The picture on the left appeared on a Texas A&M football message board — which is still reeling from the Aggies’ debacle last Thursday against Miami — with the following caption:
“Jovorskie Lane finish with 2 carries for 2 yards. How is this possible?”
The TV Tan Line has more.
Has it really been 50 years since the University of Texas hired Darrell Royal to revive its flagging football program?
(AP Photo/Dave Einsel)
Colts 30 Texans 24
Amidst the wide-eyed wonderment that a few wins by the Texans (2-1) evokes from Houston Chronicle sportswriters, the Colts (3-0) systematically build a 27-10 lead after three quarters and then cruised to the victory (previous weekly summaries here). Texans RB Ahman Green was injured on his first rushing attempt of the game and the Texans were never able to mount any meaningful running attack against the Colts. By the way, my annual preview of the Texans’ season contained the following point about Coach Kubiak’s decision to sign Green:
An example of the dubious decision-making regarding offensive personnel is the signing of RB Ahman Green, formerly of Green Bay. Green was a great running back in his prime with the Pack, but he has averaged less than four yards per carry for the past two seasons. Inasmuch as the Texans agreed to pay Green $23 million over four years ($8 million guaranteed in the first season), the chances that the 30-year old Green will be worth the value of this contract this season are tenuous, at best. The chances of him still being worth the contract a couple of years from now are so speculative to be off the charts.
So, let’s hold off on christening of Kubiak as the next Bill Walsh just yet. The Texans go to Atlanta (0-3) next Sunday before returning home the following week to face Miami (0-3).
Oh, my.
This one was not as “close” as the final score indicates as UM (3-1) shoved the hapless Aggies (3-1) all over the field. The Aggies’ model of controlling the ball with their strong rushing attack generally allows them to stay in games so long as they don’t turn the ball over, but that’s precisely what they did against the Hurricanes. Unfortunately, fat guy up the gut, busted option play and an incomplete pass pretty much sums up most Aggie offensive series after they fall behind by a couple of scores. The Ags get Baylor (2-2) and Oklahoma State (2-2/1-0) at home the next two weeks before a the brutal part of their schedule begins in three weeks at Texas Tech (3-1/0-1). Coach Franchione’s fate appears to be hanging by a thread.
Houston Cougars 38 Colorado State 27
After spotting CSU (0-3) a 17-3 halftime lead, the Cougars (2-1) trailed CSU (0-3) 24-10 with less than three minutes to go in the third quarter and faced a 4th down and 10 situation at the Rams’ 27 yard line. About 30 seconds later, after a TD pass and an ensuing fumble return for a TD, the Coogs had tied the game at 24. The Cougars tacked on a couple of TD’s in the final period to pull out a win that probably established redshirt freshman QB Case Keenum as the successor to Kevin Kolb. The Cougars take on East Carolina (1-3) next Saturday night at Robertson Stadium.
The Longhorns (4-0) rolled in this glorified scrimmage against the hapless Owls (0-4), but still showed little to lead anyone to think that they have much of a chance against Oklahoma the week after next. But at least no Longhorns were arrested on Saturday night after the game celebrating the win. As for Rice, at least the Marching Owl Band got in a few good licks.
With Texas leading 41-7 at intermission, the suspense at Royal-Memorial Stadium actually peaked when the teams left the field.
That’s when the Rice Marching Owl Band ó the notorious MOB ó commenced its halftime show.
Known for its biting spoofs, the 80-piece MOB opened with the “Dragnet Theme.” Wearing dark sunglasses and suit coats bearing the Rice crest, the musicians formed the Texas “T” near the south end zone, just as the Longhorn band does before games.
Then their fun started.
Three “Longhorns” in burnt orange shirts and white helmets scampered downfield. Three cardboard black-and-white “police” cars gave chase.
Announcer William Price, a sousaphone player in the MOB, narrated: “In the two years since the MOB last visited Austin, your team’s demeanor ó and misdemeanor ó has changed. Buy a program at today’s game. It includes Mack Brown’s wrist-slap Top 10 and a photo guide to the next episode of ‘America’s Most Wanted.’ ”
The skit was a nod to the Longhorns’ recent experiences with the law-enforcement community in Austin. It could’ve been worse.
“The idea is to entertain people,” explained Rice band director Chuck Throckmorton. “People aren’t entertained when they’re mad.” [. . .]
After their show, the musicians enjoyed a standing ovation from much of the crowd.The Horns tune up for OU weekend next Saturday in a “payback game” against Kansas State (2-1) (who upset the Horns and began their late-season swoon last year), while the Owls have an open date next weekend before going on the road to meet Southen Miss (2-1).
In mid-December of last year, with two games to play in the 2006 NFL season, the Texans looked deader than a doornail and not like a particularly well-coached team. The Texans closed the season by upsetting the Colts and beating a bad Browns team to finish with a 6-10 record.
After wins against a bad Chiefs team and a decent Carolina team to open the 2007 season, one of the Texans’ leading cheerleaders — Chronicle columnist John McClain — is acting as if the Texans game today with the Colts is a playoff game. In this breathless piece, McClain is ready to anoint Texans head coach Gary Kubiak as the next Vince Lombardi or Bill Walsh:
In 2000 and 2005, I sat in Denver coach Mike Shanahan’s office at the team’s practice facility and the subject of conversation was the same each time.
I asked Shanahan what he thought about his offensive coordinator as a head coaching candidate. On both occasions, Shanahan responded like a Washington power broker pushing a candidate for national office.
“I’m telling you, Gary’s going to make a great head coach, and teams that pass him up are going to regret it,” Shanahan said of Gary Kubiak. “I know what I’m talking about. I’ve watched him at every level. I’ve been around him since 1984.” [. . .]
“Gary communicates well with his players and coaches. He knows how to get a point across. He’s demanding. He’s tough when he needs to be. Players want to play for him because they respect him. If a team has an opening, and they don’t go after Gary, they’re making a big mistake.”
Shanahan was right.
Texans owner Bob McNair passed up Kubiak as the franchise’s first coach. He didn’t want to make that mistake again.
McNair hired Kubiak for Sundays like this one. And Kubiak came back home for weekends like this.
See Richard Justice’s equally breathless column about the Texans here. This reminds me of the similar columns that McClain and Justice often wrote about Texans GM Charlie Casserly and head coach Dom Capers before the Texans’ disastrous 2-14 record in Year 4 of the franchise. Maybe McClain is right about Kubiak. I hope he is. But at least make him earn the accolades first.
The legal problems of current and recent Texas Longhorn football players prompted this Book’em Horns post awhile back, but yesterday’s news that yet another Longhorn football player had been arrested on criminal charges generated a new round of barbs toward the Longhorns, including the farked message below on the Godzillitron at UT’s Royal-Memorial Stadium. Things have gotten so bad that Austin sports columnist Kirk Bohls is wondering whether the UT football team has replaced the University of Miami as the bad boys of big-time college football?
As noted earlier here and here, the University of Wisconsin apparently does not have enough substantive legal work to keep its lawyers busy, so the university has made a cottage industry out of threatening high schools around the country that use a “W” logo that resembles the one used by the university’s sports teams.
According to this article, it looks as if UW has proven that it has more money to waste on pursuing one of those frivolous lawsuits than my local high school here in The Woodlands. The Woodlands High School has agreed to change its “W” logo to the one on the left above.
I sincerely hope that the Iowa Hawkeyes kick Wisconsin’s ass on the gridiron this Saturday. ;^)
(AP Photo/Mike McCarn)
Houston Texans 34 Carolina 21
Don’t pinch me. The Texans (2-0) have now won four straight games (previous weekly reviews are here)!
In a game strangely reminiscent of how the Texans used to lose games, Carolina (1-1) zoomed out to a 14-0 first quarter lead only to have the Texans reel off 34 straight points over the next two and a half quarters to put this one away. After giving up those two first quarter TD’s, the Texans’ defense stiffened and sacked the Panthers’ QB Jake Delhomme three times while forcing three fumbles and an interception and holding Carolina to 66 rushing yards rushing. Texans QB Matt Schaub was a solid 20-28 for 227 yards and two TD passes to WR Andre Johnson (who, by the way, sprained a knee and may be out for awhile), and reborn RB Ahman Green rushed for 71 yards and a TD to lead the Texans. But this one was put away by a heady special teams play when CB Demarcus Faggins stripped Carolina returner Nick Goings of the ball on the kickoff after Green’s TD and Texans WR Kevin Walter recovered the fumble in the end zone for a gift TD. That made the score 31-14 early in the third quarter and even the incredible Carolina WR Steve Smith couldn’t bring get the Panthers back into the game. The Texans host Peyton Manning and the defending Super Bowl champion Colts (2-0) next Sunday in what is sure to be rockin’ Reliant Stadium.
The Coogs (1-1) cruised into the Superdome and creamed Tulane (0-2) despite leaving 3 TD’s on the field with turnovers. Even without an established QB, the Cougars rolled up over 500 yards total offense and the defense looked much improved from the first game debacle against Oregon. The Coogs return home next Saturday to face a Colorado State (0-2) team that has played both Colorado and Cal close.
Riceís mid-second-quarter comeback drive brought the Owls to within 21-17 of the Red Raiders, but then Tech reeled off 35 straight points over the next 25 minutes to turn this one into a rout. Tech QB Graham Harrell thew six TD passes, three of which went to super WR Michael Crabtree, who had 11 catches for 245 yards. Rumor has it that the Marching Owl Band was attempting to organize a party for the players of both teams after the game to introduce the members of the Rice secondary to Crabtree. The Owls continue the sacrifical lamb portion of their schedule next week at Austin against the Longhorns (3-0).
Texas Longhorns 35 Central Florida 32
Speaking of the Horns, they pulled out the victory over Central Florida despite losing the lead in the 4th quarter and looking utterly undeserving of the 6th place ranking in the national polls. Despite the Longhorns’ undefeated record, I see all sorts of problems with this team — iffy run defense, overall lackluster linebacker play, an inconsistent rushing attack and questionable deep ball threats outside of WR Limas Sweed, who did not play much in this game because of a sprained ankle. After a scrimmage against Rice (0-3) next Saturday at Austin, the Horns play Kansas State (2-1) before their annual matchup with Oklahoma (3-0). The Horns definitely do not look ready for the Sooners.
Texas Aggies 54 Louisiana-Monroe 14
The Ags (3-0) dominated this scrimmage over hapless ULM (0-3) in a warmup for the Ags’ nationally-televised game this Thursday night against Miami (2-1) at the Orange Bowl. Miami is not very good this season, having already been blasted by Oklahoma 59-13. However, before getting too confident, Aggie fans should consider that, one week after the Ags eeked out a 3OT victory over Fresno State, Oregon creamed the Bulldogs, 52-21.
Forbes‘ annual valuation of National Football League franchises (related article here) was published this week, and the annual survey rates the Houston Texans as the fourth most valuable in the NFL at $1.056 billion (the Dallas Cowboys top the list this year at $1.5 billion). The value of public financing of stadiums has a huge impact on the valuations as all of the top 10 most valuable teams are the beneficiaries of either new stadiums or stadiums currently under construction. Several observations:
The Texans will probably decline in rank a bit in another year or two as the value of the Giants and Jets increases in response to the opening of their new stadium;
If you assume that Bud Adams’ Houston Oilers would have been worth at least as much as the Texans had they remained in Houston and awaited a new stadium rather than taking flight to Nashville to become the Tennessee Titans, then Adams left over a cool $100 million on the table by making that move. And the difference in value between the Texans and the Titans is increasing;
A new stadium is not always a gold mine in terms of increasing a team’s value. The Cardinals and the Lions have two of the newest stadiums in the NFL, but they are ranked only 23rd and 24th respectively out of the 32 NFL teams in terms of value;
Who would have ever thought that the San Francisco 49ers would be among the lowest valued NFL franchises (30th) and worth less than the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Oakland Raiders and the Buffalo Bills?
The Texans have developed a pretty impressive and loyal local fan base, particularly given the team’s lack of success so far in its first five NFL seasons. But as loyal as Texans fans are, they don’t hold a candle to Cleveland Browns fans, whose once legendary team was stolen from them (that team is now the Baltimore Ravens) and then reincarnated a few years before the Texans were created as one of the worst expansion franchises in the history of the NFL. As this News-Herald article reports, the Browns are now the answer to a new NFL trivia question:
Since the NFL/AFL merger in 1970, which team named a starting quarterback for its first game and then traded that player before its second one?
(Answer: Browns starter Charlie Frye was traded to the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday for a sixth-round draft pick.)
Moreover, while their Browns were getting thumped at home 34-7 by the Steelers this past Sunday, get a load of what the capacity crowd at the Browns stadium endured in the first offensive series of the season by the Browns:
1st and 10 from the Cleveland 20: Jamal Lewis rush for 2 yards (this was the high point of the series).
2nd and 8 from the 22: Charlie Frye pass incomplete.
3rd and 8 from the 22 Charlie Frye sacked at the Browns 17 for a 5 yard loss.
4th and 13 from the 17: Browns punter Paul Ernster “booms” a 15 yarder to the Cleveland 32. But that’s just the beginning of the incompetence on that particular play. Look at the rest of the stat line for that fourth Browns play of the season:
Penalty on CLV-35-J.Harrison, Defensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at CLV 32.
Penalty on CLV-90-D.McMillan, Defensive Holding, declined.
Penalty on CLV-56-A.Peek, Illegal Formation, declined.
Penalty on CLV, Ineligible Downfield Kick, declined.
So, to recap, on their first offensive series of the season, the Browns had a 2 yard rush, an incomplete pass, a sack, and a 15 yard punt with four penalties. The Steelers took possession of the ball at the Cleveland 22 and scored a touchdown four plays later.
There is a special place in football heaven for Cleveland Browns fans. ;^)
Although the Houston Cougars put up a better fight against the Oregon Ducks than Michigan did, Shasta — the Cougars’ mascot — had a can of whoopass opened up on him by the Oregon Duck mascot, as the video below reveals. As a result of the fracas, the Oregon mascot has been suspended for Oregon’s next home game; meanwhile, it appears to me that Shasta could use a few lessons in self-defense. As a grizzled veteran of following Houston football, all I can say is that this would never have happened to Shasta while Bill Yeoman was coaching the Cougars. ;^)