Part 2

Scouting Baylor

Texas hosts Baylor at 11:30 a.m. Saturday in a game that will be televised by
the Fox Network.
The Bears (25) have really struggled this season. Their only victories are
over North Texas State, 20-7, and South Florida, 28-13.
They have been shut out in their last three games, falling to Texas Tech,
28-0; A&M, 24-0, and Nebraska, 59-0. Their other losses were to Minnesota,
34-9, and Iowa State, 31-17.
The Bears had counted on former UT QB Greg Cicero to give them a good passing
attack, but he went down with a season-ending injury and they have had one of
the least productive offenses in the country.
There are 114 teams playing Division I football and Baylor ranks 104th in
rushing, 94th in passing, 111th in total offense and 110th in scoring.
The Baylor defense is a little better, but not much.
The Longhorns should be able to name their score in this one, even if they do
show up a little flat.
Here's how the teams compare statistically (national rank in parenthesis):
Texas                                       Baylor
Offense
(88)   110.3         Rushing Avg.        (104)   85.3
(12)   290.9         Passing Avg.          (94) 159.1
(35)   401.2        Total Off. Avg.      (111) 244.4    (10)
36.3                Scoring Avg      (110)   10.6

Defense
(26)   107.7         Rushing Avg.        (107) 223.9
(19)   181.0         Passing Avg.          (48) 202.3
(14)   288.7        Total Def. Avg.      (102) 426.2
(29)     19.0    Opp. Scoring Avg          (78)   28.0

UT's Bowl Outlook

The Longhorns have to win their four remaining regular season games to have a
chance to defend their Big 12 Southern Division title, and, unless Oklahoma
loses twice, starting Saturday against Nebraska, that wouldn't get them into
the league title game.
But a 9-2 regular would guarantee them a good bowl game.
The Big 12 champion is guaranteed a spot in one of the big four BCS bowls,
and the runnerup could wind up in one of the BCS bowls, too.
The Cotton Bowl gets the second pick, the Holiday Bowl in San Diego gets
third choice and the Alamo Bowl gets the fourth pick.
By winning out, Texas would be likely to wind up in either the Holiday Bowl
or the Alamo Bowl.
If the Big 12 lands two teams in the BCS bowls, a 9-2 Texas probably would
wind up in San Diego.
If only one Big 12 lands in the BCS bowls, San Antonio is a more likely
stopping spot for the bowl season.
If the Horns don't go 9-2, they still will qualify for a bowl by beating
Baylor Saturday and they will will go bowling somewhere.

Big 12 Roundup
The big game this week is in Norman where top-ranked and unbeaten Nebraska
takes on undefeated and third-ranked Oklahoma.
Kansas State travels to Texas A&M in another big game that will trim the list
of contenders for the two division titles to four.
The Wildcats and Aggies already have one loss in conference plays and a
second would be fatal to their title hopes.

BIG 12 STANDINGS

SOUTHERN DIVISION
Conference              Season
W   L   PF    PA        Pct.      W   L    PF     PA     Pct.
Oklahoma        3    0  138     61   1.000     6    0   280     96    1.000
Texas           3    1  130     96     .750     5    2   254   133      .714
Texas A&M       3    1  106     48     .750     5    2   212     92      .714
Texas Tech  1    3    69   117     .250     5    3   170   143      .625
Okla State      0    3    43     99     .000     2    4  108    153     .333
Baylor          0    4    17   142     .000     2    5     74    196     .286

NORTHERN DIVISION
Conference        Season
W   L   PF     PA      Pct.         W    L      PF    PA
Pct.
Nebraska        4    0  206     54     1.000    7    0   324 104   1.000
Kansas State    3    1  155     98       .750    7    1   367 125     .875
Iowa State      2    2    98    122      .500    5    2   184   173      .714
Kansas          2    2    90   118       .500    4     3  172   169     .571
Missouri        1    3    77   136       .250    2     5  146    231     .286
Colorado        1    3    76   114       .250    1     6  126   176     .143

Last Week's Results
Texas 46, Missouri 12
Texas A&M 30, Iowa State 7
Kansas State 28, Texas Tech 23
Nebraska 59, Baylor 0
Kansas 23, Colorado 15

This Week's Games
Baylor at Texas, 11:30 a.m. (Fox)
Nebraska at Oklahoma, 11 a.m. (ABC)
Texas Tech at Kansas, 1 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Colorado, 1:30 p.m.
Kansas State at Texas A&M, 2:30 p.m. (ABC)
Missouri at Iowa State, 6 p.m. (Fox)

2000 Longhorn Schedule, Record (5-2)
Texas  Opp.
Sept. 9     Louisiana-Lafayette     52      10
Sept 16    at Stanford              24      27
Sept 23    Houston                  48      0
Sept 30    Oklahoma State           42      7
Oct. 7       Oklahoma (Dallas)      14      63
Oct. 14    at Colorado              28      14
Oct. 21    Missouri                 46      12
Oct. 28    Baylor
Nov. 4      at Texas Tech
Nov. 11    at Kansas
Nov. 24    Texas A&M

Scoring by Quarters
Texas         19    85    63         87 -  254
Opponents     33      51      35     14 -  133


Recruiting Roundup

The Longhorns actually went through an entire week without getting a
commitment, so they are still at 19, with a few slots left to fill.
One player who would fit one of those remaining spots very nicely ) safety
Dewayne Brandon of Temple ) was one of the recruits who came to the
Texas-Missouri game Saturday.
The only other top recruits at the game were three who already are committed
to Texas ) CB Aaron Ross of Tyler John Tyler, WR/DB Brian Carter of the The
Woodlands and DB/LB Braden Johnson of Euless Trinity.
Ross and his Tyler Lions are having a fine season. They are 5-1 overall and
2-0 in their district. Ross is playing running back and wide receiver, in
addition to the defensive backfield.
He has scored one touchdown as a receiver and three as a running back.
He said only five passes have been thrown his way all year. "I intercepted
one of them, one was completed and I knocked the other three down," he said.
The Longhorns will give five to seven more scholarships, and most of them
will be filled from a group of nine players.
They are Brandon, LB Derrick Johnson of Waco, DL Kaelen Jakes of Valencia,
Cal., and DE Jonathan Jackson and TE James Moses, both of Galena Park North
Shore; DT Tommie Harris of Killeen Ellison, Athlete Joseph Addai of Houston
Sharpstown and OLs William Winston of Houston Madison and Jami Hightower of
Jacksonville.
Super DT Paul Broussard of Blinn JC is another possibility, but he has some
academic hurdles to clear.
The Longhorns are in good shape with Brandon, Johnson, Jakes, Jackson and
Moses.
They have as good a chance as anyone with Harris, but the trouble there is
that the Killeen Ellison star has a lengthy list of schools he is
considering, and he recently added Oklahoma to the mix and says he is wide
open.
FB James Buchanon of Cardinal Mooney HS in Sarasota, Fla., is still
considering Texas, but he is a long shot.
* * * *
RECRUITING NOTES: Galena Park North Shore is 7-0 and Jackson and Moses are
having great years. Moses doesn't get a lot of passes thrown his way, but he
has very good hands, good speed and he is a tremendous blocker. Jackson, who
switched from linebacker to defensive end this year, is an outstanding pass ru
sher, due to his 4.56 40 speed and big frame. Jackson's early college
favorites give a strong indication he'll be playing in Texas or Florida. His
top five are Texas, A&M, FSU, Miami and Florida, but I'll be surprised if
both these blue-chippers don't join former teammate Cory Redding at Texas . .
. Midland Lee star Cedric Benson isn't getting as many carries as he did last
season and he's running behind an all new and undersized line, but he's still
lethal when he gets a chance. He hit Abilene Cooper for 335 yards and five
touchdowns on 36 carries Friday night in Midland in a key District 4-5A game.
He's a Longhorn commitment and he's on everybody's national top 100 list. He
won't have the great statistics he had on last year's 15-0 state title team,
but he looks even bigger and faster this year.

Top Girls Basketball Stars Visit

Coach Jody Conradt has already corraled a great recruiting class for her
Longhorn women's basketball team, but things could get even better because
she got visits last weekend from the nation's top junior and one of the
state's top three seniors.
The top junior is 6-2 guard/forward Ann Strother of Highlands Ranch,
Colorado, and the top three Texas star is Niki Newton, a 6-1 forward from
Crowley.
Strother is visiting several schools unofficially this year to decide which
schools she wants to seriously consider next year.
Contadt already has commitments from two national top 50 players )  6-2
Heather Schreiber of Windthorst and 6-2 Kala Bowers of Woodward, Okla. They
are the top prospects in their respective states.
Schreiber is rated as the nation's No. 26 prospect and Bowers is ranked No.
41 by the All Star Girls Report, a national rating service.

Horns Back in AP Rankings

The Longhorns regained the top 25 in the Associated Press rankings this week,
coming in at No. 22. They are No. 20 in the coaches' poll.
That hasn't always been good news in recent years. It seems like every time
the Horns get a good ranking, they get beat.
Is it complacency or overconfidence or just the fact they lose to a better
team? I'm not sure, but I do know that's why they haven't finished in the top
10 since 1983. They've been in the top 10 several times, but they haven't
been able to stay there.

Kick Returns Picking Up

Coach Mack Brown's announced goal of improving the kick return teams this
season is paying big dividends.
Victor Ike is No. 2 in the country in kickoff returns, averaging 30.5 yards
on 11 returns, and Hodges Mitchell is No. 25 nationally in punt returns,
averaging 12.3 yards on 25 tries.

Unbeaten List Shrinking

Only five Division 1 teams still have perfect records and the list will
shrink by at least one this weekend when No. 1 Nebraska (7-0) and No. 3
Oklahoma (6-0) meet.
The other teams with perfect records are No. 2 Virginia Tech (7-0), No. 5
Clemson (8-0) and No. 11 Texas Christian (6-0).

4 True Freshmen Will Start

Tight end Brock Edwards will start against Baylor Saturday, giving the
Longhorns four true freshmen in the starting lineup.
Edwards joins defensive end Kalen Thornton, who has started the last four
games and wide receivers Roy Williams and B. J. Johnson, who have started the
last two games.
Edwards was pressed into the starting lineup when Mike Jones, the team's
starting tight end, suffered a lick on his knee early in the Missouri game.
Coach Mack Brown said Edwards "did a good job" against Missouri.
Two other redshirt freshmen have been starting. Marcus Tubbs has been working
as the starter at defensive tackle while Shaun Rogers works his way back from
an ankle sprain, and Dakarai Pearson has won the starting free safety
position.
Rogers is getting better each week and might reclaim his starting job this
week.
Barring any late changes, the Longhorns will start two seniors (TB Hodges
Mitchell and OT Leonard Davis), four juniors (QB Major Applewhite, LT Mike
Williams, RG Antwan Kirk-Hughes and C Matt Anderson), two sophomores (LG
Derrick Dockery and FB Matt Trissel) and the three true freshmen (Williams,
Johnson and Edwards) on offense Saturday.
Defensively, they will start three seniors (tackles Rogers and Casey Hampton
and SS Greg Brown), four juniors (LBs Everick Rawls, D. D. Lewis and Everick
Rawls and CB Quentin Jammer), two sophomores (DE Cory Redding and CB Roderick
Babers), one redshirt freshman (Pearson) and one true freshman (Thornton).
Baseball Stars Commit to UT

The Longhorn baseball team got commitments from two more top recruits last
week, including a right-handed pitcher who has been clocked as high as 96 mph
with his fast ball.
The pitcher is Kole Strayhorn, 6-1, 185, of Shawnee, Oklahoma, who had offers
from many schools, but who picked Texas over Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Cal
State-Fullerton and Baylor.
He was 8-1 last year with a 0.97 ERA. He struck out  99 in 60 innings and
said he gave up about 15 walks and about 25 hits.
He has been clocked as high as 96 mph, and he is consistent around 90. He
plays shortstop when he isn't pitching.
The only problem with Strayhorn is that pitchers who can hit 96 mph and who
have good control frequently wind up getting drafted so high that they get a
lot of money to go pro immediately.
The other recruit is shortstop Seth Johnston, 6-3, 190, of Boerne. He also is
the quarterback for Boerne's football team.
Johnson hit .507 last season and picked the Longhorns over Texas A&M and
Houston.

Simpler Is Better

Coach Mack Brown says he thinks the Horns will fare better now that the
coaches have simplified the offense.
Brown said he also thinks the two-back offense is better for Texas for
several reasons. He said having two backs behind the quarterback improves the
pass protection.
When teams rush eight defenders, he  said the five linemen, the tight end and
one running back are outnumbered. When two backs are there, he said there are
enough people to block everyone, even in a maximum blitz.
It also is a better power-running formation because of the extra blocker, he
said, adding that success in the running game causes the other team's
safeties to creep up to help stop the run, which helps the passing game.
"When you can run and pass, it creates some problems for the defense," he
said. "We plan to keep working on being able to do both."
True freshman WR B. J. Johnson went along with the simplification idea, while
having some fun with the rerporters on hand. Johnson said when he first got
to Texas and "heard the coaches talking about cover 6 . . . I didn't even
know they had six coverages.
When someone asked him if he knew all the defensive coverages now, he said,
"I don't even know all the plays, to tell you to truth. You should see our
playbook."

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Next Issue October 30

The next issue will be e-mailed on October 30 and will report on Baylor game,
preview the big road  game the following week against Texas Tech and take a 
look at the Big 12 championship races.
As always, I'll have a lot of recruiting news, reports on men's and women's
basketball and lots of other stories on the Longhorns' teams in the various
sports.

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