Gary Patterson to his quarterback - "You're not Dan Marino"

FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU football coach Gary Patterson said that he thinks freshman quarterback Trevone Boykin will play against West Virginia on Saturday in Morgantown. Boykin left TCU's game at Oklahoma State late after he suffered what appeared to be a knee injury.

Assuming Boykin does play, Patterson wants to see more of his quarterback running the ball. This is not the NFL. In college, running quarterbacks don't suffer a quick death, and can win big (see Kansas State & QB Collin Klein).

"One of his assets is he can run," Patterson said. "When it's not there, you're not ... Dan Marino. You are a redshirt freshman quarterback."

Boykin is completing 61.1 percent of his passes for 1,122 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has rushed for 334 yards, an average of 3.8 yards per carry. Hardly horrid.

If there is any advantage to Trevone Boykin over Casey Pachall - and this is a reach - it is Boykin's ability to run. Pachall really couldn't. Alas, there is no advantage if Boykin does not actually run.

Patterson wants to see Boykin out of the pocket a bit more, passing, or running. 

"Don't do anything fantastic; don't be bad. Manage the game," Patterson said. "What you want is a junior Trevone Boykin not a freshman Trevone Boykin.

Boykin is listed at 6-foot-2, which may be generous, and he does not have the classic over-the-top motion. He has had a few passes knocked down, which Patterson said he does not think is as a result of a sometimes three-quarters angle Boykin uses. Patterson said the teams that have given Boykin trouble have height in their front seven.

"People have been on (SD Chargers QB) Philip Rivers' butt since he started; I think he's been in the Pro Bowl," Patterson said. "Everybody is different. His motion was OK against Texas Tech.  When you have a wall of people coming at you, you can't put the ball ... you have to know your own strengths and weaknesses. You have to be able to change things and do things differently."

 

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It's official: The North finally caught the South in Big 12 football

As a Kansas Jayhawk undergrad grad, this aggrivates me no end but massive kudos to the Kansas State Wildcat football program for daring to be better than Nebraska.

Perhaps because they never had the chance, but the Wildcats never played the victim card as members of the Big 12 and ran east to play its equally slow-footed members of the Big 10 like the University of Nebraska did.

Instead, Kansas State just got better and now have officially become the best team in the Big 12 conference. The Big 12 is  no longer split by North/South regions, but the Wildcats are proof you don't have to live in Texas, or be bordered by Texas, to win this league.

Since the league was formed in 1996, the North won the conference title game a total of four times, and not once since 2003. (The league dropped the title game last year).

The conference that was born out of football and all but catered to its members in the south - Texas, Oklahoma - now is officially looking up at Kansas State.

Texas Tech got run out of the state by Kansas State over the weekend.
Had Texas played any other team but Kansas on Saturday the Horns would have lost.
Oklahoma is in denial.
Iowa State is Iowa State.
Baylor and Oklahoma State are both rebuilding.
TCU is too young, and not nearly deep enough.
West Virginia has to at least fake defense before it can become a serious threat.

The Wildcats host No. 24 Oklahoma State on Nov. 3 before traveling to TCU and Baylor and finishing the season on Dec. 1 at home against No. 23 Texas.

The Wildcats should have the Coach of the Year in Bill Snyder and the Heisman winner in QB Collin Klein. If all continues to go according to plan, the Wildcats will be the team to reach the BCS title game for the right to get crushed by Alabama.

The Wildcats may be boring led by their boring head coach, but they do deserve credit.

 

 

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The detail in the AP men's college hoops poll that will surprise you about the state of game in Texas

Even with Perry Jones III gone to an NBA bench, the Baylor men's basketball team is the class of the great state a Texas. 

The preseason AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll is out, and Scott Drew's Baylor Bears are the only ranked team from this entire great state - the Bears are No. 19. The Big 12 features two ranked teams: Baylor and No. 7 Kansas.

The good thing for Texas coach Rick Barnes is that nobody cares enough in Austin to complain.

The state of the game has been in better shape than it is now in Texas. Not only is there but one Top 25 team from Texas, but the rosters of the other top 24 teams are not littered with Texans; it's not as if other teams are raiding Texas of its best players. 

Looking at all 25 rosters of the Top 25 teams viw ESPN.com, below are the players who list Texas as their hometown.

1. Indiana
2. Louisville
3. Kentucky
4. Ohio State
5. Michigan
6. NC State
7. Kansas - Justin Wesley (Fort Worth); Zach Peters (Plano)
8. Duke - Rasheed Sulaimon (Houston)
9. Syracuse
10. Florida
11. North Carolina
12. Arizona
13. UCLA
14. Michigan State
15. Missouri -  Phil Pressey (Dallas)
16. Creighton -  Austin Chatman (The Colony); Nevin Johnson (Houston)
17. Memphis -  Anthony Cole (Arlington); D.J. Stephens (Killeen)
18. UNLV
19. Baylor. 8 players.
20. San Diego State -  Winston Shepard (Houston)
21. Gonzaga
23. Wisconsin
24. Cincinnati. Titus Rubles (Dallas)
25. Florida State 

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The reason Texas football is average - start with the Longhorn Network ... duh?

Hope the ESPN executives are listening, and listening good, because Mack Brown and the fine folks at the University of Texas have had enough of ESPN's unfair requests for original content to air on The Longhorn Network.

Texas would merely prefer to take the $300 million from ESPN/Disney and the network giant politely just leave them alone.

On Monday afternoon, Texas football coach Mack Brown had the brass stuff to tell the AP that his program is "a little overexposed." Mack Brown said that Texas football is overexposed.

Let that sink in - Mack Brown said that Texas football is overexposed. 

Do not think for a moment that several members of the media, and other coaches, are not enjoying this complaint a great deal. The network that Big 12 commissioner/UT AD DeLoss Dodds fought so hard to protect, and played such a huge role in Texas A&M's decision flee to the SEC, not to mention all but cost Dan Beebe his gig, is now an unfortunate headache.

Brown is tiring of the many needs the network requires to fill the 24/7 station, and he has expressed concern that anyone can watch the increased access that could give an advantage to an opposing team.

"It's a true advantage (for opponents)," Brown said. "They can watch our attitude, they can watch our coaches."

Yes, yes ... that's why Oklahoma rolled you out of the Cotton Bowl. And why Baylor went for 50 on you in Austin. It was because the other teams could see your team's attitude, watch Manny Diaz dial up that Longhorn defense, and study the no tackling techniques employed in Austin.

What were Brown and UT expecting when they agreed to a 20-year deal with ESPN for $300 million - all softball all the time? The only way this network was going to be sold to more cable carriers was increased access to a football team that wins a lot. Softball and women's soccer isn't going to cut it.

Mack is as PR and politically savvy as any coach in recent memory and he would be better served to take this money, and to shut it when it comes to this network.

 

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The last time Texas Tech visited Ft. Worth (as conference rivals) 34 teams claimed a share of the SWC title

Most - OK, all - of the players involved in the upcoming TCU/Texas Tech football game are too young to recall the last time the Red Raiders visited Fort Worth as conference rivals. Even the players who were actually alive at the time were smart enough to realize that on Nov. 25, 1994 the Southwest Conference sucked.

Texas Tech needed to defeat TCU that afternoon to win the SWC outright. Instead, TCU won and 34 teams could claim a share of the Southwest Conference title that season.

In front of 43,219 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Tech and QB Zebbie Lethridge took a 17-16 lead late in the fourth quarter before they blew it. TCU was led by QB Max Knake and RB Andre Davis; the Frogs scored a late TD to secure a 24-17 win.

It was TCU's first share of SWC title since 1959. The win all but ensured TCU would be invited to the Independence Bowl, and for a brief time convinced TCU people that head coach Pat Sullivan's tenure was going to work out.

Tech finished 6-5 and went to the Cotton Bowl.

This is my favorite part: Texas, TCU, Rice, Baylor, Texas Tech all claimed a share of the SWC title.

 

 

 

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TCU, Baylor, etc. wants to keep people in the stands? Follow UTEP's lead

The college game day atmosphere is the "place to be on Saturdays", but in our hyper competitive society with decreasing attention spans people now need a draw to come back to watch the games they paid a ticket to enjoy from the seat rather than the parking lot.

A potential solution? Beer.

On Tuesday afternoon UTEP announced that it will implement the sale of beer at home football games and home basketball games at the venues that are owned and operated by the univeristy. UTEP will begin sales of beer beginning with its home game on Saturday against Tulane.

You have to think one of the primary reasons fans leave the games for the halftime tailgate scene is the chance the drink without having to hide it. We all know fans smuggle in a little container of something to mix in with their Diet Coke (don't want those calories). 

With athletic departments searching for any additional way to increase revenue, selling beer is not a final step but an inevitable one to sell tickets.

“That’s obviously part of the equation here.  We will see.  We will see how ticket sales react to this," said UTEP executive vice president Ricardo Adauto III in a press conference on Tuesday. "And we hope it does.  And hopefully Saturday night will be a nice night, people will want to come out and we’ll see how this works."

Prediction: A lot of schools have embraced selling beer in suites, or in a designated beer garden, but general beer sales to the rest of the stadium in university-owned venues has been mostly verbotten.
It will take a while, but expect that within the next 10 years most college football and men's basketball games will sell beer so fans can enjoy watching their favorite amateur sports team.

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Texas FIGHT!? Texas - QUIT!; will Mack Brown finally feel the heat of Texas' mediocrity?

This latest edition of the Red River Massacre brought to you by Bob Stoops but made possible through a grant by the Mack Brown Group, may finally be what puts Teflon Brown in t-r-o-u-b-l-e, Travis Tritt style.

Despite all of his success - a national title, another title game appearance - what we are seeing over the last two-plus years is a ticket to make those accomplishments feel like 50 years ago rather than four or five.

A 63-21 loss against the Sooners today in Dallas is as apt for the Longhorn faithful to say "Enough!" for the first time since Mack arrived in Austin to turn the program into a national, cash-cow monster.

Mack has filled the coffers, but he is not filling the win column of late.

Since finishing 13-1 in 2009 and losing to Alabama in the title game, the Horns are ...

2010: 5-7
2011: 8-5
2012: 4-2
Running 2-plus season total: 17-14

The Horns lost a total of 14 games from 2002 to 2009.

This is what we call a trend.

Saturday's beatdown at the Cotton Bowl by the Sooners was another piece of evidence of how lacking Texas has become. They are not good enough.

The Horns routinely land top 10 recruiting classes, but no team with all of that alleged talent can lose 14 games in three seasons. Every program has a dip, but this is beginning to feel a lot more than just a slip.

Despite his recent contract exentsion that should ensure every Mack Brown family member is taken care of forever, this may be the time he finally feels it.

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Aggies carrying the Texas state football flag after an ugly weekend

The great state a Texas took a beating in the world of college football, and if it weren't for the Aggies the state that places such a priority on football would have had an o-fer weekend.

The Aggies rallied for a 30-27 win at Ole Miss to improve to 4-1, and are arguably the best team from this state after the best from Texas were mostly beaten from the out of staters.

Texas A&M 30, Ole Miss 27 in Oxford, Miss.
No. 8 West Virginia 48, No. 11 Texas 45 in Austin
Iowa State 37, No. 15 TCU 23 in Fort Worth
No. 17 Oklahoma 41, Texas Tech 20 in Lubbock
Rice 10, Memphis 14 in Memphis
Texas State 13, New Mexico 35 in Albquerque

North Texas played Houston and SMU played UTEP. Thank God Baylor had a bye. 

As of Sunday, the only two teams from this great state ranked in the AP Top 25 are ...
No. 15 Texas (4-1)
No. 22 Texas A&M (4-1)

Somebody do something!

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Why TCU & Tech can win the Big 12

Amid the love fest for West Virginia QB Geno Smith and the success of Bill Snyder's Kansas State BoringCats, it may be time to consider Texas Tech as a threat. At a minimum they are at least better than Kansas and Iowa State.

Don't laugh - that is progress.

While West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Texas and Baylor are seemingly all built to out-score opponents, both TCU and Tech are structured more to make stops than those teams. Oklahoma should be better on defense, and probably will as the season progresses.

TCU is ranked 7th nationally defensively. At some point it comes down to stops.

TCU's reputation has been defense for a decade. Tech hasn't played defense for more than a decade.

The team that could not play defense last season and was forced to use kickers to play defensive back in 2011 (I might have made that up), is now slowing people down. Give some credit to defensive tackle Kerry Hyder. The young man is what we call, "A player".

Through the first four games of the season Texas Tech has the top ranked defense in the nation.
As Joe Biden would say, "Let me say that again - through the first four games of the season Texas Tech has the top ranked defense in the nation. Literally!"

The Red Raiders' defense is at least not a bad joke.

One year ago Texas Tech lost at home against Iowa State, 41-7. On Saturday in Ames, Tech won 24-13.

"Two things speed on both sides of the ball and they were a different team physically," Iowa State coach Paul Rhodes today when I asked him the difference between Texas Tech last season and today. "Both in the interior and skill positions. They physically got after us. They smothered our receivers in the pass game."

Tech has not exactly played the NFC East. Winning in Ames is not like winning in Tuscaloosa, but this is progress.

"In this league you have to have as much speed as you possibly can. Totally different than the SEC," Red Raiders coach Tommy Tuberville said today on the Big 12 coaches' conference call. 'We are playing a lot better obviously. We are tackling better. We have more speed. We made it a priority to bring in height and speed. It’s an ongoing process to get up to speed to play Oklahoma State and West Virginia to play them every down."

There is no way Tech is going undefeated in these next five games ...

10/6 v. No. 17 Oklahoma (2-1) in Lubbock
10/13 v. No. 8 West Virginia (4-0) in Lubbock
10/20 at No. 15 TCU (4-0) in Ft. Worth
10/27 at No. 7 Kansas State (4-0) in Manhattan, Kan.
11/3 v. No. 11 Texas (4-0) in Lubbock 

... But if Tech continues to play physical defense and control some of the clock the Red Raiders are going to be in those games, and win a few of those.

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The best team in Texas is ...

Three games into the college football season and the great state a' Texas has no teams ranked in the AP Top 25.

12. Texas 3-0
17. TCU 2-0

Baylor, Texas Tech and Texas A&M are in the "receiving votes" category.

So who among this lot is the best team in this great state? 

TEXAS
Yes: A 3-0 record against Division I opponents by the combined score of 148-48 is noteworthy. QB David Ash looks improved, and overall the team looks better than it did last season.

No Way: The Horns have defeated nobody. Winning big at Ole Miss is not a real win against an "SEC team". The Rebels are a bad SEC team. Ash needs to have a big game against a real team to prove he can be the guy. 

When will we know: The Horns play at Okie State on Sept. 29, which will be their first genuine game. Then they host No. 6 West Virginia on Oct. 6 followed by the Red River Thingy on Sept. 13 against No. 13 Oklahoma. They have to be at least 2-1 in that stretch, but 1-2 looks very possible.

TCU
Yes: In compiling a 2-0 record the Frogs have shown they have serious talent at the skill position, and Gary Patterson has another handful of playmakers on defense that should mature into big-time players. It would be hard to argue he is not the best game coach in the state.

No Way: TCU has defeated nobody with wins at home against Grambling and on the road at a bad Kansas team. Against Kansas, TCU should have won by 30 but four turnovers inside the KU 23 killed that idea. The offensive line is young, and there are so many underclassmen on this roster they are doomed to be exposed.

When will we know: If TCU is as good as people think, the Frogs should be 7-0 before going on the road to play Oklahoma State on Oct. 27. That would mean defeating an underrated Iowa State at home on Oct. 6, winning at Baylor and at home against Texas Tech in the following weeks. Can they win when they aren't at their best against a team better than Kansas?

Baylor
Yes: The loss of Robert Griffin III has not killed this program, and any Art Briles team is going to score. QB Nick Florence can play. If they can score, they have a chance.

No Way: They don't play enough defense, and against superior defenses the Bears will be exposed as not having enough. Having to rally at home against Sam Houston State is not a good sign, but it should be noted the Kats are one of the best teams on the FCS level.

When will we know: The Bears play at La-Monroe on Friday in a game they can easily lose. The Warhawks have split a pair of road games against Arkansas and Auburn, both in OT. The Bears play at West Virginia on Sept. 29, host TCU on Oct. 13 and then are at Texas on Oct. 20. 

Texas Tech
Yes: Didn't think this was possible but Tommy Tuberville's team has been convincing in three blowouts against lesser competition. The Red Raiders have won the first three games by the combined score of 151-30. They are halfway to a bowl game! They are running the ball, and so many of the injuries that crushed this team a year ago are no longer derailing the team.

No: They were just so bad last year and they have played no one yet. 

When will we know: The Red Raiders play at Iowa State on Sept. 29. If they win that then perhaps they will have a chance over the next five games when they play Oklahoma, West Virginia, TCU, Kansas State and Texas. 

Texas A&M
Yes: The Aggies have a very good offensive line, and some nice skill players at running back. Quarterback Johnny Manziel looks like he could be one of the better QBs in the SEC. The Aggies may be closer in the SEC than we thought.

No Way: They aren't there yet to compete in the SEC. Because the SEC is so top heavy, the Aggies should be fine against Auburn, Ole Miss, Missouri and probably even Arkansas. But they are not close to LSU or Alabama. Of course, no one else is.

When will we know: We already do. Losing at home against Florida did it.

 

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