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The SWC Lives!

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:00:00 -0500

The Southwest Conference lives! DCTF revives the SWC to see how it would've played out in 2012.

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

Here at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, we make no bones about the fact that we miss the Southwest Conference. To us – and, perhaps more accurately, to our founder and editor-in-chief, Mr. Dave Campbell – there was simply no finer conference in the nation than the good ol’ SWC.

Not only was it full of great competition, but the rivalries couldn’t be beat, especially here in the Lone Star State. Nine teams in Texas – Baylor, Houston, Rice, SMU, Southwestern, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech – called the SWC home at one point, and it was home to some legendary games and legendary figures.

But if you can believe it, it’s been 17 years since the Southwest Conference existed, as it officially broke up after the 1996 season. And with the constant flurry of conference realignment, it seems like its memory is more of a flickering candle in the distance than the roaring torch it once was.

Those nine teams are now in five difference conferences (Baylor, TCU, Texas and Tech in the Big 12, Houston and SMU in the American Athletic Conference, Rice in Conference USA, Texas A&M in the SEC and Southwestern in Division III’s Southern College Athletic Conference). But we long for yesteryear, when these titans of the gridiron would lock it up not just for their team, but for regional supremacy.

Which got us thinking: how would the 2012 season have shaken out if the Southwest Conference were still together?

It’s a sticky situation to navigate, because when you think about applying the present circumstances to the past, there are many different things to consider. So, for this thought experiment, here’s the ground rules:

-We’re working under the 1991 alignment – that is, Arkansas, Baylor, Rice, Texas, Texas A&M, SMU, TCU, Texas Tech and Houston. Aside from being one of the longest alignments in the SWC’s history (15 years), it best represents the Southwest Conference and what it was all about.

-We’re working with the 1991 conference schedules as well. So, since Baylor played at SMU in 1991, that means that Baylor’s playing at SMU in this simulation.

-We’re working under the idea that the 2012 teams are who they were. So, Texas A&M was really good, so they’ll be really good in this simulation. Any games on the 1991 schedule that actually occurred in 2012 will carry over the result of the 2012 game. Otherwise, we’ll default to FootballOutsiders’ F/+ Combined Ratings, which are a relatively comprehensive ranking of every team in the FBS.

-Home-field advantage matters. If two teams are close in the rankings, we’re going to give the home team the victory.

-We’re not dealing with non-conference schedules. Conference games only for this exercise.

OK, so, got it? Here’s how the standings would’ve shaken out.

2012 (Hypothetical) Southwest Conference Standings

Texas A&M	8-0
Texas	6-2
Baylor	5-3
TCU	6-2
Tech	5-3
Arkansas	3-5
SMU	1-7
Houston	1-7
Rice	1-7

A little surprising? Here’s how we came to each school’s hypothetical Southwest Conference record.

Texas A&M (8-0)
Wins: at Texas Tech, at Baylor, Houston, at Rice, at TCU, Arkansas, SMU, Texas
Losses: None
Thoughts: Johnny Football and the Aggies work their magic again, and they’re the clear-cut favorite in the conference. And guess what? The Aggies won the Southwest Conference in 1991 anyway. History repeats itself.

TCU (6-2)
Wins: Arkansas, at Rice, at Baylor, SMU, at Texas, Houston
Losses: at Texas Tech, Texas A&M
Thoughts: A lot of this actually happened in 2012, like the wins at Baylor, vs. SMU (Horned Frogs beat them in Dallas in 2012; they’d get them at home in the SWC schedule) and the surprise win at Texas that clinches second place for them. The biggest hiccup: a loss at Texas Tech. Tech beat the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth in 2012; it stands to reason that they’d beat them in Lubbock, too.

Texas (6-2)
Wins: Rice, at Arkansas, at SMU, Texas Tech, Houston, Baylor
Losses: TCU, at Texas A&M
Thoughts: Texas’ loss at home to TCU in 2012 carries over to the hypothetical 1991 schedule, and the Longhorns fall to their archrival in College Station. The hiccup to TCU costs them second place in the conference.

Baylor (5-3)
Wins: at SMU, at Houston, Rice, at Arkansas, Texas Tech
Losses: Texas A&M, TCU, at Texas
Thoughts: We have a number of real-life results to go off of here, with Baylor’s wins over Texas Tech and SMU and their losses to TCU and Texas. One note about the SMU win: yes, Baylor beat SMU in 2012 in Waco and would have to play them on the Hilltop in the SWC schedule, but they beat them soundly enough – 35 points – that I don’t think the result would change.

Texas Tech (5-3)
Wins: TCU, at SMU, Rice, Arkansas, at Houston
Losses: Texas A&M, at Texas, at Baylor
Thoughts: Again, thanks to the Big 12, we have a lot of these results to play off of, like the win over TCU and the losses to Texas and Baylor. The loss to Baylor’s a tough one: Tech lost to the Bears in a thriller on a neutral site in 2012, but with the 1991 schedule, they’d have to play in Waco, which would only hurt their chances. That loss drops them to fifth in conference.

Arkansas (3-5)
Wins: SMU, Houston, Rice
Losses: at TCU, Texas, Baylor, at Texas Tech, at Texas A&M
Thoughts: The lone non-Texas member of the SWC, we only have one real-life result to draw off of – their drubbing at the hands of Texas A&M. Other than that, it’s pretty well-stratified: lose to the good teams, win vs. the lesser teams. As for the game vs. SMU, their closest competitor, if the game wasn’t in Fayetteville, I’d be tempted to give the win to the Ponies. Alas, Arkansas gets the win and finishes 3-5 in conference.

Rice (2-6)
Wins: Houston, at SMU
Losses: at Texas, at Baylor, TCU, at Texas Tech, Texas A&M, at Arkansas
Thoughts: First things first: Rice actually beat SMU, so that game carries over. The rest of the games are games that the Owls wouldn’t be favored in. Now, to explain something, since this is the only game we flipped an actual result. On September 29, 2012, Houston beat Rice, 35-14 at Reliant Stadium in Houston. Let me explain why I’m flipping the Houston game to a Rice win. For one: Rice would get Houston at home under the SWC scheduling. Secondly, Rice played significantly better down the stretch of the season than they did in the first half of the season. And with the SWC schedule, they wouldn’t catch Houston until mid-November. With those two factors combined, I feel comfortable saying Rice would edge Houston despite the previous result.

SMU (1-7)
Wins: at Houston
Losses: at Arkansas, Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas, at TCU, Rice, at Texas A&M
Thoughts: SMU has actual 2012 losses to Baylor, Texas A&M, TCU and Rice, and an actual 2012 win vs. Houston; those carry over to this one. Unfortunately, the rest of the schedule just isn’t favorable for the Ponies.

Houston (0-8)
Wins: None
Losses: Baylor, at Arkansas, SMU, at Texas A&M, Texas, at Rice, at TCU, Texas Tech
Thoughts: A sub-par year plus a tougher conference schedule equals a bad run through the SWC.

So there you have it: our simulation of how the 2012 Southwest Conference would’ve shaken out, if it were still together. Maybe you agree, maybe you disagree – either way, let us know on Facebook or Twitter – but regardless of your feelings, you have to admit:

It’s nice to see the Southwest Conference back again, even if it’s just for one hypothetical moment.

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.

The Kat's meow

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:00:00 -0500

DCTF's Greg Tepper explains why Sam Houston State could be Texas' best hope for a national title.

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

Coming off of an historic season, the excitement surrounding Texas A&M is monumental. Dynamic quarterback Johnny Manziel – the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy – returns for his sophomore year along with many other key pieces, and the Aggies appear to have a relatively favorable schedule, including catching defending national champion Alabama at home.

Yes, come autumn, all eyes will be on College Station. But drive about an hour east of Aggieland, and you might find something pretty remarkable.

You might find the state of Texas’ even-better chance to win a national championship.

As enthralled as everyone will be for the Aggies’ chase for a BCS National Championship, it’s Sam Houston State that may be the Lone Star State’s biggest title favorite.

Why? Here’s five reasons why Sam Houston State is the state’s best chance to win a championship.

1) They know what it takes
There are very, very few teams in college football history who have the kind of title game experience that the Bearkats have. Sam Houston State has reached the FCS championship game in each of the last two seasons, only to fall to North Dakota State in both title games. But that experience – making it through the FCS playoffs, playing in the biggest game on the biggest stage – should pay dividends come autumn. If anything, the lack of a championship should be a driving force for the team, not a hump they feel as if they can’t overcome.

2) The defense should be just as strong
Last season, the Bearkats allowed 21.4 points per game. That might sound a little high for a national runner-up, but consider that one of those games was at Baylor, and one of those games was at Texas A&M. Factor those two games (both losses) out, and the average tumbles to just 17.4 points allowed per game. And with five starters back from a year ago, led by DE Jarrett Brown, DT Gary Lorance and LB Jesse Beauchamp, and the return of star LB Eric Fieilo from an injury that cost him the entirety of the 2012 season, there’s reason to think that the unit can take a step forward. The secondary needs to come around, but overall, this is a strong unit that can guide the Bearkats to a title.

3) Coach Willie Fritz is really, really good
Folks who don’t pay attention to FCS football may not know coach Fritz, but there are very, very few coaches in Texas with his résumé. After turning around the football programs at both Blinn College (where he took a losing program to two national junior college titles) and Central Missouri (where he took a losing program and took them to a conference title), he came to Sam Houston State and, well, he’s been incredible. In 2011, he guided the Kats to their first unbeaten regular season in program history, and he’s led them to back-to-back Southland championships, earning FCS Coach of the Year honors in 2011 and Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year honors in 2012. Simply put, you could argue that Willie Fritz is the best coach in Texas that nobody’s talking about.

4) There’s plenty of weapons on offense
QB Brian Bell is back for his senior season, and he’s one of the most decorated players in Sam Houston State history. He’s already the program’s leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns and total offensive yards, and he has his eyes set on more records after throwing for 2,715 yards and 25 touchdowns a year ago. Richard Sincere is also back – high school football fans may remember him from his days as Galveston Ball’s dynamo. These days, he’s one of the most versatile weapons the Kats have, racking up 883 all-purpose yards a year ago. Then there’s guys like WR Chance Nelson, who caught nine touchdown passes last year, and Torrance Williams, who’s coming back from a knee injury. There’s weapons upon weapons upon weapons for the Bearkats.

Oh yeah, and…

5) They have Tim Flanders, the best player in FCS
RB Tim Flanders is incredible. The Oklahoma high school star is the back-to-back Southland Conference Player of the Year, and he already holds 34 SHSU school records. Barring something unforeseen, he’ll pass Claude Mathis (yes, the DeSoto coach Claude Mathis) as the Southland’s all-time leading rusher. He’s reliable, he’s explosive, he’s bruising, he’s quick-footed, he’s everything you want in a running back. And perhaps I have my Texas flag-colored glasses on, but I don’t think there’s a better player in the FCS this season than Tim Flanders. The two-time All-American can do it all, and with him on their team, the Bearkats are a threat to do big, big things.

So while we watch the 12 FBS teams chase their dream of a national title, keep an eye on the goings-on in Huntsville. After all, if a national championship trophy is going to reside in the state of Texas after the 2013 season, there’s a pretty good chance it’ll be in the Home of Sam Houston.

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.

Setting the pace

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Analyzing the tempo of college football across Texas.

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

“Pace” and “tempo” have been big buzzwords around college football in the state of Texas recently. Whether it’s Texas A&M’s emphasis on speed, or Texas’ reported uptick in tempo, or Kliff Kingsbury talking about how he wants to up the pace of the Red Raiders’ offense, everyone, it seems, is talking about going faster, faster, faster, fitting more plays into every precious second.

This can largely be traced back to Oregon – the Ducks had monumental success under coach Chip Kelly in a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants offense that blistered opponents with relentless pressure – but it’s truly a nationwide phenomenon. As noted Friend of DCTF Bill Connelly points out at his outstanding blog Football Study Hall, “from 2008 to 2012, 63% of FBS teams increased the number of plays they ran per minute of possession.”

Speed is the name of the game, and it’s the way that offenses are moving. More plays, fewer huddles, more action. But what does it mean here, in Texas? How do our 12 FBS teams stack up in the great pace-setting debate?

With the help of the invaluable CFBStats.com, I crunched the pace numbers on each of the 12 FBS teams in Texas for the 2012 season. First, I found out their average time of possession per game (data note: in order to get clean calculations, I had to translate the seconds into fractions of minutes; hence, the decimals). Next, I looked at how many plays per game that each team ran. Finally, I calculated the speed of their offense in a simple metric: Plays per Minute. That’s to say, how many plays did each team run in each minute of possession in 2012?

Here’s what I found:

	Games	Total TOP (Mins)	TOP/Game	Total Plays	Plays/Game	Plays/Minute
Houston	12	297.65	24.80	984	82.0	3.31
Baylor	13	355.66	27.36	1080	83.1	3.04
Texas A&M	13	365.85	28.14	1025	78.8	2.80
Texas Tech	13	392.93	30.23	993	76.4	2.53
North Texas	12	359.37	29.95	853	71.1	2.37
UTEP	12	354.66	29.56	831	69.3	2.34
Rice	13	441.98	34.00	1026	78.9	2.32
Texas	13	400.78	30.83	891	68.5	2.22
Texas State	12	359.86	29.99	774	64.5	2.15
TCU	13	425.6	32.74	914	70.3	2.15
UTSA	10	318.98	31.90	680	68.0	2.13
SMU	13	430.9	33.15	916	70.5	2.13

As you can see – and longtime readers of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football shouldn’t be surprised – there’s a ton of diversity across the state. Let’s dive into a little data breakdown.

-An important reference point: the average tempo for a team in 2012 was 2.4 plays per minute.

-Up at the top sits Houston, and this is significant for a number of reasons. First: UH wasn’t just the highest-tempo team in the state of Texas last season; the Coogs led the nation in Plays per Minute. That’s right. Faster than Oregon, Marshall, Louisiana Tech, everyone. But this isn’t new. As Connelly points out, since 2008, the Coogs have been literally the fastest team over the past five seasons. And even though they lost Kevin Sumlin and Kliff Kingsbury, the Coogs put together their fastest-paced team yet in 2012. Pretty remarkable.

-Meanwhile, down at the bottom, there’s a foursome of teams that preferred to grind it out: SMU, UTSA, TCU and Texas State. All four of them ranked in the bottom 15% of the nation in terms of pace, grinding it out at less than 2.2 plays per minute. To put it in context: Notre Dame – as traditional a grind-it-out offense as they come – averaged 2.17 plays per minute, faster than the Ponies, Roadrunners, Horned Frogs and Bobcats.

-With Kliff Kingsbury taking his talents to Lubbock from College Station, A&M’s pace provides an interesting glimpse at what Tech fans can expect. A&M and Tech ranked 3^rd and 4^th in the state, respectively, in pace, but A&M was a tick faster, cranking out 2.5 more plays per game despite having the ball for two full fewer minutes. If Kingsbury institutes the type of offense we saw at A&M, expect Tech to up the tempo a bit.

-Baylor’s such an interesting case: they ran the sixth-most plays in the nation at 1,080 and yet they ranked 112^th in time of possession. That’s what happens when you combine an extra-explosive offense with the second-worst defense in terms of yards allowed.

-Fun fact about Rice: the Owls led the nation in time of possession, holding on to the ball for nearly 34 minutes per game. How significant is that? Consider that there were only four teams that had the ball for a longer sum of time in 2012…and all four of those teams played one more game than the Owls did.

-What does it mean in terms of wins? Well, by this data, there’s no real correlation between running more plays and winning more games. The seven bowl teams from Texas ranked 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 7^th, 8^th, 10^th and 12^th in pace across the state in 2012. What it means is that pace, while important, is only valuable when it’s coupled with a quality defense.

And maybe it pays to slow down. After all, Alabama – the winner of three of the last four BCS national titles – was one of the slowest teams in the nation last year, running just 1.99 plays per minute.

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.

On the road again

Thu, 09 May 2013 08:00:00 -0500

How will latest conference realignment affect Texas teams geographically?

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

I think I speak on behalf of the entire Dave Campbell’s Texas Football staff when I say: can we hit the pause button on the conference realignment?

In the past three seasons, we’ve had teams in the American Athletic Conference, the Big 12, the Mountain West, the SEC, the WAC, the Sun Belt and Conference USA. And we only cover twelve FBS teams!

And in 2013, we’ll undergo yet another round of conference realignment, as North Texas, Houston, SMU, Texas State and UTSA will all change conferences.

It’s been established for a while that conference realignment has nothing to do with geography. West Virginia is in the Big 12; Missouri is in the Southeastern Conference (and in the East Division, no less); and so on.

But what kinds of geographic impact will this round of conference realignment have on the teams involved? Let’s take a look by comparing the distance from their old conference rivals to their new conference bunkmates.

We’ll start with Houston, who is moving from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference – formerly the Big East.

CUSA		AAC
Team	Distance	Team	Distance
Central Florida	872	Cincinnati	896
East Carolina	1119	Connecticut	1532
Marshall	948	Louisville	802
Memphis	483	Memphis	483
UAB	566	Rutgers	1409
Southern Miss	377	SMU	225
Tulsa	835	South Florida	790
SMU	225	Temple	1339
Rice	0	Central Florida	872
UTEP	674
Tulane	317
AVERAGE	583.3	AVERAGE	927.6

Needless to say, Houston’s travel bill is going to increase. Losing a hometown conference rival in Rice doesn’t help things, but there’s also three 1,000+-mile road trips on the conference slate now.

What about the other team that’s moving from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference – the SMU Mustangs?

CUSA		AAC
Team	Distance	Team	Distance
Central Florida	961	Cincinnati	816
East Carolina	1125	Connecticut	1479
Marshall	894	Louisville	725
Memphis	419	Memphis	419
UAB	579	Rutgers	1362
Southern Miss	450	Houston	225
Tulsa	732	South Florida	916
Houston	225	Temple	1297
Rice	225	Central Florida	961
UTEP	570
Tulane	441
AVERAGE	601.9	AVERAGE	911.1

The Ponies won’t have as big of an effect to their travel – mainly because they were already traveling a touch farther than Coogs – but it’s still an increase in average distance of conference foes.

Time to focus in on North Texas, who will be moving from their longtime home in the Sun Belt to take a spot in Conference USA.

SUN BELT		CUSA
Team	Distance	Team	Distance
Arkansas State	411	East Carolina	1140
Louisiana-Lafayette	365	Florida Atlantic	1125
Louisiana-Monroe	288	Florida International	1131
Middle Tennessee	640	Marshall	899
Western Kentucky	659	Middle Tennessee	640
Troy	659	Southern Miss	478
Florida International	1131	UAB	598
Florida Atlantic	1125	Louisiana Tech	266
South Alabama	554	Rice	261
		Tulane	471
		Tulsa	214
		UTEP	554
		UTSA	272
AVERAGE	648	AVERAGE	619.1

Believe it or not, this is going to cut down on the Mean Green’s travel a little bit. Those trips to Florida are still there, but adding teams like Louisiana Tech, Tulsa and Rice gives UNT some more local foes.

Let’s stay in Conference USA and see what UTSA is going to be dealing with after their move from the WAC to C-USA.

WAC		CUSA
Team	Distance	Team	Distance
Utah State	1130	East Carolina	1301
San Jose State	1453	Florida Atlantic	1143
Louisiana Tech	407	Florida International	1138
Texas State	46	Marshall	1109
Idaho	1554	Middle Tennessee	833
New Mexico State	674	Southern Miss	564
		UAB	745
		Louisiana Tech	407
		Rice	187
		Tulane	504
		Tulsa	486
		UTEP	502
		North Texas	272
AVERAGE	877.3	AVERAGE	707

This is a big, big upgrade for the Roadrunners, ditching those long road trips to Utah State, San Jose State and Idaho for some closer rivals, like Rice and North Texas. Of course, the WAC was never a long-term solution for the Roadrunners, but this is a nice upgrade for them geographically.

Finally, let’s talk about Texas State, who will also be leaving the WAC and taking over North Texas’ spot in the Sun Belt.

WAC		SUN BELT
Team	Distance	Team	Distance
Utah State	1126	Arkansas State	588
San Jose State	1467	Georgia State	839
Louisiana Tech	362	Louisiana-Lafayette	355
UTSA	46	Louisiana-Monroe	394
Idaho	1548	South Alabama	585
New Mexico State	681	Troy	723
		Western Kentucky	823
AVERAGE	871.7	AVERAGE	615.3

Geographically, Texas State is the big winner in this round of conference realignment here in the Lone Star State. They shave an average of more than 250 miles off of each of their road trips. As with UTSA, the WAC was never a long-term solution, but this is a good home for Texas State from a geographic standpoint.

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.

Getting the call from the Hall?

Tue, 07 May 2013 08:00:00 -0500

The College Football Hall of Fame could get an even bigger Texas flair this year.

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

It’s a good bet that if there is a museum of football, the state of Texas will have a big part in it. And the College Football Hall of Fame is no different.

The CFHOF, operated by the National Football Foundation, is transitioning from South Bend, Indiana to Atlanta, Georgia. But the bigger news will come out in just a couple of hours, when the Hall of Fame will announce its 2013 induction class.

There’s already some Texas flavor to the Hall – legendary coaches like Dana Bible and Darrell Royal, dozens of players from all across the Lone Star State – but the 2013 class could add even more of Texas to the Hall.

On the ballot – which is 77 names long – are plenty of folks with Texas ties. Who could join the list of immortals in the Hall of Fame? Here’s the Texas-tied candidates to keep an ear out for when the announcement comes down today at 11 a.m.

Brian Bosworth: Yes, The Boz is best known as the fearsome linebacker for the Oklahoma Sooners, but don’t forget that he got his start at Irving MacArthur, where he was one of the greatest Cardinals ever. He went on to be a two-time All-American and Butkus Award winner in 1985 and 1986, leading the Sooners to a national title in ’85 and three straight Orange Bowls.

Jim Carlen: It may seem like ages ago, but Jim Carlen was one of Texas Tech’s best coaches, if only for a brief time. Carlen led the Red Raiders from 1970-74, going 37-20 in that time, earning three Southwest Conference Coach of the Year awards and highlighting his brief time in Lubbock with an 11-1 season (and a Gator Bowl berth) in 1973.

Eric Dickerson: Maybe you’ve heard of him? The Sealy star turned SMU legend was one of the most electricying running backs in college football history, running for 4,450 yards and 47 touchdowns over four years on the Hilltop. He was a two-time SWC Player of the Year, a unanimous All-American and a third-place finisher in the 1982 Heisman Trophy voting.

Tony Franklin: No respect for the kickers, but Franklin is one of the all-time best. A standout at Fort Worth Arlington Heights, Franklin went on to Texas A&M where he was a two-time All-American. During his time in College Station, Franklin set seven NCAA records, including most 50-plus yard field goals and most career points by a kicker

Jerry Gray: One of the very best defensive backs in Longhorns history, the Lubbock Estacado product quickly made his mark on the Texas football program, earning the Southwest Conference Player of the Year honors in both 1983 and 1984. Why? He was a consummate ballhawk, picking off 16 throws and breaking up another 20 passes.

Zach Thomas: A legend in Lubbock, the linebacker came from tiny White Deer but soon rose to become a fan favorite, earning two All-America honors and twice earning SWC Defensive Player of the Year awards. He’s still fifth all-time at Tech with 390 tackles, and he’s still revered as one of the all-time greats

LaDainian Tomlinson: Remember him? Of course you do. TCU’s all-time leading rusher took the nation by storm in 1999 (when the Waco University grad was the WAC Offensive Player of the Year) and 2000 (when he was a unanimous All-American, won the Doak Walker Award and got Heisman votes. LT’s a Texas legend.

Don Trull: Before RG3, there was Don Trull, the original Baylor All-American quarterback. An All-American in 1963, Trull led the nation with 22 touchdowns and set a school record with 174 completions. What’s more: he was a champion in the classroom, earning Academic All-American honors twice.

Steve Wisniewski: This may be a name you don’t recognize, and that’s OK. The Spring Westfield alum took his talents north to Penn State, where he was a member of the 1986 national title team, then helped Blair Thomas run for 1,414 yards and 11 touchdown in 1987. To cap it off, he was an All-American in 1988

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.

From the gridiron to the big screen

Fri, 03 May 2013 08:00:00 -0500

Documentary on 1969 Texas-Arkansas Thriller Breathes Dramatic New Life Into "Game of The Century".

By Ken Capps
DCTF Special Contributor

You knew The Big Shootout was going to be a different kind of film just by listening to the conversations of total strangers crowding into the Angelika Theater in Dallas. Folks filing in were asking each other, "Where did you see The Game?".

One man was lucky enough to attend the game in the Razorback Stadium as a teenager with his sister.

"She cried all the way home from Fayetteville to Fort Smith," he said.

A graying woman described how her father, a Longhorns fan, listened to the game on the radio from his foxhole in Vietnam.

Even I had to chime in: I was a fourth-grader watching the game on a black and white TV from my daddy's lap in Austin, about three miles north of the UT campus.

The Big Shootout filmmaker Mike Looney watched it from his shanty apartment in Lubbock while attending Texas Tech. And since December 6, 1969, he has been fascinated by a game that was watched by 50 million Americans and changed individual lives forever in a four hour stretch on a cold, dreary Ozark afternoon.

"This game left such an indelible mark on my soul that I wanted future generations to see and understand what our generation was going through in 1969," says Looney. "And as we began talking to everybody associated with the game we discovered stories so heartfelt, so poignant, so gut-wrenching, it reminded me of that time in '69 when we really didn't know where our country was headed. But in the midst of it all the chaos, we still had football."

So for the past three years, Looney, executive producer Don Stokes, co-producers Fred Baker and Mike Humphrey, and editor Sam Donald have embarked on a journey that was far from sentimental -- they crisply document a time in our history that was sinister, sick and seemed to be getting worse all the time. Race riots. Body counts in Vietnam. Charles Manson. All surrounded by a dream football match created in the minds of ABC Sports genius Roone Arledge and programming whiz Beano Cook. The top two teams in the country, coached by best friends, on the last day of the season, for the national championship in the 100th year of college football.

The Big Shootout (which you can find at their website) is about the Texas-Arkansas football game, no doubt about it. But Looney and crew have done a masterful job of painting the game into the cultural context of the time, which were some of the most convoluted and confusing in our history.

Remembered through the checkered experiences of players, coaches, professors and students, The Big Shootout chronicles the huge transition the United States was making in the 1960's and exploding into a new era on multiple fronts. The screenplay is beautifully sound-tracked with familiar rock and roll tunes of the times -- from national artists to Dallas club bands like Kenny and the Kasuals.

In the spring of 1969, Arledge and Cook drew up an unprecedented plan: a made-for-TV drama pitting the #1 and #2 teams in the country for a winner-take-all match. They predicted those two teams would be Texas and Arkansas, in some order. They picked up the phone, called Longhorns coach Darrell Royal and Razorbacks coach Frank Broyles, and the two golfing buddies agreed to move their October date to December.

Looney and Stokes scored a huge coup right off the bat when Broyles agreed to talk about the excruciating loss in 2010, something he had not done since immediately after the game four decades ago. They also managed to get very candid interviews with Cook and Royal just months before their deaths. No Broyles, Cook or Royal would've meant no film. The trio tell a gripping tale far beyond X's and O's and the extreme pressure that shadowed the teams every week of the season.

But then the story takes a huge twist. Hiram McBeth arrives on the big screen, nearly unnoticed in Razorback history. Yet he was the first African-American player on the Arkansas football team. He was a walk-on and did not play in the game, but nonetheless was on the squad. By day, he practiced with his teammates; by night, he participated in Black Americans for Democracy who were bringing "black power" to the Fayetteville campus and pushing to getting the song "Dixie" silenced from the Arkansas marching band, which played immediately after a Razorbacks score.

They vow to rush the field and lay down on the brand new green turf for the ABC cameras if the song is played.

Next, Arkansas student Donald Donner appears, a Vietnam Vet-turned-anti-war protestor, who has devised a protest he wants the world to see from a nearby hilltop as the game plays on: a giant white peace sign and black crosses staked in the ground.

Throw in President Richard Nixon arriving late to the game due to lousy flying weather for Marine One, and there's more than enough drama for a gray afternoon.

Oh, and then there's a pretty good football game being played, too. The Razorbacks storm to a 14-0 lead that holds until the fourth quarter. Then, you know the rest.

Or, maybe not.

As time ticked away, Royal and his nimble quarterback James Street went on a gambling streak that would make any Las Vegas high roller sweat. Street, admittedly not a speedster, took off on a 42- yard scramble for a TD. Then, to the amazement of the Razorback faithful, the Longhorns went for two and Street snaked his way into the end zone.

Here, Looney and Stokes turn up another new nugget: Royal had told his players on the bus headed to the stadium they would be going for two when they scored their first TD.

"So they wouldn't have to think about," DKR said brilliantly.

The Hogs have plenty of time to respond, but the Texas defense finally awakens and none other than Freddie Steinmark knocks away a Bill Montgomery pass to get Texas the ball back. We learn it would be the last play Freddie would ever make.

Once again the Horns get moving, but the Hogs hold them. It's fourth down and 3 from the Texas 43. With everyone on the sidelines, in the grandstands and in living rooms expecting a run, Royal digs up Right 53 Veer Pass. Street heaves a bomb past the fingertips of Arkansas DB Jerry Moore and into the freezing palms of Texas end Randy Peschel. Two plays later, Texas scores and kicks the PAT. Somehow, it's Texas 15. Arkansas 14.

The clock numbs the minutes. Texas intercepts Arkansas, and the TV drama dreamed up by Arledge and Beano comes explicitly true. But the nightmare was just beginning for Arkansas.

The despair for the Razorbacks has lingered for decades.

Broyles refused to talk about the game and his players who gave it their all felt ignored and hurt.

Even for the Longhorns, the thrill of victory was short-lived. Players learned just five days after the game their feisty, popular teammate Freddie Steinmark has cancer that will quickly cost him his leg and his life.

"It's very clear the agony of defeat is worse than the thrill of victory, period," concluded Looney.

Stokes believes Broyles' willingness to participate in the film and for the first time speak so candidly and passionately about the game and acknowledge his players will bring healing to a team and a state that has been stung by the sound of his silence since 1969. The documentary will be shown at the Hot Springs Film Festival in October.

For many, the Big Shootout became a metaphor for life. It was the end of innocence for some, the end of a tumultuous decade for others.

Arkansas running back Bill Burnett's wife Linda summed it perfectly: "You expect your heroes to do heroic things, to do something spectacular."

In 1969, with the exception of moon walkers Armstrong and Aldrin, heroes were in extremely short supply. A disgruntled and disillusioned American public was desperately seeking good guys that December, and the polite young men wearing red and burnt orange filled the bill.

In the world of college football, it would mark the first game set up by TV between a #1 and #2 team for the national championship. Heavens know nobody ever thought of something called the BCS would come to pass. And Texas would field the last all-white team to win college football's greatest prize. African-Americans would take their place on the gridiron and change the game.

And finally, The Big Shootout shows us how 60's culture bridged the gap to today's world:

Jerry Moore and Randy Peschel are friends on Facebook.

* All images courtesy of thebigshootout.com.

Ken Capps is a special contributor to TexasFootball.com.

A Lone Star fraternity

Wed, 01 May 2013 08:00:00 -0500

Baylor WR Terrance Williams joins a select of Texas-bred players.

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

Admittedly, there is a negative relationship between the number of the round of the NFL Draft and the interest in said round. That’s to say, the later the round, the less people are paying attention.

So it’s OK if you didn’t notice what happened on Friday night with the 74^th overall pick – the 12^th pick of the third round – when the Dallas Cowboys used the pick they acquired in exchange for trading down in the first round.

The selection: Baylor wide receiver Terrance Williams.

Unless you’re a Baylor fan or a Cowboys fan, that probably didn’t strike you as a particularly big deal. But here at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, it was reason to freak out.

Before we get to the reason behind that, a word on Terrance Williams: he’s really good. How good? Well, he led the nation in receiving last year, hauling in 97 catches for 1,832 yards and 12 touchdowns, becoming an All-American and a Biletnikoff Award finalist. It put the cherry on top of what was a sensational career, as he leaves Baylor as the school’s career all-purpose yards leader (4,693) and second in receiving TDs (27), receiving yards (3,334) and receptions (202).

So now, he’ll likely become the No. 2 (or No. 3, depending where you slot Miles Austin) receiver for Tony Romo and the Cowboys, and has a good chance to continue his trend of big production.

So, now that that’s out of the way, here’s what’s got the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football staff so excited.

You see, Terrance Williams played his high school football at W.T. White in Dallas, where he was an all-state selection and two-time all-district receiver. So that means that after playing both his high school and college football in Texas, Williams was drafted by a Texas NFL team.

And aside from the fact that we here at DCTF always enjoy when the homegrown talent stays home, that is much more rare than you’d think.

How rare? Terrance Williams is the 35^th player since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 to play his high school and college football in Texas, then be drafted by a Texas team.

Now, there is one caveat to this: Williams must appear for the Cowboys to actually join the list. There have been a number of players who have been drafted by Texas-based teams, but never actually suited up for them. But barring something unforeseen, Williams will join a very elite Lone Star fraternity.

It’s quite a fun fact for all of us fans of football in Texas. After all, it’s good to see Texas talent stay in Texas for as long as possible.

Here’s the list of the players since 1970 who played their high school and college football in Texas, then were drafted by and played for a Texas NFL team.

YEAR	ROUND (PICK)	POSITION	NAME	DRAFTED BY	COLLEGE	HIGH SCHOOL
1970	2(31)	DT	Lee Brooks	Oilers	Texas	Kermit
1971	15(368)	RB	Andy Hopkins	Oilers	Stephen F. Austin	Crockett Bunche*
1973	11(261)	CB	Larry Eaglin	Oilers	Stephen F. Austin	Hull-Daisetta
1975	1(15)	RB	Don Hardeman	Oilers	Texas A&M-Kingsville	Killeen
1977	4(108)	LB	Guy Brown	Cowboys	Houston	Palestine
1978	4(98)	WR	Mike Renfro	Oilers	TCU	FW Arlington Heights
1978	1(1)	RB	Earl Campbell	Oilers	Texas	Tyler John Tyler
1978	Sup. 10(1)	WR	Johnnie Dirden	Oilers	Sam Houston St.	Houston Austin
1978	7(243)	OL	Kelvin Garmon	Cowboys	Baylor	Haltom
1978	4(110)	RB	Alois Blackwell	Cowboys	Houston	Cuero
1983	7(170)	WR	Herkie Walls	Oilers	Texas	Garland
1984	6(152)	LB	Eugene Lockhart	Cowboys	Houston	Crockett
1984	1(25)	TE	Todd Fowler	Cowboys	Stephen F. Austin	Van
1985	1(3)	DL	Ray Childress	Oilers	Texas A&M	Richardson Pearce
1986	12(307)	LB	Chris Duliban	Cowboys	Texas	Houston Spring Woods
1987	3(64)	QB	Cody Carlson	Oilers	Baylor	SA Churchill
1987	12(314)	RB	Ira Valentine	Oilers	Texas A&M	Marshall
1987	2(39)	CB	Ron Francis	Cowboys	Baylor	La Marque
1987	5(124)	WR	Everett Gay	Cowboys	Texas	Houston Wheatley
1988	8(205)	WR	Eddie Foster	Oilers	Houston	Houston Kashmere
1989	12(308)	WR	Scott Ankrom	Cowboys	TCU	SA Jay
1990	1(15)	LB	Lamar Lathon	Oilers	Houston	Wharton
1990	6(153)	WR	Tony Jones	Oilers	Texas	Grapeland
1992	1(17)	CB	Kevin Smith	Cowboys	Texas A&M	West Orange-Stark
1994	6(194)	LB	Barron Wortham	Oilers	UTEP	Everman
1995	3(89)	RB	Rodney Thomas	Oilers	Texas A&M	Groveton
1999	4(118)	WR	Wane McGarity	Cowboys	Texas	SA Clark
1999	3(85)	LB	Dat Nguyen	Cowboys	Texas A&M	Rockport Fulton
2008	2(61)	TE	Martellus Bennett	Cowboys	Texas A&M	Katy Taylor
2008	5(151)	DL	Frank Okam	Texans	Texas	Lake Highlands
2009	4(101)	QB	Stephen McGee	Cowboys	Texas A&M	Burnet
2009	4(120)	LB	Brandon Williams	Cowboys	Texas Tech	FW South Hills
2009	5(152)	TE	James Casey	Texans	Rice	Azle
2012	5(161)	K	Randy Bullock	Texans	Texas A&M	Klein

*-Crockett Bunche was the all-black high school in Crockett.

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.

LacHeisman?

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:00:00 -0500

How realistic are Baylor RB Lache Seastrunk's Heisman hopes?

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

You have to give Baylor running back Lache Seastrunk one thing: he is most certainly confident in his abilities.

Seastrunk, the former Temple standout who transferred to Baylor after an uneventful stint at Oregon, made headlines in December by proclaiming to Steve Greenberg of The Sporting News…well, here, you read it:

“I'm going to win the Heisman. I'm going to win it in 2013. If I don't, I'm going to get very close. I'm shooting for that goal. I will gladly say it."

Bold words, to be sure. But Seastrunk’s first year playing for Baylor was a promising one – his role on the team increased as the season wore on, and he finished with 1,012 yards and 7 TDs on 131 rushes. And hype is running hot for Seastrunk entering the 2013 season, as the Baylor faithful have started a “LacHeisman” campaign.

Anyone who saw Seastrunk in high school knows the kind of talent he possesses, and we got to see a glimpse of that last season. But to me, the Lache Seastrunk Heisman campaign has one big inherent obstacle:

He’s Baylor’s running back.

Allow me to explain.

It’s no secret that Baylor coach Art Briles’ bread-and-butter is the passing game. It’s what made Robert Griffin III a Heisman Trophy winner, and it’s what helped Nick Florence lead the nation in passing last season. That’s not to say that there isn’t room for a running game – heck, Baylor actually ranked 15^th in the country in rushing attempts last season, mainly because they ranked 5^th in total plays per game last year – but the star of the show is the passing game.

What’s more, in Art Briles’ offense, the ball is spread out so much that very rarely does a single running back get an enormous bulk of the carries – or even a majority of them.

Here are the attempt numbers for the leading running back on Art Briles-coached Baylor teams (stretching back to 2008):

Season	Leading RB	Att.	Att./Gm	% of Total Carries
2012	Glasco Martin	179	13.8	30.0%
2011	Terrance Ganaway	250	19.2	43.4%
2010	Jay Finley	195	15.0	41.7%
2009	Jay Finley	79	6.6	22.8%
2008	Jay Finley	149	12.4	31.0%
	AVERAGE	170.4	13.4	33.8%

The most striking thing? Art Briles has never – never – had a running back that got more than 45% of the team’s total carries. That speaks to his ability to spread the ball out to so many different weapons. Even in the season when Baylor had its most singular running back – 2011, with Terrance Ganaway – he only logged 43.4% of the team’s carries.

And that’s the biggest challenge facing Lache Seastrunk’s self-declared Heisman campaign: getting the ball in his hands enough.

As a means of comparison, I looked up every running back who has finished in the top three of the Heisman voting over the past decade. First of all, only two running backs have won it in the last ten years – and one of them, Reggie Bush, had it vacated.

Here are their attempt numbers:

Year	Player	School	Finish	Att	A/G	% of Total Carries
2011	Trent Richardson	Alabama	3rd	283	21.8	55.7%
2010	LaMichael James	Oregon	3rd	294	22.6	46.7%
2009	Mark Ingram	Alabama	1st	271	19.4	45.1%
2009	Toby Gerhart	Stanford	2nd	343	26.4	63.9%
2007	Darren McFadden	Arkansas	2nd	325	25.0	52.0%
2006	Darren McFadden	Arkansas	2nd	284	20.3	53.3%
2005	Reggie Bush	USC	1st	200	15.4	38.6%
2004	Adrian Peterson	OU	2nd	339	26.1	60.8%
			AVERAGE	292.4	22.1	52.0%

As you can see, the Heisman voting tends to favor running backs who are the bread-and-butter, go-to guys in their respective offenses, with five of the eight finalists logging more than half of their team’s total carries. And in the case of those players who didn’t log the bulk of their team’s carries, they still averaged more carries than even the most singular Baylor running back of the Briles era (Ganaway).

The lone exception here: Reggie Bush. The now-disgraced USC running back managed to win the Heisman despite averaging just 15.4 carries per game and hauling the rock in just 38.6% of his team’s rushing attempts. Those numbers, it appears, are much more in line with what Art Briles running backs have done, and that appears to be the path – however narrow – that Seastrunk must walk in order to join these guys.

(Of course, Bush was also the most dynamic player on the undefeated Trojans, which helped his Heisman stock.)

Lache Seastrunk is a potentially dominant running back. Anyone who saw him in high school knows what he’s capable of, and he showed flashes of brilliance last season for the Bears. But his self-declared Heisman hopes appear to be a longshot through no fault of his own, simply because Baylor’s offense is not predicated on a single running back being the go-to weapon.

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.

Starters and finishers

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 07:30:00 -0500

15-20 word description of the story.

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

You hear it all the time from coaches at every level: start strong, finish strong.

It’s an axiom in all aspects of sports. Baseball teams always try to break out for the big first inning, but are always encouraged to strike late in the game as well. Basketball teams try to jump out to an early lead, knowing that the final few minutes may determine the outcome. Even in races – track and field, horse racing, motorsports – you always want to have a good start and a good finish.

But football coaches absolutely love that turn of phrase, because it gives them all of the motivational factors they need. It helps get their team fired up, and helps keep them motivated throughout the game and through the fourth quarter.

That’s not to say, however, that it’s not important to start and finish well. For all the reasons that we can think of and about 100 more, having a quality first quarter and a quality fourth quarter has a very direct correlation to a team’s chances of winning.

But which college football teams in Texas were the best at scoring in the first and fourth quarters?

In order to find this out, I went through to see which teams scored the most and the least in the first and fourth quarters. Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to just compare how many points they scored in those quarters; after all, Texas A&M (44.5 points per game) had a far more potent offense than North Texas (20.9 points per game).

Instead, we’ll compare how those first and fourth quarter numbers compare to their average points per quarter. That’s to say, we’ll see how they fared in the first and final quarter versus how they fare in an average quarter.

First, let’s take a look at who started the best, based on their first quarter performance.

Team	1Q PPG	Average PPQ	1Q Difference
UTSA	8.1	7.3	0.8
Texas A&M	11.8	11.1	0.7
UTEP	5.6	5.3	0.3
TCU	7.2	7.1	0.1
Baylor	11.2	11.1	0.1
Texas Tech	9.3	9.4	-0.1
Texas State	7	7.1	-0.1
Texas	8.4	8.9	-0.5
Houston	7.3	8.1	-0.8
North Texas	3.4	5.2	-1.8
Rice	5.9	7.9	-2
SMU	5	7.6	-2.6

Some thoughts:

-In all, teams from Texas just weren’t very good in the first quarter. Only five of them – UTSA, Texas A&M, UTEP, TCU and Baylor – were above average in the first quarter, and none of them were that much better in the first quarter.

-Larry Coker’s UTSA Roadrunners were the best in the first quarter, but it’s Texas A&M that stands out to me – the Aggies had a high-powered offense, and it usually got a jumpstart as the opening gun sounded.

-Goodness gracious, North Texas, Rice and SMU were awful in the first quarter. It’s not like their offenses were particularly explosive to begin with, but in the first quarter, they were downright drowsy.

What about in the fourth quarter? Which teams were the best in the final frame?

Team	4Q PPG	Average PPQ	4Q Difference
UTEP	7.1	5.3	1.8
Texas	10.2	8.9	1.3
Rice	9.1	7.9	1.2
Houston	8.8	8.1	0.7
SMU	8.2	7.6	0.6
UTSA	7.6	7.3	0.3
TCU	6.3	7.1	-0.8
North Texas	3.7	5.2	-1.5
Texas State	5.4	7.1	-1.7
Baylor	9	11.1	-2.1
Texas Tech	6.9	9.4	-2.5
Texas A&M	8.3	11.1	-2.8

-An interesting mix here across the state. Unlike the first quarter study – where nobody was particularly outstanding in the first quarter – there are a few teams, most notably UTEP, Texas and Rice, that excelled in the fourth quarter, while some other teams that really struggled.

-For UTEP, there may be some mitigating factors here. As you probably know, the Miners struggled through the 2012 season, and as a result may have faced some second-string defenses along the way. Perhaps that’s why their 4^th quarter numbers are a bit high. Still, the Miners were pretty good in the final quarter.

-Texas and Rice both closed well, which you can see with the naked eye if you watched their games. The Longhorns and Owls both seemed to get stronger in the fourth quarter, though it’s interesting that they were both average to bad in the first quarter.

-And then there’s the curious case of Texas Tech: average in the first quarter, pretty darn bad in the fourth quarter. Suffice to say that Tech did major damage – most of its damage, actually – in the second and third quarters.

-Texas A&M and Baylor were exceptionally similar offensively last year. Aside from scoring the exact same number of points last year, they did it in the same way: both pretty good in the first quarter, and both pretty bad (comparatively) in the fourth quarter.

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.

Feel your pain

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:30:00 -0500

We asked you: what's your college team's most painful loss?

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

We’ve all been there. The last-second defeat. The gutpunch loss. The crippling setback.

As a fan, there’s no worse feeling than when your team loses. But not all losses are created equal. Any fan worth his salt will tell you that there are losses that sting, that stick with you, that are particularly painful.

Maybe it’s the way that it happened, or the circumstances surrounding them, or the foe to which the team lost. Painful losses are painful for different reasons, and they vary across different fan bases.

So, I asked the Twittersphere (which, by the way, you should follow the DCTF Twitter account, because all the cool kids are doing it): what is your team’s most painful loss in the last 20 years?

We got a ton of responses from a lot of different fan bases – we heard from Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, Houston, Sam Houston State and Mary-Hardin Baylor – and I think I’ve got a pretty good feel on the general consensus from each fan base.

For the Longhorns faithful, the overwhelming pick for most painful loss is the 2010 BCS National Championship Game against Alabama, which the Longhorns lost 37-21. It was obviously disappointing to lose the title, but almost every Longhorns fan cited Colt McCoy’s injury, which knocked him out of the game and forced Garrett Gilbert into the quarterback’s role. That added actual injury to insult. There were also a handful of mentions for Texas Tech’s last-second upset of Texas in 2008, in which Michael Crabtree scored the game-winning touchdown in the waning seconds.

Texas A&M fans were much more split on the most painful loss. A slight majority picked Oklahoma’s 77-0 thumping of the Aggies back in 2003, one of the most lopsided losses in college football in the last couple of decades. That’s easy to understand: nobody likes to get blown out. But a good number of the maroon-and-white fans listed the 2011 Texas game – the final game against the hated Longhorns before A&M bolted for the SEC – in which the Longhorns won on a last-second field goal in College Station. Different scenarios, similar pain.

There was a pretty clear majority of Texas Tech fans when it came to the most painful loss, and it also came at the hands of the hated Sooners: Oklahoma’s 65-21 drubbing of then-No. 2 Texas Tech in Norman in 2008, made even worse in that it was just weeks removed from Tech’s sensational upset win over Texas. It was, as many Tech fans put it to me, the greatest heights followed by the farthest fall. But that wasn’t the only painful game listed by Tech fans: a few listed the Red Raiders’ 2005 loss at Oklahoma State, a baffling loss to a lackluster Cowboys team that may have cost Tech a BCS bid.

We heard from a couple of Baylor fans, and they screamed in unison about the same painful loss: UNLV 27, Baylor 24 in 1999. In case you don’t remember: Baylor, nursing a 24-20 lead very late in the fourth quarter, opted to try to run the ball in for a game-sealing touchdown…only to fumble and see UNLV’s Kevin Thomas return the rock 99 yards for a go-ahead touchdown and an inconceivable 27-24 loss. Yeah…pretty hard to top that.

The TCU fans we heard from were split on the most painful loss of the last 20 years. The one we heard most often was the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, in which the Horned Frogs couldn’t overcome fellow BCS buster Boise State in a hard-fought 17-10 loss that included an interception return for a touchdown and a key fake punt by the Broncos. For a program still looking to make it big, it was a crushing blow on national television. Honorable mentions, however, go to the Horned Frogs’ 2011 loss at home to rival SMU and the BCS-hope-dashing 13-10 loss at Utah in 2008.

There was no split in the Houston fan base, who came out in force to loudly proclaim the Coogs’ 2011 loss to Southern Miss in the Conference USA Championship game as the most painful loss not just in the last 20 years, but in program history. It’s easy to see why: the 49-28 stunner in Houston not only cost the Coogs their undefeated season, but also an at-large BCS berth.

We also heard from a few fans of sub-FBS teams, with Sam Houston State fans declaring the last two national championship game losses to North Dakota State as the most painful, while Mary Hardin-Baylor fans cited the 48-35 loss to Mount Union in the DII national semifinal as the toughest to cope with. Hard to argue with those, especially on such big stages.

But we still want to hear from you! Which of your team’s losses in the last 20 years is the most painful? Get to us on Twitter and Facebook and let us know, and we’ll run a blog post on Friday with a round-up of the responses.

Trust me: it’ll help to talk about it.

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.

Trench warfare

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 07:30:00 -0500

Which Texas college teams are bringing back experience up front?

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

Over the past couple of days, the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football staff has been hard at work predicting the 2013 college football season. Yes, we only cover the 12 FBS schools in Texas (along with all of the FCS, Division II, Division III, junior colleges, et al), but in order to get a grasp of where the 12 FBS teams fit in the national scene, we basically have to predict the record – game-by-game – of every FBS team in the nation.

Yeah. It’s a long, long process. But someone has to do it.

So to come up with our prediction and projection for each team, we look at a number of factors. How were they last year? After all, a team that went 3-9 last year probably isn’t going to compete for a conference title. What key skill position players are back? Sure, impressive youngsters come out of the woodwork every year, but if you have a dynamite quarterback or a reliable running back or a go-to receiver that’s coming back, that’s something we hold in high regard.

But perhaps the one singular number we take into account when coming up with future projections is one you might not necessarily think of:

The number of returning starters on the offensive line.

Sure, it’s not as sexy as the superstar quarterback coming back or having the entire secondary back for another season, but there is perhaps no better indicator of how a team will perform in the future than how experienced they will be on the offensive line.

Now, there are caveats, obviously: if a winless team brings back all five of its starters on the offensive line, they’re probably still not going to win the national title. Similarly, just because the defending national champion loses its entire offensive line doesn’t mean they’re going to plummet into obscurity.

But the point remains: how many offensive linemen a team returns really, really matters. And it weighs heavily on our decision-making process here at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football.

So, what are the 12 FBS teams in Texas looking at as far as experience along the offensive line? As you’d expect, it runs the gambit from salty veterans to relative rookies. Let’s take a look.

All 5 OL Starters Back: Texas
That’s right: only the Longhorns will bring back their offensive line entirely intact – from left to right, Donald Hawkins, Trey Hopkins, Dom Espinosa, Mason Walters and Josh Cochran. The unit was good-not-great last year, ranking as the 23^rd most efficient rushing offense in the country last year according to Football Outsiders’ S&P+ Ratings and allowing just 16 sacks (tied for 24^th fewest in the nation). If you’re looking for a reason to be bullish on the Longhorns, look no further than up front.

4 of the 5 OL Starters Back: Houston, North Texas, Rice, UTSA
A variety of programs fall into this category for 2013, from one of the state’s biggest surges (Rice) to one of the state’s biggest disappointments (Houston). UTSA will be dealing with a rare vacancy on the offensive line in the program’s young history, needing to find a solution at left tackle for the now-graduated Patrick Hoag. North Texas will be without center stalwart Aaron Fortenberry, a multi-year starter. But perhaps it’s Houston – despite having nine starters back on offense – that will have the biggest hole to fill, with star left tackle Jacolby Ashworth leaving a big void.

3 of the 5 OL Starters Back: Baylor, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas State
The headliner in this group is obviously A&M, who loses both star left tackle Luke Joeckel (a possible No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft) and multi-year starter Patrick Lewis at center. There will be significant pressure on Cedric Ogbuehi to step in and fill the gap at right tackle, as Jake Matthews will slide from right to left tackle. Baylor’s in a similar pickle: arguably its two best offensive linemen – center Ivory Wade and right guard Cameron Kaufhold – are graduated, meaning there will be relatively green players stepping in. Same goes for TCU, losing center James Fry and right guard Blaize Foltz to graduationTexas State, meanwhile, must find a pair of bookends, as both left tackle Thaddeus Watkins and right tackle Adley Eshraghipour have graduated.

2 of the 5 OL Starters Back: SMU, Texas Tech, UTEP
Lots of young pieces needed to fill in the veteran gaps at these three programs. The biggest of the losses for Texas Tech – and, perhaps, their biggest loss overall – is left tackle LaAdrian Waddle, a stud who excelled in the spread offense for the Red Raiders over multiple seasons. But don’t overlook the impact of losing center Deveric Gallington and right guard Terry McDaniel as well; new coach Kliff Kingsbury will be working with a largely blank canvas. The same goes for new UTEP coach Sean Kugler, who must find suitable replacements for the now-graduated left tackle James Martin, center Eloy Atkinson and right tackle James Nelson. And while all eyes will be on star transfer RB Traylon Shead at SMU, he’ll need some help up front, especially with the departure of left guard Jordan Free, right guard Blake McJunkin and right tackle Brian Collins. It should be noted, however, that SMU had to replace its entire offensive line for 2012, so they’re used to this kind of stuff.

What does all of this mean? Well, football’s a team game, so one unit does not make or break a team. But for those of us football fans who believe the game is won and lost up front, take note of who’ll be experience – and who won’t – in 2013.

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.

Diagnosing the Bears' D

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 08:00:00 -0500

Why, exactly, did Baylor's defense struggle so much in 2012?

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

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<img src="assets/Greg-Tepper/Byline/GTMug8585.jpg" width="85" height="85" />Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached <a href="mailto:greg.tepper@imgworld.com">via e-mail</a>, via Twitter (<a href="http://twitter.com/tepper" target="_blank">@Tepper</a>) and via the <a href="http://facebook.com/davecampbells" target="_blank">DCTF Facebook page</a>.

For Baylor Bears fans, seeing the green and gold offense take the field was a thrill. And why not? The Bears finished fourth in the nation in scoring offense – tied with Texas A&M for at 44.5 points per game – and second in total offense. It was a banner year for the Bears offensively.

But when the defense took the field? Well, you’ll have to excuse fans if they couldn’t bear to watch (devastatingly clever pun intended).

Baylor’s defense was, to put it nicely, terrible in 2012. It ranked 123^rd in total defense, one of just two teams in the nation to allow more than 500 yards per game, and finished 113^th in scoring defense, allowing 37.2 points per game. The Baylor defense was about as bad as the Baylor offense was good.

Why, though? What was Baylor’s defensive problem in 2012, and what will they need to improve upon in 2013 to climb out of the defensive cellar?

It’s too easy to say “they just weren’t good.” It goes much deeper than you.

Plays, Plays, Plays
If it seems like the Baylor defense was on the field a lot in 2012, it’s because, well, they were. The Bears’ defense faced 1,080 plays, the third-most of any team in the nation and one of only 10 teams in the country to face more than 1,000 plays last year.

(And, it should be noted, of those ten teams to face 1,000 plays, five of them played 14 games, one more than Baylor did.)

Why is that? Well, for one, the Baylor defense was cursed with playing for a team with a quick-scoring offense. The quicker your offense scores, the quicker your defense has to get back on the field. That’s why Baylor ranked 112^th in Time of Possession, holding the ball for just 27:21 of the 60-minute game on average. Pretty simple to understand how that works, and also pretty simple to understand how that’s going to wear out a team.

But it goes beyond that. It’s a matter of getting off the field when you have a chance, and frankly, the Bears did a miserable job taking advantage of that.

Third Down
Baylor wasn’t just bad on third down; they were the second-worst team in the country, ahead of only Kentucky (whom, you may remember, 2-10). Bears opponents converted a whopping 52.1% of their third downs over the course of the season, which is a mind-blowing number.

How mind-blowing? Consider this: in the last six years, only 27 teams have allowed their opponents to convert more than half of their third downs. That’s 27 out of 723 teams – putting Baylor in the bottom three percent of college football defenses on third down in the last six years.

But it’s not just that they were bad on third down; it’s also that they were setting themselves up for failure. Check this out:

Yards to Go	% of Plays
1 to 3	29.7
4 to 6	22.1
7 to 9	24.8
10+	23.5

Of the 213 third downs the defense faced, a majority of them – 51.5% of them – came from within 6 yards. Obviously, the longer the third down try, the better it is for the defense. When your opponent is within three yards of a first down – as Baylor’s opponents were almost 30% of the time – the advantage lies with the offense.

Which brings us to one of the real culprits behind most of Baylor’s defensive woes…

First Down

Baylor was straight-up terrible on first down. Opponents averaged a whopping 6.25 yards per play on first down. Think about that: every time an opponent took the field, a play later, they were usually staring at 2^nd and 4. Only one team – Massachusetts – averaged fewer than 4 yards per play in 2012. Needless to say, when you set an opponent up with 2^nd and 4, you’re setting that opponent up for success.

And, sure enough, the stats bear that out: of the 344 first downs that the Baylor offense allowed – the most in the nation by a healthy margin – 102 of them came on second down. That’s because 28.4% of all second-down plays against Baylor resulted in first downs for the opposition.

The stats go on and on – opponents’ completion percentage was highest on first down, opponents rushed for more yards per attempt on first down than any other down – but they all tell the same tale: first down was the worst down for Baylor’s defense.

The Big Play

When you allow more than six yards per play like Baylor did, it’s not all going to be from six-yard plays. No, the Baylor defense was more susceptible to the big play than almost every other team in the nation. For the sake of this comparison, we’re going to consider a “big play” any run of more than 10 yards and any pass of more than 15 yards.

Baylor fans, you may want to look away:

	Plays	"Big" Plays	%
Run	511	73	14.3%
Pass	569	83	14.6%
Total	1080	156	14.4%

That’s right: 14.4% of the plays run against the Baylor defense in 2012 could be considered “big plays.”

To give it some context, let’s compare those numbers to those of Alabama, the national champion and owner of one of the nation’s truly elite defenses. Fair to compare them? Maybe not, but it at least gives you some context as to how far from the top Baylor was in 2012.

	Plays	"Big" Plays	%
Run	440	28	6.4%
Pass	397	54	13.6%
Total	837	82	9.8%

Quite a difference, as you can see. The big play hurt the Bears more than almost anyone.

Conclusion

While the offense hummed, it was a season to forget defensively for the Bears. There are a lot of factors to blame – key injuries, untimely play-calling, poor tackling – but ultimately, the Bears’ defensive woes came down to an inability to get off the field (in part thanks to their own offense), extremely poor play on first down, and the ever-present scald of the big play. If the Bears hope to improve in 2013, they’ll need to improve those first and foremost.

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.

A Lone Star legacy

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 07:30:00 -0500

The state of Texas loses an icon with the death of Jack Pardee.

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

The football landscape in Texas has been shaped and cultivated by all sorts of characters, be they players or coaches or administrators or fans.

But very, very few have been such a part of Texas football so many levels as Jack Pardee. From high school to college to the pros, as a player and as a coach, Pardee had an unmatched impact on the Texas football landscape.

Pardee died Monday from complications due to gallbladder cancer. He was 76.

Born in Iowa, Pardee moved with his family to Christoval – a tiny town in the Big Country near San Angelo – as a teenager, where he quickly found his way to the gridiron. The only game in town was six-man football, and he immediately excelled.

From Christoval, he found his way to College Station to play for Bear Bryant and Texas A&M, where he survived Bryant’s now famous preseason camp in Junction in 1954. Of the 100 or so players who entered camp, only 35 came out, including Pardee. Whether it was the preseason training, his natural ability or a combination, it worked, as Pardee became an All-American linebacker for the Aggies.

From there, it was off to the NFL, as he was the 14^th overall pick in the 1957 draft by the Los Angeles Rams, which would begin the longest time he’d spend away from Texas. Pardee played linebacker for the Rams for 13 seasons, including a Pro Bowl season in 1963 and missing a year in 1965 due to melanoma. After two largely uneventful seasons with the Washington Redskins, Pardee retired in 1973. To this day, Pardee is the only six-man football player to ever play in the NFL.

Now, it was time for the chapter of his career for which most modern football fans remember him: coaching. From 1974 to 1981, Pardee bounced around a variety of jobs – coaching the Florida Blazers of the World Football League (and guiding them to the “World Bowl”), the Chicago Bears (and guiding them to the playoffs in 1977), the Washington Redskins and as an assistant with the San Diego Chargers. It wasn’t until 1984 – after being out of the game for three years – that Jack Pardee returned home to the Lone Star State.

The job: head coach of the Houston Gamblers of the USFL. Sure, the USFL eventually flopped, but it was here that Pardee adopted the offense that would define his coaching career: the run and shoot. The high-flying, quick-firing offense worked wonders with Jim Kelly at the helm of the Gamblers, and would prove to be the prelude to the rest of his career (though Pardee would be out of a job when the team, which had already merged with the New Jersey Generals, disbanded in 1986).

Pardee wasn’t out of work long, as he took over the head coaching job at the University of Houston after longtime head coach Bill Yeoman retired in relative controversy after the 1986 season. The run and shoot came to the Coogs, and it changed everything, as Houston quickly became one of the nation’s most electrifying offenses.

The team struggled to a 4-6-1 record in 1987, but did upset Texas in a wild 60-40 affair. In 1988, the Coogs took a big leap forward with an exciting young quarterback named Andre Ware, going 9-3, finishing second in the Southwest Conference and earning an Aloha Bowl berth.

The 1989 season is probably the most definitive of Pardee’s career. He appeared on the cover of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football alongside his friend and rival Forrest Gregg at SMU. On the heels of major sanctions levied by the NCAA for violations under Bill Yeoman, Pardee led Houston to perhaps its best season ever – 9-2, second in the Southwest Conference and a Heisman Trophy for Andre Ware, who flourished in Pardee’s dynamic offense to the tune of 4,299 yards and 44 touchdowns passing.

Pardee’s success did not go unnoticed in Space City, as the Houston Oilers came calling, plucking Pardee to be their head coach after firing Jerry Glanville. It seemed like a match made in heaven – Pardee inherited big-armed quarterback Warren Moon – and it was, as the run and shoot offense led the Oilers to the playoffs in his first four seasons. It was an inelegant finish – Pardee resigned after the Oilers started the 1-9 in 1994 – but it couldn’t taint a largely successful coaching career.

Pardee kicked around as the coach of the Birmingham Barracudas of the Canadian Football League for a year before eventually retiring. But his name never truly went away: he even interviewed for the vacant UH job in 2007, though the Coogs eventually went with an up-and-coming Oklahoma assistant named Kevin Sumlin.

From six-man football star to Junction Boy to Aggie star to coaching legend, there’s no two ways about it: Jack Pardee was a Texas football icon, and there’s one fewer character in the Lone Star State’s gridiron landscape now that he’s gone.

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.

The Lone Star 50: The Top 5

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 08:00:00 -0500

Our countdown of the 50 most important college players in Texas concludes.

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

In the month of March, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football is introducing the Lone Star 50, a countdown of the 50 most important Texas college football players in 2013. Keep in mind: this is not necessarily a ranking of the top 50 best college football players in Texas, but rather the 50 players whose performance will most impact the college football scene in Texas in 2013.

Schedule:
March 13: Nos. 50-41
March 15: Nos. 40-31
March 20: Nos. 30-21
March 22: Nos. 20-11
March 27: Nos. 10-6
Today: Nos. 5-1

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5) Steven Jenkins, LB, Texas A&M
There hasn’t been this much excitement around Texas A&M football in a long, long while – at least 1999, perhaps even 1995 or before – and for good reason that you don’t need me to dictate. But…look over at the defensive side for a moment. Damontre Moore: gone early to the NFL Draft. Jonathan Stewart: graduated. Sean Porter: graduated. Steven Terrell: graduated. Spencer Nealy: graduated. Dustin Harris: graduated. That’s a long list of big pairs of shoes to fill on the defensive side for the Aggies, which is why so much attention will turn toward Steven Jenkins, the senior transfer from Coffeyville (Kan.) CC. Last year, he finished third on the team in tackles (78), fourth in tackles for loss (5.5) and 4^th in sacks (2), while also intercepting a pass that he returned for a touchdown. There’s not much doubt that he will be the heartbeat of the defense from his weakside linebacker spot, and now that Porter and Stewart are gone, the linebacker spot is going to be of special emphasis for the Aggie D. Jenkins could very well make or break the A&M defense.

4) Casey Pachall, QB, TCU
The ballad of Casey Pachall has yet to reach its conclusion, and if you really want to get to the nitty gritty of it, you could say that the second chapter is just beginning. By now, you’re probably well-versed in his story: after an excellent sophomore year taking over for Andy Dalton, Pachall ran into a series of substance problems (reportedly admitting to police that he had failed a drug test, then an arrest on DWI) that led to him withdrawing from the school to enter a substance abuse program, leaving TCU to turn to Trevone Boykin for the remainder of the season. Now, Pachall is back, allegedly clean and reportedly in a better mental state than he’s been in a long time. Boykin was serviceable for the Horned Frogs, helping them limp to a 7-6 finish. But with Pachall back – if he can win the job and is truly back to form – the Horned Frogs’ chances of contending for a spot at the top of the Big XII jump exponentially. The problem has never been physical for Pachall; his mental state could determine the Horned Frogs’ fate come fall.

3) Lache Seastrunk, RB, Baylor
Ready for a fun fact? Among all players with at least 100 carries last season, Lache Seastrunk ranked second in the nation in yards per attempt, with 7.73 yards per carry. That’s explosive. Of course, we always knew he had this in him. Anyone who saw him slice and dice up the competition at Temple – where he gained bluest-chip prospect status – knows what a talent Seastrunk is. After an uneventful and brief stay at Oregon, Seastrunk transferred to Baylor, where he earned Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year honors last year by running for 1,012 yards and 7 touchdowns. Seastrunk became more and more of a factor in the Bears’ offense as the season went on – he didn’t get more than 7 carries in the first seven games, then didn’t have fewer than 15 per game the rest of the way – and should be a critical factor as the Bears break in a new quarterback with the departure of Nick Florence. While the new QB – presumably Bryce Petty – gets his sea legs, it’ll be imperative that Seastrunk stays both healthy and effective for the Bears’ offense to find its rhythm. Seastrunk may be the Bears’ most explosive weapon; it’s time to showcase that.

2) David Ash, QB, Texas
Being the quarterback at the University of Texas is a pretty pressure-packed lot in life. Some players – like Vince Young, Colt McCoy and Bret Stafford – can handle it. Others – like Garrett Gilbert, Mark Murdock and James Brown – can’t. And really, if you think about it, the jury is still out as to which camp David Ash belongs. On one hand, the now-junior out of Belton guided the Longhorns to a 9-4 mark in his first season as the Horns’ true No. 1 QB, and got progressively better as the season wore on. On the other hand, he was benched against Kansas, was pretty darn bad against Oklahoma and TCU, and has battled fits of inconsistency. Make no mistake about it: David Ash is the man for the Longhorns this season. He’ll have some excellent weapons on the outside in Mike Davis, Jaxon Shipley and perhaps even newcomer Jake Oliver; he’ll have tremendous running backs behind him in Johnathan Gray, Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron; the offensive line should be solid; and the offense is moving to a more up-tempo look to keep defenses on its heels. It’s hard to put it all on one player, but for Texas, the Longhorns will go as far as David Ash can take them. So, which will it be? Is he more Colt McCoy, or more James Murdock?

1) Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M
Hey, look, another list atop which sits Johnny Manziel. I don’t need to bore you with how good Johnny Manziel was in 2012 – he became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, and I think that’s a pretty good summation of it. But he’s also the most important player in the state heading into 2013. I posed the question on Twitter yesterday: how many wins was Johnny Manziel worth last season? That’s to say, how many wins would A&M have had last year if Jamiell Showers or Matt Joeckel won the starting job? The answers varied from people who thought A&M would’ve been 4-8 without Manziel to those who thought they’d still be almost as good. Personally, I think he was worth somewhere between 2-3 wins for the Aggies last season, and while that may not sound like a lot, consider that we’re talking about one guy. Manziel shapes the entire A&M offense – a quick-firing, zone-reading offense that stretches the field horizontally but not necessarily vertically – and basically makes the entire system work. With all due respect to Showers and Joeckel, you couldn’t throw those guys back there and run the same system as well, because the system is so suited to Manziel’s strengths of improvisation and elusiveness. Now, he’s got to do it without his star left tackle in Luke Joeckel, and without his most reliable receiver in Ryan Swope. He is the commander-in-chief of the most important unit on the most exciting team in the state of Texas, and his play will ultimately determine whether A&M has another leap in them. That makes Johnny Manziel the most important college football player in Texas for 2013.

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The 2013 Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Lone Star 50:
50) Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M
49) Stephon Sanders, LB, SMU
48) Craig Mager, CB, Texas State
47) Germard Reed, DT, UTEP
46) Kerry Hyder, DE, Texas Tech
45) Evans Okotcha, RB, UTSA
44) Terrence Franks, RB, Texas State
43) Cody Bauer, DE, Rice
42) Trevon Stewart, DB, Houston
41) Zach Orr, LB, North Texas
40) Stephen Kurfehs, LB, UTSA
39) Jameill Showers, QB, UTEP
38) Toney Hurd Jr, S, Texas A&M
37) Jackson Jeffcoat, DE, Texas
36) Waymon James, RB, TCU
35) Devonte Fields, DE, TCU
34) David Mayo, LB, Texas State
33) Eric Ward, WR, Texas Tech
32) Ahmad Dixon, S, Baylor
31) David Piland, QB, Houston
30) Randall Joyner, LB, SMU
29) Brandon Carter, WR, TCU
28) Horace Miller, DL, UTEP
27) Johnathan Gray, RB, Texas
26) Brandin Byrd, RB, North Texas
25) Terrance Bullitt, LB/S, Texas Tech
24) Garrett Gilbert, QB, SMU
23) Eric Soza, QB, UTSA
22) Robby Wells, TE, Rice
21) Cameron Nwosu, LB, Rice
20) Duke Delancellotti, QB, Texas State
19) Freddie Warner, CB, North Texas
18) Bryce Petty, QB, Baylor
17) Cedric Ogbuhei, OT, Texas A&M
16) Marcus Mallett, LB, TCU
15) Triston Wade, S, UTSA
14) Charles Sims, RB, Houston
13) Taylor McHargue, QB, Rice
12) Michael Brewer, QB, Texas Tech
11) Eddie Lackey, LB, Baylor
10) Jordan Hicks, LB, Texas
9) Traylon Shead, RB, SMU
8) Brock Berglund, QB, North Texas
7) Derrick Mathews, LB, Houston
6) Nathan Jeffrey, RB, UTEP
5) Steven Jenkins, LB, Texas A&M
4) Casey Pachall, QB, TCU
3) Lache Seastrunk, RB, Baylor
2) David Ash, QB, Texas
1) Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.

The Lone Star 50: Nos. 10-6

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 08:00:00 -0500

Who cracks the top ten most important college football players in Texas?.

By Greg Tepper
DCTF Associate Editor

Schedule:
March 13: Nos. 50-41
March 15: Nos. 40-31
March 20: Nos. 30-21
March 22: Nos. 20-11
Today: Nos. 10-6
March 29: Nos. 5-1

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(Ed. Note: Now that we’ve reached the top 10 of our list, we’ll change the format for each just a bit to emphasize their importance.)

10) Jordan Hicks, LB, Texas
As much as Texas’ offense was under the microscope last season – and for good reason – but as the defense went, so went the Longhorns. Consider: in the Longhorns’ nine wins, they allowed 384 yards and 23 points per game; in their four losses: 447 yards and 43.3 points per game. And there was perhaps no more singularly important figure in the Texas defense than Jordan Hicks, the junior linebacker from Cincinnati. He was a star in the Longhorns’ first three games – all wins – before suffering a hip injury against Ole Miss that knocked him out for the season. And then, there was the matter of being suspended along with backup QB Case McCoy for the Alamo Bowl after an alleged sexual assault at a hotel in San Antonio. Hicks and McCoy have since rejoined the team, but one must think he’s on thin ice. If Hicks is healthy, he’s by far the best linebacker in the UT corps – better than Steve Edmond, Kendall Thompson and Demarco Cobbs – and could turn the Longhorns’ defense into a force for the entire 2013 season. But as it stands now, the linebacker situation for Texas has a high ceiling but high variability.

9) Traylon Shead, RB, SMU
June Jones is a passing guru, right? He’s the guy who turned Colt Brennan into a Heisman candidate and helped to revolutionize the spread offense, right? So then…why has SMU had a 1,000-yard rusher each of the last four years under Jones? That’s right: between Shawnbrey McNeal in 2009 and Zach Line each of the last three seasons, there’s been a runner topping the century mark every year on the Hilltop. But Zach Line is gone, and in comes perhaps the most decorated runner to hit campus since – dare I say Eric Dickerson? Shead was a superstar at Cayuga, currently ranking third all-time in career rushing yards in Texas high school football while also holding a number of other marks (second in career touchdowns, for example). After two years at Texas in which he didn’t record a carry, Shead transferred to Navarro Junior College, where he ran for 893 yards and 13 touchdowns in eight games. Now, he’s bringing his giant frame (6-2, 225 pounds) and exceptional talent to the Hilltop. If he can live up to his billing, SMU’s offense could hum like it’s never hummed before. He’s the Ponies’ most important player, and could also be their most talented.

8) Brock Berglund, QB, North Texas
With all due respect to Derek Thompson, the Mean Green’s quarterback last season, his 2012 season wasn’t one for the record books. 57.5% completion percentage (83^rd in the nation), as many interceptions (14) as touchdowns, a good-not-great 7.1 yards per attempt. It was an unspectacular – even average – season. So why isn’t he on this list? Because North Texas’ best chance to take a big step forward offensively is if Brock Berglund becomes the starting quarterback. Berglund was a big-time prospect, one of the top-rated dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation coming out of Colorado in 2011. But he ran into some trouble academically and ended up playing at Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College. He’s qualified now and transferring to North Texas, and bringing his considerable skill with him. And while there are a number of spots for improvement for the Mean Green, quarterback could be the biggest one. A step forward under center could do wonders for the team; but if Berglund doesn’t win the starting job, it could be more of the solid-not-spectacular work of Thompson.

7) Derrick Mathews, LB, Houston
Some things just aren’t up for debate. Like this: Houston’s defense was straight-up bad last year. Like, really bad. 118^th in the nation in total defense, 110^th in scoring defense. Behind teams like Akron and Army and Kansas and Tulane. Yeah. That’s bad. And while there’s plenty of reason to think they’ll improve in the secondary – the return of Trevon Stewart, Zach McMillian, Kent Brooks, et al – and up front – folks like Zeke Riser and Joey Mbu are back – the linebacker spot is getting wiped out with the graduation of Phillip Steward (the team’s top tackler) and Everett Daniels (the team’s fourth-leading tackler). Enter Mathews, who had a dazzling sophomore season, racking up 126 tackles, 17 TFL and 6 sacks. He is now the undisputed leader of the most important – and least predictable – unit of the Houston defense. Can he step up and lead the Coogs to the kind of improvement they need to return to a bowl game?

6) Nathan Jeffrey, RB, UTEP
The Miners are a team in transition. Between a new head coach, a variety of important pieces making their way out of El Paso and a new-look conference, the list of constants in El Paso just isn’t very long. But the most important player for the Miners will be back next year – the slightly undersized running back out of Caddo Mills, Nathan Jeffrey. Jeffrey had a breakout sophomore year for the Miners, running for 897 yards and 7 touchdowns. And now with a change at the quarterback spot – Nick Lamaison is graduated, and Texas A&M transfer Jameill Showers is the presumptive favorite to take over under center – there’s going to be an even bigger onus on Jeffrey to make this his offense. Showers may have a breakout season, but as Jeffrey goes, so – likely – will the Miners in the first year under Sean Kugler.

Greg Tepper is the associate editor of Dave Campbell's Texas Football and TexasFootball.com.

He can be reached via e-mail, via Twitter (@Tepper) and via the DCTF Facebook page.