Southwest Conference Blog

Sammy Baugh

2008-12-18T21:18:00.001-06:00

Sammy Baugh passed away this week. Read this obituary from the Dallas Morning News.

He was the Redskins' No. 1 draft choice out of TCU, where he led the Horned Frogs to 29 victories and Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl titles in three seasons as a starter. He was a consensus All-American in 1936, his senior year. His coach, Dutch Meyer, called him "the greatest athlete I ever saw."

SMU Bolevard

2008-10-22T22:03:00.002-05:00

SMU, with the construction of Ford Stadium on campus, bringing football back to the Hilltop, has started to try to create a good game day atmosphere. The main street on campus is transformed into a haven for tailgaters and party goers. Read about it here, as well as other SMU traditions and spirit.

Each fall students, faculty, staff, and alumni get together on The Boulevard for pregame picnics and festivities. Drop by the Office of Alumni Relations tent – we would love to see you!

SWC Game of the Week: SMU at Navy

2008-10-22T22:02:00.000-05:00

The year was 1963. The game was in the Cotton Bowl, the legendary stadium of the southwest United States. The quarterback was All-American and future Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach. The team was Navy, and they were in Dallas to play SMU. Navy was heavily favored and SMU was on its way to a 4-7 season. But, John Roderick rushed for 146 yards on just 11 carries, scoring two touchdowns and the SMU defense sent Staubach to the bench twice with dislocated left shoulder, leading SMU to a big upset. Trailing 28-26 with 2:52 left in the game, SMU Danny Thomas hit Billy Gannon who was brought down at the Navy 46. Roderick took the next snap 23 yards down to the Navy 23. A pass interference penalty put the ball at the 1 yard line and Gannon plowed over the right tackle for the winning score. The SMU defense held off Stabauch’s last attempt at a comeback and SMU won 32-28. Navy would lose two games that season, both in the Cotton Bowl. (Texas beat them in the Cotton Bowl Game on Jan. 1st.)

THIS WEEK’S GAME:
SMU will visit Navy this week. SMU leads the all time series 7-5, winning 6 of the first 7 matchups. Navy won the last meeting in 1998 in Annapolis. SMU has played two of the top passing offenses the past two weeks but will face the Navy’s triple option attack this week. SMU brings the run and shoot offense into Annapolis, led by true freshman quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. Bo Levi has an outstanding football name. He has 4 300 yard passing games and 21 touchdown throws on the season. His favorite target is Emmanuel Sanders. He has 823 yards receiving, second in the nation and 8 TD’s this season, becoming the all time TD reception leader in SMU history. Sophomore Aldrick Robinson leads the nation with 909 receiving yards and 10 TD’s in just 8 games. Kickoff return man Jesse Henderson is SMU’s career kickoff return yardage leader with 2,671 yards and is only 251 yards short of the NCAA record. Linebacker Justin Smart leads the Ponies with 63 tackles in 2008. SMU played 12 true freshman in the season opener, more than any other NCAA school.

Nay will play its 1200 football game against SMU this week. Navy has won 3 of their last 4 games under new head coach Ken Niumatalolo. Navy features the triple option offense average 367 yards a game. Shun Wright leads Navy with 768 yards rushing and 5 touchdowns. He rushed for 348 yards against Towson. Jabaree Tunai, playing on the defensive line, leads the team with 5.5 tackles for a loss.

SWC MEMORIES PLAYER PROFILE:
Eric Dickerson came out of Sealy High School a top recruit, setting his sights on OU. His mama talked him into attending SMU (with the help of some boosters I’m sure). His freshman season he rushed 115 times for 477 yards. He then became part of the Pony Express, rushing with backfield teammate Craig James. Neither of the two friends liked the system at first. Dickerson’s sophomore season saw him rush for 928 yards and 5 touchdowns. The story is he called OU coach Barry Switzer wanting to transfer to OU, but the Sooner coach was not in his office to take the call and thus he stayed at SMU. The 1981 season, Dickerson’s junior year, would be one for the record books as the Pony Express system became the most potent rushing attacks in NCAA history. He would carry the ball 255 times and rush for 1,428 yards which ranked 6th nationally and first in the SWC. He would score 19 rushing touchdowns. He rushed for 100 yards in 10 of 11 games. Against Baylor he totaled 158 yards and 3 touchdowns and against the Aggies he had 121 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Pony Express combo of Dickerson and James rushed for 2,575 yards and 27 touchdowns and led SMU to a 10-1 record, a SWC Championship (first since 1966) and a #5 ranking, the first Top Ten finish since 1966. Dickerson’s 4,450 rushing yards on 790 carries for his SMU career broke Earl Campbell’s SWC record for yards and attempts and his 48 touchdowns tied Doak Walker for the SMU all time record. Dickerson would play professionally for both the Los Angeles Rams and Indianapolis Colts.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:
Ole Miss at Arkansas (Arkansas struggles continue as they look to take on Ole Miss)
Baylor at Nebraska (Baylor looks to pull off major upset in Lincoln)
Rice at Tulane (Rice needs to win on road to stay in bowl hunt)
OK State at Texas (Big showdown week two in Austin)
Texas A&M at Iowa State (A&M actually has a chance to win one, but it is on the road)
Wyoming at TCU (TCU should cake walk through this one)
Texas Tech at Kansas (Difficult stretch starts for Red Raiders as they visit KU)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:
SWC Game of the Week:
Texas Tech 43 Texas A&M 25 (Aggies can’t hold onto half time lead as Red Raiders get things ironed out and roll over A&M for 7th time in 8 games)

Other Games:
Kentucky 21 Arkansas 20 (Kentucky rallies to beat Petrino for first time)
OK State 34 Baylor 6 (OK State rolls over the Bears, look to showdown in Austin)
Houston 44 SMU 38 (SMU loses in final seconds as Houston moves to 3-0 in the conference)
Rice 45 Southern Mississippi 40 (Rice wins as Clements and Dillard connect on three more touchdowns)
Texas 56 Missouri 31 (First game as #1 since 1977, Texas scores early and rolls over the Tigers)
TCU 32 BYU 7 (TCU stays in BCS hunt with big win over top ten BYU on a Thursday night)

STANDINGS:
Conference: Overall:
W L W L
Texas 2 0 7 0
TCU 1 0 7 1
Texas Tech 1 0 7 0
Rice 1 1 4 3
Houston 1 0 4 3
Arkansas: 0 1 3 4
Baylor 0 0 3 4
Texas A&M 0 1 2 5
SMU 0 2 1 7

ON THE BLOG:
Read about The Boulevard, the main street on campus (Bishop) where students, student groups, alumni groups, tailgate before each game.

FINAL WORD:
This is not the most glamorous matchup for the teams today, but it sparks the past memories of SWC glory for us here at SWC Game of the Week. I hope everyone has a good week, and comes back wanting more.

Fish Spurs

2008-10-14T21:04:00.004-05:00

This tradition has changed somewhat due to the breakup of the SWC, moving to the Texas Tech game from the SMU game. Read this exert from the Battalion about a Corp tradition still going strong.

For one week during football season, "fish," or freshmen, in the Corps of Cadets walk around campus with bottle cap spurs attached to their shoes. These are known as "fish spurs," said Chris Johnson, a junior political science and history major.

The spurs are made of bottle caps usually collected at Northgate on the short alley known as "bottle cap alley," Johnson said. These spurs are removed before going in and out of buildings, but otherwise must be worn by the (freshmen) cadets at all times that they are in their uniform, Johnson said.

More here...

The late 1960's was the heyday of the Southwest Athletic Conference. There were intense rivalries between the schools and football teams of this association of mostly Texan schools. The fiercest rivalry, of course, was between A&M and tu, but there were lesser rivalries, such as between A&M and SMU. Since Aggies were fundamentally farmers, and since the mascot of SMU was a horse, it was only natural that for the week preceding that game, CT fish would have to wear spurs as a part of their uniform.

SWC Game of the Week: Texas Tech at Texas A&M

2008-10-14T21:04:00.001-05:00

Texas Tech is playing this season as a member of the elite. A top ten ranking will draw the attention of your opponents. So far the results have been mixed, good games mixed in with not so good games, such as last week against Nebraska. On the other side of the ball this week are the Texas Aggies. Under first year coach Mike Sherman they have been terrible. Apparently Fran did not leave much talent on campus when he departed after the Texas game last week. Maybe he knew it would be wise to miss out on this season. The Red Raiders will visit the Aggies this week and the new rivalry between the two will heat up again. (Aggies, having a rivalry with Tech may not be such a bad thing.)

THIS WEEK’S GAME:
Texas A&M enters this game having lost its first two conference games this season. The Aggie offensive however has out gained it’s opponents the last three games averaging 473 yards a game in Big 12 play. Last week Aggie signal caller Jerrod Johnson set a school record with 487 total yards and 419 yards passing. He completed 29 passes, 21 to freshman receivers. Johnson is playing for the injured Stephen McGee. Johnson is 31-44 in third down throws, that’s 70% for you math wizards. Redshirt freshman Ryan Tannehill, the third string quarterback now playing receiver, had 12 catches for 210 yards, becoming just the 4th Aggie to collect over 200 yards receiving in a game. True freshman Jeff Fuller has set the Aggie freshman receiver record for touchdowns. Tannehill and Fuller will battle the rest of the season for the freshman receiving records. It’s a bit harder to find something good to say about the defense. Freshman Trent Hunter has been a bright spot for the Aggies. In his first start ever against Army, he recorded 17 tackles from his defensive back position and was awarded the Big 12 Defensive Player of the game. Punter Justin Brantly is the nations #3 punter with a 44.0 yard average. Maybe A&M can be known as “Punter U”

Texas Tech is of course known for its high flying offensive. Tech has 3 of the top 20 offensive games this season, with 693 yards against SMU, 639 yards against Eastern Washington, and 626 yards at Kansas State. They are averaging 46.3 points per game, which if it holds up would be a school record. They are led by quarterback Graham Harrell who has 12,993 career passing yards, ranking 5th all time in the NCAA. His favorite target is out of this world receiver Michael Crabtree who has 32 touchdown receptions in just 19 games played. The running game has been the best under coach Mike Leach as well, averaging 143 yards a game. On defensive the unit won the game against Nebraska with an OT interception to seal the victory. Tech ranks 3rd nationally with 11 interceptions this season. Defensive end Brandon Williams helps provide pressure on the quarterback and has moved into the top ten in Tech history with 14.5 sacks, his last coming against Nebraska on Saturday.

Texas A&M leads the all time series 37-31-1, however Tech has won 10 of the last 13 meetings. A&M will try to reverse the trend on Saturday at 11 AM on FSN (National Broadcast). It was Tech knocking off a highly ranked Aggie team in 1995 that started their 10 of 13 streak, maybe the Aggies can turn the tables.

SWC MEMORIES PLAYER PROFILE:
The 1985 Texas Aggies won the SWC and earned a berth in the 1986 Cotton Bowl for the first time since 1968. They were led that year by quarterback Kevin Murray. He was an All-State QB at North Dallas High School and the Dallas Area Offensive player of the year his senior year of high school before starting at A&M 4th on the depth chart at QB. But he would soon be the #1 guy and in just his fifth start he three 3 touchdown passes in the 3rd quarter against Arkansas at Kyle Field (in the span of 6 minutes) and added a 4th in the fourth quarter, setting an A&M freshman record for TD throws in a game. He was the SWC Newcomer of the year after that season, after passing for over 1500 yards and 14 touchdowns at a 53% completion rate. In just the third game of his sophomore season he shattered his angle, requiring surgery and putting him out for the season. He received a medical redshirt for that year and in 1985 he passed for 2,463 yards, an A&M record. They beat SMU, Arkansas, and Texas in three late season home games, all on ESPN. The 42-10 victory over rival Texas sent them to the Cotton Bowl for the first time in 18 years. He was a 2nd team All-American and the Cotton Bowl’s most valuable offensive player, passing for 292 yards and besting Joe Montana’s Cotton Bowl record. The 1986 season saw Murray set most of the A&M records, and become the SWC’s all time touchdown leader. He lead a comeback from a 17-0 hole against Baylor to win 31-30 in what Texas Football called the game of the decade. The Aggies returned to the Cotton Bowl, but lost to Ohio State in what would be Murray’s last game as the Aggie’s signal caller. Murray would declare for the NFL draft early that year, but would go undrafted due to worries over his ankle. He had a brief pro career with the San Francisco 49er’s and the Calgary Stampeders. He soon retired due to the nagging ankle injury and now coaches high school football in the Dallas area. He was the Aggie’s all time winning quarterback before being passed by Corey Pullig, and will always be remember for bringing the Aggies back to the Cotton Bowl.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:
Arkansas at Kentucky (Bobby Petrino records first big win for the Hogs, now they look to start a streak)
Baylor at OK State (Baylor gets a streaking OK State who won a big game last weekend)
Houston at SMU (Another matchup of former SWC foes, SMU still looking to break through, UH looking to take command of CUSA race)
Southern Mississippi at Rice (Rice back in action at home after bye week)
Missouri at Texas (This game lost a bit of luster after Missouri lost to OK State, but will still be another test for the Horns)
BYU at TCU (Thursday) (Big game for TCU, another chance to beat a ranked opponent, this time at home on national TV)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:
SWC Game of the Week:
Texas 45 OU 35 (Texas pulls off upset, beats #1, gets a golden cowboy hat, and while they don’t have the tunnel end, they have a view of the scoreboard, which was a nice view this past Saturday.)

Other Games:
Arkansas 25 Auburn 22 (Big Upset in SEC, Michael Smith rushes for 176 yards, including go ahead 63 yard TD run)
Baylor 38 Iowa State 10 (Baylor gets first Big 12 win since 2006 in big fashion, as someone I know might say, “Go BEARS!”)
Houston 45 UAB 20 (Houston has big second half to beat UAB on Thursday night)
Tulsa 37 SMU 31 (SMU gives up two fourth quarter TD’s to loss upset bid, getting closer)
Kansas State 44 Texas A&M 30 (QB Johnson has 487 total yards, a school record, but Ags still find a way to lose, too many things are going wrong with the Farmers)
TCU 13 Colorado State 7 (TCU survives sloppy game, no points scored in the second half)
Texas Tech 37 Nebraska 31 OT (Big 4th down play for Tech, followed by a nice drive by the Corn folks to tie it, then Tech intercepts Nebraska in OT to win)

STANDINGS:
Conference: Overall:
W L W L
Texas 2 0 6 0
TCU 1 0 6 1
Texas Tech 0 0 6 0
Rice 1 1 3 3
Arkansas: 0 1 3 3
Baylor 0 0 3 3
Houston 0 0 3 3
Texas A&M 0 0 2 4
SMU 0 2 1 6

ON THE BLOG:
Read about “Fish Spurs”, a tradition that has moved from the SMU game to the Tech game.

FINAL WORD:
Well, the SWC has a team ranked #1 this week, the Texas Longhorns. Of course the Texas Longhorns have been ranked #1 in the past history of the SWC lots of time. But they aren’t the only team worth watching, which might be a bit different than past SWC seasons. The Red Raiders are #5 in one poll, their highest ranking ever. TCU is looking to beat a Top Ten team in BYU this Thursday at home and propel their conference championship aspirations. UH and SMU also meet this week in a former SWC matchup. A good week of football as this season continues.

Texas Torchlight Parade

2008-10-08T20:56:00.005-05:00

This year's torchlight parade was Wed. night at 8 PM. How does this rank up there with other pregame traditions?

Originally lead by the Texas Cowboys, a male spirit organization, the Parade is walked on foot with various leaders of spirit organizations holding torches leading the way. The Longhorn Band and the student body follow the torchbearers in the parade. The parade starts at Kinsolving Dormitory located at the northwestern end of campus on Dean Keeton and Whitis Ave. The procession moves south down Guadalupe (the Drag) and turns on 21st Street where it then proceeds up the South Mall to the Main Mall where a "Texas" sized Pep Rally is held to show support for the Longhorn football team.

SWC Game of the Week: Texas at OU

2008-10-08T20:56:00.001-05:00

It’s the second weekend in October, meaning the State Fair of Texas is under way and it’s time for the annual football match between the University of Texas and Oklahoma University. The Cotton Bowl is the host stadium, half way between the two campuses and this year the old stadium has undergone some upgrades. There are now second deck seats around both end zones, increasing capacity to over 90,000. But don’t worry, Fletcher’s is still selling corn dogs, the big Ferris Wheel is still spinning, and traffic will still be unbearable. SWC Game of the Week has an on the ground correspondent in Dallas, TX for the big weekend, the Red River Shootout, err. Red River Showdown, Texas / OU, #1 vs. #5.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:
Texas enters the annual match-up with #1 OU ranked #5 in the nation and undefeated. This is the 103rd time the two rivals will meet with Texas leading the all time series 57-40-5 and leads 16-13-1 in the last 30 years. This is the 30th time the two will meet with both teams undefeated, and the 4th time since 2001. The two teams have met in Dallas since 1912 and at the Cotton Bowl since 1929. Texas is ranked in the top 6 in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The Horns are led on offense by Colt McCoy, who ran his all time record to 25-6 with the victory over Colorado last weekend. McCoy is 103-130 (79%), 1,280 yards and 16 touchdowns. That’s 17 incomplete passes and 16 touchdowns. He also leads the team in rushing with 317 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Longhorns will need to get some other backs involved these next two weeks against OU and Missouri and Chris Ogbonnaya had a nice day against Colorado rushing 9 times for 71 yards, and catching 6 balls for 116 yards. On defense the Longhorns have shown more aggression this season under coordinator Will Muschamp. Sergio Kindle, playing defensive end this year after making the switch from linebacker, has 21 tackles and 2.5 sacks. The game plan for the Longhorns will certainly be to get some pressure on the quarterback.

The Sooners have been just as impressive, if not more so, on offense. The Sooners are #1 in the nation in red zone offense, scoring 23 touchdowns and 1 field goal in 24 trips inside their opponents 20 yard line. OU ranks #4 in the nation with 49.6 points per game. The 19 touchdown passes this season have been caught by 6 different receivers. QB Sam Bradford has set career highs in passing yards in three straight games before settling for 372 yards against Baylor. On defense LB Keenan Clayton is #3 on the team with 40 tackles and leads the Sooners in tackles for a loss with 6 and fumbles forced with 2. At weakside linebacker Travis Lewis is second on the team with 41 tackles and in the game against Cincinnati he had 4.5 tackles for a loss including 3 sacks and 12 tackles. OU is 70-7 in games played with a #1 ranking, but you can bet the Longhorns will be out to win the Golden Cowboy Hat.

SWC MEMORIES PLAYER PROFILE:
Bobby Lane, coming out of Highland Park High School, classmates with the great Doak Walker, played quarterback for the Texas Longhorns from 1944 to 1947. Texas has retired his number 22 jersey this year to honor this great football player. Lane was on the varsity squad as a freshman as Texas flirted with the SWC title. The next year was interrupted by service in the Merchant Marines, but he came back to lead Texas to the SWC crown. In the Cotton Bowl he completed 11 of 12 passes and factored in all six of the Longhorn touchdowns in route to a 40-27 victory over Missouri. His junior year Lane led the league in passing and Texas finished 8-2. UT Dana X Bible switched offenses for his senior year, from the single wing to the T formation and Lane simply led the ‘Horns to a 10-1 record and a 27-0 victory over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Bobby was a four time All SWC player and he was a college All American. He also played baseball at Texas and threw two no-hitters during his career. He continued his football career in the NFL with Detroit and Pittsburgh. Upon being traded by Detroit, which he had led to 3 NFL Championships, Bobby said that Detroit would not win another championship again in 50 years. Thus the “Curse of Bobby Lane, “ as the Lions have not won a championship since. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame as well as the National Football Hall of Fame. He passed away on December 1, 1986 in Lubbock, TX.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:
Arkansas at Auburn (Auburn should lay the wood on the hogs, BTW Arkansas is no Vanderbilt)
Iowa State at Baylor (Baylor should get this one at home, push to be bowl eligible)
UAB at Houston – Thursday (Houston playing on a Thursday night, looks to continue push in CUSA)
Tulsa at SMU (SMU has to play another high powered offense, but everyone in Dallas will be focused on Texas vs. OU, so they will be flying under the radar)
Kansas State at Texas A&M (Aggies have a good chance in this one, but they are still a really bad team. McGee may be back under center.)
TCU at Colorado State (TCU, what to say, why did they join the MWC where no one in Texas cares about any of these teams?)
Nebraska at Texas Tech (Tech looks to hang another 50+ on the “Black Shirts.”)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:
SWC Game of the Week:
Tulsa 63 Rice 28 (Rice blown out by CUSA front runner, must wait another year to beat that … “bag”)

Other Games:
Florida 38 Arkansas 7 (Arkansas suffering through a long first season for Petrino, hope he sticks around…)
OU 49 Baylor 17 (Well, take away those 4 touchdowns at the beginning of the game, and Baylor played right there with them)
UCF 31 SMU 17 (SMU starts good, finishes bad, still waiting for a break through game.)
Texas 38 Colorado 14 (Texas takes care of business, nothing more to say.)
OK State 56 Texas A&M 28 (A&M turns ball over too much, lacks talent, but how about that Goodson kid?)
TCU 41 San Diego State 17 (TCU continues winning after OU hick-up)
Texas Tech 58 Kansas State 28 (Tech rolls, any questions?)

STANDINGS:
Conference: Overall:
W L W L
Texas 2 0 5 0
TCU 1 0 5 1
Texas Tech 0 0 5 0
Rice 1 1 3 3
Arkansas: 0 1 2 3
Baylor 0 0 2 3
Houston 0 0 2 3
Texas A&M 0 0 2 3
SMU 0 2 1 5

ON THE BLOG:
Before the OU game, Texas has a Torchlight Parade. Read about it on the Blog.

FINAL WORD:
If you eat all fried food for one whole day, you will not feel well that evening. This is important if you are planning a trip to the State Fair of Texas. While Texas vs. OU will dominate the news this week, as well they should, some of our other teams play some good games as well. Tech is positioning themselves for a big showdown with Texas later in the season but must take care of Nebraska, TCU will continue it’s push to the conference crown, and Baylor will try to get a conference win and hopefully become bowl eligible. Enjoy the games, and the showdown in Big D.

MOB

2008-10-01T21:04:00.003-05:00

Rice has a different sort of band, read about the MOB from the Rice traditions website or go to the source, the official MOB website. Post your favorite MOB memory.

The Marching Owl Band (The MOB) differs from traditional marching bands. The concept of the MOB's halftime shows during football season has been to integrate field action and formations with a script to present an entertaining and often thought-provoking experience. Current events, social change, and general fantasies provide the basis for show ideas. The MOB's director combines special musical arrangements with unusual concepts in performance to produce unique halftime entertainment.

Membership in the MOB is open to all students, whether they are musically gifted or not. Those who do not play an instrument help in the production of halftime shows as MOB Show Assistants. Benefits of being in the MOB include tickets to road games, attendance scholarships, and travel.

SWC Game of the Week: Rice at Tulsa

2008-10-01T21:04:00.001-05:00

Rice, the new football power in the Southwest, is again featured on SWC Game of the Week. This week they will take on Tulsa in Oklahoma. If you remember your Rice football history, Tulsa’s coach, Todd Graham coached at Rice for one season, and took them to a bowl game. He then left for Tulsa, and has since been referred to as a certain type of bag you might not want to be associated with by the MOB (Marching Owl Band.) This of course upset the Tulsa folks to no end, they just don’t talk like that in Tulsa, or smoke pot, wait that’s Muskogee. Well, back to the games, Tulsa beat Rice last year, so the Owls didn’t quite get their revenge. They have since replaced the turf in Rice Stadium, completely separating themselves from the Todd Graham era and the new coach, David Bailiff has his Owls playing good football and on the prowl for another bowl. So, that brings us to this week and the re-match for revenge.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:
Rice, 3-2, played perhaps the perfect game last week against North Texas and look to extend their near flawless execution this week in Tulsa. QB Chase Clement connected with WR Jared Dillard for 3 touchdowns, raising their career mark for scoring hook-ups to 41 and setting the national record for scoring duos. Dillard finished the night with 4 touchdown receptions, a school and CUSA record, and tied Troy Edwards with 50 career touchdown receptions, a NCAA record. Dillard is one to watch and should play on the next level. He’s even writing a diary on the NY Times The Quad Blog. Rice’s 77 points were the most since they scored 57 against Galveston Air Force Base in 1944 in a 57-0 victory but fell short of the school record, set in 1916 in a 146-3 victory over SMU. (Galveston Air Force Base?) Rice scored touchdowns on its first six possessions. "That's the best I've seen us since I've been here. It was good to get it going, and it's something we need to keep building on going into Tulsa. That's something we need to carry over knowing that we've got something special going, “ said QB Chase Clements. On defense Rice’s senior LB Brian Raines practiced with the team and will see action against Tulsa. The defense was a bit sloppy in the opening quarter of play, missing tackles and that is a concern going into the Tulsa game. Rice leads the all time series with Tulsa 7-5-1, although Tulsa won the game last year at Rice Stadium 48-43.

Stopping Tulsa’s (4-0) offense will be a challenge. Tulsa has scored 50+ points in their last three games, the first time they have accomplished this since the 1920 season. Senior QB David Johnson leads the nation in two categories, passing efficiency and points responsible for per game (30.0). With 376.2 yards passing a game, Johnson ranks third in the country and has completed a Colt McCoy like 74% of his passes. Who is he throwing the ball to, well last week both Slick Shelly (all name team) and Damaris Johnson both had over 100 yards receiving. Tarrion Adams rushed for 120 yards on 13 carries last week to cover the ground game. Tulsa’s defense is a young unit, but they will be helped by the return of junior safety Charles Davis from injury. He recorded 5 tackles, two interceptions and a blocked punt last week against New Mexico. This week is Tulsa’s homecoming, “Homecoming 2008 … Take me Back to Tulsa” and Rice would like nothing more than to spoil it. With Rice, Tulsa, and Houston’s surprise win last week, this game could go a long way to deciding the CUSA Western Division.

SWC MEMORIES PLAYER PROFILE:
Bill Wallace, a Rice Owl from 1932, 1934-35 was another of the era’s great two way players. The Eagle Lake High School Grad was an exceptional ball carrier, passer, punter and safety on the defensive side of the ball. He also was a sprinter and hurdler on the track team. Since this first sentence can not be replicated in any form, and I’m not even sure I understand the rest of it either, this week we will just quote from the College Football Hall of Fame website:

“In the 1934 Texas game without once demonstrating his famous high-knee broken-field tornado technique, he showed how well he deserved the highest honors. Three times he placed punts dead at the goal line, one from 70 yards out. Twice he punted out of bounds inside the ten-yard line. Time after time he circled to the left drawing the Texas secondary out of position. Then, with only three minutes to go and Texas in the lead he circled left again, but instead of advancing, he faded and threw a long left-handed pass far across the field. End Ray Smith, with no opposition in sight, grabbed the pass and crossed the goal line, putting Rice ahead. After an interception, Rice scored again as the game ended, but Wallace wasn't through yet. A fan tried to make off with the ball from the point-after kick. Wallace flew after him, blocked by 20 or 30 fans. Bill sent them sprawling and returned to the field with the victory pigskin. Wallace was also Rice's initial first team All-America selection.”

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:
Florida at Arkansas (Florida should roll in a rebound game for them)
OU at Baylor (SWC Game of the Week Upset Special!)
SMU at UCF (SMU tries to play a complete game for the first time this year)
Texas at Colorado (Does the Hippie Highway still run through Boulder on the way to Austin?)
Texas A&M at OK State (Aggies don’t’ know who will play QB, and that’s just the beginning of the problems)
San Diego State at TCU (TCU tries to get back on track in CUSA play after OU debacle)
Texas Tech at Kansas State (Tech hopes to have all things ironed out after off week, plus they play a team we’ve heard of this week)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:
SWC Game of the Week:
OU 35 TCU 10 (TCU not ready for prime time)

Other Games:
Houston 41 East Carolina 24 (Huge win for the Coogs on the road to start CUSA action)
Rice 77 North Texas 20 (Rice rolls, highest point total in CUSA history)
Tulane 34 SMU 27 (SMU can’t overcome 1st half mistakes)
Texas A&M 21 Army 17 (If Army doesn’t fumble at the end of the 1st half, they win this one.)
Texas 52 Arkansas 10 (Texas rolls over historic rival)

STANDINGS:
Conference: Overall:
W L W L
Texas 2 0 4 0
TCU 1 0 4 1
Texas Tech 0 0 4 0
Rice 1 1 3 2
Arkansas: 0 1 2 2
Baylor 0 0 2 2
Houston 0 0 2 3
Texas A&M 0 0 2 2
SMU 0 2 1 4

ON THE BLOG:
Read about the MOB, Rice’s version of halftime entertainment.

FINAL WORD:
This week is an upset special week. You’ve seen the Baylor vs. OU SWC Game of the Week Upset Special Alert above, but other teams could be vulnerable as well. Rice is very capable of beating Tulsa on the road and grabbing control of the CUSA Western Division. Texas has a tough game on the road vs. Colorado and they have to contend with that OU match-up looming large next week. Texas Tech has not been tested this season so far, and will have to travel for it’s first Big 12 game at Kansas State. And finally, the Aggies, if they win another, it will be an upset. Enjoy the games this week and watch for the national upset trend to strike the SWC.

2008-09-24T21:14:00.001-05:00

TCU Alum Dan Jenkin's gives his take on the All-TCU team.

Anyhow, from the TCU Drug, where the soda fountain and tables and booths were known to hold hostages for six and seven hours at a time, it's only a short walk to the stadium on Saturdays.

That's where I can marvel at Sam Baugh '37 and Davey O'Brien '38 throwing touchdown passes -- and winning national championships for the Purple -- and where I can gaze at Jim Swink '55 continually exploding into daylight, and then watch Bob Lilly '61 turn rival ball-carriers into meat sauce.

SWC Game of the Week: TCU at OU

2008-09-24T21:04:00.000-05:00

TCU visits Oklahoma for this week’s SWC Game of the Week. They last met in 2005, which TCU won 17-10, the only home loss for the Sooners in their last 34 home games. That’s 6 seasons. Both teams are ranked this week, with the Sooners hanging onto the #2 ranking and TCU breaking into the top 25 at #24. Neither team has been pushed so far this year, so this could be a classic. The game will be broadcasted on FSN at 6 PM.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:
TCU is 4-0 to start this season, the first time they’ve started 4-0 since 2003. TCU also has a two game win streak in Norman, winning in 1996 and 2005. This will be the highest ranked opponent TCU has faced since falling to #1 Miami in 1992. Gary Patterson is 4-4 vs. ranked teams in his tenure at TCU. Oklahoma leads the all time series 6-4. Senior running back Aaron Brown returned to action against SMU and had 157 all purpose yards (60 receiving, 51 yards rushing, and 46 on kickoff returns.) He will help balance the backfield with QB Andy Dalton who is averaging 5 yards a carry in 6 of the last 8 games. TCU is rushing for 248.8 yards a game, which is 12th nationally, despite not having a single rusher in the top 100 rushing in the nation. Nine out of ten TCU rushers this year are averaging 4 yards a carry. TCU is taking care of the ball as well, with only 1 turnover this season in the first four games. TCU leads the nation in rushing defense (32.5 yards a game) and total defense (183.0 yards a game.) Seven Frogs have combined for 14 sacks this season and TCU is only giving up 9.8 first downs a game. Linebacker Jason Phillips, an All-American candidate, is back in action after having his consecutive game streak end at 39 games. Linebacker Robert Hensen leads the team with 23 tackles. TCU had its 5 game winning streak against the Big 12 snapped last year losing to Texas but they are primed to start a new streak this week.

OU has started the season 3-0 and has scored more than 50 points in each game. QB Sam Bradford is completing nearly 80% of his passes to start 2008, after a redshirt freshman year in 2007 that saw him lead the nation in pass efficiency. In his 16 game career he has thrown 48 touchdown passes and only 10 interceptions. Wide out Juaquin Iglesias has recorded a reception in 35 consecutive games, the nation’s fifth longest streak. Running back Chris Brown became the 66th Sooner to rush for 1,000 yards in his career during the OU opener this year. The offensive line is a big part of OU’s success on offensive, and big they are, averaging 6’-1” tall and 302 lbs. On defensive the Sooners force turnovers, 108 games with one in Coach Bob Stoops 122 games. This may be a key in the game, as mentioned above, TCU has only 1 turnover this season. DE Auston English is 10th in the nation with 1.25 sacks a game, leading a defense that averages 2.4 sacks a game. OU is tough after bye weeks, with a 10-1 record after bye weeks.

SWC MEMORIES PLAYER PROFILE:
Slingin’ Sammy Baugh, the TCU do everything quarterback led the Frogs to a national championship in 1935 with a Sugar Bowl victory over LSU. Baugh was perhaps the first quarterback to be a prolific passer, throwing the ball 587 times in his three varsity seasons for 39 touchdowns and over 2 miles in yardage. He threw as many as 40 passes a game in an era where 10 passes was considered extravagant. The Temple, TX native (raised in Sweetwater) was named to the All-American team in 1935 and 1936 season, his junior and senior seasons. His senior year he led the Frogs to the inaugural Cotton Bowl victory over Marquette 16-6 and a number 5 national ranking. He was also an outstanding punter. In the Sugar Bowl victory over LSU 3-2, Baugh punted 14 times for a 48 yard average, pinning the Tigers inside their 5 yard line several times. As a pro he led the league in punting 4 times. He played professionally with the Washington Redskins and led the league in passing 6 times and still holds several passing records. Washington won 5 division championships and two league championships while Baugh was a player. Baugh is one of three quarterbacks who have led their college and professional teams to national championships. In 1943 he led the NFL in interceptions, showing his talents on the defensive side of the ball as well. Slingin’ Sammy Baugh was truly one of the pioneers of football and help usher in the glory days of the Southwest Conference.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:
Houston at East Carolina (ECU coming off disappointing loss taking them out of BCS contention, but are still shooting for C-USA dominance)
North Texas at Rice (Rice needs this one to stay on track for a bowl game)
SMU at Tulane – Thursday (SMU run and shoot has not produced points the last two weeks, look to get back on track on Thursday in the Big Easy)
Army at Texas A&M (“Army,” “What!” This may be the last win for the Aggies this year. Of course we could say something about the real Army …)
Arkansas at Texas (Make-up will be final tune up for the Horns before conference play starts)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:
SWC Game of the Week:
TCU 48 SMU 7 (TCU hits the Ponies over the head with the Iron Skillet, then take it back to Fort Worth with them.)

Other Games:
Alabama 49 Arkansas 14 (Hogs struggling under new coach Petrino, have make up with the Horns up next)
Connecticut 38 Baylor 21 (Freshman Griffen looks good for the Bears, UConn no slouch at home either)
Colorado State 28 Houston 25 (Another second half comeback falls short, the Coogs have lost 3 in a row now)
Texas 52 Rice 10 (Texas beats Rice, Man lands on moon)
Miami 41 Texas A&M 23 (The Hurricanes route the Aggies at home, Ags look to be in serious trouble this year)
Texas Tech 56 Mass. 14 (Tech wraps up easy non-conference schedule)

STANDINGS:
Conference: Overall:
W L W L
TCU 1 0 4 0
Texas Tech 0 0 4 0
Texas 1 0 3 0
Arkansas: 0 0 2 1
Rice 1 1 2 2
Baylor 0 0 2 2
Texas A&M 0 0 1 2
Houston 0 0 1 3
SMU 0 2 1 3

ON THE BLOG:
Read TCU Alum’s Dan Jenkin’s All-TCU Football team.

FINAL WORD:
Non-conference play is winding down and we will soon be in conference play, meaning we should hopefully have some more evenly matched games. SWC Game of the Week wishes everyone a good football weekend, and hope you can catch the TCU vs. OU game on the tube.

Peruna

2008-09-15T21:22:00.001-05:00

From the SMU Band's website, the story of Peruna:

On November 4, 1932, Peruna I made his first appearance at an SMU football game against Texas A&M University. The feisty black Shetland pony, named after a potent "medicine" of the prohibition era, was an immediate success as the ultimate embodiment of the Mustang spirit on the campus. When he was struck and killed by a car on Mockingbird Lane during a 1934 Halloween celebration, the entire University community went into mourning.

Since that time, SMU has been represented by eight Perunas, all of them, except the first being donated and cared for by the generous Culwell family. In 1992, Cully Culwell sold Peruna VII to an anonymous SMU alumnus for continued care in perpetuity.

During the early days of the Mustang Band, Peruna accompanied the organization everywhere, appearing on theater playbills as "the midget wonder horse!"

SWC Game of the Week: TCU at SMU

2008-09-15T21:21:00.000-05:00

For the first time in our short history, we had a SWC Game of the Week “Hurricaned” out. Texas will face Arkansas next week in Austin, but this week we will turn our focus to the battle of the Metroplex, TCU at SMU. They will battle of the Iron Skillet Saturday at 7PM and if you have CBS Sports Channel you can watch it on TV.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:
This week we visit an old rivalry, SMU vs. TCU. In the 88 meetings between the two, TCU has won 41 compared to SMU’s victory total of 39. They have tied 7 times. SMU won the last meeting in Dallas 21-10 in 2005. SMU won 15 in a row from 1972 to 1986. TCU beat the Ponies last year 21-7. SMU is one of the youngest teams in the nation, playing 12 true freshmen in their opening loss to Rice. One of those freshmen is quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. He has looked good in stretches and bad in others, seems to be a typical freshman quarterback, but has led SMU to 15th in the nation in passing offense at 308 yards a game. He will look to get the ball in the hands of Emmanuel Sanders. Sanders is on a streak of 4 consecutive games with at least 100 yards receiving and at 128.0 yards per game he is 8th in the nation in receiving yards per game. He has caught a ball in 26 of his 27 college games. Thomas Morstead, the SMU punter, leads CUSA and is third in the nation with 48 yards per game. On defense, linebacker Pete Fleps leads SMU with 24 tackles this week as well as 3 pass breakups and 2 forced fumbles. On the academic front, 97% of the scholarship athletes that entered SMU between 1991 and 2001 have earned their degrees.

Gary Patterson has been quite successful at TCU after taking over for … Fran (remember him?) The Horned Frogs look to be BCS busters again this year and are off to a 3-0 start, the third 3-0 start in the last six years. The previous two yielded 11 win seasons. TCU has outscored it’s opponents 124-24 and has not trailed yet this year. QB Andy Dalton has led the Frogs in rushing in 4 of the last 7 contests and has 4 rushing touchdowns this year to tie Joseph Turner for the team lead. TCU has a balanced attack, rushing for 241.3 yards and passing for 156.7 yards. TCU has won 18 straight games when rushing for more yards than passing. TCU’s 241 yards rushing per game ranks 13th nationally. On defense the Frogs are second in the nation, only yielding 174 yards a game. Defensive ends Matt Panfil and Jerry Hughes have both received MWC defensive player of the week honors. Panfil has 7 tackles for a loss this year including 3.5 sacks while Hughes has 5.5 tackles for a loss and 3 sacks. The pair also have all 4 of TCU’s tackles for a loss.

During the post-World War II college football boom, the SMU and TCU student bodies created a traveling trophy called the Iron Skillet that was presented to the winner of the annual football game between the archrivals. The tradition eventually died, and the skillet was lost. In 1993, however, the tradition was revived as the president of the SMU student body painted the face of the TCU student body president red and blue following the Mustangs’ 21-15 victory in Fort Worth. The engraved skillet is presented to the winning team after each game.

SWC MEMORIES PLAYER PROFILE:
This week we will focus on one of the greatest football players to ever play the game, Doak Walker. Doak was an All American 1947, 1948, and 1949 at SMU. He carried the ball on offense, punted, returned kicks, and kicked extra points. He did it all. He played his freshman year in 1945, missed the 1946 season due to military service, and then won the Heisman Trophy in 1948, the first junior to do so. He was the first college football player to be on the cover of Life Magazine. He graduated from Highland Park High School in 1944 and chose SMU over following his buddy and classmate Bobby Layne to Texas. "Having Doak on our team was like having loaded dice or marked cards. We just felt like we had to do our part and Doak would do the rest. The most amazing thing is that he did it all so effortlessly. He made it look so simple." - Francis Pulattie. Doak and the success of the SMU teams of the post war years drew enormous crowds, so big that SMU moved their home games from campus to the Cotton Bowl. Then the Cotton Bowl couldn’t contain the crowds so they built a second deck, making capacity of 75,000. The Cotton Bowl honored Doak with a plaque that says, “The House that Doak Built.” In 1950 Doak began his NFL career with the Detroit Lions by leading the league in scoring with 128 points. He was a four time All-Pro with the Lions, where he was reunited with Bobby Layne, his high school classmate, and led them to NFL Championships in 1952 and 1953. He retired after only 6 years in the league, still in his prime. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986. The award for the best running back in college football each year is named for him, The Doak Walker Award.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:
Alabama at Arkansas (‘Bama tough opponent for Arkansas, Hogs with extra week off)
Baylor at Connecticut (Baylor 1-0 on Friday’s this year, takes on UConn on this Friday)
Houston at Colorado State (Houston takes on Mountain West)
Rice at Texas (Rice makes annual contribution to the Texas football program)
Miami at Texas A&M (Aggies out for revenge from Miami disaster in 2007)
Mass. at Texas Tech (Texas Tech continues tough non conference slate)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:
SWC Game of the Week:
Texas vs. Arkansas Postponed Due to Hurricane Ike

Other Games:
Baylor 45 Washington State 17 (Baylor blows out Washington State, wins second in a row, game played Friday to avoid Ike)
Air Force 31 Houston 28 (Houston’s comeback comes up short in a game played at SMU’s Ford Field, now the City of Houston begins their comeback)
Vanderbilt 38 Rice 21 (Rice shut out in the 2nd half)
Texas Tech 43 SMU 7 (Tech gets the water off the field, then runs over the Ponies)
TCU 31 Stanford 14 (TCU takes down Stanford with 17 second half points)

STANDINGS:
Conference: Overall:
W L W L
TCU 0 0 3 0
Texas Tech 0 0 3 0
Arkansas: 0 0 2 0
Texas 0 0 2 0
Rice 1 0 2 1
Baylor 0 0 2 1
Texas A&M 0 0 1 1
Houston 0 0 1 2
SMU 0 1 1 2

ON THE BLOG:
Read about SMU’s mascot, Peruna.

FINAL WORD:
We here at SWC Game of the Week wish all those in the path of Ike well, and we wish Houston and Galveston a speedy recovery. The Gulf Coast has produced many great SWC players, too many to list, and we look forward to the next group to be discovered.

Calling the Hogs

2008-09-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

From the Arkansas Website, a lesson in calling the hogs. You can even listen in.

A chant of “Woo Pig Sooie” is known worldwide as a Hog Call. Just like any good tradition, there are lots of versions of the Hog Call (even spellings).

A properly executed Hog Call is composed of three “calls,” slowly raising one’s arms from the knees to above the head during the “Woo.” Traditionalists prescribe an eight second “Woo.” The fingers should be wiggled and the “Woo” should build in volume and pitch as the arms rise.

Upon completion of the “Woo,” both arms are brought straight down with fists clinched as if executing a chin-up while yelling, “Pig”. The right arm is extended up and out with the “Sooie.”

A full Hog Call -- the kind one will always hear victorious Razorback teams execute after contests -- requires two more Hog Calls, followed immediately by a “Razor-Backs” yell, coordinated with a pumping motion of the right arm after the third “Sooie.” So, in order, the full Hog Call is:
Woooooooo. Pig. Sooie!
Woooooooo. Pig. Sooie!
Woooooooo. Pig. Sooie!
Razorbacks!

SWC Game of the Week: Arkansas at Texas

2008-09-09T21:39:00.002-05:00

The Game of the Century, we’ve all heard about it, Nixon said it was the biggest game since he beat Chairman Mao at Ping Pong. Royal vs. Broyles, Hogs vs. Horns, we’ve been through this before, right? One of the great rivalries of the old SWC will renew itself this year, with the Arkansas Razorbacks traveling down to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns. The rivalry heated up some in the early 2000’s when the Longhorns and Hogs played a home and home series and faced each other in the Cotton Bowl, Longhorn fans might remember Houston Nutt flashing the upside down horns. These are the match-ups that get us here at SWC Game of the Week excited.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:
This week’s revisits an old SWC rivalry. Texas leads the all time series 55-21, including 27-11 in games played at Memorial Stadium in Austin, however Arkansas has won 3 of the last 4 games in Austin, including an upset of then #5 Texas in 2003, on Sept. 13th, the day of this years game. Arkansas has played Texas more than any other opponent. New coach Bobby Petrino has the Hogs off to a 2-0 start, however they have been shaky in those two games. The offense is trying to replace running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones (now with the Dallas Cowboys to keep your Texas connections alive.) These two have helped Arkansas lead the SEC in rushing in 4 of the last 5 years. However, Razorback QB Casey Dick has posted two 300+ passing yard games in 2008, becoming the first Arkansas player to do so. Tight end DJ Williams has been a favorite target this year, hooking up with Dick for a 76 yard touchdown pass against La Monroe last week. He recorded 124 yards and 2 touchdowns that game. Tailback Michael Smith, now seeing some playing time after McFadden and Jones have left, rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns last week, to try to keep the Razorback tradition of rushing greats alive. Up front the Hogs have senior center Jonathon Luigs, the Rimington Trophy winner from last year, given to the nation’s best center. On defense redshirt freshman linebacker Jerry Franklin leads the team with 19 tackles in the first two games. Arkansas has struggled some on defensive, giving three players (DE Jake Bequette, CB Tramain Thomas, and safety Dallas Washington) their first start of their careers against La Monroe. Arkansas has played 15 true freshmen this year, and they will need to grow up in a hurry to be successful this week.

Texas returns junior QB Colt McCoy, who has looked sharp early on in 2008. He is on all kinds of award watch lists, including the Davey O’Brien Award for the nation’s best quarterback. McCoy has two seniors to throw to, Quan Cosby and Jordan Shipley. Cosby posted a career high 154 yards and a touchdown against UTEP last week. Texas must replace 6 key starters on offensive, with the biggest perceived weakness being the running backs. Senior Chris Ogbonnaya, Sophomore Vondrell McGee and Redshirt Freshman Fozzy Whitaker are the three candidates to replace Jamaal Charles. Fozzy had a bit of a break out game against UTEP rushing 12 times for 72 yards. The guys on the line are led by one lone senior, Cedric Dockery (Outland Trophy watchlist) but are routinely bigger than everyone else. Under offensive coordinator Greg Davis (who Longhorn fans are not always pleased with) the Longhorns have averaged 33.8 points a season. On defense the Longhorns are led by insane defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, coming over from Auburn. After two awful seasons in pass defense he was brought over to add energy to the defense. He’s done that, ripping his headset off, cutting his head, and coaching his players up on the sidelines while blood was dripping down his face. Against UTEP he was seen running out on the field after a stop like a mad man, running and jumping on his players. SWC Game of the Week doesn’t like to editorialize, (yeah right) but this behavior is a bit ridiculous. Since we feel a coach behaving like this detracts from his players (the ones making the plays) we will oblige by not mentioning any of the Longhorn defenders. I mean, we’re distracted. Unfortunately, after two games Texas ranks 93rd in passing defense.

Arkansas has 23 players from Texas and will be ready to try to knock off a Texas team they will feel does not respect them. Texas will have the advantage of superior talent and a sold out crowd of 92,000+ in a newly renovated DKR Texas Memorial Stadium. This game will air on regional ABC at 2:30 CST. A wildcard is our friend Ike, out in the Gulf, which could change gametime, or make it a wet one. Stay tuned.

SWC MEMORIES PLAYER PROFILE:
This week we will look back at Lance “Bambi” Alworth, for the Arkansas Razorbacks. He was an all around athlete at Brookhaven, Mississippi and was the first Hog to letter in three sports in the same school year, 1961 (track, baseball and football.) He was an All American halfback in 1961 and played offense, defense, returned kicks and punted. (Of course he played the tuba at the half in the band.) He led the nation in punt returns in 1960 and 1961 with a career averaging of 13.5 yards. Arkansas was the SWC champion once and co-champion twice while he was a varsity athlete. They played in the Cotton, Gator and Sugar bowls. In 1961-62 he was voted the most outstanding amateur athlete in the state of Arkansas. He was president of his senior class at Arkansas in 1961, an Academic All American and the winner of the Southwest Conference Sportsmanship Award. (Man, I want my daughter to marry this guy…) Although offered baseball contracts with the Pirates and Yankees, he choose to play football after leaving college and starred with the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys. He scored 87 touchdowns and was fourth all time in receiving yards over a ten year career (1962-1972) when he retired. It was his rookie year in the NFL where he earned the nickname Bambi. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1984.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:
Washington State at Baylor (Washington State was beat by OK State, but Bears are not quite the Cowboys, 5 point underdog at home)
Air Force at Houston (Another good non conference game for the Coogs)
Rice at Vanderbilt (One of these teams will be 3-0 after this game, amazing if you think about it. It would be the first time at 3-0 for Rice since 1953)
SMU at Texas Tech (Will Tech get 100? It might take 100 to win this one)
Stanford at TCU (Win over BCS conference school will look good for TCU)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:
SWC Game of the Week:
OSU 56 UH 37 (UH can’t hold half time lead, OSU rolls in the second half)

Other Games:
Arkansas 28 Louisiana Monroe 27 (Arkansas squeaks by, now packs for Austin)
Baylor 51 Northwestern State 6 (Now Baylor, be nice, you know what it’s like to be on the other end of these things)
Rice 42 Memphis 35 (Rice is 2-0, and 2-0 in CUSA, offense looks great!)
SMU 47 Texas State 36 (SMU wins first for June Jones Era, defense could still use some work.)
Texas 42 UTEP 13 (UTEP pumped, full house, Miner pride, but Texas has the good football players)
Texas A&M 28 New Mexico 22 (Aggies hold on in the end, Jared Johnson plays QB for Ags after McGee hurt in first series)
TCU 67 SFA 7 (TCU blows out SFA, shows they are in a separate class)
Texas Tech 35 Nevada 19 (Will the Red Raiders bend don’t break defense hold in conference play?)

STANDINGS:
Conference: Overall:
W L W L
Rice 1 0 2 0
Arkansas: 0 0 2 0
Texas 0 0 2 0
TCU 0 0 2 0
Texas Tech 0 0 2 0
Houston 0 0 1 1
Texas A&M 0 0 1 1
Baylor 0 0 1 1
SMU 0 1 1 1

ON THE BLOG:
Learn how to “Call the Hogs,” as all good Arkansas fans do.

FINAL WORD:
With Ike heading towards the Texas Coast, we here at SWC Game of the Week wish all those in the path of this hurricane well.

Cotton Eyed Jim

2008-09-07T20:39:00.002-05:00

Good article in the Dallas Morning News on Jim "Hoss" Brock and the Cotton Bowl of the SWC.

He worked for TCU and SMU in media relations but was most famous as the man who, like Field Scovell before him, convinced schools to come to Dallas on New Year's Day to play in the Cotton Bowl, the greatest sales job in local history.

UH Hand Sign

2008-09-03T21:45:00.002-05:00

From the UH web site, the origins of the University of Houston hand sign:

In Texas, all of the major universities have adopted a hand sign which signifies to all other Texans where your loyalties lie. The Cougar Hand Sign is no different. Although the original hand sign was the "V" for Victory until 1965, events conspired and a new hand sign was adopted. The inaugural football game between University of Houston and University of Texas during the 1953 campaign witnessed the birth of a blood rivalry between the state's two largest universities at that time. However, it also led to the adoption of another Cougar Hand Sign. During her transport from Houston to Austin, one of the fingers on Shasta's paw was severed when the cage door was closed. As the University of Texas partisans and players caught wind of the accident, they mimicked the animal by bending their thumb over the ring finger against their palm. This gesture implied that the Cougars were invalids. The Cougars would go on to lose the game 28-7.
The cougar faithful, still mindful of the stinging defeat suffered 15 years earlier, never forgot the taunting that they received. The next time the two teams faced off (1968... a whole 15 years later), UH tied UT 20-20. At that point, the students thought there might be a bit of magic in that sign, and the hand sign was adopted replacing the "V".
In 1976, the Cougars first football season in the Southwest Conference, the Coogs & Horns met for the third time ever. The Coogs put a beating on the Longhorns that they have yet to forget 30-0 (a.k.a.the "Dad's Day Massacre") in front of the largest crowd to assemble in Memorial Stadium at that time. That victory ended the Longhorns famed winning streak, and the embarrassment also signaled the end of legendary UT Coach Darryl K. Royal's career. After that victory, the Cougar Hand Sign became firmly entrenched.
*Important Note: Only one hand is to be held aloft when making the Cougar Hand Sign.

I don't think Texas is lining up to play UH today either.

SWC Game of the Week: UH at OK State

2008-09-03T21:42:00.003-05:00

“I’m a MAN, I’m 40!” OSU coach Mike Gundy may never live this quote down. I don’t think we here at SWC Game of the Week can let that one slide by, do you? So, this week, as the Houston Cougars travel north to Stillwater (Oklahoma A&M was an original member of the SWC) to do battle, we will remember that at 40, you do indeed become a man.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:

This week’s game features the Houston Cougars traveling to play a Big 12 foe, the Oklahoma State Cowboys. T Boone Pickens is fired up, got the windmills twirling, and so should you! Oklahoma State is coming off an impressive win at Washington State while the Cougars started with a blowout win over Southern. For the Cougars this is an opportunity to take a shot at the big boys from the Big 12. Houston leads the all time series 9-8-1 and won in Houston two years ago 34-25. Case Keenum will start at QB for the Coogs after splitting time with Blake Joseph last year. He got off to a good start with a 392 yard passing effort last week, completing his first 14 throws. Receiver Mark Hafner should have a break out season for the Coogs and 7 catches for 103 yards against Southern. L.J. Castile, a converted QB, is also being counted on for big contributions from the wide out spot. UH this year has switched to a 4-3 defense. Up front they will have Phillip Hunt, returning this year after a 10.5 sack season last year. While thin at LB, Coach Sumlin is looking for speed which is lacking, the Coogs should have one of the best safety duos in CUSA with free safety Kenneth Fontenette and Ernest Miller. First year coach Kevin Sumlin believes the Cougars should compete for the Conference USA Championship every year and he may get one his first year.

OSU will be looking for revenge for the 2006 loss in Houston. The Cowboys also have 18 players on their roster from the city of Houston, so they will be playing for some bragging rights back home. In the interesting stat of the week, OSU last season rushed for 3,161 yards and passed for 3,161 yards, achieving exact offensive balance. The Cowboys had the #7 offense in the nation last season and this year will again be led by junior signal caller Zac Robinson who took over for Bobby Reid last season. Robinson can look for All-Big 12 tight end Brandon Pettigrew and sophomore wideout Dez Bryant. Over the last two years, OSU has averaged 41.3 points at T Boone Pickens stadium. On the defensive side of the ball OSU only surrendered 196 yards to Washington State last week, the lowest output against the Cowboys in two years. OSU struggled on defensive last season but has brought in five junior college transfers. One of the big concerns was the push up front, but last week they recorded 10 tackles for a loss of yards. Orie Lemon, first time starter at linebacker led the Cowboys with 10 total tackles.

This should be an interesting game, testing how ready UH is for the big time. Any game featuring two players from Anchorage, Alaska squaring off against each other (OSU DL Tonga Tea Jr and UH OL Jaryd Anderson) is worth watching.

SWC MEMORIES PLAYER PROFILE:

Wilson Whitley came to the University of Houston from Brenham, TX as a three time All State and two time All American defensive lineman. As a Coogar he started his college career as he ended his high school career, starting on a team that went 11-1. He made the All-American team as a sophomore, second on the team in tackles. He also had 6 sacks, a blocked kick and two fumble recoveries. His senior season would be a big one. The year was 1976 and Houston was competing for the first time in the SWC. Houston would win the SWC crown that season, with Whitley anchoring the defensive. The defensive held 5 opponents to 10 points of fewer that season. Wilson was a consensus All-American and won the Lombardi Award, presented to him in Houston by President Gerald Ford. He recorded 5 sacks and 50 tackles that season and had 8 tackles in his last game, an upset victory over previous unbeaten Maryland in the Cotton Bowl. Despite only playing one season in the SWC, Whitley was named SWC defensive player of the decade. Whitley was the 8th player taken in the NFL draft, selected by the Cincinnati Bengals. He played alongside fellow Lombardi award Ross Browner for 6 season, including a Super Bowl appearance. He suffered an untimely death at the age of 37 due to a heart condition. He was a 1998 inductee into the UH Hall of Honor and a 2007 inductee into the National College Football Hall of Fame.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:

Louisiana Monroe at Arkansas (Arkansas looking to be 2-0 heading into Austin)
Northwestern State at Baylor (Should be Briles first win)
Rice at Memphis (Rice starts with two conference games, look to keep the offense rolling)
Texas State at SMU (Should be the first win of the June Jones Era, Mitchell to remain at QB)
Texas at UTEP (They’ve been waiting for this one in El Paso a long time. So long they forgot about Buffalo last week)
Texas A&M at New Mexico (Can you have a must win as the second game of a sure to be mediocre season?)
SFA at TCU (TCU should be the better of the two purple teams)
Texas Tech at Nevada (Tech should roll)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:

SWC Game of the Week:
Rice 56 SMU 27 (SMU may have the run and shoot, but the Owls show their fire power as well. Clements to Dillard x3!)

Other Games:
Arkansas 28 Western Illinois 24 (What can you say about the Hogs? They have to be included…)
Wake Forest 41 Baylor 13 (Briles start with Baylor is pretty familiar to Bear fans, but maybe they will be Wake someday)
Houston 55 Southern 3 (Don’t think this one counts for much, but it looks nice on paper)
Texas 52 Florida Atlantic 10 (McCoy and company off to usual start)
Arkansas State 18 Texas A&M 14 (Ouch, I mean ouch. Aggie fans are hurting, but there is always next year!)
TCU 26 New Mexico 3 (Former Fran faceoff #1 for this year features the later team winning)
Texas Tech 49 Eastern Washington 24 (You must be good when you win big but that is not enough.)

STANDINGS:

	Conference:		Overall:
	W	L	W	L
Rice	1	0	1	0
Arkansas:	0	0	1	0
Houston	0	0	1	0
Texas	0	0	1	0
TCU	0	0	1	0
Texas Tech	0	0	1	0
Texas A&M	0	0	0	1
Baylor	0	0	0	1
SMU	0	1	0	1

ON THE BLOG:

All SWC teams seem to have a hand sign, log onto the SWC Blog to read about the University of Houston’s hand sign.

FINAL WORD:

We’ve got one week behind us, a big upset in Aggieland, some blowouts and some close games. We’re closer to some interesting showdowns. SWC Game of the Week wishes everyone a great football watching weekend!

Rice Owl Mascot

2008-08-26T21:44:00.001-05:00

From the Rice Owls Website:

An early symbol of Rice's athletic teams was large canvas owl, a tempting target for the Institute's rivals. In 1917, when students from Southwest Conference football rival Texas A&M kidnapped the owl, Rice students pooled their resources and hired a private detective to go to College Station to find the missing mascot. When the detective, having recovered the owl, sent a coded telegram to Houston that read "Sammy is fairly well and would like to see his parents at eleven o'clock," the Rice mascot had a name.

Those pesky Aggies... Plus, it's fun to call Rice, The Institute.

SWC Game of the Week: SMU at Rice

2008-08-26T21:42:00.001-05:00

The temps are near 100 every day, so it must be football season! Yes, another season and we here at SWC Game of the Week are very excited about this year. This is our third year and we’ve got some new features for our dedicated readers. One is the SWC Blog (http://bubba-blog-nyc.blogspot.com/) where this newsletter will be posted along with other tidbits. The SWC Blog will also allow the readers and others to comment and contribute their own stories and memories. While the SWC may be officially disbanded, for those of us that grew up with the Raycom SWC Game of the Week, and started every year by watching the Cotton Bowl Parade and then the Cotton Bowl, the SWC will never die. I hope everyone is as excited about this college football season as we are here at SWC Game of the Week!

THIS WEEK’S GAME:

This week’s game features the SMU Mustangs making the short trip down I-45 to face off with the Rice Owls on a Friday night (Gasp! Fridays are for the school boys!) in front of a national televised audience on ESPN. SMU leads the all time series 45-39-1 although Rice leads the series in games played at Rice Stadium 15-12-1. The last game SMU won at Rice Stadium was in 1986. (Side note, as many of our readers know, the Editor in Chief is a big fan of Rice Stadium and thinks it is about the best place on earth to watch a football game.)

June Jones will coach his first game for the Ponies and there is excitement on the Hilltop for a quick turn around. Jones coached the Hawaii Warriors to a 12-1 season last year before being lured back to the mainland. SMU will try to bounce back with a true freshman quarterback as Bo Levi Mitchell, who played his high school ball at Katy High School in the Houston area, will get the start. Braden Smith, another true freshman will back him up, leaving returning starter Justin Willis on the sidelines. Mitchell will try to lean on junior widout Emmanuel Sanders who ranks 3^rd in receiving touchdowns, 12^th in yards, and 8^th in catches on the SMU all time list. When SMU does run the ball, they will be handing to DeMyron Martin, a Doak Walker Award candidate who has a shot at becoming the 12^th player in SMU history to pass the 2,000 yard mark. Defensive coordinator Tom Mason will have the Mustangs flying around the ball trying to make something happen. Two linebackers have graduated and converted DE Justin Smart will take over at middle linebacker. Smart will make the defensive calls and after making 29 tackles last year as a freshman shared the “New Mustang” award with defensive end Youri Yenga.

David Baliff will lead Rice in his second season as head coach and will provide some stability to an Owl squad that had seen 3 coaches in 3 years. Rice’s offensive is led by two seniors, quarterback Chase Clements and wide out Jared Dillard. Clements closed last season with some remarkable games: 395 yards passing, 103 yards rushing vs. UTEP; 364 passing, 124 rushing vs. SMU; and 541 passing, 60 rushing vs. Tulsa. He became the first quarterback in the NCAA to complete consecutive games with 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing. His favorite target is Dillard, who has produced consecutive seasons of 1,000 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns. Clements and Dillard have combined for 32 touchdowns in their careers, only 6 away from the NCAA record. Last season injuries forced the Owls to scramble on the defensive side of the ball and hope to have some stability this year, despite playing some inexperienced players. Senior linebacker Brain Raines, on the Lombardi Award watch list, has 224 career tackles and needs 55 to move into the Owls top ten.

This should be a great opening game if last year’s is any indication. Last year Rice won on the last play of the game, a 31 yard field goal to seal a 43-42 win over SMU. Rice has won 4 games the last 2 years on the their last offensive play of the game. SMU lost 6 games last year by 10 points or less. If you are in the Houston area, we encourage you to make the trip out to Rice Stadium to kick off the new season, if not, you can stay home and watch on ESPN.

SWC MEMORIES PLAYER PROFILE:

This week’s player profile is Rice’s James “Froggy” Williams. Froggy lettered four seasons at Rice (1946-1949) as offensive and defensive end and kicker. Froggy became Rice’s all time leading scorer with 156 points: 13 touchdowns, 75 conversion kicks and 1 field goal. He was a two time All-SWC pick and a consensus All-American in 1949. The 1949 Owls were 10-1 and SWC Champions. Froggy helped Rice to a 27-13 Cotton Bowl victory over North Carolina by scoring a touchdown and kicking three extra points. He seemed to save his best games for arch enemy Texas. In 1949 his only career field goal defeated Texas 17-15 and he also scored 2 touchdowns and kicked 7 extra points in his career against the Longhorns. The was named one of the 1950 Cotton Bowl Classic’s outstanding player and was also selected to the Cotton Bowl’s All-Decade team for the 1950’s. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1965 and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. Froggy began his football playing career at Waco High School and was a star on the 1945 co-championship team that tied Highland Park 7-7 in front of 45,000+ fans in the Cotton Bowl.

After his playing days at Rice, Froggy Williams started a career in the oil field. After 37 years in the oil field service industry, the slow downs of 1980-1981 cost him his job. Froggy then began an air conditioning maintenance business in 1987 that is still going strong some 20 years later. Froggy Williams has been an active Rice alumnus over the years, speaking and writing about the history of Rice Owl football.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:

Western Illinois at Arkansas (Western Illinois, easy opener for Bobby Petrino)

Wake Forest at Baylor – Thursday (This probably seemed like a good idea for the Baptist a few years ago, now, not so much for new coach Art Briles)

Southern at Houston (Another new coach, Kevin Sumlin for UH, should have an easy opener)

Florida Atlantic at Texas (Is Texas “tough enough” for Florida Atlantic … cue ZZ Top)

Arkansas State at Texas A&M (Mike Sherman (man the new coaches…) faces the other Arkansas team, who opened with Texas last year and was competitive)

TCU at New Mexico (TCU needs to win on the road this year, they will get a good shot right off the bat)

Eastern Washington at Texas Tech (Texas Tech needs to deal with expectations this year, but this one will light up the West Texas Night)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:

None to report…

STANDINGS:

	Conference:		Overall:
	W	L	W	L
Arkansas:	0	0	0	0
Baylor	0	0	0	0
Houston	0	0	0	0
Rice	0	0	0	0
SMU	0	0	0	0
Texas	0	0	0	0
Texas A&M	0	0	0	0
TCU	0	0	0	0
Texas Tech	0	0	0	0

ON THE BLOG:

Along with this newsletter, read about how Rice’s mascot got it’s name.

FINAL WORD:

It’s great to be back to football season! Enjoy your long weekend and everyone here at SWC Game of the Week welcomes you back! If you are receiving this message you don’t want to, please let us know. Please forward on to your friends. And don’t forget to support the

SWC Game of the Week: Texas at Texas A&M

2007-11-19T21:55:00.001-06:00

We’ve come to the last week of the college football season and the last SWC Game of the Week. (Look for a special bowl edition come bowl bids.) This week’s newsletter will come to you early to catch you before the Thanksgiving Break, and to allow you plenty of time to get all lathered up for this week’s game. We’ll end with the biggest game of the SWC, A&M vs. Texas. A&M won last year 12-7 on the Longhorns home turf, ending their BCS bowl hopes and their chance to play in the Big 12 Championship Game. This year the Longhorns have an outside shot at the Championship Game (if OSU beats OU) and the Aggies are playing for pride, and perhaps a bit better bowl bid. This may also be the final game for Aggie Coach Fran, who is expected to be released from his coaching duties after the season. Kyle Field should be rocking in this national televised contest, ABC 2:30. Enjoy the game, enjoy the turkey, and I hope everyone enjoyed this year’s SWC Game of the Week.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:

This week’s game is the big one, Texas at Texas A&M. This rivalry has been known to split households. The Longhorns and Aggies will meet for the 114^th time with Texas leading the all time series 73-35-7 in a series that dates back to 1894. Texas A&M won last year’s game 12-7 in Austin. With 1,473 combined wins, the Texas, Texas A&M rivalry has more combined wins than any in-state rivalry in the nation. This is the third most played rivalry in college football behind Minnesota vs. Wisconsin (116) and Kansas vs. Missouri (115). The game will not be played on Thanksgiving for the 14^th consecutive year, with the last 10 years the game as been played the Friday after Thanksgiving. The rivalry has been played on Thanksgiving 60 times, starting in 1901. The Aggies are led by a ground attack that along with only 4 other schools, features 3 backs with over 500 yards. Michael Goodson and Jorvorski Lane the “thunder and lightning” combo out of the backfield, and the Aggies leading rusher, QB Stephen McGee pace the Aggie attack. Aggie tight end, Martellus Bennett has caught a pass in 28 straight games, setting an Aggie record and providing a threat in the air for the Aggies. The Aggies have scored on 43 out of 49 trips to the red zone, relying heavily on Lane, the big back who has scored 44 career touchdowns, tying him for all time on the Aggie list. Senior defensive end Chris Harrington anchors the Aggie Defense, among the leaders sacks, tackles for loses and forced fumbles. The Longhorns offense is led by QB Colt McCoy and RB Jamaal Charles. Jamaal Charles has been named a semifinalist for the Doak Walker award given to the best running back in the nation. Charles has 1,366 yards on 214 carries and has scored 15 touchdowns so far this season, averaging 124.2 yards a game. McCoy has a 19-5 record as the Texas starting QB and is the 4^th UT player to record 2,500 yards in consecutive seasons. McCoy looks for Nate Jones, Quan Crosby, and TE Jermichael Finley, all with over 40 receptions. Texas ranks 12^th nationally in rush defense this year. Seniors Frank Okam and Derek Lokey lead the rush defense from their defensive tackle positions. Okam is on the Outland Trophy watch list. On paper, this game obviously favors the Longhorns, but in a big rivalry game such as this one, you can “throw the records out the window” and the Aggies home crowd should make this another great game in a long history of great games.

COTTON BOWL MEMORIES:

Since A&M won the game last year, 12-7, and there are too many Longhorn Cotton Bowl’s to choose from, this week’s Cotton Bowl Classic Memory will be from the 1968 game featuring the Texas A&M Aggies against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Alabama (8-1-1) entered the game ranked #7 in the UPI and the Aggies at 6-4 ended a string of 10 Cotton Bowls with both teams ranked in the top 10. The game was almost secondary to the coaching match-up between the legendary Bear Bryant and Gene (Bebes) Stalling. Stalling was a Junction Boy, from Bear’s preseason training camp during Bryant first season at A&M. The Aggies began the season with a last second loss to SMU, and then lost the next 3 as well in narrow defeats. The Aggies found their game though and won the last 6 contests to earn the SWC title and a trip to the Cotton Bowl for the first time since 1942. Aggie QB Ed Hargett threw 21 passes in the first half, two for touchdowns, the last with 21 seconds to go before the half to give A&M a lead. Both teams scored in the 3^rd quarter and the Aggies held on while Bama QB Ken Stabler led the Tide to the Aggie 29 on the last drive before turning the ball over on downs. The Aggies would win that day, 20-16 and one of the Cotton Bowl’s most memorable photographs was taken, Bear lifting Stallings at midfield after the game.

EXTRA TIDBIT:

ESPN has a nice story on Dan Jenkins, the TCU Alum and college football fan / sportswriter. As Dan Jenkins wrote, “Football to Joe Coffman, and thousands of other Texans, had always been as essential as air conditioning. It was what a Texan grew up with, fed on, worshipped, followed, played, and, very often, died with." While Dan Jenkins may be more elegant than the SWC Game of the Week Correspondent, he’d be happy with you for reading and remembering the SWC and the “Good Ole Days” of College Football.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:

Arkansas at LSU (Arkansas tries to knock off #1 LSU, and further cloud BCS Championship)

Texas Southern at Houston (UH takes on other cross town “rival” who is winless this year)

Tulsa at Rice (Rice looks for revenge against former coach, win by Rice knocks Tulsa out of championship game)

SMU at Memphis (SMU wraps up miserable season, hopes to send Coach Bennett out on winning note)

TCU at San Diego State (TCU working on bowl positioning)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:

SWC Game of the Week, Week 11:

Arkansas 45 Mississippi State 31 (Arkansas keeps Little Rock streak alive, although McFadden held under 100 yards rushing)

Other Games:

Oklahoma State 45 Baylor 14 (OSU offense is rolling, Baylor starts coaching search, maybe Singletary?)

Houston 35 Marshall 28 (U of H now needs help from Rice to get to conference championship game)

Tulane 45 Rice 31 (Rice gives up too many yards on the ground, Drew Bear sees first college football game)

UCF 49 SMU 20 (SMU can’t keep up with Central Florida)

TCU 34 UNLV 10 (TCU wins, bowl eligible)

Texas Tech 34 OU 27 (Tech gets upset of the week, 11^th time top 5 team falls to the unranked)

STANDINGS:

	Conference:		Overall:
	W	L	W	L
Texas	4	0	9	2
Texas Tech	4	1	8	4
Houston	1	0	6	4
TCU	2	1	6	5
Arkansas:	0	0	7	4
Texas A&M	1	1	6	5
Baylor	1	4	3	9
Rice	1	4	3	8
SMU	0	2	1	9

FINAL WORD:

That’s a wrap for this week. Please feel free to forward to your friends, send me emails of those that should be included that aren’t, and submit your additions to the weekly newsletters (favorite SWC memories, player bio’s, funny old SWC stories, mascot hijinks, etc.) If you are receiving this note and you don’t want to, shame on you, but let me know, I’ll take you off the list.

Remember to visit http://www.honortheswc.com/home.asp and help build the SWC Gallery in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

SWC Game of the Week: Mississippi State at Arkansas

2007-11-15T20:31:00.000-06:00

This week SWC Game of the Week must make our yearly stop in Arkansas. They of course were the first defectors from the SWC, but we must forgive and forget and include them in our tribute. Houston Nutt, the Arkansas coach, has been facing some heat lately as longtime legend Frank Broyles leaves as athletic director. It would be nice if Texas and Arkansas could find a way to play each other every year, but these days it’s complicated. (Just like A&M vs. LSU). We’re nearing the end of the season, only two more weeks, so enjoy while you can.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:

This week’s game is Mississippi State at Arkansas in Little Rock. The two will meet for the 18^th time with Arkansas holding a 11-5-1 advantage including 8 straight victories and 12 out of 13. Arkansas is also 21-1 in games played in Little Rock since 1998. Arkansas is lead on offense by their explosive back Darrin McFadden, who is also a Heisman Trophy winner. Darrin McFadden was Arkansas’s first Heisman Trophy finalist last year. He is the Razerback’s all time leading rusher and is 4^th in the country this year averaging 143.1 yards a game. McFadden is joined in the backfield by Felix Jones and the two are the first two teammates in the history of the SEC to rush for 1000 yards in back to back seasons. Jones is averaging 103 yards rushing a game, for 30^th in the NCAA. The Arkansas defense is ranked number 2 nationally in passing defense. The two corners, Michael Grant and Jerell Norton are leading the pass defense for the Hogs. Arkansas is bowl eligible for the 8^th time in 10 seasons for their coach Houston Nutt, however, the Hog faithful are not satisfied with this and there is some heat to fire Nutt. The Mississippi State Bulldogs are coming off a 21-17 upset victory of the Alabama Crimson Tide. With that victory they are bowl eligible for the first time since 2000 and will seek their first ever victory in the state of Arkansas. Bulldog sophomore tailback Anthony Dixon has 414 carries for 1582 yards and 22 touchdowns on his career, inching him up in the MSU record books in all categories. On defense sophomore Anthony Johnson was the SEC Defensive player of the game. His 100 yard interception return for a touchdown was the play of the game for MSU.

COTTON BOWL MEMORIES:

This week’s Cotton Bowl memory is from the 1965 contest between Arkansas and Nebraska. Arkansas was unbeaten and untied, representing the SWC and were ranked #2 in the land. Coach Frank Broyles squad trailed only Alabama in both wire service polls. The Cotton Bowl could have a decision in the national championship for the 3^rd time in 6 years and the second straight year. Nebraska was 9-1 however, ranked #3 in the UPI and #6 by the AP. Arkansas defense would limit the Cornhuskers to 11 first downs and 168 yards with one touchdown. It was the first score against the Razerbacks, who shut out their last 5 opponents, only allowing 57 points in 10 games. Nebraska, coached by Bob Devaney, matched the Hogs, allowing only 11 first downs and 176 yards. 80 of those 176 yards came on the last drive. QB Fred Marshall keyed the rally with a 10 yard run and a 28 yard pass to Jim Lindsey, taking the Razerbacks to the Husker 5 yard line. Bobby Burnett would score the winning TD from there with 4:41 left in the contest. Thanks to an old foe, the Razerbacks would win the Football Writers Association National Championship. The Longhorns, who lost only to Arkansas 14-13, beat Alabama in the Orange Bowl 21-17. Interesting note, the AP and UPI polls were not voted after the last game, not taking into account the bowl games.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:

Oklahoma State at Baylor (Guy Morris’s last game as Baylor head man)

Marshall at Houston (Houston looks to rebound against the Thundering Herd)

Tulane at Rice (Rice, on two game win streak, looks to take it to the boys from the Big Easy)

UCF at SMU (SMU trying to find a few wins at the end of their season)

UNLV at TCU (TCU with rare Sat. game)

OU at Texas Tech (Tech has a chance to play spoiler against Sooners)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:

SWC Game of the Week, Week 8:

Texas 59 Texas Tech 43

Other Games:

Tennessee 34 Arkansas 13 (Hogs struggle with Rocky Top)

OU 52 Baylor 21 (Baylor, only one more game…)

Tulsa 56 Houston 7 (Houston falls on its face in big conference showdown)

Rice 43 SMU 42 (Well, someone did have to win, and it was Rice on a last second field goal)

Missouri 40 Texas A&M 26 (Aggies out classed by the Tigers, but they play hard)

BYU 27 TCU 22 (TCU winding down a disappointing season)

STANDINGS:

	Conference:		Overall:
	W	L	W	L
Texas	4	0	9	2
Texas Tech	4	1	7	4
Houston	1	0	5	4
TCU	2	1	5	5
Arkansas:	0	0	6	4
Texas A&M	1	1	6	5
Baylor	1	4	3	8
Rice	1	4	3	7
SMU	0	2	1	8

FINAL WORD:

Remember to visit http://www.honortheswc.com/home.asp and help build the SWC Gallery in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

SWC Game of the Week: Texas Tech at Texas

2007-11-07T21:32:00.001-06:00

This week is the Tech vs. Texas game in Austin. For some reason it seems our friends in Lubbock do not get as excited about the Longhorns as they do for the Aggies. Or, the answer maybe that Texas just beats them, so you hear less about it. This week’s game should be a good one. Tech has struggled against top tier teams, which Texas is definitely included in that bunch. However, Texas has had to pull some last minute victories out this year, specifically the last two games. Now, this SWC Game of the Week Correspondent thought for sure that Texas was primed for an upset last week on the road against a decent OSU team, and I was proven wrong by a last minute field goal. Maybe that upset is waiting for this week? Tech has the funky offense that when clicking is hard to defend and Texas is without some key personnel due to injury. We’ll just have to wait until Saturday and let them settle it on the field.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:

This week’s game features the Texas Tech Red Raiders traveling to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns. Texas leads the all time series 42-14 or 41-14 depending on what press release you read. The Longhorns have won the last 4 games however and Tech’s last win in Austin was in 1997. Tech is of course led by their ridiculous video game offense. QB Graham Harrell is now only 611 yards short of 10,000 yard passing for his career. That’s one good game for these guys. The Red Raiders are averaging 42.4 points a game this year, which ranks second in the Red Raider record books. They have only 11 drives stall after only 3 plays, the ole three and out, this year. While 16 Red Raiders have caught passes this year, the best may be freshman Michael Crabtree. He has accumulated 1512 yards receiving (first in the NCAA) thus far this season as well as catching 18 touchdown passes. He has caught a total of 118 balls this year, also first in the NCAA. The defense at Tech has been much improved since Ruffin McNeal took over as defensive coordinator. They currently rank 3^rd in the Big 12 conference in total defense behind only Kansas and Oklahoma, allowing 344.6 yards a game. DE Brandon Williams has led the defensive with 5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. CB Jamar Wall leads the Raiders with 4 interceptions. The Longhorns are coming off their annual come from behind victory over OSU. Since 1998 they are 39-4 against Texas teams earning them a state champ moniker. Center Dallas Griffin was lost for the season against the OSU Cowboys, and this will hurt the Longhorns. Colt McCoy gets most of the success and accolades for the Longhorn offense, but the recent comebacks have been as easy as giving the ball to sophomore Jamaal Charles. He has rushed for 1192 yards this season, the 10^th best total in UT history. The last two games, comeback wins over Nebraska and OSU, he has rushed for 470 yards and 6 touchdowns on 49 carries (9.6 yards per carry). Jermichael Finley, the Longhorn tight end, is another unexpected offensive source with 67 receptions for 872 yards this season with 5 TD’s. On defense the Longhorns have a veteran linebacker crew, with seniors Scott Derry and Robert Killebrew, junior Rashad Bobino, and sophomore Roddrick Muckelroy. This group will have their hands full against the high flying Tech attack. This game can be seen on ABC at 2:30 CST.

COTTON BOWL MEMORIES:

This week’s Classic Memory is from the 1939 game featuring Texas Tech “hosting” St. Mary’s. National Champion TCU elected to go to the Sugar Bowl this year, leaving Tech to host. Remember, this is before Tech was a SWC member (that would come 21 years later), but also before the Cotton Bowl had an agreement with the SWC to invite its champion. Tech, coached by Pete Cawthon, was 10-0 that year and was ranked #11 in the nation. The Red Raiders viewed this game as a chance to show they deserved SWC membership. The St Mary’s Gaels from California were 5-2, but the two loses by a total of 8 points were to national powers California and Fordham. They also suited out 31 sophomores on a 47 man squad. (Remember freshmen were not eligible for the varsity squad.) Tech struggled with turnovers with 8 on the day, 5 coming on interceptions. Tech QB Gene Barnett did throw two 4^th quarter touchdown passes to Elmer Tarbox and E.J. McKnight to pull Tech within 7 but another Barnett pass to George Webb for 45 yards was a few yards short as time expired with Tech just short of the goal line. The final score read St. Mary’s 20, Texas Tech 13, the first defeat for Tech since losing 12 months earlier to West Virginia in the Sun Bowl. Texas Tech would not appear in another Cotton Bowl until 1995, getting the nod after a funky 6 team tie for first in the conference (A&M at 10-0-1 was ineligible for post season play) because their Cotton Bowl drought was the longest.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:

Arkansas at Tennessee (If Dolly Parton has recorded your fight song, you need a new one)

Baylor at OU (Dr. Pepper and Oreo’s, Breakfast of … Bears!)

Houston at Tulsa (Houston looks to keep rollin’ in the CUSA against the Golden Hurricanes. What is a Golden Hurricane? (Keep responses PG please))

Rice at SMU (Someone has to win, and Rice is on a roll)

Texas A&M at Missouri (Fran’s farewell tour hits the Show Me State, why don’t they just fire him and we can all get on with our lives?)

TCU at BYU (TCU wanted a conference with big games, like BYU, huh? On Thursday night, but no ESPN. Big Time!)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:

SWC Game of the Week, Week 8:

Houston 38 SMU 28 (SMU stomps on UH symbol before game, then UH wins game after that apparently upset them)

Other Games:

Arkansas 48 South Carolina 36 (Run DMC goes off for 323 yards, Hogs beat Cocks)

Texas Tech 38 Baylor 7 (Baylor woes continue. Tech good at beating bad teams)

Rice 56 UTEP 48 (Clement throws for 395, runs for 103, accounts for 8 TD’s, gets a buckeye)

Texas 38 OK State 35 (Well, I forgot to factor in the Cowboy 2^nd half collapse against the Longhorns)

OU 42 Texas A&M 14 (Fran can’t get the Aggies motivated, Sooners have a cake walk)

TCU 37 New Mexico 0 (These Aggies were shut out by the Froggies)

STANDINGS:

	Conference:		Overall:
	W	L	W	L
Texas Tech	4	0	7	3
Texas	3	0	8	2
Houston	1	0	5	3
TCU	2	1	5	4
Arkansas:	0	0	6	3
Texas A&M	1	1	6	4
Baylor	1	4	3	7
SMU	0	2	1	7
Rice	0	4	2	7

FINAL WORD:

Remember to visit http://www.honortheswc.com/home.asp and help build the SWC Gallery in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

SWC Game of the Week: SMU at Houston

2007-10-31T21:09:00.000-05:00

First, SWC Game of the Week would like to wish everyone a belated Happy Halloween and hope your Grant Teaff costume came off as a hit. Of course, true fans would dress as their favorite SWC mascot. SMU coach Phil Bennett had a scary week, losing his job. UH is scary everyday on campus after dark. The Aggies are everyone’s favorite for a trick and Fran might charge you for it, while it seems the Longhorns end up with all the treats at the end of the season. Texas Tech has the masked rider (if only he was a pumpkin head.) Baylor, I think they go to a Fall Festival at Church on Halloween. Rice, they just run around naked on Halloween, sort of like the Castro Halloween Parade. TCU is haunted by ghosts of Sammy Baugh and Davey O’Brien, making them play on Thursdays to avoid the scary moments. Finally Arkansas, at Arkansas Halloween is about one last trip around the neighborhood, before moving to a new place with better candy.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:

This week’s match-up features the SMU Mustangs taking on the Houston Cougars at Robertson Stadium. Houston leads the all time series 12-9-1, with the first meeting occurring in 1975 in the old SWC with SMU winning. U of H won last year’s game in Dallas. This game is on Sunday night with a national television audience on ESPN. (That is if you can recover from a weekend of football for one more game, and we know you SWC fans can.) UH is led by running back Anthony Alridge and have rushed for 300 yards the last two games, for the first time having back to back 300 yard rushing games since 1984. The Cougars are 5^th nationally with 518 yards a game of total offense. UH splits time at QB with Case Keenum and Blake Joseph. The defensive, not the strong side of the ball for the Coogs, has only allowed 27 points in the 4^th quarter this year. Senior LB Bendan Pahulu is second on the team in sacks (3) and tackles for a loss (6.5) and leads the team with interceptions. In his 4^th seasons as head coach, Art Briles has led the Coogs to 3 bowl games and a conference championship last season. SMU is having trouble getting back to the lime light after suffering the death penalty and not fielding a team for two seasons. SMU coach Phil Bennett was relieved of his duties this week, though he will remain to finish the season. SMU hopes to snap a 6 game losing streak in a season they were hoping to go bowling. SMU QB Justin Willis has recorded 40 career touchdown passes, tying him for first on the all time SMU career list. In his first 19 games of his career he has 7 games he has 3 or more TD passes. Emmanuel Sanders is Willis favorite target, averaging over 80 yards a game to lead the Ponies. SMU has been hurt on defense by injuries, with WR Devin Lowery having to start at one corner and backup Brandon Jones at the other against Tulsa. Corner Bryan McCann started at free safety and backup Tyler Jones started at strong safety last week as well. SMU has lost quite a few games this year at the very end, and the Cougars have played some close games as well.

COTTON BOWL MEMORIES:

This week’s Cotton Bowl is the 1983 Classic, featuring the only unbeaten team in the country, SMU (10-0-1) against Pittsburgh (9-2-0). The Mustangs offense was the triple option with QB Lance McIhenny and the Pony Express running back combo of Eric Dickerson and Craig James. Pittsburgh would rely on the arm of Dan Marino. In the cold damp 38 degree weather neither offense would dominate with SMU totaling 254 yards and Pitt totaling 31 yards. SMU would drive 91 yards in the first half, only to have McIhenny fumble the ball back to the Panthers. Pitt would go ahead 3-0 before McIhenny would lead SMU on an 80 yard drive to take the lead. Big plays included a 43 yard completion to Bobby Leach on 2^nd and 21 and scoring himself on an option play from 9 yards out. Pitt would drive to the SMU 7 yard line before Blane Smith would intercept Marino in the end zone. McIhenny would finish his career as the SWC’s all time winningest QB. The Mustangs would be denied the national championship however, finishing 2^nd in both polls behind Penn State. It was however the first unbeaten season for SMU since 1947.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:

South Carolina at Arkansas (Tough times for the “Old Ball Coach” and then there’s Houston Nutt)

Texas Tech at Baylor (Tech needs Baylor right now, Baylor needs, ummm. lots)

UTEP at Rice (Rice returns home, tries to finish season strong)

Texas at OK State (You heard it here first, OSU to upset the Horns)

Texas A&M at OU (Remember when Fran made the “jobs” comment this summer? Stoops does.)

New Mexico at TCU (This game is this week, duh)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:

SWC Game of the Week, Week 8:

Houston 34 UTEP 31 (UH in control of its own destiny as they say, don’t we wish we all were)

Other Games:

Arkansas 58 Florida International 10 (Hogs roll over FIU, who has not won all year)

Kansas State 51 Baylor 13 (Poor Bears)

Marshall 34 Rice 21 (Rice comeback falls short)

Tulsa 29 SMU 23 (SMU gets stopped on 4^th and 1 at the goal line, then give up TD drive to lose, Coach Bennett is fired on Monday)

Texas 28 Nebraska 25 (Texas has big 4^th quarter and Charles runs all over the Nebraska)

Kansas 19 Texas A&M 11 (KU dominates Aggies, who barely avoid shutout)

Colorado 31 Texas Tech 26 (CU stops the Tech offense, but that kid Crabtree is good)

STANDINGS:

	Conference:		Overall:
	W	L	W	L
Texas Tech	3	0	6	3
Texas	3	0	7	2
Houston	1	0	5	3
TCU	2	1	4	4
Arkansas:	0	0	5	3
Texas A&M	1	1	6	3
Baylor	1	3	3	6
SMU	0	2	1	7
Rice	0	4	1	7

FINAL WORD:

Remember to visit http://www.honortheswc.com/home.asp and help build the SWC Gallery in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

SWC Game of the Week: Houston at UTEP

2007-10-25T21:06:00.000-05:00

This week we will visit the newest member of the Southwest Conference, the Houston Cougars. Houston joined the conference in 1972, making Texas Tech feel better about no longer being the new guy. (Although Tech acts like they are still the new guy, or little brother.) UH has had some very successful football seasons, under legendary coach Bill Yeoman and more recently in the run and shoot days. Although joining in 1972, the Coogs weren’t eligible for the conference crown until the 1976 season and then promptly went to 3 Cotton Bowls their first 4 seasons. UTEP on the other hand, not a SWC school, but becoming prominent on the now second level of Texas college football pecking order. This should be a good game.

Southwest Conference Game of the Week does recognize that the past two weeks there has been some technical difficulties with text wrapping. We hope we have corrected the problem and apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:

This week’s game features the Houston Cougars visiting the UTEP Miners. This is a new series, with UTEP leading with 3 wins (all in El Paso) to the Cougars 1 win. This game could have Conference USA West division championship significance. The U of H offense averages 37.6 points a game is lead by receiver Donnie Avery, averaging 133.3 yards a game receiving, and running back Anthony Alridge, averaging 122.7 yards rushing a game. Against Rice on Oct. 13th the senior duet accomplished something no two have done in NCAA major college football history, a 300 yard receiving game and a 200 yard rushing game from two players in the same game. Avery recorded a UH record 346 yards receiving while Alridge rushed for 205 and 4 touchdowns. Sophomore QB Blake Joseph passed for 318 yards against Rice, completing the offensive dominance. QB Joseph splits time with red shirt freshman Case Keenum as the Cougars search for a replacement for Kevin Kolb, now with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cougars are not strong on defense. Senior Rocky Schwartz has settled in at strong safety and was named CUSA defensive player of the week after recording two interceptions against UAB and delivering a devastating hit on a UAB receiver. Defensive coordinator Alan Weddell has tried to shake some things up on the defensive side of the ball for his head coach, Art Briles. Two constants however are linebackers Trent Allen and Cody Lubojasky, with the two combining for 70 tackles so far in 2007. UTEP is a very similar team to UH, good offensive output, not so good defensive results. They have scored 40 points in four straight games for the first time in school history, unfortunately the last week it game in an OT loss to East Carolina. Freshman quarterback Trevor Vittatoe threw for over 400 yards in last week’s loss and has thrown 13 touchdown passes this year and only 3 interceptions. He ranks 4^th among Division I-A freshman QB’s with 1,704 yards passing. Senior RB Marcus Thomas has rushed for over 100 yards in each of the last 4 weeks, scoring 9 touchdowns along the way. On defense, senior defensive back Quinton Demps is 3^rd in school history with 13 interceptions. Both teams have a tendency to play high scoring, close games. This game should be a good game, if you like scoring, just budget 4+ hours for viewing.

COTTON BOWL MEMORIES:

This week we will remember the 1979 Cotton Bowl where the Houston Cougars represented the SWC and played host to the Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish. The game was played in icy conditions, with the wind chills 20 below zero, chasing most fans away before the finish of the game. Houston overcame an early 12 deficit and scored 34 straight points. Cougar signal caller Danny Davis, who won here for the Coogs 2 years ago, threw for a touchdown and ran for two others. His QB keepers were scored in the 3^rd quarter, when Irish QB Joe Montana was in the locker room being treated for low body temperature. With 7:37 left in the game, UH led 34-12 and it appeared Davis would be the star QB of this match. But Montana and the Irish were just getting warmed up. A blocked punt run in by the Irish’s Steve Cichy with a two point conversion from Montana put Notre Dame only down 14. The next time ND got the ball, Montana directed a 61 yard drive culminated by his 2 yard run and another 2 point conversion. 4:14 was left on the clock, with UH clinging to a 6 point lead. Two minutes later Montana fumbled the ball back to Houston, apparently preserving the UH win. But UH gambled on 4^th down and came up short on a 4^th and 1 at the Houston 29 yard line with 28 seconds left. Montana then scrambled for 11 yards and passed to Kris Haines for 10, then missing Haines in the end zone leaving 2 seconds on the clock. The next play Montana hit Haines on the same route and Joe Unis added the extra point for a 35-34 Irish victory. Montana would later go on to make comebacks his specialty, even hitting a fellow named Dwight Clark and beating the Dallas Cowboys, further breaking the hearts in Dallas.

Note, last year during the holidays I was home from work observing one of my sick days I’d saved and watched this game on ESPN Classic. It looked really cold out there.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:

Florida International at Arkansas (If you take out the International, you end up with FU)

Baylor at Kansas State (Baylor, what more can be said?)

Rice at Marshall (Rice, maybe last year was a fluke)

SMU at Tulsa (SMU is having a rough year, Phil Bennett may be a defensive coordinator next year)

Nebraska at Texas (Nebraska may be done this year, Texas should win big)

Kansas at Texas A&M (A&M will get them in basketball season, ironically)

New Mexico at TCU (When is this game TCU? No one can keep up with you)

Colorado at Texas Tech (Winner is Big 12 West Champion, and gets a calf fry)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:

SWC Game of the Week, Week 8:

Texas 31 Baylor 10 (Baylor hung in there, Bless their Hearts)

Other Games:

Arkansas 44 Ole Miss 8 (Houston Nutt lives another day)

Houston 49 UAB 10 (Coogs rolling now, biggest win for Art Briles)

Memphis 38 Rice 35 (Rice loses another close one, but Rice players will have jobs when the graduate)

Tulane 41 SMU 34 OT (SMU can’t get it going)

Texas A&M 36 Nebraska 14 (McGee, Aggie QB, runs 35 times for a school record, can you say balanced offense?)

Utah 27 TCU 20 (This was a Thursday Game, why did TCU isolate themselves from the rest of us, do we smell bad?)

Missouri 41 Texas Tech 10 (Tech plays a good team, gets beat)

STANDINGS:

	Conference:		Overall:
	W	L	W	L
Texas Tech	3	0	6	2
Texas	3	0	6	2
Houston	1	0	4	3
TCU	2	1	4	4
Arkansas:	0	0	4	3
Texas A&M	1	1	6	2
Baylor	1	3	3	5
SMU	0	2	1	6
Rice	0	4	1	6

FINAL WORD:

Remember to visit http://www.honortheswc.com/home.asp and help build the SWC Gallery in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

SWC Game of the Week: Texas at Baylor

2007-10-20T09:45:00.000-05:00

We’ve already discussed the Miracle on the Brazos, although those from Baylor love to talk about that game. Baylor has beat Texas since the SWC died, and they get them in Waco again this year. But, unless the Longhorns eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Health Camp the day before, I think they will dispatch the Bears. (This SWC Game of the Week Correspondent once ate the before game and after game meal at Health Camp one fall Saturday when the Bears played the Aggies.) But this week, an old rivalry along I-35 will be renewed and will be highlighted in this weekly newsletter. Since the game won’t be that fun, let’s talk about other Waco stops: Dr Pepper Museum, Texas Sports Hall of Fame, Elite Café, Suspension Bridge over the Brazos River and several Baptist Churches. (Don’t stop at the Health Camp and order the fish sandwich.) I

THIS WEEK’S GAME:

Baylor and Texas will met on Saturday for the 97^th time, with Texas holding a decisive edge in the all time series
70-22-4. The last Baylor victory was in 1997, 23-21 in Waco. However, the Bears have not scored in the last 10
quarters against Texas in Waco. Baylor will be possibly making an adjustment at QB for this game. Starter Blake
Szymanski suffered a concussion in Baylor’s game against Kansas last week and is listed as questionable for the
Longhorn game. Szymanski was replaced last week for a few series and Michael Machen and John David Weed
are the favorites to replace Szymanski if he is unable to start. RB Brandon Whitaker leads the Bears with 31
receptions this year. Baylor’s offensive line has improved this year allowing only 8 sacks in 7 games, compared to
36 sacks in 12 games last season. On defense, LB Joe Pawelek is tied with safety Jordan Lake with 11 tackles per
game in Big 12 play. The Longhorns begin their second half of the season, or after OU game season. They are 48-5
under head coach Mack Brown after the OU game. QB Colt McCoy has shaken off some early season rust and
finished the Iowa State game 23 of 29 for 298 yards and 4 touchdowns and rushed for another 50 yards on 4 carries
including a 44 yard TD run. Texas will be without the services of senior receiver Linus Sweed however, who suffered
a season ending injury. Texas defense is holding opponents to 207 yards passing for 24^th in the NCAA. Senior
safety Marcus Griffen, twin brother of Michael Griffen who is in the NFL, leads the Longhorns on defense and will be
making his 18^th start on defense and last season was second on the team in tackles with 90. (If his twin is done with
college, why isn’t he, interesting, huh?) Another interesting note on this game is Baylor assistant coach Eric
Schnupp was suspended from the team after his arrest for public urination at a Waco bar. Waco has bars? You
can’t pee in public? What if your drunk and really really have to go? It might take another miracle for Baylor to pull
this one out. Enjoy the games this week.

COTTON BOWL MEMORIES:

The 1964 Cotton Bowl featured #1 ranked Texas, unbeaten and untied vs. #2 Navy. While the two major wire polls had Texas firmly at #1, many in the East thought Navy was the true #1. The Cotton Bowl would settle it. Navy had only lost one game that year, to SMU in the Cotton Bowl Stadium. The Middies were led by Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach at QB but Texas quarterback Duke Carlisle stole the show. On the sixth play of the game Carlisle connected with 18 year Phil Harris for a 58 yard touchdown. That was the 8^th time in 11 games that year that Texas had scored on the first possession. Later the two would hook up on a 63 yard touchdown and Carlisle scored on a 9 yard run putting Texas on top 21-0 at the half. Carlisle would finish with 7 completions for 213 yards, 3 completions to Harris for 157 yards. After another Texas touchdown in the 3^rd quarter, Navy finally got on the board with a Staubach run from the 2 yard line. Staubach’s stat line read 21 completions in 31 attempts for 228 yards, including 4 passes covering 57 of the 75 yards on Navy’s touchdown drive. But the Longhorn defense would hold the scrambling Staubach in check, holding him to -47 net yards on 12 carries including sacks. Navy would rush for -14 yards on the day. Outland Trophy winner Scott Appleton and Tommy Nobis were the Texas defenders keeping Navy in check. The Texas seniors would walk off the field with a 3 year career record of 30-2-1 including a 2-1 record in the Cotton Bowl.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:

Arkansas at Ole Miss (Anyone for a Grove tailgate? Pack your party dress)

Houston at UAB (Coogs try to right ship now that conference play has begun)

Memphis at Rice (Rice returns to Rice Stadium, should win this one, Miracle on Main Street II?)

Tulane at SMU (Tulane returns to temp. home after Katrina to take on reeling Ponies)

Texas A&M at Nebraska (Buyout Bowl, loser pays buy out clause for both coaches when they are fired at the end of the season)

Utah at TCU (TCU takes on Utah in even match)

Texas Tech at Missouri (Tech, now ranked, will have tough road test against good Tiger team)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:

SWC Game of the Week, Week 6:

Texas Tech 35 Texas A&M 7 (Tech rolls Aggies again, no goal post demolition required)

Other Games:

Auburn 9 Arkansas 7 (Have you seen the U-Tube where the Hog fan burns his tickets every week until Houston Nutt is fired?)

Kansas 58 Baylor 10 (Kansas shows their a few steps ahead of Baylor)

Houston 56 Rice 48 (21 points in 4^th quarter gets Coogs the “Bucket”)

Southern Mississippi 28 SMU 7 (SMU can’t get on track)

Texas 56 Iowa State 3 (Texas recovers, will not repeat winless conference schedule of 1956)

TCU 38 Stanford 36 (TCU come from behind victory over the Tree)

STANDINGS:

	Conference:		Overall:
	W	L	W	L
Texas Tech	3	0	6	1
Texas	2	0	5	2
Houston	1	0	3	3
TCU	2	1	4	3
Arkansas:	0	0	3	3
Texas A&M	1	1	5	2
Baylor	1	2	3	4
SMU	0	2	1	5
Rice	0	4	1	5

FINAL WORD:

Remember to visit http://www.honortheswc.com/home.asp and help build the SWC Gallery in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

SWC Game of the Week: Texas A&M at Texas Tech

2007-10-20T09:42:00.000-05:00

As part of the “rivalry” week of Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech, this SWC Game of the Week Correspondent received a notice from the city of Lubbock informing him that his car was suspected in hitting another car in Lubbock. Now, this SWC Game of the Week Correspondent has never been to Lubbock, nor has his car. Is this an omen of the car wreck that is so often the Aggies game plan on the high plains? The Aggies vs. Tech has become a big deal, mainly because of the Tech boosters dislike of all things maroon and the Aggies inability to beat the Red Raiders. From Classless Clowns to flying tortillas, this game never disappoints and should again be a barn burner this year. The last team with the ball might win.

THIS WEEK’S GAME:

This week’s SWC Game of the Week is Texas A&M at Texas Tech. The Aggies hold a slight advantage in the overall
series 34-30-1 dating to the first meeting in 1927. The Red Raiders have won 9 of the last 12 meetings however,
including the last 2 games. A&M will try to win in Lubbock for the first time since 1993. To add some interest to the
game, Aggie running back Jorvorski Lane has guaranteed an A&M victory. Junior Lane is part of the “thunder and
lighting” running back combo with sophomore Mike Goodson. Lane scored 2 TD’s on the ground and caught another
TD pass in the Aggies come from behind victory over OK State the previous week. Aggie signal caller Stephen
McGee is averaging 75 yards rushing a game to lead the Aggies. The passing game has started to heat up in recent
weeks. The Aggie offense will need to hold the ball to keep the Red Raiders explosive offensive off the field,
something they have been successful at this year, ranking #2 in the Big 12 in time of possession. On defense is
where the Aggies will be tested, trying to stop the Tech air attack. Marquis Carpenter leads the Big 12 and the Aggies
with 3 interceptions and the turnover margin will be key for the Aggies. Texas Tech is led by returning junior QB
Graham Harrell. Harrell threw for 425 yards against Iowa State and has thrown 28 touchdowns this year compared
to 3 interceptions. Michael Crabtree, a redshirt freshman, has been one of Graham’s favorite targets, leading the
nation in receptions, receptions per game, touchdowns and scoring. Crabtree has 70 receptions for 1074 yards and
17 touchdowns already this year. He has 5 games in which he has caught at least 3 touchdown passes. After
replacing the defensive coordinator, the Red Raider defense has caught fire, holding Iowa State under 300 yards last
week and only 84 yards in the first half. The defense also scored its first touchdown of the season last week with
Darcel McBath scooping up a fumble and scoring from 16 yards out. This game as always promises to be a great
one.

COTTON BOWL MEMORIES:

After an 18 year drought, the Aggies of Texas A&M returned to the Cotton Bowl Classic on New Year’s Day, 1986 to face the Auburn Tigers. The Aggies last trip to the Classic was the 1968 game in which protégé Gene Stallings defeated Bear Bryant’s Alabama squad. Now the Aggies would play the other team from Alabama. The Tigers were led by Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson, who scored on his first carry from 5 yards and took a screen pass 73 yards for another score. With the Aggies leading 21-16, the swarming Aggie defensive stopped Jackson 4 times at the goal line. Aggie QB Kevin Murray then directed the Aggies down the field for the deciding score. Murray hit Rod Bernstine for 37 yards to set up his 9 yard scoring strike to Keith Woodside. The Aggies padded the score with 3 seconds left after a Domingo Bryant interception. Murray set a Cotton Bowl record with 292 yards passing on 16 of 26 passing. The offensive MVP award went to Jackson however who finished with 129 yards on 31 carries. The day belonged to the Aggies however, completing a long climb back to the top of the college football world.

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK:

Auburn at Arkansas (Auburn starting to roll after Florida upset)

Baylor at Kansas (This used to be the battle of the basement, but KU is 5-0 and ranked #20)

Rice at Houston (Winner gets the Bayou Bucket, SWC Game of the Week runner up)

SMU at Southern Mississippi (Can SMU get its season started at So. Miss. similar to Rice?)

Texas at Iowa State (Texas still looking for conference win #1 vs. old defensive coordinator)

TCU at Stanford (TCU’s luck, gets Stanford week after USC upset)

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:

SWC Game of the Week, Week 6:

Oklahoma 28 Texas 21 (Texas plays right with the Sooners, but come up short in the end)

Other Games:

Arkansas 34 Chattanooga 15 (Pardon me boys…)

Colorado 43 Baylor 23 (Baylor season starts to slide south)

Alabama 30 Houston 24 (Houston comes back from 24-0, but not all the way back)

Rice 31 Southern Mississippi 29 (Rice holds on at the end for first win of 2007)

Texas A&M 24 Oklahoma State 23 (Aggies battle back from 17-0 halftime deficit)

Wyoming 24 TCU 21 (TCU sitting at 3-3, not what they had planned)

Texas Tech 42 Iowa State 17 (Tech starts to hit on all cylinders)

STANDINGS:

	Conference:		Overall:
	W	L	W	L
Texas Tech	2	0	5	1
Texas	2	0	4	2
Texas A&M	1	0	5	1
TCU	2	1	3	3
Arkansas:	0	0	3	2
Baylor	1	2	3	3
Houston	0	0	2	3
SMU	0	2	1	4
Rice	0	3	1	4

FINAL WORD:

Remember to visit http://www.honortheswc.com/home.asp and help build the SWC Gallery in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.