Tag: Featured
Texas OU Preview
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
That phrase was coined by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, a Frenchman who had a penchant for satire. The showdown between Texas and Oklahoma coming on the first Saturday of October, however, is no laughing matter.
The duo broke in new coaches last year, Tom Herman for the Horns, and Lincoln Riley for the Sooners. Riley and Oklahoma took the first encounter 29-24, but it wasn’t easy. Sam Ehlinger, despite being punished every play for merely existing on the same 100 yard long and 53.5 yard wide field as the Sooners, put on a fine display of quarterbacking under pressure.
This year could be different though. Baker Mayfield, a son of Austin and now of Oklahoma, is long gone to the Cleveland Browns. Several Longhorn stalwarts are gone too, most notably on the defensive side of the ball. One thing is for sure: this is a largely unpredictable rivalry.
We’ve already mentioned Sam Ehlinger, so let’s focus on other Longhorn standouts. At the time of writing, Tre Watson leads Texas in rushing with a respectable 4.1 yards per carry. Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Collin Johnson have been solid receivers so far, despite the Longhorns’ struggles to move the ball at times. Keaontay Ingram has also flashed potential at the running back position as well.
On the defensive side of the ball, look for Charles Omenihu to make some big plays from the defensive end position. Breckyn Hager provides a solid bookend on the other side of the defensive line. Anthony Wheeler is having a solid season at linebacker, and the ‘Horns are talented in the secondary with Kris Boyd and P.J. Locke providing veteran knowledge, and Caden Sterns and B.J. Foster providing raw talent.
At the time of writing, Oklahoma looks like a juggernaut on offense. Few have been able to slow the Sooners, who are led in rushing and passing by Kyler Murray, who will leave after this season to join the Oakland Athletics. Murray made a whopping 4.7 million bonus for signing with the A’s, and will easily be the highest paid player on the field since this is college football and there’s definitely no other players getting that kind of money from bagmen or their universities. Bruising running back Trey Sermon returns as well, and CeeDee Lamb is a deep threat every time he steps on the turf.
On defense, the Sooners have some young stars of their own. Freshman DB Brendan Radley-Hiles is looking like a star in the making, and Curtis Bolton and Kenneth Murray are legitimate All-Big 12 contenders. The Oklahoma defense gives up some points, but with their offense they can afford to spot teams some points.
Texas is better this year, sure. But this is an Oklahoma team that appears to be just as good as the team that went to the College Football Playoff in 2017, and lost in overtime to Georgia in the semifinals.
Be patient, Texas fans. This one might not be your year. But anyone who knows anything about football can tell you that Tom Herman’s teams are improving, and his most promising players are his youngest. Your Longhorns might not pull this off. But they’re well set up for huge Big 12 runs in the future. There has been change, but for now, it’s likely that history will repeat itself with an Oklahoma win.
Knights stuff Texans
Regents had its 26-game regular season win streak snapped last week by San Antonio Central Catholic. But the Knights didn’t let that get them down. Instead, they learned from the defeat and used it as fuel to start a new run of victories in a 48-13 demolition of Wimberley Friday at Knights Stadium in Austin.
“We had a great practice week this week, but we had a great practice week last week,” said Regents coach Beck Brydon with his dry sense of humor. “The lesson there is just because you have a good practice week, doesn’t mean you’re going to have a good Friday night. But I think that the focus was a little sharper this week. We just went back to fundamentals and basics on a lot of things… We stripped down our playbook quite a bit this week. We used a lot of basic stuff and we repped a lot of basic stuff over and over and over again to ensure that what we did last week was not going to be repeated tonight.”
Regents doesn’t often get the chance to play a public school. The Knights last game against such a program was Florence in 2011. So when two-time state champion and 2017 Class 4A Div. I state semifinalist Wimberley came to town, five-time private school state champion Regents took advantage of the opportunity with 31 unanswered points to finish out the game.
“I think we were extremely motivated, especially after last week. We really didn’t play a clean game, played super sloppy, and them being a public school, and a bigger school, just totally motivated us even more to focus up, lock down and get our stuff right this week. I’m really proud about how everyone played and responded this week,” said junior quarterback Wilson Long. “We never want to lose, but in a way it was what we needed. I think we had gotten a little bit too high on ourselves. I think it was a good reminder that we’re human. We make mistakes, too. We’re not perfect, obviously, and I think that was just a great way to reset our focus.”
Long guided the offense with 262 total yards – 93 on the ground and 169 through the air. He completed 11-of-20 passes with a 14-yard scoring toss to senior wide receiver Jackson Mountain. Junior running back Andrew Adams added 114 yard and three touchdowns on eight totes.
“He’s a special player,” Brydon said of Long. “He’s got a great arm. He’s most dangerous with his feat, and he had a great game. With him, it’s shotgun for us on any given play, something special can happen and we know that.”
The defense held Wimberley scoreless for the last 32 minutes of play as the Texans mustered only a shade above four yards per play. Junior defensive lineman Dru Benson had back-to-back sacks at a crucial point in the third quarter that tilted the momentum decidedly in the Knights’ favor
“Really proud of (the defense),” Long said. “They played a great game. They really just stuffed them, gave us a chance. They played a great game like they usually do… Love those guys.”
Vipers Strike Hawks in Win
Many pundits thought the District 13-6A title would be decided between Pflugerville Hendrickson and Round Rock Cedar Ridge on Oct. 12. But that game might not matter at all after Vandegrift followed last week’s win against Cedar Ridge with a 29-20 upset of highly-touted Hendrickson Friday at The Pfield in Austin.
“All I know is we’re 2-0,” said Vandegrift coach Drew Sanders. “We’re just going to take them one at a time but that’s a really good team we beat… so that’s a great feeling.”
The Vipers had fourth down at the Hawks’ nine-yard line with a six-point lead and barely more than two minutes remaining when a lightning delay sent the teams to the locker room for more than an hour.
Sanders kept his team fresh by feeding them Uncrustables and bananas and senior kicker Tim Barney kept his mind off the potential game-icing field goal by listening to rap music, specifically XXX.
Barney got to practice the kick from the exact spot during the 10-minute warm-up period in between the end of the delay and the resumption of play, and then calmly sent the 26-yard attempt through the uprights to send the few Vandegrift fans that stayed through the delay into a frenzy.
“Obviously (the kick) was on my mind (during the delay) but I was just sitting there, listening to music trying to get my mind right,” Barney said. “It felt amazing just to seal that win. It was a great win. We’re 4-0 now so we’re just going to keep it rolling.”
Hendrickson’s defense suffocated its first two opponents – Texarkana Texas High and Round Rock Westwood – in dominating victories. But Vandegrift found a way to handle the Hawks’ nasty unit.
The connection between junior quarterback Dru Dawson and senior wide receiver Ryan Merrifield was working all night. Dawson completed 17-of-24 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers. Nine of those completions – including the touchdown – went to Merrifield for 144 yards.
“Coaches put in a great game plan and we had a great week of practice and we knew what we were doing and executed really good,” Dawson said. “Everyone just brought their A-game today. Even though we were playing Hendrickson, we stayed locked in the whole game and I’m just super proud of our team.”
While playmakers tend to get the headlines, nothing would have worked without the exemplary play of the offensive line who kept Dawson upright against a terrifying pass rush and did enough in the run game to help senior running back Isaiah Whitehead gain 65 yards on 24 carries, including a 28-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
“Their defensive line is tremendous,” Sanders said. “When you look at the size of those guys and how hard they play. They’re well coached. So (I’m) just really impressed with our ability to just move the ball some against them, and overall I thought we did well and we had very sustained drives, too.”
The Hawks aren’t the types to make excuses, but it was clear they didn’t bring their A-game. They had a number of back-breaking penalties including a roughing the holder that gave Barney a second chance to ice the game after missing a 38-yard attempt. They also turned the ball over five times while Vandegrift didn’t give it up once.
One of those turnovers was an unprovoked fumble near the end of the half that was picked up by Vandegrift junior defensive back Ryan Arnold and returned 27 yards for a touchdown that made it 23-6. Hendrickson also fumbled a snap on fourth-and-one from its own 19 in the fourth quarter. That play didn’t count as a turnover because it was recovered by the Hawks, but nonetheless gave the Vipers the short field they needed to hit the game-clinching field goal.
“We call them takeaways because we forced their hand on that. We did some run stunts that they hadn’t seen before so I’m proud of our guys for executing what we worked on all week,” Sanders said. “The biggest difference in the game tonight was our defense. We consistently did what we needed to do.”
Houston, we have a QB.
The Houston Texans last year found their quarterback of the future in Deshaun Watson. Many fantasy owners for about five weeks dominated their leagues because of his dominance in games. And it showed drastically with his chemistry with DeAndre Hopkins and his last four games with a Quarterback rating of at least 100 before suffering a torn ACL in practice. J.J. Watt was also lost for the season from a leg fracture in which Jadaveon Clowney had to step up to prove his first round caliber a few years ago.
Many outside fans and media have questioned how high this Texan’s ceiling and pedigree is under Coach Bill O’Brien who has many wondering if he is the reason they haven’t taken that next stop to become a championship level team. The Texan’s have the franchise quarterback, the playmaking receiver, and a defense that can take over games when they have to. All it needs it for it all to come together.
The AFC South has gotten stronger among the Jags, Colts, and Titans who have made drastic changes. Sacksonville has maybe taken over the top of the division with their elite defense, Andrew Luck is back and can maybe continue where he left off, the Titans made the playoffs and have made a coaching change with former player and coach Mike Vrabel. Vrabel spent 2014-2017 on the Texan’s sideline coaching the linebackers and last season as the defensive coordinator. It doesn’t seem like the week division Houston fans have come to be familiar with.
The addition of J.J. Watt and Tyrann Mathieu , the development of Watson, and the continuing growing of the running game can take this team great lengths in the 2018 season.
Unfortunately the first two weeks of the season they got off to slow starts against the Patriots and Titans but made some strides late in the game to come back before falling 0-2. The running game has picked up steam thanks to Lamar Miller.
Houston must come alive early in games to avoid stagnant offensive drives. They have the fire power but there needs to be better game planning and execution from the players and coaches. The AFC isn’t strong like it’s been in past years. The NFC is almost eight deep now with the emergence from the Rams and Vikings. So unless something changes the AFC might have a 9-7 team to sneak into the sixth seed this year, but that’s three months away and there is a ton of football left.
Here’s to a great season, tailgates, cookouts, and yelling fans on Sundays. Get your lungs ready the first couple of weeks are over and the rust is wearing off. Now is the time to get ready for some football.
What have you done for me lately Jerry?
The Dallas Cowboys’ 59th NFL season is under way, their 30th under the ownership of Jerry Jones. No franchise has a richer history than the Cowboys, who have won five Super Bowls and are the most valuable sports team in the world. Forbes sets the value at $4.8 billion.
A few short months before Jones bought the Cowboys and fired Head Coach Tom Landry, I had the privilege of meeting Landry. The date was November 20, 1988, and the Cowboys had just lost 38-24 to Boomer Esiason’s Cincinnati Bengals. It was their eighth straight loss.
As a kid growing up, I watched Landry prowl the sidelines of Sundays. He was the man in the hat, the stoic leader of America’s team, impeccably dressed and sporting a fedora. In those days, I didn’t like the Cowboys since I lived in St. Louis, home of the Cardinals (before they moved west).
On that day in 1988, that same stoic man was standing in front of me, bigger than life. Always the gentleman, Landry was calmly answering questions in a press conference in the Cowboys locker room at Texas Stadium. I was the sports editor of the now defunct Shreveport Journal at the time.
At the press conference, Landry was trying to explain how America’s team had slipped to 2-10. The team had been in decline since the mid-1980s, but things had gone from bad to worse. The last time the Cowboys had lost eight games in a row was in their first season under Landry – 1960.
The Cowboys had been an NFL powerhouse for more than two decades but were now the NFL whipping boy. Still, Landry had nothing but accolades for the 9-3 Bengals, and he had no disparaging words for his beleaguered team. Landry was a man who epitomized the word “classy.”
“We’re having a tough year,” I recall Landry stating in his normal deadpan voice. That was an understatement from the man who had become a lightning rod for all of the criticism directed at his team. Cowboy fans weren’t accustom to losing, and they weren’t handling it well.
I recall that I wrote a column the next day entitled “What have you done for us lately, Tom Landry?” Had all of these myopic boneheads forgotten Landry’s legacy? In spite of finishing with a 3-13 record in 1988, Landry’s record during his 29 seasons with the Cowboys was 418-250.
Landry and my favorite cartoonist, Charles Schulz, creator of Charlie Brown, died on the same day: February 12, 2000. Mike Thompson, the Detroit Free Press cartoonist, honored them with a cartoon showing the pair entering the pearly gates together. Landry had his arm around Schulz.
I was saddened by Landry’s passing, but I’ve always considered that his first death occurred three months after I met him that day at Texas Stadium. It was February 25, 1989, and Jones’ first act as the new owner of the team was to announce the firing of Landry.
Jones went on to announce that University of Miami coach Jimmy Johnson, who played with Jones at Arkansas, would replace Landry. Like Landry, Jones had a tough first year. The Cowboys were 1-15 in 1989, but they went on to win Super Bowls in 1992 and 1993.
On the 25th anniversary of Jones’ purchase of the Cowboys and firing of Landry, Jones admitted that he acted too quickly in firing Landry after 29 years as the team’s head coach. “If I had a chance to do it over again I would’ve waited a year and just got my feet on the ground,” Jones said.
No one can dispute Jones’ success as a businessman. He bought the Cowboys from H.R. “Bum” Bright for $140 million, and it’s worth 35 times that much today. Taking a “hands-on” approach, Jones is also the Cowboys’ general manager. It’s not uncommon to see him down on the field with his team.
The 71-year-old billionaire makes it work. In three decades with Jones at the helm, the team have won three Super Bowls. But the last of those titles was 22 years ago, and Cowboys fans have grown restless. “What have you done for us, lately, Jerry Jones?”
Cav’s Defeat Bowie
Bowie is one of the best teams in Austin, but Lake Travis is one of the best teams in the state. The Cavaliers showed the distinction between the two in a 42-21 route Friday at Burger Stadium in Austin.
The game was more lopsided than the final score would indicate. Lake Travis junior quarterback Hudson Card threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns on 15-of-19 passing and added a 33-yard score on the ground as the Cavaliers built a 42-7 lead before pulling the starters at halftime.
“I’m really happy with how the offense handled against their No. 1 defense in the first half,” said Lake Travis coach Hank Carter. “That was exciting to see. We ran the ball. We completed some big throws. (We) had a couple of procedural penalties, which we got to clean that up. That’s an unforced error. But other than that really proud of who the offense responded. Special teams units were hit or miss. Our coverage units have got to be better. We’re not where we need to be there… But (we’re) 1-0 in district and that was the goal so that was a great job by our kids tonight.”
Superstar senior wide receiver Garrett Wilson got Lake Travis rolling early. He reversed the field on a wide receiver screen for a 32-yard gain on the second play from scrimmage and capped the opening drive with a 25-yard touchdown grab less than two minutes into the game.
He also caught an intermediate pass in the second quarter and cut it up the field of an 87-yard touchdown to finish with five receptions for 172 yards, and threw an 11-yard score on a double-pass.
But he was not the only Lake Travis playmaker who go involved in the action as junior wide receiver Kyle Eaves and junior tight end Grayson Sandling each matched Wilson’s catch total. Eaves caught five balls for 94 yards with a score and Sandlin hauled in five passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns.
“If we’re going to accomplish our goals this year it can’t be about any one or two guys,” Carter said. “It’s got to be a team effort and I was very proud of how Coach Stein and the offensive staff took what the defense gave us tonight. Hudson spread the ball around and did a great job of it. That’s who we’re going to have to play.”
Bowie marched down the field on its opening possession and tied the game at seven with a nine-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a six-yard touchdown run from junior quarterback Trinidad Sanders.
But Lake Travis held the Bulldogs scoreless on their next seven drives, which is a good sign for a defense that struggled to start last season. The Cavs allowed 141 points in their first three games of 2017. After allowing only seven first downs in the opener to an Arlington Martin team that averaged 45 points per game last year, this is more proof the Lake Travis is better on that side of the ball.
“I thought our defense responded after the first drive. (Bowie) put a great drive together, went down and scored, and after that we made some adjustments and our kids just settled down and just played better,” Carter said. “Last year we had a ton of kids that started and were first-time varsity players or first-time players at that possession. So we have a little more experience so that helps and I think this collection of kids has responded. They’ve heard it from me and our staff all offseason and all summer and all fall camp that we have to play better defense. Hopefully, we’ll continue that trend.”
Bowie was playing without highly-coveted senior wide receiver Elijah Higgins for the third straight game because of a hand/wrist injury. The Bulldogs took another big hit on the medical front when Sander hurt his knee in the third quarter. Sanders was key to the team’s 2-0 start and gained 107 total yards (68 passing, 39 rushing) before leaving the game.
Glenn Grizzlies get first Win
The Glenn Grizzlies hold off the McCallum Knights at Gupton Stadium Thursday night 30-26. The two year program impressed against a competitive effort from the undefeated Knights.
The (2-0) McCallum Knights opened the game with an unexpected short kick that was quickly recovered by the (0-2) Glenn Grizzlies who was able to capitalize on the favorable field position. Junior running back Julian Morris took control of the drive to take the first lead of the game.
The Knights came onto the field to respond with their offense but coughed up the ball swinging the momentum in the Grizzlies favor. Junior quarterback Drew McGuire threw his first touchdown of the game pushing the lead to 14-0.
McCallum finally woke up towards the end of the first quarter as Junior quarterback Cole Davis threw a red zone touchdown to Junior wide receiver Darius Lewis. They held firm in the second quarter as Cole Davis utilized his legs for an eighteen yard touchdown to tie the game up at fourteen a piece heading into halftime.
With Glenn’s offensive struggles in the third quarter Cole Davis got his second rushing touchdown of the game as the Knights took their first lead of the game 20-14. The game slowed down as each team slowed each other down.
On fourth down with 4:01 left in the third quarter Senior running back Lamont Slade got a much needed first down for the grizzlies. Julian Morris thanked him moments later to take back the lead 21-20.
It all came down to the fourth quarter as Cole Davis started off after a failed onside kick attempt. Davis threw a twenty-five yard touchdown to Senior Cruz Escobar for a tug a war battle for the lead 26-21, Glenn was able to intercept the pass on the two point conversion via Samuel Martin.
Glenn was thinking touchdown but McCallum had other plans taking the ball away. The excitement continued for Glen as they made two behind the scrimmage plays. A bad snap for the Knights closed the lead to a field goal.
Samuel Martin again showed up in the game taking an explosive touchdown pass to give the Grizzlies 30-26.
Cole Davis got his chance to take advantage on a potential game winning drive. Davis hit Takai Satberry for a long play that ended at the Grizzlies twenty-five yard line. Fortunately for Glenn they held firm on fourth down to secure their first win of the season.
Texas vs USC III
Texas will get a chance to execute some much needed revenge against its 2006 National Title rival USC at DKR in Austin this weekend. Texas who was an underdog in last years contest at the Trojans came up just three points short in a double overtime thriller loosing 27-24 when freshman Chase McGrath hit a walk-off field goal to end the game.
Things are different this season as the music has changed song and to another venue for this renewed rivalry of recent years. Vince Young and Matt Leinart danced to their own tune with Texas’ 41-38 victory in that famous Rose Bowl match-up 13 years ago.
This year we get to witness the trilogy conclusion in this exciting match-up this weekend.
Sam Ehlinger’s turnovers last season as a freshman were key in the Trojans victory.
However, last year the game in Los Angeles was scoreless until 2:40 before halftime. The Longhorns tied the game shortly after when Darnold’s pass was tipped off receiver Jalen Greene’s hands and DeShon Elliott caught it for a 38-yard TD interception return.
The Trojans this year are coming off a loss as QB JT Daniels went 16-34 for 215 yards and threw two late 4th quarter interceptions against Stanford last week. It was far from his performance against UNLV in week 1 in the 2nd half.
While Texas’ defense has beefed up some despite loosing some big names like Elliot and Conner Williams, the horns escaped with a W at home last week hosting the Golden Hurricane. Unlike the Maryland game in week 1 the Longhorns took a 21-0 lead into half and coming out with a quick start at DKR against Tulsa. Both these teams sputtered offensively in the 2nd half of last weeks games. I think both teams will come out throwing the ball and being aggressive.
I’m not sure what the music will play out like this Saturday Night on the 40 acres, but If I had to guess, we are going to be tuned in for a good one. I expect this game to be a shootout with the edge slightly going to the Texas defense.
Horns enact some much needed revenge this week against the Trojans.
41-31 Texas wins.
Hook Em.
