Texans 31 Titans 21. My younger son and I went to the Texans game today with a couple of friends and we all enjoyed an entertaining game. The Texans began the game in a coma and found themselves trailing 21-3 midway through the second quarter as Titans’ QB Steve McNair sliced and diced the Texans’ secondary. The Texans then pieced together their only drive of the first half to narrow the score to 21-10, but still looked overmatched as they could not stop McNair’s pinpoint passing. Then, seemingly without reason, the Texans offense woke up in the third quarter, David Carr began to look like a top level NFL QB, and the Texans’ defense started getting pressure on McNair. Before you knew it, the Texans had scored two TD’s to take the lead 24-21. The remainder of the game pretty much involved the Texans playing it close to the vest on offense while defending furiously against the Titans’ fourth quarter thrusts. Finally, a McNair fumble and interception in the fourth quarter thwarted the Titans’ final drives, and then the Texans’ Domanick Davis ran in a late TD from 41 yards to seal the victory for the hometown crew. The bottomline on this one was that the Texans’ offensive line did a much better job of establishing a running attack for Davis and in protecting Carr, and that’s the primary reason that the Texans (now 5-6 on the season) were able to beat the former Oilers for the second time this season. Next week’s game for the Texans is at the Meadowlands against the Jets.
Dallas 21 Chicago 7. After a horrid first half display from both teams that almost set back NFL offenses from several decades of development, the Pokes’ Vinnie Testaverde made the first of what will likely in coming weeks be several appearances in relief of current Cowboys savior Drew Henson and engineered two second half drives to secure the win for the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day. Henson — who curiously has gotten rich off of unrealized potential in both professional baseball and professional football — stunk in his first start for the Pokes, going 4 of 12 for 31 yards with 1 interception that was run back 45 yards for a Chicago TD. Thus, in his first outing, Henson passed for more yardage and touchdowns to the other team than his own. The 4-7 Cowboys go to Seattle for the Monday Night game next week against the Seahawks. The Texans have a real chance of finishing this season with a better record than the Cowboys, which would not go over well with Pokes’ owner Mr. Jones at Valley Ranch.
Texas Longhorns 26 Texas Aggies 13. In a game that was not as close as the score indicates, the Horns calmed down after a first half near-disaster to pound the Aggies into submission in the second half and come away with their fifth straight win in the storied series between the two programs. The Horns were about ready to take a 13-7 lead at the end of the first half when Texas QB Vince Young had a brain fart and fumbled the ball while attempting to stretch his arm over the goal line. Aggie safety Jonte Buhl picked up the fumble and raced 98 yards for an Aggie TD and a stunning 13-7 Aggie lead at halftime, which did not go over well with the Horns. That incident appeared to make the Longhorns downright ornery as the Horns’ defense suffocated Aggie QB Reggie McNeal in the second half, holding the Aggie offense to a total of about 60 yards total offense. In one series during the fourth quarter, Texas took complete control of the line of scrimmage and sacked the elusive McNeal on three straight plays before the exasperated Aggie QB threw an interception on the fourth play. Meanwhile, Young and Cedric Benson kept pounding on the overworked Aggie defense and methodically scored 19 second half points to put the game away. The 10-1 Horns now await the outcome of the league championship games, but it is looking more and more like the best Texas team of the Mack Brown era will again miss out on a Bowl Championship Series game on New Year’s Day. That’s a shame, became this Horns team — particularly its fast and strong defense — is pretty darn good. The Aggies look like they are headed for the Holiday Bowl in San Diego against Arizona State for the Ags’ first bowl game in three seasons.
Louisiana Tech 51 Rice 14. Rice’s disappointing season ended on Monday night in a 51-14 loss to Louisiana Tech before a “crowd” of friends and family members of 8,317 at Reliant Stadium. The Owls finished with a record of 3-8 on the season.
The 3-8 Houston Cougars’ season finished last week (mercifully).
And finally, don’t miss Kevin Whited’s final Big 12 wrap-up.