (Applewhite) was able to play as well as
he did the first time back after knee surgery."
"Major played really well," he said. "The protection was great. The momentum
really changed when we put Major in, but we also changed our offense and
starting putting four wide receivers out on every play."
He said Applewhite and Chris Simms, who started the game and played the first
two series before giving way to Applewhite, "are both starting quarterbacks.
"Chris had the great spring and he had an outstanding fall, but it wasn't
that Major got beaten out. We just think we have two starting quarterbacks."
He also said, "You just as well not ask me about next week's starter because
I'm not going to say."
I didn't know who it would be in the opener, but I'm betting on Applewhite to
get the nod Saturday night in Palo Alto against the dangerous Stanford
Cardinal because of his outstanding relief duty.
Brown said he was pleasantly surprised with the  way his young receivers
performed. "It's been a long time since I've seen freshmen play with
composure like that," he said.
Roy Williams became the first UT freshman ever to pick up a 100-yard
receiving game in his first start. He grabbed six passes for 105 yards,
including a spectacular one-handed catch on a 40-yarder from Applewhite.
"Roy really played well," Brown said. "One of the catches he made was
phenomenal."
Two other true freshman wide receivers ) B. J. Johnson and Sloan Thomas )
also had outstanding debuts.
"B. J. made some great catches," Brown said, "and Sloan comes in, makes a
catch on the sideline, then makes two guys miss."
"I'm really pleased with the way the freshmen played," Brown said. "They kept
their poise and helped us win the game."
Artie Ellis, a redshirt freshman, also had a good day, catching four passes
for 38 yards, including two touchdowns.
Ellis was a smashing success during spring practice and was expected to make
a big impact this year because of his 6-4, 210-pound frame and good speed and
his ability to catch the ball in a crowd.
The four freshmen receivers accounted for 15 of the Longhorns' 25 receptions
and 220 of their 403 passing yards.
Little-used fifth-year senior Brandon Healy also made up for lost time, with
four catches, two of them for touchdowns, for a total of 88 yards.
Getting back to the quarterback duel, Brown said both players are handling
the situation well and "the team has confidence in both of them to get the
job done."
"We have to keep both of these quarterbacks upbeat," Brown said. "We'll need
both of them to accomplish the goals we have set."
He said he and offensive coordinator Greg Davis "talked to the guys long and
hard about playing two quarterbacks."
"We will always talk to the players about the quarterback situation before
anyone else," he said. "We're not going to throw one in or out because of a
fan poll."
At his Sunday press conference, Brown said he was very pleased with the
team's first-down efficiency, offensively and defensively, and was happy
with the special teams' play.
Looking at the lack of run production, he said, "When you score 52 points,
it's not important, but, for the season, it is important."
He said the Longhorns will work hard on improving their running game this
week. "We have to do a better job on running the football," he said.
This was the fourth straight game in which the Horns had less than 100 yards
rushing, but they lost the other three to end last season, so this time it
wasn't fatal.
Brown said Louisiana-Lafayette deserves a lot of credit for playing hard and
he said Cajun QB Derek Dyer "played really great."
"But I thought our team was focused," he said. "Louisiana had nothing to
lose, but he had a lot to lose and nothing to gain."
He said all aspects of the kicking game pleased him Saturday. "The kicking
game was the best since we've been here," he said.


15 Freshmen Play

Fifteen freshmen played in Saturday's opening game.
Eight of them were true freshmen and seven were redshirt freshmen.
The eight true freshmen were WRs Roy Williams, B. J. Johnson and Sloan
Thomas, TE Brock Edwards, DE Kalen Thornton, DT Stevie Lee, CB Nathan Vasher
and S Phillip Geiggar.
Williams, Johnson, Thornton and Lee played very early in the game.
The seven redshirt freshmen were WR Artie Ellis, RB Ivan Williams, FB Brett
Robin, OG Tillman Holloway, DT Marcus Tubbs, MLB Reed Boyd and S Dakarai
Pearson.
Holloway started due to weakened condition of Derrick Dockery, who was
hospitalized last week with an infected cyst.
Pearson also started because he is the nickel back and defensive coordinator
Carl Reese came out with a five-defensive-back formation to start the game.
Ellis and Boyd also saw a lot of early action.
Inexperience at wide receiver was expected to be a problem for the Longhorns
this season, but the trio of big, fast freshmen and Ellis combined Saturday
to show it as a team strength.
"Those guys don't play like freshmen," Applewhite said.


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Game Quotes . .

"We  went into our one-minute offense when we got down, 10-0, because we
wanted to force the tempo a little bit, It's all shotgun (formation) during
that time."
) Longhorn offensive coordinator Greg Davis
* * * *
"We played the dime (six defensive backs) about 80% of the time. They had
three wideouts and another wideout in the backfield most of the time."
) UT defensive coordinator Carl Reese
* * * *
"I don't care (who starts). It really doesn't bother me as long as we stay
undefeated and win the national championship. It was exciting to be back out
there. Our line did a great job. I only got hit one or two times. Roy
Williams is a phenomenal receiver. He's going to be great."
) Texas QB Major Applewhite
* * * *
"If I had known it was one on one, I could have kept on running and made an
even bigger play, but I thought there was a safety coming over and I wanted
to wrap it up before he got there. If I hadn't seen that imaginary guy, I
might have had a really long play."
) UT freshman WR Roy Williams, explaining his one-handed grab of a 40-yard 
pass to get the Longhorns started on a 98-yard scoring drive.
* * * *
"They were bringing their safeties and blitzing all the time, so we just went
to our passing game. Isn't that Roy Williams something? He looks like he's
been playing college football for years."
) Longhorn RB Hodges Mitchell
* * * *
"I was hungry to get out there. When I came out of that tunnel and saw all
those people, it really fired me up. I had fun out there and thought I didn't
do bad for a first game."
) Texas freshman WR B. J. Johnson
* * * *
"They just came out and played hard. We just had to gather oursevles. After a
couple of series, we got things together."
) UT All-American DT  Casey Hampton
* * * *
"We drove the ball well at the start, but we just weren't able to put it in
the end zone. On the other end, Major Applewhite was making good reads on his
completions. He really got them going."
) Louisiana QB Derrick Dyer
* * * *
"If we had played all four quarters like we did at the start of the game, it
would have been different."
) Cajun DB  Kyries Hebert
* * * *
"We started pretty strong, but then we got a little rattled out there. We
missed a few tackles and they made some great plays."
) Louisiana head coach Jerry Baldwin


Texas-Louisiana Statistics

Scoring by Quarters

Texas                       0         31        21           0     )     52
Louisiana-Lafayette     10        0          0           0      )     10

La - Bergeron 21 FG 7:55 1Q (77 yds, 15 plays)
La - Hunter 43 interception return (Bergeron kick) 1:27  1Q
UT - Mitchell 4 run (Stockton kick) 14:56 2Q (54 yds, 6 plays)
UT - Ike 1 run (Stockton kick) 10:55 2Q (80 yds, 4 plays)
UT - Healy 18 pass from Applewhite (Stockton kick) 5:36 2Q (98 ytds 5 plays)
UT - Stockton 39 FG 2:02 2Q (9 yds, 6 plays)
UT - Ellis 2 pass from Applewhite (Stockton kick) 0:19 2Q (28 yds, 5 plays)
UT - Healy 7 pass from Applewhite (Stockton kick) 13:33 3Q (55 yds, 5 plays)
UT - Ellis 10 pass from Applewhite (Stockton kick) 10:09 3Q (58 yds, 4 plays)
UT - Mitchell 13 pass from Simms (Stockton kick) 6:53 3Q (50 yds, 4 plays)

Official Attendance: 80,017

Team Statistics

Texas         Louisiana
First Downs                         25          19
Rushing                                 4             4
Passing                             18          11
Penalty                                 3             4
Rushing Attempts, Yards                   23-87           42-68
Net Yards Passing                   403       183
Passes Comp., Att., Int.                25-40-1        17-34-2
Total Plays, Offense                     63-490     76-251
Avg. Gain per Play                      7.8        3.3
Fumbles Lost                                1 of 1       0 of 1
Penalties, Yards                             8-55        10-57
Punts, Avg.                                 2-48        8-38.2
Time of Possession                  38:41        21:19
Third-Down Conversions                  2 of 19     1 of 15
Fourth-Down Conversions             1 of  2      1 of 3
Sacks by Team, Yds Lost             3-25           0-0

Individual Statistics

Texas
Rushing -  Ike 6-42; Mitchell 8-31, 1 TD; Simms 1-7; I. Williams 4-4; Hayter
3-3; Applewhite 1-0.
Passing -  Applewhite 18-26, 315 yds, 4 TD, 0 Int.; Simms 7-14, 88  yds, 0
TD, 1 Int.
Receiving - R. Williams  6-105; Healy 4-88, 2 TDs; B. J. Johnson 4-57;
Flowers  3-53; Ellis 4-38, 2 TDs; Mitchell 2-30, 1 TD; Thomas 1-20; M. Jones
1-12.

Louisiana-Lafayette
Rushing - Dyer 13-30; Coleman 13-25; Bernard 9-25; Miller 1-1; Brister
5-minus 3; Van Cleave 1-minus 10.
Passing - Dyer 11-22, 121 yds, 0 TD, 2 Int.; Van Cleave 6-12, 62 yds, 0 TD, 0
Int.
Receiving - Wilridge 3-45; C. Scott 3-28; D. Williams 3-24; Bernard 2-23;
George 1-21; Coleman 1-15; Brister 2-7; T. Miller 1-7; B. Jones 1-5.

Tackles by Texas Players, Unasst., Asst., Total
Lewis 3-5-8; Jackson 5-2-7; Rawls 2-5-7; Rogers 4-2-6; Hampton 2-4-6; G.
Brown 4-1-5; Trahan 4-0-4; Pittman 3-1-4; Pearson 2-2-4; Boyd 1-3-4; Gordon
2-1-3; Brooks 2-1-3; McConathy 0-3-3; Babers 2-0-2; Jammer 2-0-2; McClintock
1-1-2; Vasher 1-1-2; Redding 1-1-2; Lee 1-1-2; McKay 1-0-1; Anderson 1-0-1;
Hill 1-0-1;  Ungar 0-1-1.

Tackles for Losses:  Vasher 1-minus 8; Rogers 2-minus 5; Pittman 1-minus 2;
McKay 1-minus 1; McClintock 1-minus 1; McConathy 1-minus 1; Lewis 1-minus 1.

Sacks: Gordon 1-minus 10; Hampton 1-minus 8; Pearson 1-minus 7.


Scouting Stanford

The Longhorns face their first major test Saturday night when they play
defending Pac 10 champion Stanford in Palo Alto.
The game will start at 9:15 Texas time and will be televised by the Fox
Network.
Texas clobbered Stanford, 69-17, last year in Austin, and the Cardinal will
be trying to turn the tables this year.
Stanford went 8-4 overall last season and won the Pac 10 with a 7-1 record.
But all four of the seniors they lost on offense were first-team All-Pac-10
players. They included QB Todd Husak and WR Troy Walters, the league's
all-time leading receiver, plus two veteran offensive linemen
Six defensive starters return from last year, including four linemen. But
only one linebacker and one defensive back who started a year ago are on hand.
Stanford opened the season with a 24-10 victory over Washington State, and
the Cardinal defense did not allow an offensive touchdown, but then the
Cardinal fell to San Jose State, 40-27, Saturday night.
San Jose State beat Stanford with a powerful running game. Spartan TB Deonce
Whitaker gained 254 yards on 21 carries, scoring on runs of 5 and 65 yards
and setting up two other TDs with long runs.
Stanford QB Randy Fasani threw for 361 yards and four touchdowns in the
offensive slugfest.
If the Longhorns are going to have a running game anytime soon, this will be
their best chance to do it.
Texas probably will be at least a 10-point favorite, but this could be a
dangerous game unless the Longhorns tackle better than they did last week and
force a few turnovers.
The Horns also need to get their running game going or it will be one of
those four-hour, 100-pass shootouts.
Here are the three keys to victory, in my opinion:
1. Win the rushing battle. That doesn't sound like a big order against the
pass-happy Cardinal, but the Longhorns haven't had a 100-yard rushing game in
their last four outings.
2. Put a lot of pressure on Fasani and do a good job of protecting the Texas
quarterbacks.
3. Take care of the ball. Texas needs to win the turnover battle.
I think this is a dangerous road trip, but I'll go out on a limb and pick the
Longhorns to win by a 42-28 score. I think Texas will pressure Fasani and
take care of the ball. Hopefully, the Horns can run the ball, too, but two
out of three should be good enough.

Big 12 Roundup

Texas plays at Stanford, Colorado hosts Washington and Iowa State visits Iowa
in the top games involving Big 12 Conference teams this weekend.
Nebraska survived a major scare at Notre Dame last week. Two touchdowns on
kick returns almost carried the Irish to victory, but Nebraska rallied for a
27-24 victory in overtime. In the only other big intersectional game,
Colorado fell to USC, 17-14.

BIG 12 STANDINGS

SOUTHERN DIVISION
Conference                  Season
W   L  PF    PA     Pct.        W   L    PF     PA     Pct.
Texas Tech  0    0  000   000    .000     3    0     75     26     1.000
Oklahoma        0    0  000   000    .000     2    0   100     21     1.000
Texas           0    0  000   000    .000     1    0     52     10     1.000
Okla State      0    0  000   000    .000     1    0    36      26    1.000
Baylor          0    0  000   000    .000     1    0     20       7     1.000
Texas A&M       0    0   000  000    .000     1    1     61     27      .500

NORTHERN DIVISION
Conference                  Season
W   L  PF     PA      Pct.          W    L          PF    PA
Pct.
Nebraska        0    0  000   000      .000     2     0     76    37   1.000
Kansas State    0    0  000   000      .000     2     0     81     17   1.000
Iowa State      0    0  000   000      .000     2     0     62     37   1.000
Missouri        0    0  000   000      .000     1     1     59     82    .500
Kansas          0    0  000   000      .000     0     1     17      31    .000
Colorado        0    0  000   000      .000     0     2     38      45    .000

Last Week's Results
Texas 52, Louisiana-Lafayette 10
Texas A&M 51, Wyoming 3
Texas Tech 13, North Texas 7
Oklahoma 45, Arkansas State 7
Oklahoma State 36, Tulsa 26
Nebraska 27, Notre Dame 24 (overtime)
Southern California 17, Colorado 14
Iowa State 37, UNLV 10
Clemson 62, Missouri 9

This Week's Games
Texas at Stanford, 9:15 p.m.
Texas-El Paso at Texas A&M, 7 p.m.
Minnesota at Baylor, 11:30 a.m.
Louisiana-Lafayette at Texas Tech, 6 p.m.
Southwest Texas State at Oklahoma State, 7 p.m.
Ball State at Kansas State, 6:10 p.m.
Iowa State at Iowa, 11:10 a.m.
Washington  at Colorado, 2:30 p.m.
Alabama-Birmingham at Kansas, 6 p.m.
Michigan State at Missouri, 6 p.m.

2000 Longhorn Schedule, Record (1-0)
Texas  Opp.
Sept. 9     Louisiana-Lafayette   52    10
Sept 16    at Stanford
Sept 23    Houston
Sept 18    Rice
Sept 30    Oklahoma State
Oct. 7       Oklahoma (Dallas)
Oct. 14    at Colorado
Oct. 21    Missouri
Oct. 28    Baylor
Nov. 4      at Texas Tech
Nov. 11    at Kansas
Nov. 24    Texas A&M

Scoring by Quarters
Texas          0        31    21        0   -   52
Opponents     10       0       0        0   -   10