I tuned into this game about 20 minutes after it started, but it was already obvious that the Horned Frogs were on their way to a blowout victory. The Frogs led 37-0 at the half, and cruised home from there. Texas Christian is now 42-19-6 in UCFC games, and they have now defended the title 10 times in a row since they took it from West Virginia last November. Next week, the Frogs will go to Manhattan, Kan. for a game with Kansas State. I expect that game to represent much more of a challenge.
As for Texas, it's hard to see how things could get much worse for the Longhorns. As we pointed out, from 1968 to 1991 Texas beat Texas Christian 24 times in a row. Now in the last two seasons, the Horned Frogs have outscored the Longhorns 98-17. Even more worrisome, the Longhorns seem to have given up -- they showed absolutely no fight yesterday despite having the chance to turn their season around by upsetting an in-state rival.
I have sympathy for Texas coach Charlie Strong, who did a great job at the University of Louisville, where he went 37-15 and beat Florida in the 2012 Sugar Bowl. You would think that a coach who won at the University of Louisville would do even better at Texas, and that is certainly what the Longhorns thought. But some coaches do better in a situation where they can play the role of scrappy underdog. At Louisville, Strong took less talented players and got them to play over their heads. But Louisville fans don't expect you to contend for the national championship more often than not. You can't achieve the type of success they want at Texas by getting your guys to play like scrappy underdogs. You need great players, and then you need to get those players to do what you say. Through 18 games at the University of Texas, there is simply no evidence that Coach Strong can do either of those things.
On the other hand, Texas fans should not despair. The Longhorns' 1-4 start is the worst since Texas went 1-9 in 1956. But after that 1956 season, Texas went out and got a new coach. His name was Darrell Royal. Sometimes an athletic department has to get desperate before it's willing to do what it takes to get a big-time winner. From that perspective, this loss to Texas Christian -- humiliating though it was -- may be a turning point.
Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Texas Christian v. Texas
Many years ago, in the 1930's, the legendary sportswriter Dan Jenkins grew up in Fort Worth, Tex. as a fan of the Texas Christian Horned Frogs. Back then, the Frogs were a great power -- they won the National Championship in 1938, and they beat the University of Texas four years in a row from 1935 to 1938.
But things had changed a lot by the time Jenkins started writing about college football for Sports Illustrated in 1963. Darrell Royal had built the University of Texas into a great powerhouse -- Jenkins proved his acumen to SI readers by accurately picking Texas to win the 1963 National Championship. Royal added another title in 1969. Meanwhile, Texas Christian languished as one of the weakest programs in major conference football. From 1968 to 1991, Texas beat Texas Christian 24 times in a row. To give you a sense of what it was like, here are the four games played while I was in high school (home team listed first):
1980: Texas Christian 26 - 51 Texas
1981: Texas 31 - 15 Texas Christian
1982: Texas Christian 21 - 38 Texas
1983: Texas 20 -14 Texas Christian
In case you think that 1983 score signaled that the tide was about to turn, you should know that in 1984 Texas went to Fort Worth and beat the Horned Frogs 44-23. In short, Texas-Texas Christian was one of those annual games that no one could take too seriously, like Florida v. Kentucky or Vanderbilt v. almost anyone. When Texas organized the break-up of the old Southwest Conference in the 1990's, leaving Texas Christian behind, it seemed likely that the teams would never play again.
But history is long and complicated. Texas Christian's program not only survived the break-up of the Southwest Conference -- the Frogs actually thrived against the easier schedules they were able to play. By 2007, they were back on UT's schedule -- only to lose 34-13. Still, that wasn't the end of it -- Texas's new conference, the Big XII, shed so many members heading into the 2012 season that the Longhorns were forced to ask Texas Christian to join their depleted league. And the Horned Frogs did so with relish, coming to Austin in 2012 and beating Texas 20-13. Texas won 30-7 the next year, as Texas Christian struggled with the new level of competition. But by last year, the Frogs had found their feet and they crushed Texas 48-10 in a UCFC game.
Texas still leads the all-time series 62-22-1, but for now Texas Christian has all the momentum. This year, Texas Christian is 4-0, the Frogs still hold the UCFC, and they are ranked number-4 in the country. Meanwhile, Texas is 1-3, and many Longhorn fans are already eager to dump Coach Charlie Strong, who is in his second year at Texas with a record of 7-10. (Darrell Royal had coached more than three full seasons before he suffered his 10th loss at Texas.)
Vegas appears to have given up on the Longhorns for this game. Texas Christian is favored by 15 points in a game where the over/under is 71. That would work out to a 43-28 win for the Frogs -- which would actually represent a major improvement from the beat-down Texas suffered on its home field last year.
I'm of two minds about this game. I find it hard to believe that the University of Texas doesn't have some students who are actually pretty good football players, and I could see the Longhorns rallying in an effort to save their season. As we've seen in the last two weeks, Texas Christian has big problems on defense, which makes it hard for the Frogs to put teams away. On the other hand, I could see Texas Christian coming out determined to bolster its case for the NCAA Playoffs by running up the score on You-Tee, while the Longhorns may be demoralized. In this case, Texas Christian could easily win by a score of something like 63-14.
At the end of the day, I'm confident that Texas Christian quarterback Trevone Boykin will do whatever it takes to win this game -- he may be the best player in the whole country. But I won't know how much he'll have to do until the game gets started.
But things had changed a lot by the time Jenkins started writing about college football for Sports Illustrated in 1963. Darrell Royal had built the University of Texas into a great powerhouse -- Jenkins proved his acumen to SI readers by accurately picking Texas to win the 1963 National Championship. Royal added another title in 1969. Meanwhile, Texas Christian languished as one of the weakest programs in major conference football. From 1968 to 1991, Texas beat Texas Christian 24 times in a row. To give you a sense of what it was like, here are the four games played while I was in high school (home team listed first):
1980: Texas Christian 26 - 51 Texas
1981: Texas 31 - 15 Texas Christian
1982: Texas Christian 21 - 38 Texas
1983: Texas 20 -14 Texas Christian
In case you think that 1983 score signaled that the tide was about to turn, you should know that in 1984 Texas went to Fort Worth and beat the Horned Frogs 44-23. In short, Texas-Texas Christian was one of those annual games that no one could take too seriously, like Florida v. Kentucky or Vanderbilt v. almost anyone. When Texas organized the break-up of the old Southwest Conference in the 1990's, leaving Texas Christian behind, it seemed likely that the teams would never play again.
But history is long and complicated. Texas Christian's program not only survived the break-up of the Southwest Conference -- the Frogs actually thrived against the easier schedules they were able to play. By 2007, they were back on UT's schedule -- only to lose 34-13. Still, that wasn't the end of it -- Texas's new conference, the Big XII, shed so many members heading into the 2012 season that the Longhorns were forced to ask Texas Christian to join their depleted league. And the Horned Frogs did so with relish, coming to Austin in 2012 and beating Texas 20-13. Texas won 30-7 the next year, as Texas Christian struggled with the new level of competition. But by last year, the Frogs had found their feet and they crushed Texas 48-10 in a UCFC game.
Texas still leads the all-time series 62-22-1, but for now Texas Christian has all the momentum. This year, Texas Christian is 4-0, the Frogs still hold the UCFC, and they are ranked number-4 in the country. Meanwhile, Texas is 1-3, and many Longhorn fans are already eager to dump Coach Charlie Strong, who is in his second year at Texas with a record of 7-10. (Darrell Royal had coached more than three full seasons before he suffered his 10th loss at Texas.)
Vegas appears to have given up on the Longhorns for this game. Texas Christian is favored by 15 points in a game where the over/under is 71. That would work out to a 43-28 win for the Frogs -- which would actually represent a major improvement from the beat-down Texas suffered on its home field last year.
I'm of two minds about this game. I find it hard to believe that the University of Texas doesn't have some students who are actually pretty good football players, and I could see the Longhorns rallying in an effort to save their season. As we've seen in the last two weeks, Texas Christian has big problems on defense, which makes it hard for the Frogs to put teams away. On the other hand, I could see Texas Christian coming out determined to bolster its case for the NCAA Playoffs by running up the score on You-Tee, while the Longhorns may be demoralized. In this case, Texas Christian could easily win by a score of something like 63-14.
At the end of the day, I'm confident that Texas Christian quarterback Trevone Boykin will do whatever it takes to win this game -- he may be the best player in the whole country. But I won't know how much he'll have to do until the game gets started.
Texas Tech 52 - 55 Texas Christian (Final)
Since this blog started in 2010, we have seen Texas Tech play for the UCFC six times. Here are the scores of those games:
10/13/12: Texas Tech 49, W. Virginia 14
10/20/12: Texas Tech 56, Texas Christian 53 (3 OT)
10/27/12: Kansas St. 55, Texas Tech 24
11/24/12: Baylor 52, Texas Tech 45
11/16/13: Baylor 63, Texas Tech 34
09/26/15: Texas Christian 55, Texas Tech 52
That's right. In Texas Tech's last four UCFC games, the Red Raiders have averaged 38.8 points per game -- but they lost all four times, because their opponents averaged 56.3 points per game. That is some really bad defense.
Anyway, the Red Raiders are now 17-16 in UCFC games.
But the Texas Christian Horned Frogs are now 41-19-6 in UCFC play, and they will defend the title for a TENTH time this week against the University of Texas.
10/13/12: Texas Tech 49, W. Virginia 14
10/20/12: Texas Tech 56, Texas Christian 53 (3 OT)
10/27/12: Kansas St. 55, Texas Tech 24
11/24/12: Baylor 52, Texas Tech 45
11/16/13: Baylor 63, Texas Tech 34
09/26/15: Texas Christian 55, Texas Tech 52
That's right. In Texas Tech's last four UCFC games, the Red Raiders have averaged 38.8 points per game -- but they lost all four times, because their opponents averaged 56.3 points per game. That is some really bad defense.
Anyway, the Red Raiders are now 17-16 in UCFC games.
But the Texas Christian Horned Frogs are now 41-19-6 in UCFC play, and they will defend the title for a TENTH time this week against the University of Texas.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Texas 10 - 48 Texas Christian (Final)
I was very, very wrong about this game -- in part because UT's good defensive effort was destroyed by turnovers, in part because Texas Christian played its best defensive game of the year, but mostly because the gap in talent between these two schools is much bigger than I realized. I do not understand how schools like Baylor and Texas Christian ended up with skill-position players who are so much faster and more talented than their peers at UT.
Charlie Strong is a solid coach, as he showed at Louisville, and his guys played hard for him today. For the first three quarters, they defended Texas Christian better than anyone I've seen all year. But the folks at UT will expect him to average close to 10 wins a year, and he can't do that unless he starts bringing in some of the speed and talent that we've seen at Baylor and Texas Christian. In the meantime, the Longhorns have lost their fourth consecutive UCFC game, and their all-time record in UCFC play falls to 40-23-3.
The Texas Christian Horned Frogs, on the other hand, had one of the greatest nights in their long football history. Not only did they humiliate the proud Longhorns -- in Austin -- but they kept the Big Gold Trophy and ran their record to 10-1 on the year. They are now 35-19-6 in UCFC play, and they picked up some style points that will help them in their efforts to reach the College Football Playoff.
One more regular-season battle for the UCFC -- next week, in Fort Worth, as the Horned Frogs take on Iowa State before what will be a very happy group of Texas Christian fans. They have waited many years for this season, and I am sure they are enjoying.
Charlie Strong is a solid coach, as he showed at Louisville, and his guys played hard for him today. For the first three quarters, they defended Texas Christian better than anyone I've seen all year. But the folks at UT will expect him to average close to 10 wins a year, and he can't do that unless he starts bringing in some of the speed and talent that we've seen at Baylor and Texas Christian. In the meantime, the Longhorns have lost their fourth consecutive UCFC game, and their all-time record in UCFC play falls to 40-23-3.
The Texas Christian Horned Frogs, on the other hand, had one of the greatest nights in their long football history. Not only did they humiliate the proud Longhorns -- in Austin -- but they kept the Big Gold Trophy and ran their record to 10-1 on the year. They are now 35-19-6 in UCFC play, and they picked up some style points that will help them in their efforts to reach the College Football Playoff.
One more regular-season battle for the UCFC -- next week, in Fort Worth, as the Horned Frogs take on Iowa State before what will be a very happy group of Texas Christian fans. They have waited many years for this season, and I am sure they are enjoying.
Texas 10 - 48 Texas Christian (2:19 left in 4th Quarter)
Well, the roof has really caved in on Texas. Tyrone Swoops, trying to throw a little out pass, watches in horror as his pass was intercepted by Josh Carraway, a sophomore defensive end from Marcus H.S. in Flower Mound, Tex. Carraway is listed at 6' 4", 250 pounds, but he has no trouble running 33 yards for Texas Christian's fourth touchdown of the fourth quarter. He also just made a winner of all the folks who took the over in this game.
Texas 10 - 41 Texas Christian (2:53 left in 4th Quarter)
Texas Christian, seeking to put on an impressive show for the Playoff Crowd, takes advantage of an exhausted and discouraged UT defense, driving straight down the field with little opposition. Aaron Green of San Antonio, Tex. dashes in from five yards out for the score.
Texas 10 - 34 Texas Christian (5:19 left in 4th Quarter)
Once again, UT's offense can't do very much, and the Longhorns punt to the Texas Christian 40.
Texas 10 - 34 Texas Christian (7:01 left in 4th Quarter)
Well, now it's just getting sad for UT. The Longhorns fumble a punt -- their fifth turnover of the game -- and Texas Christian takes over at the UT 19. A few plays later, Trevone Boykin dashes in from 10 yards out to give Texas Christian a 24-point lead.
Texas 10 - 27 Texas Christian (10:52 left in 4th Quarter)
UT's offense continues to struggle. The Longhorns don't get very far before they are forced to punt to the Texas Christian 24.
Texas 10 - 27 Texas Christian (12:49 left in 4th Quarter)
Texas Christian takes the kickoff, doesn't do much with the ball, and punts to the UT 19.
Texas 10 - 27 Texas Christian (14:04 left in 4th Quarter)
Just as Texas Christian appeared to have this game well in hand, the Horned Frogs lose track of UT wide receiver Armanti Foreman of Texas City H.S. in Texas City, Tex. That's a mistake, as Foreman takes a little out pass and dashes 73 yards to give UT it's first touchdown of the game. Texas Christian has generally avoided this type of mistake tonight, but not this time.
Texas 3 - 27 Texas Christian (14:54 left in 4th Quarter)
To someone like me, who vividly remembers how UT used to dominate schools like Texas Christian for decades at a time, the most striking thing about this game is that Texas Christian appears to have much better athletes than the Longhorns. Faced once again with a hard-nosed UT defense that has frustrated them for most of the night, the Horned Frogs just hurl a jump-ball pass into the end zone, where Josh Doctson out-jumps the UT defensive back for a touchdown.
Texas 3 - 20 Texas Christian (24 seconds left in 3d Quarter)
I'm sure he's doing his best, but UT quarterback Tyrone Swoopes just threw his third interception of the game -- a terrible pass that was aimed directly at Paul Dawson, a Texas Christian linebacker from Dallas. Dawson did not fumble the ball, and the Horned Frogs will take over on the UT 17.
Here's Swoopes's passing numbers so far: 16-29, 105 yards, 0 TD's, 3 INT's.
And, of course, he also had a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. That is a rough day at the office.
Here's Swoopes's passing numbers so far: 16-29, 105 yards, 0 TD's, 3 INT's.
And, of course, he also had a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. That is a rough day at the office.
Texas 3 - 20 Texas Christian (36 seconds left in 3d Quarter)
Texas Christian can't do anything, and they punt to the Texas 17.
Texas 3 - 20 Texas Christian (1:17 left in 3d Quarter)
UT's offense again can't do much, and the Longhorns punt to the 50.
There is a fair amount of bitterness on Twitter from UT fans who are not only having to watch their team lose to Texas Christian, but who are missing their old rivalry with Texas A & M.
There is a fair amount of bitterness on Twitter from UT fans who are not only having to watch their team lose to Texas Christian, but who are missing their old rivalry with Texas A & M.
Texas 3 - 20 Texas Christian (3:20 left in 3d Quarter)
Texas Christian drives into UT territory, but throws a pass that is INTERCEPTED by Dylan Haines of Lago Vista H.S. in Lago Vista, Tex. The Longhorns will start from their own 2.
Texas 3 - 20 Texas Christian (4:22 left in 3d Quarter)
Texas can't do anything with its latest possession, and the Longhorns punt to the Texas Christian 34. UT has had no answer for the Texas Christian defense tonight.
Texas 3 - 20 Texas Christian (6:57 left in 3d Quarter)
Well, kind of a wacky play here. Tyrone Swoopes, the UT quarterback, throws a pass down the middle that is INTERCEPTED by Sam Carter. Carter, with his second interception of the game, races down to the UT 18, where he FUMBLES, and the ball is recovered by -- Swoopes! First down, Texas.
Texas 3 - 20 Texas Christian (10:36 left in 3d Quarter)
Texas Christian takes the opening kickoff, starts at its own 25, and moves into Texas territory before the drive stalls. The Horned Frogs then punt down to the UT 3. Texas Christian didn't score, but they did use up almost five minutes of precious time, and they will be happy about that.
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