Jerry Scarbrough's True Orange
The Internet Newsletter for the True Texas Longhorn Faithful

Volume 10, Number 25, October 2, 2000

Part 1 of 2 Parts

Longhorns Find Running Game Just in Time
To Maul OSU in Big 12 Opener; OU Next Foe

The Longhorns ran over, around and through the Oklahoma State Cowboys and
their No. 1-rated rushing defense Saturday en route to a 42-7 victory before
a sellout crowd in Austin.
The Cowboys, while they hadn't played a good rushing team in their first
three games, had allowed only 91 net yards rushing all season and they really
do have a pretty salty front seven.
Led by sophomore Kenny Hayter's 122 yards, the Longhorns had 205 net yards
rushing. It was the first time Texas has has 100 net rushing yards in a game
since the 58-7 thumping of Texas Tech last season.
In the six games they played between Texas Tech and Oklahoma State when they
couldn't reach the century mark in rushing, it's no coincidence that they won
just twice.
But they utilized a new gap-blocking technique  to combat the Cowboys'
stunting defense, and it worked to near perfection because Hayter, who was a
little used third-team tailback, turned a lot of little holes into big ones
with his hard running.
While the rebirth of the running game was the big overall story, it didn't
happen until the second half and UT had a shaky 10-7 lead at that point.
Texas still might have lost the game without three crucial earlier
developments )  a huge passing play, a great defensive stand after still
another special teams goof and a penalty against the Cowboys that wiped out a
potentially game-turning interception.
The huge passing play, of course, was Major Applewhite's 96-yard pass-and-run
connection with sensational freshman WR Roy Williams six minutes deep into
the second half
The Horns were holding a fragile 10-7 lead at the time, they were facing a
third-and-14 and they had already had so many problems with  their punting
team that UT fans everywhere were simply hoping for a miracle first down.
After all, coaches everywhere say the first five minutes of the second half
is the most crucial period in a tight game, and the first five minutes had
been all Oklahoma State. The Longhorns hadn't even made a first down since
the intermission.
But they got a lot more than that. Williams got past the Cowboy cornerback
who was covering him and Applewhite looked left and drew the safety back
toward the middle.
When he finally looked to the right and heaved the ball, the only question
was whether Williams could catch up to it because there are few people in
college football who can catch the fleet freshman.
He did, catching it on his fingertips and racing untouched the rest of the
way. That 96-yard play gave Texas a 17-7 lead and it was all downhill after
that for the Longhorns.
But that play was a gamebreaker only because the Longhorn defense stopped the
Cowboys cold early in the second quarter when a fake punt lost yardage and
put OSU in possession at the UT 38, and because an interception of a Chris
Simms' pass and a long runback inside the UT 10 was negated by a personal
foul penalty against the Cowboys.
The defensive stand came on the series after a blocked UT punt set up OSU's
only touchdown. The Cowboys were leading, 7-3, and the Longhorns, at that
point, hadn't generated enough offense to indicate they could fall farther
behind.
The disallowed interception was a possible 10-point swing because OSU might
have scored with a first-and-goal inside the UT 10. Instead, the Horns kept
the ball and continued a drive that ended in the field goal that opened the
scoring.

Here, briefly, is how the game went:

FIRST QUARTER
Neither team threatened early, but the Horns dodged a bullet on their second
possession. They started in good field possession, but Simms threw an
interception that was run back inside the UT 10 before a personal foul
against OSU negated the play and gave Texas a first down at the OSU 29. Texas
couldn't move and Stockton kicked a 45-yard field goal to put the Horns
ahead, 3-0, with 7:00 left. OSU TB Reggie White broke loose for 69 yards to
the UT 11 on the Cowboys' next possession, but the UT defense held and the
Cowboys missed a chip-shot field goal try. Applewhite came in at QB for
Texas. UT led, 3-0, at the end of the quarter, but the Longhorns had only one
first down ) on the penalty that negated the long interception return ) and
just 30 yards of total offense compared to 100 for OSU.

SECOND QUARTER
The UT defense stopped OSU and forced a punt. With Applewhite still in at
QB, sophomore RB Kenny Hayter got a first down on two tough runs, then senior
TB Hodges Mitchell took a quick pitch around left end for 18 yards. But
Applewhite was sacked and his third-down pass to freshman WR B. J. Johnson
was dropped. That was unfortunate because it forced Stockton to punt, the
snap was high, a defender got loose up the middle and the kick was blocked.
Stockton covered it at the UT 30, and OSU's White scored in two plays,
galloping 21 yard to the 9, then bursting up the middle untouched for the
score to put OSU ahead, 7-3, with  9:59 left. The next UT drive also came up
short, but, facing fourth and 1 at their own 40, the Horns went with a fake
punt. It was a disaster and Stockton was tackled for a two-yard loss. But the
strong UT defense yielded only two yards in three plays and got the ball back
for the offense. On his third try, Applewhite got the Longhorns into the end
zone, driving 80 yards in seven plays. Mitchell got the TD on a 3-yard run,
but the big plays were Applewhite's passes of 15 yards to WR Montrell
Flowers, 14 yards on third-and-9 to Johnson and 36 yards to the 3 to
Williams. Stockton's kick gave Texas a 10-7 lead with 4:23 left. OSU got
close enough to try a field goal as time expired, but Ervis Hill blocked it.
UT outgained OSU, 140 to 80, in the period.

THIRD QUARTER
A combination of mishaps, including a sack and a half-the-distance penalty,
left the Longhorns facing a third and 14 from their own 4. Visions of another
punting adventure were etched into the brains of Longhorns everywhere, but
Applewhite dropped back and found Williams breaking open between double
coverage just past midfield. He heaved it and the swift freshman caught it on
his fingertips and raced untouched into the end zone to complete a 96-yard
touchdown play. Stockton's kick put UT ahead, 17-7, with 9:14 left. Lindsay
and White misfired on a handoff two plays later and  UT LB De'Andre Lewis
recovered for Texas at the 13. Hayter powered to the 1 to set up a
first-and-goal. He tried to go over the top, but the Cowboys stopped him,
then the Horns were penalized back to the 6 for a false start. Hayter got
three yards to the 3 off right tackle, but Applewhite's pass on third down
was knocked down and Stockton's 20-yard field goal gave Texas a 20-7 lead
with 6:03 left. Applewhite hit redshirt freshman WR Artie Ellis for 21 yards
and another TD with 2:11 left. A two-point conversion try failed, leaving UP
on top, 26-7, heading into the final period.

FOURTH QUARTER
With Hayter making good gains and Applewhite hitting key passes, the
Longhorns drove 58 yards to set up a 36-yard Stockton FG and moved 42 yards
for a touchdown, with Applewhite connecting with Flowers for the final 2
yards, Ivan Williams ran 21 yards for the final score with 13 seconds left.

900 Number Updated Daily

I update my 900 number daily with football and football recruiting news. The
number is 1-900-288-8839. It costs $1.59 a minute. You must be 18 to call.

Coach's Corner

Coach Mack Brown said Sunday the Longhorn offense had its best day of the
season against Oklahoma State, the defense did its usual fine job and the
special teams, with one notable exception, were outstanding.
"After reviewing the film, it's clear that it was the best performance we've
had offensively," he said. "We scored 42 points and we had no turnovers. The
offensive line had its best performance."
"We were pleased with not only the offensive line, but Roy Williams made some
great blocks, too, and Kenny Hayter made some tough runs."
He also said junior QB Major Applewhite, who underwent off-season knee
surgery, "played like the Major of old. He made very, very few mistakes."
The Major of old was very good. He was the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the
Year as a redshirt freshman in 1998 and the Co-Offensive Player of the Year
as a sophomore in 1999.
Applewhite and sophomore Chris Simms have been dividing time at QB, and Simms
started the OSU game, but gave way to Applewhite late in the first quarter.
Applewhite completed 15 of 28 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns.
Simms, who returned late in the game, completed 3 of 5 passes for 8 yards.
Brown said the defense "continues to swarm and play really well. Casey
Hampton is amazing and D. D. Lewis had an outstanding day. Quentin Jammer and
Rod Babers played really well. We had another blocked kick. that's our 12th
in 30 games here. I thought it was Tyrone Jones, but it was Ervis Hill who
blocked the field goal. It's interesting that our two best kick blockers are
both from Texas City."
The special teams played well, Brown said, except for having another punt
blocked, and he said that is something that simply has to be fixed.
"The two blocked punts this year have been in different areas," he said, "but
we have to get it fixed. We can't keep getting punts blocked."
He said the UT-OU game was such a big game 15 or 20 years ago "that the
feeling was that the team that won this game had a chance to win the national
championship." He said he and OU coach Bob Stoops "are trying to get back to
that."
INJURY UPDATE: Brown said SS Lee Jackson suited out against Oklahoma State
and should be ready to play against Oklahoma. He said DT Shaun Rogers
(sprained ankle) is questionable for the OU game. "We should know more about
Shaun Tuesday," he said. LB O. J. McClintock also missed the OSU game
(bruised knee), but he should be back this week.
BLOCKING, QUARTERBACK NOTES: The big change in the UT running game was
basically one new play - a counter with an off side guard pulling and the
linemen blocking down on the play side. The QB also handed off at least part
of the time on one side and the back veered to the other side for a little
bit of misdirection. . . Major Applewhite's knee has been one of he major (no
pun intended) reasons the coaches have tried to use Chris Simms so much in
the early games. Applewhite still isn't 100%, but he's getting closer every
week. In fact, he looked pretty close to 100% Saturday. That's just in time
because the Sooners look pretty potent and the Horns need to have two top
quarterbacks ready to go.

Baseball Recruiting Going Great

The UT  baseball coaches got a commitment last week from right-handed pitcher
Donald Lavinski, 6-4, 205, of Class AA state champion Weimar, giving them
pledges from two of the state's big three pitching recruits. They also got a
pledge from catcher Curtis Thigpen, 6-0, 175, of Forney.
Round Rock's Joey Guajardo, another right-hander, committed several months
ago. The third member of the big three pitching group is David Purcey, 6-5,
230, a left-hander from Dallas Trinity Christian. He is considering Texas,
A&M and OU.
Purcey was 21-3 at Trinity Christian the last two years and his team won
back-to-back state TAPPS' championships. He also helped his team win a state
TAPPS' title in basketball last year. He had 123 strikeouts in 75 1/3 innings
last year.
Lavinski was 14-1 last year with an outstanding 0.70 ERA. His fast ball has
been clocked as high as 93 miles per hour and he is consistently in the 90
mph range. He also has great command of a sinking fast ball and a change up.
He struck out 170 batters in 95 innings last year, while issuing about 25
walks and giving up about 40 hits.
He said he also had scholarship offers from Texas A&M, Baylor, Rice, Houston
and Oklahoma State.
Thigpen is an outstanding defensive catcher, but he also wields a potent bat,
bashing opposing pitchers for a .515 batting average last season.
He  also considered Alabama, Baylor and A&M.
Lavinski, Thigpen and Pursey all visited Texas the September 23 weekend,
along with shortstop Michael Holloman, 6-0, 165, of Dallas Jesuit.
Holloman said he is considering Texas and Stanford. He visited Texas earlier
and took his official trip to Stanford last weekend.

Horns Rise in Polls

The Longhorns are No. 11 in this week's Associated Press poll and No. 10 in
the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Oklahoma, this week's opponent, is No. 10 in
the AP poll and No. 12 in the coaches poll. UT is a 3-point favorite.

Basketball Stars Visit

Kala Bowers, 6-2, of Woodward, Okla., a top national recruit in girls
basketball, took her official visit to Texas last weekend.
She is considering Texas, Colorado, Illinois and Kansas State, and says Texas
and Colorado are her big two.
Heather Schreiber, a versatile 6-2 forward from Windthorst and CoCo Reed, a
5-11 forward from Jersey Village, also came to Austin last weekend. Both
committed to the Longhorns earlier.
Three top juniors also were in Austin on unofficial visits. They are  5-9
point guard Nina Norman of Jersey Village, 5-10 shooting guard Lindsay
Harding of Cypress Fairbanks and 6-1 forward Nichelle Roberts of Spring
Westfield.
Schrieber and Bowers are both rated as top 25 national recruits, and Norman
will be one of the nation's top point guard recruits next season.
Reed and Roberts play on the same high school team and they also play on the
same AAU team, along with Harding.

It's a Great Time to Subscribe
To The Fax/E-Mail Service
I'll Have Frequent Reports on Recruiting And Practice Throughout the Season
! Get Instant Updates for Pennies a Day !
Save As An E-Mail Subscriber !
The True Orange Fax/E-Mail Service is the way to keep up with Longhorn
football and Longhorn recruiting ) instantly. Follow Mack Brown and the
Longhorns with frequent fax updates. There are at least 99 timely faxes a
year, primarily about football and football recruiting.  To  subscribe, send
your check to True Orange, Box 26530, Austin, Texas 78755, and copy or clip
the coupon below and fill in the blanks. If you want it mailed, or by E-Mail,
just include the right numbers.

o I'm enclosing $99 for the 99-fax package for the next year
o I'm enclosing $130 (a $14 saving) to renew my subscription to True Orange
and to subscribe to the 99 faxes.
o I'm enclosing $79 for the 99-fax package for the next year by E-Mail (a $20
saving)
o Here's  $110 to renew my subscription to True Orange and to subscribe to
the 99 faxes by E-Mail (a $31 saving)
o Here's  $99 to subscribe to True Orange by E-Mail and to subscribe to the
99 faxes by E-Mail (a $42 saving)

Name

Fax No.
(or E-Mail or mailing address)

Game Quotes . .

"I was really pleased today. Obviously, we were able to stay two-dimensional, 
and that's what you always want to do. The offensive line play was tremendous
and Kenny Hayter gave us a spark. He broke some tackles. It brings an
excitement to you when a back breaks tackles."
) Longhorn offensive coordinator Greg Davis
* * * *
"We really had to raise our level of play in the middle with Shaun (Rogers)
and Stevie (Lee) out with injuiries. It all starts up front, and we got
pretty good play up front today."
) UT defensive coordinator Carl Reese
* * * *
"We came out and played with a lot of emotion. We were able to get some good
hits on the quarterback. When you get enough hits, the quarterback eventually
will start looking around and ducking."
) Texas defensive tackle Casey Hampton
* * * *
"At first, I though I overthrew it. I thought that was the big turning point
in the game. Roy Williams is just a great receiver. the offensive line played
great. When I got sacked, it was my fault for holding the ball too long."
) UT QB Major Applewhite, explaining his 96-yard scoring pass to Roy Willims
and the line's great protection
* * * *
"To tell you the truth, I was really nervous at first. The holes were a lot
bigger today. The line really ripped some holes. I had a lot of expectations
when I came here, but I was a little too careless with the ball The last
couple of weeks, the coaches have told me I had a chance to play a lot more."
) Sophomore RB Kenny Hayter, after sparking the Longhorns running game with
122 yards against the No. 1-ranked Cowboy defense
* * * *
"I really felt like today we kind of jelled. We opened up some holes for
Kenny (Hayter), but sometimes he made us look good with the way he ran the
ball and broke tackles."
) UT senior OT Leonard Davis
* * * *
"I couldn't go over there and tell him (Mack Brown) that, but if you are
asking if there is a difference (between the two quarterbacks), there is."
) OSU head coach Bob Simmons, when asked by an Oklahoma writer to compare
Texas' quarterbacks Major Applewhite and Chris Simms
* * * *
"Texas made adjustments and stopped the run.l You have to give them credit.
They have some great coaches and players."
) OSU RB Reggie White
* * * *
"We played hard, but they made a lot of big plays on us. We mentally broke
down."
) Cowboys' LB Chris Carter

Texas-Oklahoma State Statistics

Scoring Summary
Texas                   3           7         16       16   )    42
Oklahoma State        0           7           0        0    )      7

UT - Stockton 44 FG 7:00 1Q (18 yds, 7 plays)
OSU - White  9 run (Condley kick) 9:59 2Q (30 yds, 2 plays)
UT - Mitchell 3 run  (Stockton kick) 4:23 2Q (80 yds, 7 plays)
UT - R. Williams 96 pass from Applewhite (Stockton kick) 9:14 3Q (92 yds, 3
plays)
UT - Stockton 20 FG 6:03 3Q (10 yds, 5 plays)
UT - Ellis 21 pass from Applewhite (pass failed) 2:11 3Q (54 yds, 6 plays)
UT - Stockton 36 FG 8:39 4 Q (58 yds, 15 plays)
UT - Flowers 2 pass from Applewhite (Stockton kick) 4:22 4Q (42 yds, 8 plays)
UT - I. Williams 21 run (kick failed) 0:13  4Q (39 yds, 6 plays)

Official Attendance: 81,692

Team Statistics
Texas     Oklahoma State
First Downs                 23           12
Rushing                     11             8
Passing                     11             2
Penalty                         1              2
Rushing Attempts, Net Yards  44-205       36-168
Net Yards Passing               299        101
Passes Comp., Att., Int.        18-33-0        8-23-0
Total Plays, Offense               77-504        59-269
Avg. Gain per Play                  6.5         4.6
Fumbles Lost                        0 of  0      2 of 4
Penalties, Yards                    15-127       10-78
Punts, Avg.                     5-31.6       8-37.6
Time of Possession          31:54         28:06
Third-Down Conversions        7 of 17        2 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions     1 of  2      1 of 2
Sacks by Team, Yds Lost     4-27          3-17

Individual Statistics

Texas
Rushing -  Hayter 20-122; Mitchell 8-50, 1 TD;  I. Williams 4-27, 1 TD; Robin
1-12; Ike 4-9; Simms 1-2; Stockton 1-minus 2; Applewhite 5-minus 15.
Passing -  Applewhite 15-28, 291 yds, 3 TDs, 0 Int.; Simms 3-5, 8 yds, 0 TD,
0 Int.
Receiving - R. Williams 5-175, 1 TD; Trissel 2-29; Flowers 4-23, 1 TD; Ellis
1-21, 1 TD; Johnson 2-15; M. Jones 2-13; Healy 1-12; Mitchell 1-11.

Oklahoma State
Rushing -  R. White 15-104, 1 TD; Bell 8-31; Fobbs 2-28; Lindsay 8-8;
Burrough 1-4; Pogi 2-minus 7.
Passing - Lindsay 7-21,  73 yds, 0 TDs, 0 Int.;Pogi 1-2, 28 yds, 0 TD, 0 Int.
Receiving - Rivers 2-41; Fobbs 3-30; Bell 1-25; K. Jackson 1-7; White 1-minus
2.

Tackles by Texas Players, Unasst., Asst., Total

Lewis 3-4-7; Hampton 3-2-5; Jammer 3-2-5; Tubbs 0-5-5; Brooks 4-0-4; Rawls
3-1-4; G. Brown 2-2-4; Thornton 0-4-4; Hayward 3-0-3; Gordon 3-0-3; Pittman
2-1-3; Pearson 2-0-2; Ungar  2-0-2; Geiggar 2-0-2; T. Jones 0-2-2; Boyd
0-2-2; Redding 1-0-1; Babers 1-0-1; Vasher 1-0-1; Trahan 0-1-1; Wilkins
0-1-1; Hightower 0-1-1.
Tackles for Losses: Thornton 1-minus 5; Jammer 1-minus 5; Lewis 1-minus 2;
Hayward 1-minus 2; Rawls 1-minus 1; Hampton 1-minus 1.
Sacks: Hampton 1-minus 9; Lewis 1-minus 6; Pittman 1-minus 6; Boyd  and Tubbs
shared 1-minus 6.