True Orange, November 26, 2001, Part 2 of 4 ,
 Part 2

Game Quotes . .

"We actually had an Aggie block. We'd worked on it all week, but it wasn't
working, so we went back to our regular block ande I just had to beat the guy
in front of me. When I saw it was a linebacker, I knew he was in trouble.
Linebackers aren't quick enough to block me. If I can't get by a big old guy
like that, I don't deserve my scholarship."
- Longhorn cornerback Rod Babers, who blocked the punt that resulted in UT's
first-quarter touchdown
* * * *
"We were both on the right side (he and Babers) and they weren't zone
blocking like we do. They were in man-for-man, and all we had to do was beat
the guy in front of us. That's my first touchdown as a special teams player."
- Texas wide receiver Tony Jeffery, who scooped up the ball Babers blocked
and ran it in for the game's first touchdown
* * * *
"We did a good job against the run. I thought Maurice Gordon probably played
as good as he's every played for us. Their center (All-Big 12 Seth McKinney)
is a good ball player and at times he couldn't block him. I thought all our
guys played pretty well today. This was a good old-fashioned football game,
with both teams playing good defense, and a break or two deciding the
outcome."
- UT defensive coordinator Carl Reese
* * * *
"We felt like if we would just hang in there and hang in there, we'd
eventually get the running game going, and Cedric (Benson) and the offensive
line did a great job in the fourth quarter. With Cedric, you don't have to
abandon the running game because you know he'll break loose sooner or later.
We didn't want to take too many chances and give them a short field because
we knew they would have a hard time making a long drive with our defense
playing so well."
 - Texas defensive coordinator Greg Davis
* * * *
"It never got easier, but it did get better. I think our linemen finally wore
them down and I started getting a little more room. It would have been nice
to get 1,000 yards, but winning the game is the main thing, and we did that."
 - Texas running back Cedric Benson
* * * *
"Give the Longhorns some credit. Their defense is really good. It ranks with
any we have seen this year."
- A&M quarterback Mark Farris
* * * *
"The game was up for grabs in the fourth quarter. They just made some plays.
It was 7-7 and they did what they had to do in the fourth quarter to go up,
14-7. They have some great offensive weapons, and we held them in check for
most of the game."
- A&M head coach R. C. Slocum

Texas-Texas A&M Statistics

Scoring Summary
Texas            7         0         0      14  -      21
Texas A&M        0         0         7       0  -        7

UT - Jeffery 23 blocked kick (Mangum kick) 7:441Q
A&M - Joseph 4 run (Scates kick) 10:45 3Q (5 plays, 27 yds)
UT - Benson 5 run  (Mangum kick) 7:22 4Q  (6 plays, 35 yds)
UT - Benson 11 run  (Mangum kick) 1:15 4Q  (2 plays, 12 yds)

        Official Attendance: 87,555

Team Statistics

                             Texas    Texas A&M
First Downs           14             10
Rushing                  6             3
Passing                     7              6
Penalty                     1              1
Rusheas, Net Yards           35-97           31-48
Net Yards Passing        138            117
Passes Comp., Att., Int. 16-33-0          17-38-2
Total Plays, Offense        68-235        69-165
Avg. Gain per Play                 3.5         2.2
Fumbles Lost                     0 of  1         0 of 2
Penalties, Yards                6-49          6-45
Punts, Avg.                   11-31     10-29.3
Time of Possession      28:51        31:09
Third-Down Conversions    4 of 17       4 of 18
Fourth-Down Conversions     1 of 1       1 of 2
Sacks by Team, Yds Lost     4-21           2-9

Individual Statistics

Texas

Rushing - Benson 27-79, 2 TD; Simms 7-10; Robin 1-8.
Passing -  Simms 16-33, 138 yds, 0 TD, 0 Int.
Receiving - R. Williams 8-56; Scaife 3-40; Robin 2-18; Thomas 2-16; B. J.
Johnson 1-8.

Texas A&M

Rushing - Joseph 23-71, 1 TD; Weber 2-2; Flemming 1-minus 3; Farris 5-minus
22.
Passing -Farris  16-37, 123 yds, 0 TD, 2 Int.; Porter 1-1, minus 6 yds, 0TD,
0 Int.
Receiving - M. Jones 2-29; Porter 3-26; Murphey 4-23; T. Thomas 2-16; Weber
2-15; Joseph 2-12; Goynes 1-2; Farris 1-minus 6.

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

Rawls 3-4-7; Pearson 2-5-7; Brooks 0-7-7; Gordon 3-3-6; Thornton 3-3-6; Lewis
2-4-6; T. Jones 2-3-5; Redding 2-3-5; Babers 3-1-4; Trahan 3-1-4; D. Johnson
2-2-4; Ungar 2-1-3; Jammer 0-3-3; Tubbs 1-1-2; Hill 1-1-2; Vasher 0-2-2; Boyd
0-2-2; Robin 0-1-1; Doiron 0-1-1- J. Anderson 0-1-1.

Tackles for Losses: D. Johnson 2-minus 8; Thornton 2-minus 7; Redding 1-minus
5; T. Jones 1-minus 5; Gordon 2-minus 4; Pearson 2-minus 2; J. Anderson
1-minus 2; Babers 1-minus 1.

Sacks: Tubbs 1-minus 7; Gordon 1-minus 7; Redding 1-minus 4; Redding 1-minus
3.

Key Statistics

Texas A&M started three drives in Texas territory and the Aggies scored their
touchdown on a 27-yard drive on one of them, but missed a field goal and
punted on
the other two possessions. Texas started two drives in Aggie territory, both
in the fourth quarter, and scored touchdowns on both drives.

Scouting Colorado

Texas and Colorado meet for the second time Saturday at 7 p.m. in Irving's
Texas Stadium in the Big 12 Conference Championship Game.
It will be televised nationally by ABC and it should be a good one. Texas is
an 8-point favorite.
The Longhorns mauled the Buffaloes, 41-7, on Oct. 20 in Austin, but that
Colorado team bore little resemblance to the one that hung a 62-36 lashing on
No. 1-ranked Nebraska Saturday.
For starters, Bobby Pesavento, who passed for 202 yards against Nebraska, got
his first start against Texas and he looked like a first-time starter.
He was a poised, confident sharpshooter Saturday against Nebraska, the
perfect complement for the Buffs' power running game that produced 380 yards
and eight rushing touchdowns against the proud Blackshirt defense of Nebraska.
Sophomore Chris Brown scored a school record six rushing touchdowns while
rushing for 198 yards. He had 26 yards against Texas in October.
 Colorado is 9-2. It's only losses were 24-22 in the season opener with
Fresno State and the one at Texas. The nine victories were 41-14 over
Colorado State, 51-15 over San Jose State, 27-16 over Kansas, 16-6 over
Kansas State, 31-21 over Texas A&M, 22-19 over giant-killer Oklahoma State,
38-24 over Missouri, 40-27 over Iowa State and, of course, the big one over
Nebraska.
Texas won the first game against Colorado by using four first-half turnovers
to take a 24-7 lead and force the Buffaloes the abandon their running game
and try to play catchup.
In that game, Colorado had 244 yards offensively in the first half, but was
stymied by a fumble at the UT 4 on first-and goal, a fumble at the CU 21 that
set up a Texas field goal, and another fumble at the Buff 35 that set up
another UT touchdown.
Unless history repeats and the Horns force more early turnovers, this game
will be a terrific challenge for Texas.
I think there are three keys to a UT victory:
1. Win the turnover battle again.
2. Keep balance between running and passing, but challenge the Buffs suspect
pass defense frequently.
3. Slow down Colorado's power running game, which ranks No. 9 nationally at
229 yards a game.

Here's how the teams compare statistically (national rank in parenthesis):

Texas                    Colorado
Offense
(45)     168.7       Rushing Avg.          (9)   229.0
(47)     239.4     Passing Avg.       (62)   214.5
(38)     408.1      Total Off. Avg.       (15)  443.5
(4)        39.4      Scoring Avg          (26)    32.5
Defense
(3)         77.4         Rushing Avg.         (40)  132.1
(4)       149.9      Passing Avg.         (57)   215.7
(2)       227.3     Total Def. Avg.       (39)   347.8
(2)        11.4  Opp. Scoring Avg        (35)     22.1

Big 12 Roundup

Two huge upsets last week played topsy turvey with the Big 12 standings,
giving Texas the undisputed Southern Division title and pulling Colorado into
a tie with Nebraska in the Northern Division.
Since Colorado beat Nebraska in their head-to-head matchup, the Buffs will
play the Longhorns Saturday in Irving's Texas Stadium for the league title.
SOUTHERN DIVISION STANDINGS
                Conference              Season
                W   L   PF    PA     Pct.      W   L    PF     PA     Pct.
Texas           7    1  295     78     .875    10    1  433    125     .909
Oklahoma        6    2  207   126     .750    10    2  387    166     .833
Texas Tech  4    4  244   215     .500      7     4  386    262     .636
Texas A&M       4    4  130   157     .500      7    4  220    204     .636
Okla. State     2    6  179   241     .250      4    7  226    297     .364
Baylor          0    8  109   329     .000      3     8  205    357     .277

NORTHERN DIVISION STANDINGS
                Conference                   Season
                W   L   PF     PA      Pct.     W    L   PF    PA     Pct.
Colorado        7    1  243   190     .875       9    2   357  243     .818
Nebraska        7    1  311   155     .875     11    1   449  189     .917
Iowa State      4    4  203   189     .500       7    4    296   231     .636
Kansas State    3    5  213   166     .375       6     5   327  179     .545
Missouri        3    5  180    249    .375       4    6   233   275    .400
Kansas          1    7  114    333    .125       3    8   182   398    .277

Last Week's Results

Texas 21, Texas A&M 7
Oklahoma State 16, Oklahoma 13
Colorado 62, Nebraska 36
Texas Tech 58, Stephen F. Austin 3
Baylor 56, Southern Illinois 12
Kansas State 24, Missouri 3
Iowa State 17, Iowa 14
Kansas 27, Wyoming 14

Saturday's Games
Texas vs. Colorado, Texas Stadium, 7 p.m. (ABC-TV)
Missouri at Michigan State, 11 a.m.

2001 Longhorn Schedule, Record (10-1)
                                    Texas  Opp.
Sept. 1 New Mexico State      41      7
Sept. 8 North Carolina    44    14
Sept 22 at Houston        53    26
Sept 29 Texas Tech        42      7
Oct. 6      Oklahoma (Dallas)       3   14
Oct. 13     at Oklahoma State     45    17
Oct. 20     Colorado          41      7
Oct. 27     at Missouri       35    16
Nov. 3          at Baylor         49    10
Nov. 10     Kansas        59      0
Nov. 23     at Texas A&M      21      7
Dec 1       Colorado (Irving)

Scoring by Quarters

Texas        101   130  89     129  -   433
Opponents     24    55  14      32  -   125

Last Meeting Highlights

When Texas beat Colorado, 41-7, on October 20 in Austin, QB Chris Simms
completed17 of 28 passes for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns, and freshman RB
Cedric Benson had 23 carries for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Longhorn
defense gave up 244 yards in the first half, but forced four game-turning
turnovers.

Coach's Corner

Coach Mack Brown has told his team and Longhorn fans all season that good
things happen to teams who keep winning.
After a mid-season loss to Oklahoma, the Longhorns have reeled off six
straight wins, and Oklahoma State's stunning upset of Oklahoma Saturday gave
Texas the Big 12 Southern Division title.
"Obviously," he said, "we are excited about it because it proves to our guys
that when people questioned whether their season was over after the Oklahoma
game, that it wasn't."
"They realized that what they needed to do was take care of their business
and there might be some good things that happen at the end."
"Our team could've taken the Missouri game or the Baylor game for granted,
but they didn't. They took care of their business every week. They didn't
worry about the BCS and now they've got themselves in position for a
championship game for the second time in three years."
"We are really, really excited. I am proud of our team and of the way they
played at College Station. What an awful thing it would have been if we had
not taken care of business (Friday) in College Station and this would have
happened (OU's loss Saturday)."
"So, give credit to our team for being mature, playing hard and putting
themselves in position to have a rematch with Colorado."
He also said the Longhorns' 41-7 victory over Colorado in Austin back on
October 20 means little because "this isn't the same Colorado team we played
at mid-season."
"Any team that can get 62 points against Nebraska gets your attention," he
said. " I think it is obvious that Colorado is a great football team. They
are running the ball as good as anybody in the country right now."
"What a great challenge it will be for our defense, which has played as good
as any defense  in the country," he said. "That will be a great matchup."
Brown said the Longhorn offense had a tough day against A&M. "We will need to
play better on offense in this game and what a great challenge it will be to
try to stop Colorado from running the ball as well as they ran it against
Nebraska," he said.
Brown also said Saturday's game is huge because it is for the Big 12
Championship
"You always want to win your conference championship," he said. "It is one of
your first goals each year. This is our second opportunity to win a
conference championship in four years here and are we excited."
"The BCS is not an issue today and a bowl game is not an issue today," he
said. "This is what you fight to get into, but when you get there, you've got
to win. After that, you try to look up and figure out where you are."
But Brown said beating Colorado again is a huge challenge for the Longhorns.
"If our guys weren't convinced before the Nebraska game, we will convince
them that this Colorado team is different," he said.
"Give (Colorado coach)  Gary Barnett credit. He took his kids to Texas
Stadium this summer and said that is where we want to end up, and as of
(Saturday), nobody thought that Colorado and Texas would end up in this ball
game."
"So, give both teams credit," Brown said. "It is two teams that have been
down this year and have gotten themselves back up, gone back to work and are
playing as well as anyone in the country at the end of the year."
"One of the things that we have talked about with this team is respect. You
need to respect yourself and your teammates, but you also need to respect
your opponent. Every Saturday has to be a real important game for us and a
really exciting game for us. Our guys will play hard this Saturday because
they understand what is at stake."
"To win the conference championship in this league," Brown said, "you have to
beat the same team twice a lot of the time. That is something that is just
there. To be the champion you have to do it, so we are excited about it.
There is no question that it is harder, because they will have a lot of
motivation coming in. But we are also going to have a lot of motivation
coming in to try to be the champions of the Big 12."
He said the players and coaches are excited about the challenge.
"This is a championship game week," he said. "You understand that this is 
like playing your biggest rival and that makes it fun. What we have to do to
win the championship every year is play a huge rival like Texas A&M and then
play this game the next week. We need to get used to that."
"There are a lot of things that are different now in the Big 12 that they
were around here for a long time with the Southwest Conference. One of them
is being able to play big game after big game and especially at the end of
the year."
"We have been here before, but we haven't taken the other step yet. This is
the week for us to take the other step and win the championship."
"Our players are the reason why we are here. Different things have happened
throughout the year and this was just the latest one."
"The reason we are playing in this game is our assistant coaches and our
players have worked really hard to take advantage of every opportunity that
they have had since the Oklahoma game. They never got their head down and
still believed. They kept themselves in a position to win if the opportunity
came up."
Brown had planned a big recruiting push this week, but said, 'We will put our
recruiting on hold. All of the coaches could go out on Monday for the first
time and be in schools and the homes, but  the players out there will
understand that our recruiting will be better by winning the championship
game."
truorange@aol.com