College Confidential

Gray seeks to change recent results in his first on-field experience at Texas-OU game

Texas tailback Johnathan Gray, a freshman from Aledo, is counting on the third time being the charm when it comes to his experience with the Red River Rivalry.

“I’ve been to two Oklahoma-Texas games. I have not seen a Texas win, but that’s going to change,” said Gray, who will get his first opportunity to help impact the outcome at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Cotton Bowl.

Gray, who rushed for a career-high 87 yards in last week’s 48-45 loss to West Virginia, has shared carries this season in a deep Texas backfield. He is listed on this week’s depth chart as a co-starter with sophomore Joe Bergeron, the Longhorns’ leading rusher (300 yards, 9 TDs, 4.3 per carry). But Gray (244 yards, 0 TDs, 5.2 avg.) understands that he remains in a learning curve with the Texas offense even though he was a five-star signee and the 2011 Gatorade National High School Player of the Year.

“As a freshman, you have to sit back and watch and take that back seat of learning pass protections, which steps to take,” Gray said after Tuesday’s evening practice in Austin. “It’s a learning curve for me and that’s what I’m doing right now. My dad (James) helped me with that and told me, ‘You’re not going to start right away as a freshman. You have some great backs in front of you and you have to watch what they do and you’ll start getting in the mix.’ That’s what I’m doing.”

Watching from the sidelines is not bothersome, Gray said.

“No,” Gray said. “My mindset, I don’t think that I’m a star or anything. I’m just here to help the team in any kind of way as far as cheering them on or what I can do on the field … This has taught me patience. I have to get better and better each day, so this is what it’s teaching me. I’m learning.”

In each of his first five games with the Longhorns, Gray has topped the previous week’s totals for carries and rushing yards. But he is not predicting his first career 100-yard outing will come against the Sooners. He simply hopes to make it happen.

“I just thought about my preparation for these guys … and how we can run on them,” Gray said. “This is a huge game. It’s rivalry week and playing Oklahoma as a freshman, I know I’ll get to play. So I have to be ready when coach calls on me.”

_ Jimmy Burch

Is Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis gone?

According to Orangebloods.com (or its Twitter account, at least), Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis will be replaced. Nothing official or on the record has been reported, but the move wouldn't be surprising after the terrible season the Longhorns endured.

But remember, Orangebloods also reported Texas was a lock to join the Pac-10 last summer, so don't take the report too seriously just yet.

Oklahoma 28, Texas 20 (FINAL)

Texas had a huge first-and-goal inside the two-minute warning but had to settle for a 21-yard field goal in the 28-20 loss.

The Longhorns did not recover an onside kick following the field goal, but their fortunes almost turned when Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones fumbled the ball as he was sacked by Emmanuel Acho. DeMarco Murray recovered the ball for the Sooners.

After Oklahoma was forced to punt the ball away with 1:08 remaining, Aaron Williams fumbled the punt return, and it was recovered by the Sooners to seal the victory.

Early in the third quarter, the Sooners added to their lead in the fourth quarter with an acrobatic, 20-yard touchdown run by DeMarco Murray. Murray also scored the first Oklahoma touchdown.

The Longhorns quickly struck back with a five-yard touchdown run by Cody Johnson, whose 33-yard reception earlier in the drive put Texas within striking distance.

Oklahoma 21, Texas 7 (half)

After a high-scoring first quarter, the second quarter was a more defensive affair. No. 8 Oklahoma leads No. 21 Texas 21-7.The half ended with a long pass attempt by Garrett Gilbert intercepted right in front of the endzone.

The Sooners struck first with an 18-yard touchdown run for DeMarco Murray and then a 16-yard pass from Landry Jones to Kenny Stills.

Texas got on the board late in the first quarter with a 60-yard touchdown run by D.J. Monroe. However, the Longhorns barely reached Sooner territory in the second quarter. The Longhorns will have the ball to begin the second half.

 

Stoops Would Not Have Suspended Jaz Reynolds A Whole Game Had He Been a Demarco Murray

The Texas 10: Week 5, Vol. 2

5. Baylor Can't Lose Against Kansas
The Bears are 3-1 and play a 2-2 Kansas team in Waco on Saturday morning. The Jayhawks have looked average, and their "big" win against then No. 15 Georgia Tech suddenly doesn't look so impressive any more. The Bears are 4-0 all-time against KU in Waco, which says just how bad Kansas' football team has been.
Looking at the Bears' schedule, they need this desperately for a realistic chance of reaching the necessary six wins to qualify for a bowl. The schedule still has some winnable games, but they may not be favored in any of them. The Bears are favored by 9 against the Fightin' Turner Gills.
5.43 Baylor Hasn't Won a Home Opener Since 2006
5.12 In a Word - Baylor Must Be the Ball

 
4. The Kats Can't Lose
A slow week in the Southland Conf., but a rather large one for Sam Houston State. The Bearkats travel to first-year program Lamar. Even though the Cardinals are a surprising 2-2, an established program like SHSU can't lose games like this. Such games are allegedly automatic wins, but Lamar is making life a little more difficult for people than expected.
3. Saturday's Game at the State Fair Won't Determine the Big 12 South
It's probably safe to say that the Big 12 South hasn't been this open in a long time. But neither Texas nor Oklahoma look nearly as dominant as they have in the past. That should make the rest of the season more fun to watch. Both teams have taken turns looking very good - OU in a blowout against Fla. St.; UT handling Tech in Lubbock. Both have looked shaky - UT losing at home to UCLA, OU hanging on to win at Cincinatti.
3.45 Both UT and OU enter the game ranked among the AP Top 25 for the 34th time since the poll began in 1936 with OU holding a 16-14-3 edge.
3.244 UT RB D.J. Monroe Will Be Exposed In Pass Protection
Like the decision by St. Mack to put D.J. Monroe as a co-starter with Fozzy Bear for the Horns in the backfield. The Horns need special speed and Monroe has it. But given his lack of experience, he's apt to blow at least one or two blocking assignments when the Sooners bring the muscle to spook QB Garrett Gilbert.
3.13 OU Coach Bob Stoops Would Not Have Suspended Jaz Reynolds Had He Been a Demarco Murray
What OU WR Jaz Reynolds Tweeted this week about the tragedy at the UT campus was insensitive, and he deserved the suspension. Good for Used to Be Big Game Bob. There is not a part of me, however, that believes Stoops would have given a full-game suspension to a key member of his team, not against UT. You suspend the guy a full game you can win without to send a message to the rest of the tweener players; you suspend the key player you can't win without for one quarter, or just don't start him.
3.12 Since 1998, UT is 131-28, which is the NCAA's winningest team; in that same period, OU is 126-35, which is third. Who is tied for second? Boise State, with a 131-25 record.
2. A Bad Sign For UT
The Horns are 9-2-1 in Top 25 matchups against OU when it enters the game as the higher-ranked team. They are 5-14-2 when they are lower ranked. UT is ranked No. 21. OU is No. 8.
2.43 Do The Corny Dog
If you are going to the Texas State Fair for fun, or to watch the game, or both, you can't miss eating a corny dog. It should be a once-a-year delicacy.
1. Saturday's game will be decided by which QB makes the fatal mistake.
UT QB Garrett Gilbert has massive potential etched all over him, but given the nature of his running game plus young receivers he has one killer pick or fumble in his pocket that is going to be the difference. I see more positive plays than negative plays coming from OU QB Landry Jones. OU wins.

- Mac Engel

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@MacEngelProf

 

Texas' D.J. Monroe a co-starter at tailback

Texas coaches list tailback D.J. Monroe (5-foot-9, 171 pounds), who has averaged 9.3 yards per carry, as a co-starter with Fozzy Whittaker for Saturday’s game. But Monroe has only seven carries, with six coming last week against UCLA.

Coaches are concerned about overusing Monroe, who struggles in pass protection and is not effective running between the tackles. But they want to get him the ball more often, which triggered his move back to running back after spending fall drills at receiver.

“It was so hard to get him the ball as a receiver,” Brown said. “Now, we can.”

-- Jimmy Burch

Texas QB Garrett Gilbert knows he must get better

Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert saw a personal streak of 33 consecutive victories as a starting quarterback end with last week’s 34-12 loss to UCLA. But he said he learned a lot in his first defeat since his high school days. What did he learn?

Gilbert said the Longhorns have “got a ways to go” as an offense, with the first orders of business being to “protect the ball better and.....finish drives.” Gilbert, who has thrown four interceptions in the last two games, placed most of the blame himself.

“Being my own toughest critic, I feel like there was a lot of stuff that I could have done a lot better for our team,” Gilbert said. “Taking it from the film and applying it to Oklahoma is what matters.”

-- Jimmy Burch

Whatever Happened to Big Game Bob?

College football is like everything else in life and runs in cycles - even in Oklahoma. The Bob Stoops' era that began with such amazingly fast results, not to mention a clear domination against rival Texas, has slipped. Of course, a lot of schools around the nation would love to "slip" the way OU has. OU suffered through a stretch where it was 1-3 in bowls, and three straight losses in national title games. Again, this slippage is good for a lifetime extension in a lot of places.
But St. Mack is back even, pretty much, with The Coach Who Invented Football.
UT has won four of the past five games against OU, a pair of national title game appearances and won championship.

http://www.statesman.com/sports/longhorns/ous-stoops-hasnt-been-big-game-bob-in-943105.html

- Mac Engel

follow me on Twitter

@MacEngelProf

Red River Week is Finally Here

Have to admit, as excited as I was this time one week ago at the thought of two top 10 teams playing in the Cotton Bowl a lot of said excitement has gone the way of Al Michaels' real hair. The Big 12 just seems to lack the oomph that it has in recent seasons, and UCLA's ability to bring UT back to the glory days of Fred Akers/John Mackovic is a total bummer.

But No. 21 Texas will play No. 8 Oklahoma at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl for the right to lose to Nebraska in the Big 12 title game.

Every single thing says OU should win this game. And the Sooners should win. A veteran passer plus a running game that produces reliable yardage should be too much. UT's offense is just to erratic for my tastes, and its QB/WR tandems are too green to do real consistent damage vertically or on the outside.

But rivalry games as intense as this distort and render conventional things moot.

Who will win this game?

- Mac Engel

Thoughts from Saturday

A few thoughts about Saturday's games while waiting for the (drum roll please) first announcement of the BCS standings about 3:40 p.m. today on Fox.

1. Texas will probably be third in the first BCS rankings behind Florida and Alabama, especially with Virginia Tech's loss. Anything lower will be a shock. It will be interesting to see how the computers view the Longhorns. Texas proved it could win a defensive game against Oklahoma even though it registered few style points. The next two games, at Missouri and at Oklahoma State, will define the Texas regular season.

2. We don't know if we've seen Sam Bradford's last game in an Oklahoma uniform. That's his call. Hopefully, we did. He came to Oklahoma when he could have been a Top 10 (and maybe higher) NFL pick. He bounced from a serious shoulder sprain to return, showing grit. Now he's hurt again. He has nothing left to prove at OU and nothing he can prove to the NFL. Shut it down, heal, get surgery if necessary and get ready for the draft.

3. A couple of weeks ago, the pirate ship at Texas Tech looked to be taking on water. Now, the Red Raiders can make a legitimate claim, along with Oklahoma State, to being the second best team in the Big 12. (Hey, both lost to Houston). Backup QB Steven "Sticks" Sheffield was unfazed by a road start in Lincoln. And the defense - yes, the Tech defense - absolutely dominated with five sacks. Ndamukong who?

4. Speaking of a ship that may be sinking ... yeah, that's a transition to Texas A&M. At worst, I figured the Aggies could get two or three wins against the worst of the North and get to a bowl. After Saturday's 62-14 loss at Kansas State, the Aggies could be descending beyond the 2008 depths. "We got our butt kicked every which way," A&M coach Mike Sherman said. Unless Michael Bishop just gained some more eligibility, this isn't exactly a vintage Bill Snyder team. The Wildcats were coming off a 66-14 butt kicking of their own at Texas Tech.

5. SMU is 3-3 but could easily be 5-1 and a win away from bowl-eligibility. The Mustangs held second-half leads against Washington State and Navy and then lost in overtime in both games. SMU could still cobble together six victories, if it can post home wins against Rice, UTEP and Tulane. 

6. TCU has done pretty much everything it has needed to do as a potential BCS Buster. The Horned Frogs' biggest test comes Saturday at BYU, which has regrouped since that loss to Florida State. Since joining the Mountain West, TCU has split at Provo, winning 51-50 in 2005 and losing 27-22 in 2007. A win over Max Hall and Co. would be a major boost as TCU tries to climb past Boise State.

-- Chuck Carlton