College Confidential

Mack Brown complains about Longhorn Network

Not long after Mack Brown voiced his complaints about the Longhorn Network on Monday, the Texas Longhorns coach was whisked away to the network's studios to tape one of his three weekly shows. 

Brown once praised the benefits of the Longhorn Network. Now, the coach is discovering some drawbacks from the network and says he "didn't ask for it."

"It's in Waco. Baylor sees every practice. It's not like it used to be, we're a little overexposed," Brown said. "It's a true advantage [for opponents]. They can watch our attitude, they can watch our coaches."

The Longhorn Network launched last August and is a 20-year partnership with ESPN that pays Texas $300 million. Brown estimates he spends six hours each week fulfilling his network obligations. That's time he could be using to rebuild a program that's 18-14 over the last two-plus seasons. 

"We were given a deal that we had no input in and we've been trying to make it the best we can for both [sides]," Brown said. "I think at the end of the year everybody is going to have to sit down and see what we need to change and look at what they need to change. But there's got to be some give and take both ways."

Longhorn Network airs the first 30 minutes of each practice, along with some interaction between coaches and players. Brown is worried that opposing coaches can gain insight from watching segments of UT's workouts.  

"We know that other schools are taping it and watching it," Brown said. "We know they have it for a fact. Lots of them do. And people are taping it across the country and sending it to the coach if they don't have it in that area. We know that for a fact, we've been told too many times."

Brown said he's been forced to alter his coaching style now that his every move is documented.  

"It changes when you've got a microphone at every speech on the field and in every drill," Brown said. "You definitely think about what [Baylor coach] Art [Briles] is thinking while he's sitting there watching you talk and coach your team." 

Still, some aspects of Texas practice are off limits to Longhorn Network. UT coaches told the network it can't air footage of injured players at practice.  

"I think that's fair," Brown said. "And if he gets hurt while they're showing live practice, he gets hurt. That's just part of the deal."

The coaching staff also placed an embargo on footage that may give away information about game plans and schemes. 

"Our rule has kind of been to keep it to individuals, keep it to the coach, keep it to the drills and not try to give scheme away, try not to hear a coach talking and teaching a player about the scheme because that's a key giveaway," Brown said. "It's a real fine line, and I don't get to watch it so I don't know what they're doing." 

While Brown may find the network to be a distraction, his coordinators say they don't view it that way. 

Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz worked at ESPN from 1995-97. Last year, he told the coaching staff to try and mentally block out the cameras and distractions associated with Longhorn Network. 

"I felt like they would become wallflowers," Diaz said. "I think we all just sort of go about our business. I really don't pay attention to them."  

Offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin said his commitments to Longhorn Network are simply "part of the deal."

"That doesn't really have any effect on how we prepare or what we do," Harsin said. "We're not going to do anything different because they're out there. It's something that is very positive for us in a lot of ways and I think it's just something we work with. I don't let it bother me. I'm only conscious of it if they're in a drill, if they're in the way or a guy might get hit."

Nevertheless, Brown made it clear he wants to see some changes with the network before next season. 

"If there's things that I don't think are the best for our football team that are happening at the Longhorn Network, I'm going to bring it up because I'm about our football program," Brown said. "I don't work for Longhorn Network. I work for the University of Texas."

By Austin Laymance/Special to the Star-Telegram
 

Five Big 12 QBs are Davey O'Brien finalists

Five Big 12 quarterbacks are among the 16 finalists for the Davey O'Brien Award. 

The are:

Matt Barkley, USC, Pac-12

Tajh Boyd, Clemson, ACC

Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville, Big East

Colby Cameron, Louisiana Tech, WAC

Seth Doege, Texas Tech, Big 12

Nick Florence, Baylor, Big 12

Landry Jones, Oklahoma, Big 12

Collin Klein, Kansas State, Big 12

EJ Manuel, Florida State, ACC

Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M, SEC

Marcus Mariota, Oregon, Pac-12

AJ McCarron, Alabama, SEC

Braxton Miller, Ohio State, Big Ten

Aaron Murray, Georgia, SEC

Denard Robinson, Michigan, Big Ten

Geno Smith, West Virginia, Big 12

Fans may vote for finalists at VoteOBrien.org.

Baylor grabs afternoon kick off for Homecoming

The Big 12 Conference announced today that Baylor’s Nov. 3 Homecoming football game against the Kansas Jayhawks will be televised live nationally on FSN with kick off scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT.

Nineteen out of Baylor’s last 20 games have been played on national television, with five games this season appearing on the FOX Sports networks, including the Bears’ Saturday game at Iowa State which will be broadcast on FSN at 6 p.m. CT.

The 2012 Homecoming game marks the second time the Jayhawks have been in Waco for Homecoming. Baylor is 37-39-4 all-time in Homecoming games, including a 36-35 win in 2006 against Kansas in the Bears’ first Homecoming meeting with the Jayhawks. -- Savannah Pullin

Ticket sales open for Armed Forces Bowl in FW on Dec. 29

Ticket sales opened today for the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, to be played Dec. 29 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth. Prices range from $20 to $150 per ticket and are available online at www.ArmedForcesBowl.com or by calling 817-810-0012. The contest will kick off at 10:45 a.m. and will be an ESPN telecast.

_ Jimmy Burch

A&M DE Moore selected as SEC defensive lineman of week

Texas A&M defensive end DeMontre Moore, who leads the nation in sacks and tackles for losses, has been selected as the SEC defensive lineman of the week. Moore had a sack, two tackles for losses, broke up a pass and had a quarterback pressure in Saturday's 24-19 loss to LSU. Moore leads FBS players with 9.5 sacks (1.36 per game) and 17 tackles for losses (2.43 per game) this season.

_ Jimmy Burch 

TCU kicker Oberkrom selected as Big 12 special teams player of the week #tcu, #big12

TCU kicker Jaden Oberkrom, who booted a school- and conference-record six field goals in Saturday's 56-53 loss to Texas Tech, has been selected as the Big 12 special teams player of the week. Oberkrom, a freshman from Arlington Martin, connected on all six of his attempts, including a 42-yarder with 18 seconds remaining in regulation that sent the game into overtime. The Horned Frogs lost in triple overtime. Oberkrom kicked five field goals in regulation and one in the third overtime. He also was 5-for-5 on PATs during the contest.

Other Big 12 weekly honorees today included Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein (offense) and Kansas State linebacker Arthur Brown (defense). The Wildcats routed West Virginia, 55-14, to give No. 3 K-State (7-0, 4-0 in Big 12) sole possession of first place in the league standings.

_ Jimmy Burch

 

Oklahoma State QB J.W. Walsh out for season ... or maybe not

Oklahoma State quarterback J.W. Walsh is out for the season, according to coach Mike Gundy.
The redshirt freshman injured his knee Saturday in the Cowboys’ win over Iowa State but stayed in the game.
Walsh’s dad, John Walsh, the head coach at Denton Guyer High School, said his son needs about three to five weeks to recover. John Walsh said via text that surgery will not be required and that there was no ligament damage.
Oklahoma State (4-2, 2-1) host TCU (5-2, 2-2) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Stillwater, Okla.
Gundy told reporters on a conference call Sunday evening that Walsh was out for the rest of the season. Walsh completed 32 of 47 passes for 415 yards and a touchdown against Iowa State.
Walsh replaced true freshman Wes Lunt, who was injured in the Cowboys’ win over Louisiana-Lafayette Sept. 15. Lunt has yet to return in a game. Walsh has thrown for 1,467 yards and 10 touchdowns and rushed for 254 yards and three scores.

-- Travis L. Brown

Baylor falls to Texas in another offensive battle

In a game that seemed almost as important as a championship game, Baylor came up short.

Baylor defense, the Achilles’ heel of the team this season, showed faults early tonight against University of Texas by allowing a touchdown on the first play of the game – an 84-yard run by freshman running back Daje Johnson.

The Bears made sure not to be underrated, forcing a Texas fourth down on their next drive. After the snap went high over the punter’s head, Baylor capitalized on the next play of the game when senior quarterback Nick Florence ran for an eight-yard touchdown, after faking the handoff, to tie the game 7-7.

With only eight minutes off the clock in the first quarter, the third touchdown of the game was scored. Texas sophomore running back Joe Bergeron carried the ball 15 yards to the end zone, making it look like Baylor had another offensive shoot out on its hands for the evening.

And an offensive battle it was. On the next drive, Baylor junior running back Glasco Martin drove the ball into the end zone with a two-yard rush to tie the game 14-14.

“Martin is a big, tough, mean guy and he ran hard tonight,” Baylor head coach Art Briles said. “[He] did some great stuff. Made some big runs.”

But Baylor was determined to stay in the battle. With Baylor’s next drive, Florence threw an 80- yard long pass to his go-to receiver, senior Terrance Williams, pushing Baylor up by one possession to make the score 21-14 going in to the second quarter.

Texas continued to utilize its rush offense to offset the Baylor defense. And it proved why Baylor’s rush defense is ranked eighth out of ten teams in the Big 12. Texas tied the score on a two-yard rush to give Bergeron his second touchdown of the night.

In a good old fashion offensive battle, the Bears responded to reclaim the lead off a seven-yard touchdown pass from Florence to senior receiver Lanear Sampson, who stood wide open in the back corner of the end zone.

Bergeron scored his third touchdown of the night on a nine-yard run to keep the Longhorns in the game and bring the score back to a tie at 28-28.

Baylor offense showed its first offensive weakness of the night when Florence’s pass was picked off by Texas sophomore safety Josh Turner to give the Longhorns the ball on their own 41-yard line.

“As an offensive we can’t have those turnovers. We have to eliminate them,” Florence said.

It was like reliving a nightmare for Baylor when Texas scored off Baylor’s first turnover of the night. The defense continued to show fault when Baylor junior safety Sam Holl missed his wide-open opportunity for the tackle on Texas freshman running back Johnathan Gray, resulting in a touchdown, allowing Texas to reclaim the lead and bring the score to 35-28.

Baylor never had the lead again in the game.

The touchdown by Gray was just enough to give Texas the momentum they needed to run up the score on Baylor. With a four-yard rush by Bergeron, Texas gained a two-possession lead with a 42-28 score. And this was all in the first half.

After a controversial incomplete pass to Williams in the end zone, in which Williams seemed to get a foot down before falling out of bounds, the Bears ended up in field goal position.

“I had tried to tell [Briles] that I saved room and I knew I had one foot down, and I’d saved room there on purpose,” Williams said.

“Terrance [Williams] thought he caught it and got a food down,” Briles said. “I was shocked that they didn’t take a look at it. It was a great pass from Nick.

The call was never reviewed, nor challenged, forcing the Bears to go for the three points.

Baylor junior kicker Aaron Jones made the 29-yard field goal to chip away at Texas’ lead. The Bears trailed 42-31 going in to the locker room.

After the half, a fumble by Florence quickly bumped and rolled into the Texas end zone. Baylor junior tight end Jordan Najvar was alive and alert in the end zone, and recovered the fumble in the end zone to give Baylor the touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful, setting Baylor only five points behind Texas with the score at 42-37.

With seven minutes left in the third quarter, Texas made a stern rebuttal when Texas sophomore quarterback, David Ash, completed a 67-yard pass to junior receiver Mike Davis. The pass was followed by an eight-yard touchdown run by Bergeron. Texas went up 49-40 in the third.

Right as Baylor gained momentum, a fumble by Martin, forced by Texas sophomore linebacker Steve Edmond and recovered by sophomore safety Mykkele Thompson, brought the Baylor defense back on the field.

“Anytime you get a turnover it takes the momentum away,” Florence said. “You can make an excuse on [Glasco], but I threw an interception, too, they got seven points off.”

Unfortunately for the Bears, the defense was unable to recover and gave up another touchdown to run up the Longhorn lead even further. The scoreboard read 56-43 with 12 minutes left on the game clock.

The Bears squeezed in one more touchdown before the game was over, to make the final score 56-50 with Texas taking the win.

Overall, Briles said he was pretty satisfied with Florence’s performance against Texas.

“He had that one bad pass,” Briles said about Florence. “He got a little banged up, but besides that he was flawless. Extremely proud of him and his performance tonight. Definitely one of the top two quarterbacks to ever play at this school.”

Once again, Baylor showed its ability to be defensively dominant. It was the defense that forgot to pick up the slack and give the Bears the win. --Savannah Pullin

Texas Tech beats TCU, 56-53 in triple OT, avoiding letdown

Texas Tech's 49-14 drubbing of then-No. 5 West Virginia a week ago seemed to be a season-changing game.

Last season, "that" game was the Red Raiders' 41-38 upset of then-No. 3 Oklahoma in Norman, Okla. — a win that was followed by five consecutive losses. By season's end, the win against the Sooners meant nothing for the 5-7 Red Raiders sitting a home during
bowl season.

This season, though, is guaranteed to avoid the same fate. Saturday, No. 17 Tech defeated No. 23 TCU, 56-53, in three overtimes, vaulting the Red Raiders to bowl eligibility and providing themselves with what may ultimately be the defining game of their 2012
campaign.

After losing key players like tight end Jace Amaro and wide receivers Bradley Marquez and Javon Bell to injury, Saturday's win could be Tech's biggest showcase of resiliency to date.

"Going through that game last week took a big toll on us," Tech coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We lost four starters last week and came back and found a way to win. Now we're (6-1)."

At 6-1 overall and 3-1 in Big 12 Conference play, Tech will practice Sunday knowing it is in at least a tie for second place in the Big 12. No. 4 Kansas State, with a win against No. 13 West Virginia on the road, could remain undefeated and move to 4-0 by Saturday's
end.

Clinching the game was Tech wide receiver Alex Torres, one of the many standouts during Tech's win against Oklahoma last year, who caught an 8-yard pass from quarterback Seth Doege that led to an explosion of a celebration led by the many anxious Red Raiders
on the sideline.

Doege's last two performances might be a microcosm of Tech's ability to have followed a big win with another. Doege, after tossing six touchdown passes against the Mountaineers in Lubbock, torched TCU's secondary for seven scores through the air — a new career-high.

Doege's 28 touchdown passes this season is the most thrown by any quarterback in the nation to this point. His outing in Fort Worth marked the third time this season he has thrown at least six touchdowns.

Every bit of offense became crucial considering TCU's ability to keep pace throughout the game. Quarterback Trevone Boykin, a redshirt freshman, accumulated 332 passing yards (Doege threw for 318) on 26-of-44 passing to go with four touchdowns.

Boykin's youth, however, was on display during crucial moments. Boykin was intercepted twice, both on third downs. TCU was limited to a 5-of-17 third-down conversion rate, despite outgaining Tech 516 to 389 in total yards. The Horned Frogs, as a team, rushed
for 184 yards.

"They ran the ball on us, which was a little disappointing for us defensively," Tuberville said. "They were pretty balanced. We weren't balanced at all"

Defensively, the Red Raiders could have put a quicker end to the game late in the fourth quarter, up by 10, before it allowed a 60-yard touchdown strike from Boykin to wide receiver LaDarius Brown with 2:25 left. Then, offensively, Tech had its opportunity
to close the deal with 2:00 left, but opted for conservative pay-calling instead of throwing on third down and handed the ball back to the Horned Frogs.

Boykin, playing like a veteran, paced TCU down the field to set up and convert game-tying field goal with 18 seconds left on the clock. TCU kicker Jared Oberkrom made six field goals Saturday, setting school and Big 12 records.

Tuberville said he would have preferred the game to be over an hour earlier than it did, but will gladly take the win.

"This was a team win because we didn't play that great and we found a way to win," Tuberville said.

By Jose Rodriguez — Special to the Star-Telegram

Live blog: Texas Tech 56, TCU 53 (F, 3OT)