double coverage 11-23-2011

1111

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEWThursday marks the 118th, and likely final, rivalry game between the Longhorns and Aggies. Texas is prepared to put the Aggies down the same way it first did in 1894. pg. 10

The Daily Texan Presents:

Vol. 6, Issue 12Nov. 23, 2011

33

3Wednesday, November 23, 2011

With 12 weeks gone in the regular season, the Longhorns have yet to iden-tify a reliable quarterback.

Mack Brown joked during the pre-season that if he couldn’t � nd a quar-terback by � anksgiving, he’d be a truck driver. � e head coach isn’t laughing about his QB situation anymore. Not with his two remaining signal-callers strug-gling to throw the ball.

Freshman David Ash has started the last � ve games, thrown six interceptions against no touchdowns and led Texas to a 2-3 record. Sophomore Case McCoy has played in the last four games and is responsible for the Longhorns’ only two touchdowns in more than eight quarters.

“Neither one of them has stepped up and taken over,” Brown said. “We will look at playing both again this week.”

A decision won’t be made on a starter until Wednesday night or � ursday.

Ash is 20 of 45 for 197 yards in his last two games, losses to Missouri and Kansas State. He was pulled

a� er throwing his second in-terception against KSU on

the � rst drive of the sec-ond half.

“I thought David played too hard ear-ly, then pressed and didn’t relax,” Brown

said. “We’ve got to get him to relax because he’s done some great things for us this year.”

Ash was not available for comment and has only addressed the media this season in select post-game settings.

Turnovers have plagued Ash all year. He’s been intercepted eight times in 10 games and lost a fumble against Oklahoma. � e only game he

started and did not turn the ball over was against Texas Tech on Nov. 5, when

Ash attempted just seven passes. He may have blown his chance to start

By Austin LaymanceDaily Texan Sta�

Texas still exploring options at quarterback

Just as Texas’ quarterback situation be-gan to stabilize and the Longhorns found their o� ensive identity, they ran into Missouri and Kansas State.

� e Texas o� ense has put up just 16 points over its last two games, with the lone touchdown coming from the backup quarter-back. Case McCoy took over for Garrett Gilbert when he struggled against BYU and remained the starting quarterback a� er Gilbert had shoulder surgery and announced his decision to transfer. But David Ash gradually wrestled the starting quarterback job from him. A� er Ash tossed two interceptions against Kan-sas State, McCoy replaced him with the Longhorns trailing 17-3 and nearly led them to a thrilling comeback victory.

“When Case came in, he gave us a great li� ,” said head coach Mack Brown. “We’ve won so many games like that in the fourth quarter. We � ipped the attitude, we got our swagger back and I thought we’d go right back, score and win the game.”

McCoy completed eight of his 16 passes for 80 yards while throwing his fourth touchdown pass of the season, a 36 yarder to senior tight end Blaine Irby. He � red three straight incompletions before getting sacked on fourth down on Texas’ next-to-last drive. � e sophomore was more productive on the next possession and came close to hitting Mike Davis for a deep pass that

Case McCoy

McCoy has proven inconsistent in limited role as second stringer, listed above Ash on depth chart

Young signal caller struggling, unable to rack up passing yards, avoid costly turnovers this year

By Christian CoronaDaily Texan Sta�

David AshAsh continues on PAGE 4McCoy continues on PAGE 4

Elisabeth Dillon Daily Texan Staff

powerrankings 5powerrankings 5


“““


— By Nick Cremona | Daily Texan StaffBIG 12POWERRANKINGS

5Missouri

4Oklahoma

3In what may prove to be his last year as a Bear, quarterback Robert Griffin III notched the most important win of his career over Oklahoma last Saturday. He once again broke a school record for passing yards (479) and threw a spectacular go-ahead touchdown late against the Sooners.

Baylor

2Head coach Bill Snyder’s dominance over the Longhorns continued last week as the Wildcats were able to pull out a win in Austin. Quarterback Collin Klein was kept under wraps for the majority of the game, but once again he was able to lead his team to victory.

Kansas State

1Oklahoma State

6Texas

7Texas A&M

8Iowa State

9Texas Tech

10Kansas

QUOTESTONOTE

The Cowboys were victim to a classic case of overlooking an opponent when Iowa State defeated them in overtime last week. Brandon Weeden threw three costly interceptions as the Pokes lost their first game of the season at maybe the most inopportune time.

Defensively, the Sooners were unable to defend against Robert Griffin III as he tossed four more touchdowns and didn’t turn the ball over. Freshman quarterback Blake Bell scored four rushing touchdowns. The Sooners’ defense will have to fix things quickly as BCS-buster Iowa State is next on the schedule this week.

A favorable bowl could be in the cards for the Tigers after all. With their 31-27 win over the Red Raiders last week the Tigers became bowl eligible. Tigers’ quarterback James Franklin ran for two touchdowns and added another pair of scores through the air.

The Longhorns’ offensive woes befell them once again as they were unable to get any significant production from either of their young quarterbacks. The run game saw a slight boost with the return of injury-hampered freshman Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron, but they only combined for 73 yards.

The win over Kansas makes the Aggies finally bowl eligible. Running back Cyrus Gray and receiver Ryan Swope are potent offensive weapons and will surely be discussed ad nauseam this week in the Texas defense’s film room. There’s no question the Aggies will be ready for their last chance against “Varsity.”

That was a Cyclone, all right. In one of the most shocking upsets all year the Cyclones topped Oklahoma State in overtime to officially cause chaos within the BCS top 10. It was the school’s first ever win over a top-two team. Head coach Paul Rhoads has done an excellent job this year.

Another tough loss for the Red Raiders as they dropped their fourth consecutive conference game against Missouri last week. This time out the Red Raiders kept it close, but James Franklin and the Tigers were just too much. The Red Raiders remain at five wins, and are in jeopardy of being left out of a bowl game. They will face Baylor this week in their season finale.

A 61-7 loss to the Aggies last weekend makes nine straight losses for the Jayhawks. They’re 0-8 in conference play and some weeks one wonders if they ever even make it to the game. With the addition of TCU and West Virginia to the ranks of the Big 12 on the horizon, it seems as if Kansas will wallow in mediocrity.

“It is going to be the last A&M game for a while but this game, this score will be remembered for a while. It’s the last one in a long series so it’s going to be a passionate, spirited game. � ere’s going to be some shots thrown.”

“It’s going to come down to a brawl, that’s what this game is. It’s one of those bar � ghts that you knuckle down and draw out in the streets. � at’s what it’s going to be, a great � ght.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re No. 1 in the country or last, it’s still going to be a great game. It’s kind of a surreal moment because this is the last A&M game.”

With Texas A&M leaving the Big 12 at the end of the school year, here’s how Texas’ players view the end of one college football’s greatest rivalries.

Blake GideonSenior safety

David Snow: Senior left guard

Blaine IrbySenior tight end

““I don’t think it’s good for Texas

high school football not to be able to showcase this game across the country.”

Mack Brown Head coach

“Emmanuel AchoSenior linebacker

“We know that the scoreboard is going to remembered and we want to make it a good memory.”

66

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6 Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Like aging childhood friends, schools ready to grow past rivalry

Paul Chouy | Daily Texan file pgoto

The Texas offense huddles before a play against the Aggies in 2008. The two teams will play the final relevant game of the rivalry on Thursday.

� is rivalry has seen its fair share of just about everything over the last 118 years.

Like a pair of college students themselves, Texas and Texas A&M have been through ups and downs together, and as much as they always competed, they knew one couldn’t exist without the other. Now as these old friends are ready to part, start di� erent lives in di� erent parts of the country, one can’t help but imagine them reminiscing over all the good, the bad, the funny, the ugly and ev-erything in between. It’d be a scene that played like old college buddies grabbing their last beers.

“Hey remember that � rst time we played you guys in 1884?” Texas

would say before taking a sip. “We beat you so bad (38-0) that you didn’t play another game for two years.” It’s true, the Aggies played the Longhorns in their lone 1894 game, and never � elded another team un-til 1896. Texas dominated the early part of the series so convincingly, that Texas A&M didn’t score its � rst series touchdown and victory until 1902.

“But wait a second. Remember how badly you fell for that � ea-� ick-er we ran in 1909? We won 5-0 that game, when touchdowns were worth as much as a nickel,” Texas A&M would retort. “As a matter of fact, we played you guys twice that year, and won both games didn’t we?” � ey did.

� ey’d laugh about the funny times, like when Texas A&M pranked the Longhorns with the “hideout

play” in its 1939 victory, or when the Longhorns took a fortune teller’s advice in 1941 to burn red candles before the game for good luck. � e joke is on A&M, Texas would point out, because the Longhorns won that year 23-0.

� ey’d marvel at their incredible performances.

“Dude, remember Ricky Williams in ,98?” Texas would say.

“How could anyone forget?” A&M would concede.

And of course, they’d mourn to-gether over the hard times. More peo-ple remember the moments of unity leading up to the game in 1999 a� er 12 Aggie students tragically died in the bon� re collapse, than they do the epic comeback they mounted to beat the Longhorns that year.

Discussion of their rivalry over the last decade would undoubtedly re-

surface wounds of betrayal and disre-spect that � nally seemed to reach their limits this year. One would hope that instead of allowing the bar conversa-tion to end in a bitter revival of their mutual hatred, or even a drunken sob-fest over the end of 118 crazy years together, it would end on a note of well-wishes. Texas would say thanks for being the best neighbor a person could ask to grow up with, and the Texas A&M would walk away know-

ing that it can no longer try to succeed in the shadow of its more imposing friend down road, but rather that it needs to forge its own destiny and leg-end that people will see as wholly “Ag-gie” 118 years from now.

� e more I re� ect, this rivalry, as sad as it seems to say, is ready to end. It has been an incredible ride and for every-one playing, coaching and watching this game, it will be something special to witness for one last time.

By Sameer Bhuchar Daily Texan Columnist

7 matchups7 matchups

7Wednesday, November 23, 2011B

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RUNNING BACK RECEIVERS OFFENSIVE LINE

DEFENSIVE LINE LINEBACKERS SECONDARY SPECIAL TEAMS

— By Wes Maulsby | Daily Texan StaffMATCHUPS

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QUARTERBACK� e Texas quarterback play has been

abysmal. Kansas State scored 10 points directly o� Texas interceptions on Saturday. Ryan Tannehill has passed for more than 3,100 yards this season with 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He has thrown for almost 500 yards in the last two games with six touchdowns to just one interception. More than half of his interceptions came in games against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Texas has the top passing e� ciency defense in the conference, so he will be facing his toughest opposition of the season, but he should do far better than the Texas quarterbacks who simply cannot make plays when they have to.

Texas and Texas A&M are both in the top 20 in rushing o� ense in the country, with Texas averaging just less than 224 yards per game, and the Aggies just less than 219. � ough they were back on the � eld against Kansas State, the duo of Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron combined for just 74 yards. Texas A&M’s Christine Michael su� ered a season-ending knee injury against Oklahoma, and so the burden has been put on Cyrus Gray to carry the load. He has rushed for 1,045 yards this season and has 312 yards over the last two games. Unless Texas has both backs at full health, Texas A&M has the advantage here, and may have it even if the Aggies aren’t at full speed.

� e Aggies have four receivers with at least 200 yards receiving this season. Ryan Swope leads the team with 1,069 yards receiving and is Tannehill’s favorite target this season. Je� Fuller hasn’t quite been putting up the numbers that he was expected to this season but is still a big target on the outside. Texas is led by Mike Davis, who has 554 yards receiving on 39 catches. With Shipley’s status still in question, Texas really doesn’t have many options at the wide receiver or the tight end positions. � e Aggies have an obvious edge at the receiver position. � ey have four guys who can make plays in the passing game, while Texas has been trying to � nd an option at that position all season.

Texas A&M has allowed 14 tackles for loss in the last three games, with Oklaho-ma stopping the Aggies behind the line of scrimmage nine times. Texas A&M aver-ages almost � ve and a half yards per carry on its way to being third in the conference in rushing this season, behind only Texas and Missouri. � e Longhorns have allowed seven tackles behind the line of scrimmage in their last two losses, but only allowed the Wildcats get two tackles for loss. � e of-fense has been comatose over the last two games, and the running game has not been what it was during Kansas and Texas Tech. � e team that is best able to run the ball in this contest will have an advantage, with Texas A&M likely having an easier time of pounding the ball on the ground.

Texas got to Kansas State behind the line of scrimmage 16 times on Saturday. Over the past four games, Texas has gotten 52 tackles behind the line of scrimmage with 14 sacks. To say that the Texas defensive line has come alive over the last four games would be understatement. Texas has held its last four opponents to a total of 218 yards rushing over the last four games, with Missouri getting 152 of those yards alone. Texas A&M has the 15th-ranked rush defense in the nation this year and have 34 tackles for loss over the last four games. Texas has made a living in the opposing back� eld over the last few games, and that should continue this week.

Emmanuel Acho continues to lead the team in tackling, and is coming o� a 13 tackle performance that includes two tackles for loss and a sack against Kansas State. Keenan Robinson, who had gone out of the Missouri game with a thumb injury, showed no signs of it while raking up 11 tackles with two for loss and a sack. Against Kansas State two weeks ago, Texas A&M was led by junior, Jonathan Stewart, who had 13 tackles with a sack. Next was Damontre for the Aggies with 12 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. Texas A&M run a 3-4 which will feature a lot of linebackers on the � eld. But Emmanuel Acho is the leading tackler heading into this game, and if Robinson shows no lingering e� ects of the thumb injury, then the Texas linebackers should have the advantage in this one.

Texas A&M can not defend the pass. � e Aggies are ranked 118th in the nation in passing yards allowed. � ey allow nearly 300 yards per game through the air. Texas allows just fewer than 200 yards per game through the air and boasts one of the top passing e� ciency defenses in the country, raking No. 11 nationally. Texas has only gotten its hands on seven passes this season and hasn’t picked one o� since intercepting Jordan Webb of Kansas. � e Aggies have gotten their hands on six passes this season. Although the Aggie pass defense has been abysmal this year, it won’t be under � re very much considering the Texas passing o� ense has been nonexistent for most of the year. And though the Texas pass defense will be under � re more, it is better and more capable of handling it.

Texas � nally got some yards in the punt return game against the Wildcats with Quandre Diggs gaining 45 yards on three punt returns. Texas A&M is in the bottom third of the nation in kicko� returns and is without a touchdown this season. Texas hasn’t gotten a lot out of the kicko� return department since Fozzy Whittaker got hurt. Texas used a Marquise Goodwin kicko� return to seal the win the last time it played in College Station, and another play like that will be necessary for Texas to generate some points against the Aggies. Both kickers have been good this year with Randy Bullock hitting on 84 percent of his � eld goals for the Aggies, and Justin Tucker hitting on 88 percent for Texas. Texas has a slim advantage here because of Tucker’s leg, and his ability to make good tackles for a kicker.

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8 Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Texas A&M has had an inter-esting season to say the least. The Aggies have changed conferences, had close losses, suffered incred-ible collapses, pulled off great per-formances and failed to live up to expectations all in the span of a few months.

So how did the Aggies fall from the No. 8 team in the country, to a pedestrian 6-5 overall going into their final matchup of the season against Texas?

August 31stTexas A&M announces it will

leave the Big 12 starting in the 2012 season. The Aggies were lat-er accepted into the SEC for next season. This announcement cre-ated huge waves in college foot-ball, causing many teams switch conferences. Some speculate that the move could eventually break down the traditional conference alignment for good. For A&M, this announcement just added extra pressure to the players season and forced the players to answer ques-tions about what conference they would be playing in instead of who they were playing against week after week.

September 24th vs. Oklahoma State

The team was rolling despite the conference alignment rumors, it was 2-0 and coming off of a pair of big wins to open the season. The Aggies started out the game hot to quickly build a 20-3 halftime lead over the No. 7 Cowboys. However, from that point on they collapsed and three turnovers and numer-ous penalties allowed Oklahoma State back in the game. Oklahoma State went on to reel off 27 straight points in route to a 30-29 win.

“It’s tough. We had so much on the line coming into this game and we were so excited about this game,” said quarterback Ryan Tan-nehill. “Any loss is tough but this one especially hurts. Our guys are resilient though. They can handle a tough loss and I think we will be able to bounce back next week.”

October 1st vs. ArkansasBounce back the Aggies did,

well at least initially against their future SEC foes, the No. 18 Ar-kansas Razorbacks. The Aggies were dominant once again at half, leading 35-17, and were throw-ing the ball around the yard with ease. But once again they hit a wall in the most important portion of

By Chris HummerDaily Texan Staff

Aggies begin with hype, season ends in free fall

the game, the final one. They lead the whole game up until the 1: 41 mark in the fourth quarter, when a Razorback touchdown put them in the lead for the first time and was enough to secure a 42-38 victory for Arkansas.

“I do think that we’re contrib-uting to our demise in the second half,” said head coach Mike Sher-man. “We definitely have to play better, coach better and be better in order to win football games. Certainly that is a struggle for us at this point. Each player in that lock-er room has to look at themselves, as well as the coaches and figure

out what we could all have done a lot better.”

This was the second monumen-tal collapse for the team on the season, and sealed any chance of a national title birth for A&M this season but, more importantly, it es-tablished a trend.

October 29th vs. MissouriThe Aggies were once again roll-

ing winning three straight Big 12 games and displaying the type of talent that ranked them in the top 10 in the preseason, going into a matchup with Missouri. However,

the Aggies inability to hold a lead came back to bite them once again, when they blew a 11-point half time cushion to the Tigers, eventu-ally falling in overtime 38-31.

“The loss is very devastating. We didn’t need a loss. We hate losing. We’re a team that had high expec-tations coming into the year,” said linebacker Sean Porter. “This is bad, it’s not what we expected at all and we need to play a lot better as a team.”

It didn’t get much better for the Tigers after that, they went on to lose two more in a row to Oklaho-ma and to Kansas State, the latter being another blown lead and four overtime loss.

While they played much bet-ter last week against Kanas in a 61-7 blowout of the Jayhawks, this team is still inconsistent at best. The Aggies had Big 12 title aspi-rations coming in to the season, and now because of their inabil-ity to finish, they face one of the most disappointing seasons in the school’s history.

Nov. 24th vs. TexasA win against the Longhorns

could do wonders to gloss over what has been a bad season. But will the Aggies have yet another collapse or will they play the way their capable of? That remains to be seen, but with this year’s A&M squad the one thing you can expect is an entertaining result, just may-be not for the home team.

Texas A&M wide receiver Jeff Fuller (8) reacts after missing a pass for a two-point conversion to win the game during overtime against Kansas State. The Aggies began the year with so much promise, but have fallen just short of suc-cess all year.

Charlie Riedel Associated Press

9

Last week, after Texas’ loss to Mis-souri, head coach Mack Brown said, “We’ve got us a mess right now.”

Injuries to Malcolm Brown, Joe Bergeron and Fozzy Whittaker hurt the Longhorns in their losses to Mis-souri and Kansas State. Texas A&M can relate.

At the beginning of the season, the Aggies thought they had great depth when it came to running backs.

But that changed when the Ag-gies fell to Oklahoma 25-41 on November 5th.

Junior running back Christine Michael tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee — ending his season and requiring surgery.

Michael had rushed for 899 yards this season and he averages just less than a hundred a game.

On October 11 of last season, he broke his leg and missed the rest of the season. When Michael was out last year, running back Cyrus Gray stepped up and finished the season with seven straight games of at least 100 rushing yards.

After having two season-ending injuries in a row, head coach Mike Sherman said Michael handled the news of his injury well.

“It’s certainly a disappointment to him and to us,” Sherman said. “He’s in a positive state of mind, at least he was last time I saw him; it’s just part of the game.”

Sherman also said that Gray would have to step up, just as he did in the 2010 season.

Gray, who has 1,045 rushing this season, is currently day-to-day af-ter getting a stress fracture during A&M’s 61-7 rout over Kansas last week. This season is Gray’s second season in a row with 1,000 or more rushing yards.

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill said Gray is important to the Aggies and he gets a lot of carries. Ben Malena is also an option at running back.

“He’s a big player for us,” Tannehill said. “We’ll see how it goes. But Male-na is a big player as well. He hasn’t seen the reps but he’s a solid running back. We see what he can do in prac-tice every day. I think either way we have confidence.”

Head coach Mike Sherman said he may be able to play on Thursday, even if he doesn’t practice this week. But, he hopes he will be back for Thurs-day’s game against Texas.

“We need everybody,” Sherman said. “I think that goes without saying. It will be a great ball game and I would like to get everybody out there.”

After Gray left the game on Satur-day, Sherman was forced to pull the redshirt off true freshman Will Ran-dolf. He had 37 yards on 10 carries.

“It’s always difficult when you do that, but we talk to those guys every week and talk every morning before the ball game of potentials (red-shirts) if certain situations arise,” Tannehill said. “Without know-

ing Cyrus’ status for the last week, I thought it was important he got reps in this ballgame. That’s just part of it. That’s what we had to do.”

In addition to Cyrus and Michael’s injuries, starting defensive end Jona-

than Mathis’ season ended because of a knee injury he incurred during A&M’s game against Oklahoma State. Defensive backs Steven Campbell and Coryell Judie have missed multiple games because of leg injuries.

Both teams have been limp-ing through this season, but how both rally on Thursday will be pivotal in determining the winner of the last Texas and Texas A&M rivalry game.

9

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Injuries to Texas A&M running backs plaguing teamBy Lauren GiudiceDaily Texan Staff

Alonzo Adams | Associated Press

Aggie running back Christine Michael is tackled by OU’s Travis Lewis (28). Michael tore his ACL this game.

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� e Longhorns know what they’ll eat on � anksgiving. � ey’re not exactly sure how they’ll score points in the last rivalry game against Texas A&M.

� e Texas o� ense is stuck in park and head coach Mack Brown said his biggest concern for � ursday’s matchup against the Aggies is reach-ing the end zone. UT enters the � nal game of the 118-year rivalry with an o� ense that has managed just 18 points in the last two games, losses to Missouri and Kansas State and scored a lone touchdown.

“We just keep stopping ourselves,” said Brown, who is 9-4 against A&M. “We have quarter-backs and running backs going the wrong way, low snaps that stop drives, turnovers that lead to points.”

He’s right. � e o� ense has been a mess for two straight games, much like the kitchen a� er � anksgiving dinner.

Texas has been ravaged by injuries in the sec-ond half of the season. � e Longhorns looked like they had returned to the power running days of old, but that was before Fozzy Whittaker was lost for the year and Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron fell victim to the rigors of their � rst collegiate season.

Two straight games of more than 400 yards rushing gave way to a pair losses and an o� ense plagued by inconsistency and poor execution. With Brown (turf toe) and Bergeron (ham-string) dogged by injuries of late, the Longhorns lost their identity as a downhill running team.

“We can’t be that right now all the time,” Brown said. “We’re trying to � gure out ways to win a ball game and at the same time moving forward.”

� e Longhorns are in a rebuilding season, so it’s no wonder there have been growing pains along the way. Still, a 6-2 record and a No. 21 ranking on Nov. 6 quickly evaporated as the of-fense plummeted at Missouri, and then contin-ued its freefall against Kansas State.

So what’s been the problem?“You could say lot of di� erent things,” said

senior le� guard David Snow. “� ere’s a lot of young guys. It will all come together. � at’s what happens when you have a brand new o� ense, working out the kinks. We’re still growing as an o� ense, � nding our place.”

� e defense has held up its end of the bargain, though, and kept Texas in games while the of-fense struggles. � at’s at least one thing UT can hang its hat on. � ere’s still time to turn things

around, but the clock is ticking.“� e year hasn’t gone wrong,” said senior

safety Blake Gideon. “We’ve got two games le� and we’ve got a winning record. It’s not where we want to be but we’ve got an opportunity to send one of our Big 12 foes o� with a bang.”

Last � anksgiving, Texas was 5-6 and desper-ate for a win over the Aggies to become bowl-eligible. � e Longhorns secured a bowl invite on Nov. 5 this year, so they’ve made some progress.

“We’re headed in the right direction,” Brown said. “We haven’t won as many games as I want to. But I’m fully convinced we’re getting close. I can see it, I can feel it, it’s so much better than last year.”

Texas has been a few bad bounces away from winning at least two more games.

Gideon intercepted a pass against Oklahoma State and returned it for six, but the quarterback was ruled down in the end zone a� er barely stepping out of bounds before releasing the ball, resulting in a safety. A blocked punt against Mis-souri hit the crossbar on the goal post, turning a sure touchdown into another safety.

“It’s not illegal to score on defense either,” Gideon said.

� at might be the Longhorns’ best o� ense on � anksgiving.





Texas has been ravaged by injuries in the sec-ond half of the season. � e Longhorns looked

� e rivalry between Texas and Texas A&M is truly a tradi-tion unlike any other.

� e � rst Masters tournament was played in 1934, 40 years a� er the Longhorns and Aggies began playing each other. But with Texas A&M bolting for the SEC, its 118th meeting with Texas may be the last. No golf tournament has anything on the Lone Star Showdown, which has truly been a tradition like any other.

“My family always used to watch Texas and Texas A&M,” said head coach Mack Brown. “When it was on � ursday, I always thought it was more special because it was the only game in town.”

Emotions ran high last weekend when the Longhorns faced Kansas State on Senior Night. � eir comeback attempt fell short but Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium saved its loudest home game for last. But with the Lone Star Show-down coming to a close, at least for the near future, fans and

players alike are sure to get amped up for the � anksgiving Day clash.

“� is week’s game is going to be wild,” said senior lineback-er Emmanuel Acho. “I’m ready to be in that atmosphere. It’s going to be one that’s remembered.”

Both the Longhorns and Aggies have underachieved this season. Texas A&M found itself among the top 10 ranked teams in this year’s preseason polls while Texas looked to bounce back from an abysmal 5-7 campaign. � e Aggies have lost � ve games, becoming notorious for blowing double-digit second-half leads and didn’t even become bowl eligible until demolishing Kansas last weekend. But if this rivalry has taught us anything, it’s that win-loss records don’t seem to matter as much when Texas and Texas A&M square o� .

“No matter what the score is or what the series says, they’re going to come out and play hard whatever their record is,” Snow said.

Kyle Field, self-proclaimed home of the 12th Man, is known to produce deafening decibel levels when the Aggies host a football game. � e 84-year-old stadium is never loud-

er than when the Longhorns roll into College Station. And with Texas’ nonconference schedule � lled through 2017, the atmosphere at Kyle Field � ursday may be the wildest this 118-year-old rivalry has seen.

“It’ll be a passionate and emotional game,” said senior safety Blake Gideon. “We know what to expect. It’s a hostile environment. � ey do a great job of really having a 12th man out there.”

� ere is no love lost between these two in-state rivals. � e animosity between these two schools have spanned three centuries and with Texas A&M set to face teams like LSU, Florida and Auburn, the Aggies’ and Longhorns’ fanbase are sure to be looking to make the most of their last chance to let the other know how they feel about them. As for the players, many claimed that they are treating this week’s game like any other but one acknowledged the consequences of a rivalry as � erce as this one.

“When you have hate going on, certain cheap shots go on, especially from the other side,” said Snow. “� at’s the great thing about the trenches – only men survive down there.”

� anks to this season’s conference realignment develop-ments, another of the Big 12’s beloved rivalries was lost af-ter Texas A&M’s move to the SEC has brought the Lone Star Showdown to a halt while Nebraska, who moved to the Big Ten before this season, e� ectively ended its historic rivalry with Oklahoma. But with the prospect of lucrative television deals in sight, the world of college sports has nearly been al-tered beyond recognition.

“� e decisions aren’t being made about football,” Brown said. “� e realignment decisions are being made by admin-istrators and trustees, not football coaches or football players. It’s bigger than us.”

� is week’s contest between Texas and Texas A&M might not have national championship or BCS implications. � ere aren’t any Heisman Trophy contenders taking the � eld in College Station on � ursday night.

But that doesn’t mean this year’s Lone Star Showdown isn’t one of this week’s most meaningful. Because, like the Long-horns’ longtime head coach said about conference realign-ment, it’s bigger than us.

One Last Time

THURSDAY’S MATCHUP

MARKS END OF GREAT COLLEGE

FOOTBALL TRADITION

Texas players prepared for yet another emotional game, ‘wild’ atmosphere

Longhorns enteringfi nal game of rivalry without reliable offense



Photo archives from � e Daily Texan 1915

Betsy CooperDaily Texan Staff

1110 11

10 11





Texas has been ravaged by injuries in the sec-ond half of the season. � e Longhorns looked like they had returned to the power running days of old, but that was before Fozzy Whittaker was lost for the year and Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron fell victim to the rigors of their � rst collegiate season.

Two straight games of more than 400 yards rushing gave way to a pair losses and an o� ense plagued by inconsistency and poor execution. With Brown (turf toe) and Bergeron (ham-string) dogged by injuries of late, the Longhorns lost their identity as a downhill running team.

“We can’t be that right now all the time,” Brown said. “We’re trying to � gure out ways to win a ball game and at the same time moving forward.”

� e Longhorns are in a rebuilding season, so it’s no wonder there have been growing pains along the way. Still, a 6-2 record and a No. 21 ranking on Nov. 6 quickly evaporated as the of-fense plummeted at Missouri, and then contin-ued its freefall against Kansas State.

So what’s been the problem?“You could say lot of di� erent things,” said

senior le� guard David Snow. “� ere’s a lot of young guys. It will all come together. � at’s what happens when you have a brand new o� ense, working out the kinks. We’re still growing as an o� ense, � nding our place.”

� e defense has held up its end of the bargain, though, and kept Texas in games while the of-fense struggles. � at’s at least one thing UT can hang its hat on. � ere’s still time to turn things

around, but the clock is ticking.“� e year hasn’t gone wrong,” said senior

safety Blake Gideon. “We’ve got two games le� and we’ve got a winning record. It’s not where we want to be but we’ve got an opportunity to send one of our Big 12 foes o� with a bang.”

Last � anksgiving, Texas was 5-6 and desper-ate for a win over the Aggies to become bowl-eligible. � e Longhorns secured a bowl invite on Nov. 5 this year, so they’ve made some progress.

“We’re headed in the right direction,” Brown said. “We haven’t won as many games as I want to. But I’m fully convinced we’re getting close. I can see it, I can feel it, it’s so much better than last year.”

Texas has been a few bad bounces away from winning at least two more games.

Gideon intercepted a pass against Oklahoma State and returned it for six, but the quarterback was ruled down in the end zone a� er barely stepping out of bounds before releasing the ball, resulting in a safety. A blocked punt against Mis-souri hit the crossbar on the goal post, turning a sure touchdown into another safety.

“It’s not illegal to score on defense either,” Gideon said.

� at might be the Longhorns’ best o� ense on � anksgiving.





Texas has been ravaged by injuries in the sec-ond half of the season. � e Longhorns looked

� e rivalry between Texas and Texas A&M is truly a tradi-tion unlike any other.

� e � rst Masters tournament was played in 1934, 40 years a� er the Longhorns and Aggies began playing each other. But with Texas A&M bolting for the SEC, its 118th meeting with Texas may be the last. No golf tournament has anything on the Lone Star Showdown, which has truly been a tradition like any other.

“My family always used to watch Texas and Texas A&M,” said head coach Mack Brown. “When it was on � ursday, I always thought it was more special because it was the only game in town.”

Emotions ran high last weekend when the Longhorns faced Kansas State on Senior Night. � eir comeback attempt fell short but Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium saved its loudest home game for last. But with the Lone Star Show-down coming to a close, at least for the near future, fans and

players alike are sure to get amped up for the � anksgiving Day clash.

“� is week’s game is going to be wild,” said senior lineback-er Emmanuel Acho. “I’m ready to be in that atmosphere. It’s going to be one that’s remembered.”

Both the Longhorns and Aggies have underachieved this season. Texas A&M found itself among the top 10 ranked teams in this year’s preseason polls while Texas looked to bounce back from an abysmal 5-7 campaign. � e Aggies have lost � ve games, becoming notorious for blowing double-digit second-half leads and didn’t even become bowl eligible until demolishing Kansas last weekend. But if this rivalry has taught us anything, it’s that win-loss records don’t seem to matter as much when Texas and Texas A&M square o� .

“No matter what the score is or what the series says, they’re going to come out and play hard whatever their record is,” Snow said.

Kyle Field, self-proclaimed home of the 12th Man, is known to produce deafening decibel levels when the Aggies host a football game. � e 84-year-old stadium is never loud-

er than when the Longhorns roll into College Station. And with Texas’ nonconference schedule � lled through 2017, the atmosphere at Kyle Field � ursday may be the wildest this 118-year-old rivalry has seen.

“It’ll be a passionate and emotional game,” said senior safety Blake Gideon. “We know what to expect. It’s a hostile environment. � ey do a great job of really having a 12th man out there.”

� ere is no love lost between these two in-state rivals. � e animosity between these two schools have spanned three centuries and with Texas A&M set to face teams like LSU, Florida and Auburn, the Aggies’ and Longhorns’ fanbase are sure to be looking to make the most of their last chance to let the other know how they feel about them. As for the players, many claimed that they are treating this week’s game like any other but one acknowledged the consequences of a rivalry as � erce as this one.

“When you have hate going on, certain cheap shots go on, especially from the other side,” said Snow. “� at’s the great thing about the trenches – only men survive down there.”

� anks to this season’s conference realignment develop-ments, another of the Big 12’s beloved rivalries was lost af-ter Texas A&M’s move to the SEC has brought the Lone Star Showdown to a halt while Nebraska, who moved to the Big Ten before this season, e� ectively ended its historic rivalry with Oklahoma. But with the prospect of lucrative television deals in sight, the world of college sports has nearly been al-tered beyond recognition.

“� e decisions aren’t being made about football,” Brown said. “� e realignment decisions are being made by admin-istrators and trustees, not football coaches or football players. It’s bigger than us.”

� is week’s contest between Texas and Texas A&M might not have national championship or BCS implications. � ere aren’t any Heisman Trophy contenders taking the � eld in College Station on � ursday night.

But that doesn’t mean this year’s Lone Star Showdown isn’t one of this week’s most meaningful. Because, like the Long-horns’ longtime head coach said about conference realign-ment, it’s bigger than us.

One Last Time

THURSDAY’S MATCHUP

MARKS END OF GREAT COLLEGE

FOOTBALL TRADITION

Texas players prepared for yet another emotional game, ‘wild’ atmosphere

Longhorns enteringfi nal game of rivalry without reliable offense



Photo archives from � e Daily Texan 1915

Betsy CooperDaily Texan Staff

12 players2watch

14 games2watch

17 heismanwatch

1919


As you pan across the East side — the student section — of Kyle Field on � urs-day night, two questions are likely to come to your mind. � e � rst, in reference to the crowd: “What’s the deal with every-one standing?” � e second, in regards to the phrase featured on the crossbeam separating the second and third tiers of maroon-clad students: “What does ‘Home of the 12th Man’ mean?” � e answers to these inquiries date back to the January 2, 1922, Dixie Classic — the ancestor of the modern-day Cotton Bowl — a football showdown in Dallas between Texas A&M and Center College. Although Center Col-lege was favored to win, the matchup was tight and brutal throughout. Near the end of the game, A&M had only 11 healthy players le� — all of whom were on the � eld. Aware that his team would be forced to forfeit the game if one more injury was sustained, A&M Coach Dana X. Bible looked up into the stands and spotted for-mer football-turned-basketball player E. King Gill in the press box assisting report-ers in distinguishing Aggie players. Coach

Bible beckoned Gill down from the stands and asked him to suit up and assume the role of the team’s 12th man. Without hesi-tation, he prepared for play. Ultimately, when the Aggies emerged victorious — outscoring Center College 22-14 — Gill, who had never entered the game, was the sole standing player that remained on the A&M sideline. “I wish I could say I went in and scored the winning touchdown but I didn’t, all I did was stand by ready to go in case my team needed me,” Gill later commented. Ever since, the A&M student body has assumed the name and spirit of the 12th man — always on its feet, ready to help its team at a moment’s notice. Aggies have been standing for nearly 90 years; be assured that their tradition will not be broken on the last game of this historic UT-TAMU rivalry.

Advice: Stay Strong. Remain standing in li� ed boots or high-heeled shoes — anything to get the Longhorns one (tall-er) leg up on the competition.

THE STANDING

When Kyle Field is loud and rockin’ ... what on the seemingly-shuddering earth is going on? � e answer: the “Aggie War Hymn.” Although the A&M student body executes its musical theater number every game, the spectacle is speci� cally addressed to the Univer-sity of Texas; there is a good chance that � ursday will be the last football game during which the Ag-gies will have the opportunity to perform it in front a live Longhorn audience. � e second verse of the song,

which opens with “Good-bye to Texas university” is traditionally repeated twice, then followed by the Ag-gie anthem, “Saw Varsity’s Horns O� .” At this point A&M fans link arms, intertwine legs and sway back and forth in the opposite direction of the string of Aggies in of them. � e synchronized motion, which shakes the whole upper deck, is supposed to imitate that of a saw and is a (questionably perverted) symbol of severing o� Bevo’s horns. If you are not an Aggie

fan numb with school spirit, the combination of sing-ing and swaying will most likely leave you nothing more than annoyed.

Advice: Come prepared. Suggested items to bring to the game: a pair of earplugs, a bottle of Dramamine and, for Bevo’s sake, a PETA shirt.

THE SINGING AND THE SWAYING

If you � nd the highlight of college football games to be watching gorgeous, smiling girls � ipping down the � eld and being thrown into the air, prepare to be disappointed. Long ago, A&M chose to replace girls, pompoms, pleated skirts and cheers for boys, hand sig-nals, white uniforms and a lot of loud yelling. Known as the Aggie Yell Leaders, the student-elected, spirit-inspiring team is composed of three seniors and two juniors. You will eas-ily be able to spot them on the sidelines in front of the student section throwing up odd hand gestures, or “pass backs.” Like a strike of lightening before a roar of thunder, the Yell Leaders will � ash one of the dozen of their pass backs; the student body — immediately recognizing the symbol — will respond with

the chant that corresponds with the hand gesture. What to look out for: a Yell Leader’s le� arm clapping against his bicep, his right arm pulling up with his � st clenched. Fol-lowing this pass back the students will shout, “Beat the Hell Outta t.u.” — the phrase “t.u.” being a term used by Aggies to remind them-selves of the fact that the “UT is not the only university in Texas.”

Advice: Make a mental note. Win or lose, not many people are phased by the yells other than A&M fans. At the end of the day, never forget that you hail from University of Texas Longhorns ... and you have your own net-work.

THE SHOUTING

AGGIE TRADITIONS

By Kristin Otto

FAVORITE TEXAS FOOTBALL MEMORY: “My favorite UT football memory is when I took a road trip with some friends to Arizona to watch the Longhorns beat Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.”

THOUGHTS ON THE END OF THE RIVALRY: “I am not too upset that the rivalry with A&M is ending. Outside of the state of Texas, the rivalry hasn’t garnered the national attention. In recent history, the series rarely featured a matchup where both teams were dominant.

CURRENTLY WORKS AT: Hewlet Packard in austin

LASTWEEK’SWINNERSubmit your weekly picks on the Double Coverage site for a chance to be immortalized as a “Fan Pick ‘Em” winner, as well as receive two

free movie tickets courtesy of Regal Cinemas. Because the contest was on hold last week, Double Coverage chose to feature Sarang who is actually one of the long lost winners who claimed his prize a little later than expected. Better late than never! Keep the picks coming, readers.

Sarang Patel

UT Alumni

double coverage 11-23-2011

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