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!
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Calling the Hogs
From the Arkansas Website, a lesson in calling the hogs. You can even listen in.
SWC Game of the Week: Arkansas at Texas
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.
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.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Cotton Eyed Jim
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.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
UH Hand Sign
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.I don't think Texas is lining up to play UH today either.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.
SWC Game of the Week: UH at OK State
“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:
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!
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!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Rice Owl Mascot
From the Rice Owls Website:
Those pesky Aggies... Plus, it's fun to call Rice, The Institute.
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
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
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.
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
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
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
Southern at
Florida Atlantic at
TCU at
RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:
None to report…
STANDINGS:
| | Conference: | Overall: | ||
| | W | L | W | L |
| | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Baylor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rice | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SMU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TCU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | 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
Monday, November 19, 2007
SWC Game of the Week: Texas at Texas A&M
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.
THIS WEEK’S GAME:
This week’s game is the big one,
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.
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:
SMU at
TCU at
RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK:
SWC Game of the Week, Week 11:
Arkansas 45 Mississippi State 31 (
Other Games:
Oklahoma State 45 Baylor 14 (OSU offense is rolling, Baylor starts coaching search, maybe Singletary?)
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
TCU 34 UNLV 10 (TCU wins, bowl eligible)
Texas Tech 34 OU 27 (Tech gets upset of the week, 11th time top 5 team falls to the unranked)
STANDINGS:
| | Conference: | Overall: | ||
| | W | L | W | L |
| | 4 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
| | 4 | 1 | 8 | 4 |
| | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| TCU | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
| | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 |
| | 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.
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