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The Daily Texan Presents:

Vol. 6, Issue 5Sept. 30, 2011

Flaunting your money makers

the young secondary reFers to

itselF as the ‘money makers’.

now it is time to put their

money with their mouth is. page 10

2 33

3Friday, September 30, 2011

The tight ends are back. For the past three seasons, the

Longhorns’ offense had a steady de-cline in production from the tight end position. That’s all changed in 2011.

Blaine Irby and D.J. Grant have returned from serious knee injuries that cost them a combined five sea-sons, and the two have begun to as-sert themselves within the Texas of-fense. The tight ends’ emergence has also opened things up for the rest of the Longhorns’ attack.

During Texas’ win over UCLA, Grant hauled in six passes for 77 yards and three touchdowns. But the breakout game wasn’t just about him. It eased the burden on the rest of the offense.

“When the tight ends get the ball it opens up the defense more,” Grant said. “When we have tight ends that can run good routes, it forces the defense to put more defensive backs in the game and that helps the run game open up and get the receivers out of double coverage.”

That’s exactly what happened against the Bruins.

The defense started to key on the tight ends, which in turn gave more opportunities for big plays to wide receivers down field. In the second half of that game, the Longhorns rushing attack took advantage of the extra defensive backs on the field, running all over UCLA for a season-high 284 yards.

Ever since Jermichael Finley left early for the NFL following the 2007 season, the Longhorns have struggled to find consistency from their tight ends. They were leaning on Irby to pick up where Finley left off, but a knee injury in 2008 derailed those hopes.

Defensive coordinators were able to eliminate the threat of the tight end from their game plans and focus in on stopping the Texas receivers and running game. That simply isn’t the case this season.

“Since we’re all healthy now, it’s one of those deals where we can hurt a defense with the run game and pass game,” Irby said. “We definitely can stretch the defense out, D.J. showed that last game. The safeties and de-fensive coaches are going to have to take the tight end as a factor.”

The benefits of a game-changing tight end are endless. They can dic-

tate a defense’s coverage, provide an extra threat in the red zone and make an impact on play-action passes.

“When you have a tight end, you can control the middle of the field,” said co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin. “When you’ve got that threat down the middle, now (the defense) can’t just go double outside the wide receivers and put a linebacker inside. They have to keep another guy — a safety — aware of what’s going on down the middle, which helps you get one-on-one coverage outside.

“It’s just one more for the de-fense to go okay, ‘What are they go-ing to do?’ If you can get them to freeze their feet a little bit, you’ve got an advantage.”

But this group of tight ends is do-ing more than just helping out in the passing game. Once criticized for lacking the strength and toughness to block on the edge, the tight ends are creating running lanes for Texas’ dynamic tailbacks.

“They have been blocking bet-ter than in the past,” said senior left tackle Tray Allen. “It’s encouraging because we all have a hand in the dirt and we all have to open holes for our backs to get yards and make our team look great.”

While Irby and Grant were rehab-bing their knee injuries for two sea-sons, the two used the extra time in the weight room to bulk up and be-come better blockers.

“I feel like I was always there men-tally, I just had to get there physically,” Grant said.

Grant was a receiver at nearby LBJ High School, and then switched to tight end after tearing his right ACL, PCL and hamstring two years ago. His background as a premier pass-catcher, though, gives him the versa-tility that coaches covet.

“He’s got a lot of tools,” Harsin said. “We’re moving him around. I think he’s got the ability to be the to-tal package.”

Still, the Longhorns have five other tight ends that are making a case for more playing time, including Irby.

“[Harsin] knows what each of us are best at and he finds a way to get us involved,” Grant said. “When everybody is involved like that, ev-erybody is happy. And when you’ve got a happy team, you’ve got a good team.”

As long as Harsin continues to uti-lize the tight ends like he did against UCLA, the offense will only get bet-ter. Yes, the tight ends are back.

Tight end role expanded in Texas’ passing attack

By Austin LaymanceDaily Texan Staff

2

2 Friday, September 30, 2011

Editor’s notEThe Daily Texan’s Double Coverage is printed the Friday before every Texas football game and twice during OU week.

Cover Illustration: Ryan Edwards, Above: Lawrence Peart | Daily Texan file photo

page

theLINEUPNerves of steeleIowa State quarterback Steele Jantz has traveled a long road to earn the Cyclones’ starting spot. Now he is leading the team to its best start in years.

4

oN the defeNseTexas’ defense is the focal point behind the Longhorns’ strong start. Between the athletic young secondary and the stout front seven, they are a force to be reckoned with.

10

Last week’s bye gave the Horns a chance to catch up with family, wind down and even prepare for Iowa State.

16 a weekeNd to relax

Double Coverage looks at how the Longhorns and other teams around the country are gearing up for Week 4.

Matchups

Big 12 power raNkiNgs

Big 12 Quick hits8

12 iowa state players to watch

PrEviEws and notEbooks

heisMaN watch17

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Double Coverage Editor……………Sameer Bhuchar Design Editor…………………….Simonetta NietoPhoto Editor…………………………Ryan EdwardsCopy Editors……….....……Sydney FitzgeraldIssue Designer...............Martina GeronimoWriters…….........................................Austin Laymance ...............................................................Christian Corona…………...........................…...............Nick Cremona ................................................................Lauren Giudice ..................................…......…...............Chris Hummer …………………....................…….....Wes Maulsby................................................................Michael Morton...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kristin Otto......................................................Al Lenhart

The Daily Texan PresenTs:

Volume 6, Issue 5 • 2011 edItIon

who nEEds ExPansion?The Big 12 may be down a few teams, but the competition in the conference is as tough as ever. Between the emerging quarterbacks and rising programs, the Big 12 is on the rise.

the case for a QB

14page

9 a real challeNge

- -

The Big 12’s teams have only lost two games this season, making this a tough season ahead for Texas.

Steele Jantz is a prime example of how important a good college quarterback is to a squad’s success. As the quarterback goes, so does the team.

7

page5

4 powerrankings 5powerrankings 5


— By Nick Cremona | Daily Texan StaffBIG 12POWERRANKINGS

5After a bye week, the Longhorns will travel to Ames, Iowa, to play Iowa State. Cyclones quarterback Steele Jantz simply gets the job done and will have to be contained if Texas expects to win. How the Longhorns respond throughout this game could be very telling of how they will fare the rest of the season.

Texas

4The Aggies weren’t able to win their big matchup against Oklahoma State but with much of the season left to be played they are still in contention for the Big 12 crown. The Cowboys were able to move the ball with ease against the Aggies in the second half and quarterback Ryan Tannehill was a completely different player for Texas A&M after halftime.

Texas A&M

3Robert Griffin has cemented his name among the serious Heisman candidates and has thrown more touchdowns than incompletions. Let that one sink in for a minute — he is red hot and so are the Bears. While their defense may not be the best, the Bears are scoring more than 50 points a game.

Baylor

2The Cowboys came back from a 17-point deficit at the half to defeat the Aggies. Three receivers hauled in 10 or more catches from Brandon Weeden, who threw a school-record 60 passes. The Cowboys are scary good on offense and even flashed some defense to move up to fifth in this week’s AP poll.

Oklahoma State

1While Landry Jones was able to connect with receiver Ryan Broyles for three touchdowns against Missouri last week, he also threw two interceptions. Still, the Sooners remain the toast of the conference and should handle Ball State this week before the Red River Rivalry on Oct. 8 in Dallas.

Oklahoma

6The Wildcats pulled out a tough road win against Miami last week to stay undefeated on the season. Quarterback Colin Klein is the team’s leading passer and rusher so the keys to their continued success remain in his hands—and feet. The Wildcat defense is giving up a stingy 10.3 point a game.

Kansas State

7Running back Shontrelle Johnson and receiver Darius Reynolds have helped take some of the pressure off of Steele Jantz and have turned in a surprisingly good season thus far. Jantz will rely on both Johnson and Reynolds once again this week with the Longhorns coming to town.

Iowa State

8The Tigers showed some moxie in hanging with Oklahoma for most of last week’s game, but couldn’t get it done when the game was on the line. Their defense continues to take hits with injuries and doesn’t look strong at the moment. Freshman quarterback James Franklin has played well despite his inexperience, but he isn’t getting much supporting help.

Missouri

9Nevada nearly left Lubbock with a victory, but a late touchdown pass by Seth Doege kept the Red Raiders undefeated for at least another week. It’s pretty clear that the Red Raider defense will struggle throughout this season. Offensively, Doege has tossed 11 touchdowns and no interceptions. He may be the lone bright spot on a team that is still trying to find its identity. Their three wins haven’t come against the best teams either.

Texas Tech

10Opposing teams are hanging 44 points a game on the Jayhawks, and that number could rise this week against Texas Tech. As far as offense goes, the Jayhawks can put up points as is evidenced by two consecutive 40-point performances to start the season. This week’s game against the Red Raiders could be a shootout.

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6 7 matchups6

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7 matchups


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QUARTERBACK RUNNING BACK RECEIVERS OFFENSIVE LINE

DEFENSIVE LINE LINEBACKERS SECONDARY SPECIAL TEAMS

— By Wes Maulsby | Daily Texan StaffMATCHUPS

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Iowa State is o� to a 3-0 start thanks in large part to Steele Jantz. � e Cyclones QB has thrown for 666 yards this season while completing almost 58 percent of his passes. For Texas, Case McCoy will make the sec-ond start of his career a� er throwing for 168 yards against UCLA and two touch-downs. Most importantly for Texas, Mc-Coy was mistake free against the Bruins, even if he got a little lucky on one pass to Mike Davis. Both quarterbacks can make plays with their legs, but Jantz has thrown as many interceptions as touchdowns this season, and those kinds of mistakes will bury the Cyclones against the emerging Texas secondary. Jantz is as much of a li-ability as he is an o� ensive threat.

In his � rst career start, Malcolm Brown did not disappoint, with a 110-yard day capped with a 16-yard touchdown run right through the heart of the UCLA de-fense. He is averaging 5.1 yards per carry this season and has proven to be worth the hype at this early point in the season. Iowa State is led by sophomore Shontrelle John-son, who has 200 yards on 41 attempts this season. Iowa State will also be looking to get Jantz involved in the running game, which has 112 yards and two rushing touchdowns so far. � e depth of Texas, which includes Fozzy Whitaker, D.J. Mon-roe and Joe Bergeron, gives the Longhorns a signi� cant edge.

� e Cyclones main weapon at receiver is senior Darius Reynolds. He paces them with 240 receiving yards and four touch-downs. Iowa State’s top-three receivers account for 79 percent of the team’s re-ceiving yards, so depth beyond that is a slight issue. Texas features the tandem of Mike Davis and Jaxon Shipley, who have more than half of Texas’ receiving yards. Texas will be welcoming back Goodwin in a more increased role this week, and D.J. Grant’s strong performance against UCLA gives Texas some more versatility with more weapons at the receiver position.

Iowa State has some talent along the of-fensive line, with senior o� ensive tackle Kelechi Osemele headlining the unit. � e Cyclones are averaging a mediocre 145 yards on 3.5 yards per carry on the ground, and Jantz has been sacked four times this season. Texas’ line has done a better job of blocking in both the run and the pass than last season and is paving the way for more than 226 yards per game. McCoy has bailed out the line on a few occasions, but in general, it has been doing well. � ese lines are evenly matched, but the Cyclones will probably have the better line on the � eld on Saturday simply because of Os-emele’s presence.

Texas’ defensive line is not making the kind of big plays they were expected to make going into the season, especially at defensive end, but the line has still been solid through three games and is limiting the big plays against it. Iowa State is giv-ing up 158 rushing yards per game and has gotten three sacks so far this season. Texas only has two sacks this season but was able to get pressure on UCLA, which helped turn into three interceptions. � e Long-horns have been getting better along the line and may be due for a big game.

Iowa State has a pair of linebackers who got more than 110 tackles last season, and it is led by junior Jake Knott. Knott totaled 130 tackles last year in an All Big 12 line-backer, and he already has 33 this year. Tex-as is led by linebackers Emmanuel Acho, Jordan Hicks and Keenan Robinson ,who have combined for 76 tackles this season and have been making a lot of plays. Diaz has the linebackers blitzing a lot this sea-son, and they have responded by making a lot of plays and pressuring the quarter-back. � e Cyclones have quality players at linebacker, but Texas’ unit will be among the most talented players on the � eld.

A� er not being able to get an intercep-tion in the � rst game against Rice, Texas has picked o� � ve passes in the last two games. With turnovers coming in bunch-es, the Longhorns stand to get a few more over the next couple of games. � e young corners have given up a few plays this sea-son, but have adjusted well in each game. Iowa State’s secondary has yet to pick o� a pass, with its lone interception coming from a defensive lineman. � e Cyclone secondary isn’t really getting their hands on many balls, and have only broken up nine passes this season. � e entire Texas defense has broken up 21 passes this sea-son and are making a lot of plays in the secondary.

For Texas, Justin Tucker has made every kick so far this season, and is a versatile punter who can punt using multiple tech-niques. Iowa State as used multiple kickers, with senior Grant Mahoney splitting time with fellow senior Zach Guyer. � ey are a combined two of � ve on � eld goals, and have made all their PATs. � e Cyclones got a lot of good kick returns against Iowa, and has had some good returns so far. Tucker is a solid kicker, but the Longhorns need to start making more plays in the return game, and Iowa State has been stingy in coverage this season. It is really a toss up between the two teams given their indi-vidual weaknesses, but the Texas kicking game is much more reliable.

8 98


OklahomaCenter Ben Habern will miss the

Sooners’ game against Ball State this week after breaking his left forearm last week against Missouri. Wide re-ceiver Kenny Stills returned to prac-tice this week after sitting missing the Missouri game with concussion-like symptoms. Jordan Wade, a 6-foot-4 defensive tackle from Round Rock Stony Point High School has quali-fied academically and could enroll at Oklahoma at the semester break.

Oklahoma StateSenior safety Johnny Thomas, who

was declared ineligible for the 2011 season by the Big 12, could earn a fifth year of eligibility if he meets certain reinstatement requirements. Sopho-more cornerback Devin Hedgpeth is done for the season after he ruptured his Achilles tendon last week against Texas A&M. Senior guard Jonathan Rush also injured his knee last week and his return remains uncertain.

KansasThe Jayhawks will receive a boost

on both sides of the ball this week with several injured players return-ing to the lineup. Most notably, se-nior defensive tackle Patrick Dorsey, linebacker Tunde Bakare, cornerback Tyler Patmon on defense and center Jeremiah Hatch and receiver JaCorey Shepherd on offense. However, they will lose the services of senior re-ceiver Daymond Patterson who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a groin injury.

Kansas StateSophomore linebacker Tre Walker

was named the Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Week after recording eight tackles against Mi-ami last week. The last Wildcat to earn the weekly honor was safety Courtney Herndon in 2008. Rumors have been circulating that running back Bryce Brown was seen on the Tennessee campus this week. Quar-terback Collin Klein received an honorable mention from the Davey O’Brien Foundation for Quarter-back of the Week after he completed 12-of-18 passes for 133 yards and a score, as well as rushing for 93 yards and a touchdown last week.

Texas TechRunning back Ben McRoy was

named the Big 12 Conference Spe-cial Team Player of the Week after he returned seven kickoffs for 203 yards against Nevada. Defensive end Leon Mackey will be available this week after he partially punctured his lung in the Red Raiders’ season opener on Sept. 3. Running back Ronnie Dan-iels will remain suspended indefi-nitely for a violation of team rules. Junior receiver Darrin Moore is doubtful for this week’s game against Kansas after he twisted his right knee and left ankle last week.

Iowa StateThe Cyclones received a verbal

commitment from the No.3 pros-pect in the state of Iowa for the 2012 recruiting class this week. Defensive back Charles Rogers of Iowa City West High School also drew inter-est from Minnesota, Michigan State and Northern Illinois and figures to make an impact on next year’s Cy-clone squad. During the bye week last week, quarterback Steele Jantz practiced, but offensive tackle Kelechi Osemele did not — he instead used the bye to rest a sprained ankle. Of-fensive lineman Shaban Dika is ex-pected to miss the next four to five weeks with an MCL injury.

Texas A&MCornerback Coryell Judie may

miss another game because of a strained hamstring after being held out of last week’s game against Oklahoma State. Receiver Ryan Swope also missed practice earlier in the week after taking a big hit from an Oklahoma State defender before returning to last Saturday’s game. SEC commissioner Mike Silve said this week that he believes the Aggies will compete in the West division of their new 13-team conference.

BaylorSophomore cornerback Tyler

Stephenson remains questionable after injuring his leg in the season opener against TCU. Redshirt fresh-man Levin Norwood leads the Big 12 in punt return average with 7.2 yards per return. He has returned six punts. Junior quarterback Nick Florence is expected to redshirt and retain two seasons of eligibility, as it doesn’t look like Robert Griffin is going anywhere — except the NFL next year.

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Texas may have improved since last season, but so has the Big 12.

The Longhorns open conference play this weekend against Iowa State, a team that beat them on their home turf last season. Texas and Iowa State are two of seven unbeaten teams in the conference as the Big 12 has posted a collective 26-2 record in non-conference play.

Those two losses were to a 4-0 Georgia Tech squad that pounded Kansas, 66-24, and to a 3-1 Arizo-na State team that beat notched an overtime win over Missouri earlier this year.

But Iowa State is the only team Texas is thinking about this week, especially since it’s hard to forget what the Cyclones did to the Long-horns in 2010. After an impressive victory in Lincoln, Texas came back to Austin, only to be embarrassed by an inspired Iowa State team that jumped out to a 28-6 fourth-quarter lead and never looked back.

“I think it was the lowest point [of the season],” said head coach Mack Brown. “We go beat Nebraska and then we come back and stink against Iowa State. I got fooled because I thought we were back on track. I couldn’t believe that we wouldn’t play with more emotion or passion than we did against Iowa State. They outcoached us, they outhit us and they outplayed us.”

Some players have mentioned how the team is entering its “second season,” which encompasses their next three contests — a road game against Iowa State, the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma, and a home game against Oklahoma State. Two of those are away from home and two are against top-five teams from Oklahoma.

BYU and UCLA are better than the cupcakes Texas usually feasts on in their non-conference schedule, but the Longhorns will face tougher tests in their next three games than they have in their previous three.

“None of us like each other in this conference,” said senior guard Da-vid Snow. “We’re playing great teams now. They’re all going to give us the fight of their life. There are great rivalries in this conference. Every-body wants to beat everybody.”

The matchup against Oklahoma is just two weekends away but Texas remains focused on its game this Saturday. The Longhorns have done well in its games right before facing the Sooners, going 9-2 in those con-tests since 2000 and winning by an average score of 35-17.

“The first step is Iowa State and that’s all we’ve got to look forward to right now,” said senior offensive tackle Tray Allen. “The other games, we’ll get to them. But Iowa State is the only roadblock we’re looking at. They’re 3-0. They’re just as good as any team in the Big 12 right now and that’s who we have to handle

right now.”If the Sooners win out, they

should find themselves in the na-tional title game. But it’s going to be much easier said than done considering the fierce competition they’ll face the rest of this season. They handled Missouri last week but have four more games against ranked opponents, three away from Norman.

One of them, Texas A&M, who plays Oklahoma on Nov. 5, will be playing in the SEC next season. But thanks to Larry Scott’s deci-sion to not expand the Pac-12, the Big 12 will stay intact.

“I’m so excited that the Big 12’s moving forward,” Brown said. “Not that it’s not a great game but how many people would get pumped about Oregon State-Texas? What we saw as kids is not going to continue to happen. Everybody gets so excited about realignment. We’re going to lose some of who we are by realignment if it contin-ues. We better be careful what we wish for.”

The SEC and Big 10 have the next most undefeated teams with four apiece and three conferences don’t have any unbeaten squads. As good as the Big 12 is, Brown may be the one that should be careful what he wishes for. Be-cause the conference he wanted all along to stay together may be the best conference in college football right now.

Kansas State’s Tre Walker, No. 50, stops Miami quarterback Jacory Harris, No.12, short of the goal line during the sec-ond half of the game. Kansas State is 3-0 despite being considered an underdog team.

Al Diaz Associated Press

Big 12 to provide challenges for TexasBy Christian CoronaDaily Texan Staff

Recycle your copy of the Double Coverage!♲ ♲

10 1110 11

10 11

The cornerbacks are young, but don’t call them that.

The most productive unit on the Texas de-fense this season is also the least experienced. Go figure.

“They don’t play young,” said defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. “They don’t behave young. Quandre Diggs, Adrian Phillips and Carrington Byndum act like they’ve been here forever. They’re very diligent, they want to know everything.”

All three talented young cornerbacks each have an in-terception and a forced fumble after three games. They call themselves the “money makers” and have lived up to the moniker so far. While many expected the Longhorns vet-eran linebackers to carry the defense, it’s been the defensive backs who have made the biggest impact.

“They might be playing the best on the defense,” said se-nior linebacker Emmanuel Acho. “They’re getting after the ball, catching the interceptions. If they can keep that up, we can keep it rolling.”

The secondary forced four turnovers against UCLA in the Longhorns’ last game, including interceptions by three different players. They’ve been tackling better this year as well. Five of the Longhorns top nine tacklers are defensive

backs, including junior safety Kenny Vaccaro, who is sec-ond on the team with 25.

“They’re tackling better than I’ve seen us tackle around here in a while,” said Acho, the team’s leading tackler.

Second-year corners Phillips and Byndum each have three tackles for loss, second only to Acho’s four. This group of defensive backs prides themselves on being sure-tack-lers, much to Diaz’s delight.

“I’ve been around some secondaries that all they want to do is race each other,” Diaz said. “All they want to do is talk about how fast and athletic they are.

“This secondary wants to talk about who got the hardest hit. They are really priding themselves right now on being a physical, tackling secondary. And when you will tackle as a secondary, what you find is that big plays are harder to get on you.”

Yes, the defensive backfield has yet to allow a big play this season, but they will face a new challenge on Saturday against an Iowa State team known for picking up yards in large chunks. The Cyclones have four plays of 40-plus yards in three games, matching their total from the entire 2010 season. The difference has been quarterback Steele Jantz, a dual-threat player and Big 12 newcomer.

“[Jantz] will scramble to run and scramble to throw,

which causes an immense amount of pressure on our cov-erage,” Diaz said. “It’s hard for them to understand when to come out of coverage and when not to. We have to be disciplined in our coverage, it’s quite a stress.”

The secondary will have its hands full trying to contain Jantz, who can turn a broken play into a touchdown. All four of the Cyclones 40-plus yard plays have come via the pass.

“It will be a big test for us to stay in coverage because [Jantz] has created plays and really determined the out-come in a couple of games,” Akina said. “You’ve got to cover them twice when you have a quarterback that can extend plays.”

The defensive backs, however, anticipate extending their takeaway streak to three games.

“Coach Diaz and Coach Akina are going to put us in spots to make plays, it’s just our job to make them,” said senior safety Blake Gideon.

Phillips has led the way with two interceptions and a forced fumble over the last two games, but his value stretches beyond his knack for finding the ball. The Gar-land native has played three positions in the second-ary already this season, showcasing the versatility that Akina covets.

“What he’s doing for us playing corner, playing safety and playing nickel is really something,” Akina said. “For him to be able to handle three positions flawlessly, to be athletic enough to play corner, physical enough to play safety and then have the awareness on nickel to be a blitzer or a cover guy, really speaks volumes for him as a total player.”

Phillips’ ability to play multiple roles helped fill the void during senior safety Christian Scott’s three-game suspen-sion to start the year. Scott, though, will make his 2011 de-but on Saturday in Ames, giving the Longhorns yet another playmaker in the secondary.

“Getting a veteran player back who has a real physical presence is certainly a bonus,” Akina said. “It’s good timing. He hasn’t missed a beat and he did a good job while he was away of staying in physical condition and staying involved in the game.”

While Phillips, Byndum and Diggs only have six com-bined starts between them, they’ve played with poise be-yond their years. And they’re only going to improve.

“We gain confidence each week,” Phillips said. “We’re getting better each week. We still have a lot of stuff to work on and we’re not perfect, but with each win we gain more confidence.”

That’s a scary thought for Big 12 offenses.

to a whole new level

Young secondarY lifting texas

The

By Austin Laymance

Lawrence Peart | Daily Texan Staff

W ith conference play begin-ning, the competition is about to get a whole lot bet-ter. Naturally, the quarter-

backs will, too. But before Texas can get their hands on OU’s

Landry Jones or Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden, it has to go through Steele Jantz. The Iowa State field general doesn’t have a house-hold name like Jones and Weeden do but he’s kept his team unbeaten just like the Oklahoma-based gunslingers have.

Jantz can throw. He’s got six touchdown pass-es in three game and he’s also the team’s second-leading rusher. Jantz will be first the dual-threat quarterback the Longhorns will face this season but they’re hoping Jantz doesn’t help Iowa State hand them their first loss of the season.

“Steele Jantz? Sounds like a heavy metal band,” said defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. “He plays like it, too. You have to de-fend two plays with him: the play they call and the play he makes. That’s what makes them explosive. That’s a challenge that keeps you up at night because it’s very hard to scheme against.”

Most of the quarterbacks Texas has faced haven’t tried to run much. UCLA’s Kevin Prince ran for 26 yards on three carries, including a 19-yard sprint in the Longhorns’ last game. Collectively, quarterbacks have taken off just 16 times against Texas. But Jantz will test Texas through the air and on the ground. The junior has rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns this year and can also use his mobility to extend plays and hurt teams with his arm.

“He can make a play that’ll last for eternity,” said senior defensive tackle Kheeston Randall. “We broke down film on him and he had some pretty good runs. We just need to bring a friend to the quarterback when we get there.”

The Longhorns will be looking to bring Jantz down Saturday. But they’ve only registered two sacks this season, none of which have come from their starting defensive ends Jackson Jef-fcoat and Alex Okafor. The next closest thing to a sack Texas has had is when Randall nearly stripped Prince two weekends ago. Randall and the rest of the defensive line will need to wreak havoc when the Longhorns go to Ames this week.

“The quarterback decides whether he gets sacked or not,” Diaz said. “UCLA’s [Kevin Prince] had a choice when Keenan Robinson was coming at him. He had a choice on that play to be sacked or put the ball in harm’s way. And he put the ball up, Blake Gideon tipped it and Adrian Phillips caught it.”

To its credit, Texas has notched 28 quar-terback hurries (to their opponent’s five) this season. Jeffcoat and Okafor each have three while senior linebackers Emmanuel Acho and Robinson have five apiece, sharing the team lead. As long as the Longhorns can pressure Jantz into making poor decisions, they might not rack up a bunch of sacks but they’ll give themselves a good chance to win.

“The first guy’s not always going to get the sack,” said sophomore defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat. “He makes the quarterback move out-side the pocket. Then, someone can make the sack while he’s running away.”

However, Jantz is often at his best when he’s running away. He’s much quicker than any of the other players that have taken snaps against Texas and when pressured, Jantz can avoid oncoming defenders and find receivers open downfield. Jantz has proven to be prone to making mistakes as he’s thrown six intercep-tions but when he’s out of the pocket is when he’s most dangerous.

“We are based on pressure,” Diaz said. “What we talk to our players about is pressur-ing the quarterback and a lot of quarterbacks will do things under pressure that they won’t do otherwise.”

As good as Jantz has been in leading Iowa State to a 3-0 record, the Cyclones could just as easily be 0-3. Their three wins have been by one, three, and four points, with the three-point vic-tory coming in a triple-overtime triumph over Iowa, Iowa State’s first over their in-state rival since 2007. The Cyclones haven’t exactly made mincemeat out of their opponents but they have displayed their ability to come through when it matters most.

Brown mentioned that he’s heard some com-pare to Jantz to Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers and Jantz have similar builds (both are around 6-foot-2, 225 pounds) but Jantz isn’t winning a Super Bowl anytime soon.

That doesn’t mean he can’t beat Texas.

‘moneY makers’ plaYing harder, faster, stronger

is back

texas defense focused on pressuring jantz

By Christian Corona

Defense

10 11

10 11

The cornerbacks are young, but don’t call them that.

The most productive unit on the Texas de-fense this season is also the least experienced. Go figure.

“They don’t play young,” said defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. “They don’t behave young. Quandre Diggs, Adrian Phillips and Carrington Byndum act like they’ve been here forever. They’re very diligent, they want to know everything.”

All three talented young cornerbacks each have an in-terception and a forced fumble after three games. They call themselves the “money makers” and have lived up to the moniker so far. While many expected the Longhorns vet-eran linebackers to carry the defense, it’s been the defensive backs who have made the biggest impact.

“They might be playing the best on the defense,” said se-nior linebacker Emmanuel Acho. “They’re getting after the ball, catching the interceptions. If they can keep that up, we can keep it rolling.”

The secondary forced four turnovers against UCLA in the Longhorns’ last game, including interceptions by three different players. They’ve been tackling better this year as well. Five of the Longhorns top nine tacklers are defensive

backs, including junior safety Kenny Vaccaro, who is sec-ond on the team with 25.

“They’re tackling better than I’ve seen us tackle around here in a while,” said Acho, the team’s leading tackler.

Second-year corners Phillips and Byndum each have three tackles for loss, second only to Acho’s four. This group of defensive backs prides themselves on being sure-tack-lers, much to Diaz’s delight.

“I’ve been around some secondaries that all they want to do is race each other,” Diaz said. “All they want to do is talk about how fast and athletic they are.

“This secondary wants to talk about who got the hardest hit. They are really priding themselves right now on being a physical, tackling secondary. And when you will tackle as a secondary, what you find is that big plays are harder to get on you.”

Yes, the defensive backfield has yet to allow a big play this season, but they will face a new challenge on Saturday against an Iowa State team known for picking up yards in large chunks. The Cyclones have four plays of 40-plus yards in three games, matching their total from the entire 2010 season. The difference has been quarterback Steele Jantz, a dual-threat player and Big 12 newcomer.

“[Jantz] will scramble to run and scramble to throw,

which causes an immense amount of pressure on our cov-erage,” Diaz said. “It’s hard for them to understand when to come out of coverage and when not to. We have to be disciplined in our coverage, it’s quite a stress.”

The secondary will have its hands full trying to contain Jantz, who can turn a broken play into a touchdown. All four of the Cyclones 40-plus yard plays have come via the pass.

“It will be a big test for us to stay in coverage because [Jantz] has created plays and really determined the out-come in a couple of games,” Akina said. “You’ve got to cover them twice when you have a quarterback that can extend plays.”

The defensive backs, however, anticipate extending their takeaway streak to three games.

“Coach Diaz and Coach Akina are going to put us in spots to make plays, it’s just our job to make them,” said senior safety Blake Gideon.

Phillips has led the way with two interceptions and a forced fumble over the last two games, but his value stretches beyond his knack for finding the ball. The Gar-land native has played three positions in the second-ary already this season, showcasing the versatility that Akina covets.

“What he’s doing for us playing corner, playing safety and playing nickel is really something,” Akina said. “For him to be able to handle three positions flawlessly, to be athletic enough to play corner, physical enough to play safety and then have the awareness on nickel to be a blitzer or a cover guy, really speaks volumes for him as a total player.”

Phillips’ ability to play multiple roles helped fill the void during senior safety Christian Scott’s three-game suspen-sion to start the year. Scott, though, will make his 2011 de-but on Saturday in Ames, giving the Longhorns yet another playmaker in the secondary.

“Getting a veteran player back who has a real physical presence is certainly a bonus,” Akina said. “It’s good timing. He hasn’t missed a beat and he did a good job while he was away of staying in physical condition and staying involved in the game.”

While Phillips, Byndum and Diggs only have six com-bined starts between them, they’ve played with poise be-yond their years. And they’re only going to improve.

“We gain confidence each week,” Phillips said. “We’re getting better each week. We still have a lot of stuff to work on and we’re not perfect, but with each win we gain more confidence.”

That’s a scary thought for Big 12 offenses.

to a whole new level

Young secondarY lifting texas

The

By Austin Laymance

Lawrence Peart | Daily Texan Staff

W ith conference play begin-ning, the competition is about to get a whole lot bet-ter. Naturally, the quarter-

backs will, too. But before Texas can get their hands on OU’s

Landry Jones or Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden, it has to go through Steele Jantz. The Iowa State field general doesn’t have a house-hold name like Jones and Weeden do but he’s kept his team unbeaten just like the Oklahoma-based gunslingers have.

Jantz can throw. He’s got six touchdown pass-es in three game and he’s also the team’s second-leading rusher. Jantz will be first the dual-threat quarterback the Longhorns will face this season but they’re hoping Jantz doesn’t help Iowa State hand them their first loss of the season.

“Steele Jantz? Sounds like a heavy metal band,” said defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. “He plays like it, too. You have to de-fend two plays with him: the play they call and the play he makes. That’s what makes them explosive. That’s a challenge that keeps you up at night because it’s very hard to scheme against.”

Most of the quarterbacks Texas has faced haven’t tried to run much. UCLA’s Kevin Prince ran for 26 yards on three carries, including a 19-yard sprint in the Longhorns’ last game. Collectively, quarterbacks have taken off just 16 times against Texas. But Jantz will test Texas through the air and on the ground. The junior has rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns this year and can also use his mobility to extend plays and hurt teams with his arm.

“He can make a play that’ll last for eternity,” said senior defensive tackle Kheeston Randall. “We broke down film on him and he had some pretty good runs. We just need to bring a friend to the quarterback when we get there.”

The Longhorns will be looking to bring Jantz down Saturday. But they’ve only registered two sacks this season, none of which have come from their starting defensive ends Jackson Jef-fcoat and Alex Okafor. The next closest thing to a sack Texas has had is when Randall nearly stripped Prince two weekends ago. Randall and the rest of the defensive line will need to wreak havoc when the Longhorns go to Ames this week.

“The quarterback decides whether he gets sacked or not,” Diaz said. “UCLA’s [Kevin Prince] had a choice when Keenan Robinson was coming at him. He had a choice on that play to be sacked or put the ball in harm’s way. And he put the ball up, Blake Gideon tipped it and Adrian Phillips caught it.”

To its credit, Texas has notched 28 quar-terback hurries (to their opponent’s five) this season. Jeffcoat and Okafor each have three while senior linebackers Emmanuel Acho and Robinson have five apiece, sharing the team lead. As long as the Longhorns can pressure Jantz into making poor decisions, they might not rack up a bunch of sacks but they’ll give themselves a good chance to win.

“The first guy’s not always going to get the sack,” said sophomore defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat. “He makes the quarterback move out-side the pocket. Then, someone can make the sack while he’s running away.”

However, Jantz is often at his best when he’s running away. He’s much quicker than any of the other players that have taken snaps against Texas and when pressured, Jantz can avoid oncoming defenders and find receivers open downfield. Jantz has proven to be prone to making mistakes as he’s thrown six intercep-tions but when he’s out of the pocket is when he’s most dangerous.

“We are based on pressure,” Diaz said. “What we talk to our players about is pressur-ing the quarterback and a lot of quarterbacks will do things under pressure that they won’t do otherwise.”

As good as Jantz has been in leading Iowa State to a 3-0 record, the Cyclones could just as easily be 0-3. Their three wins have been by one, three, and four points, with the three-point vic-tory coming in a triple-overtime triumph over Iowa, Iowa State’s first over their in-state rival since 2007. The Cyclones haven’t exactly made mincemeat out of their opponents but they have displayed their ability to come through when it matters most.

Brown mentioned that he’s heard some com-pare to Jantz to Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers and Jantz have similar builds (both are around 6-foot-2, 225 pounds) but Jantz isn’t winning a Super Bowl anytime soon.

That doesn’t mean he can’t beat Texas.

‘moneY makers’ plaYing harder, faster, stronger

is back

texas defense focused on pressuring jantz

By Christian Corona

Defense

12 players2watch 1312 players2watch


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RECYCLE

— By Wes Maulsby | Daily Texan StaffPLAYERSTOWATCH

A four-year starter, Osemele allowed only two sacks last season, and may be the best player on the Cyclones team. He has paved the way for an Iowa State team that is improving under coach Paul Rhodes. He helped lead Iowa State to the upset of Texas last year, and was a major part of its 199 yards rushing against the Longhorns last year. He was a preseason all-conference selection by the media and could be a high draft pick in April. He has a chance to be Iowa State’s first, first-round draft pick in 38 years.

Steel Jantz, Junior QBIowa State is undefeated, and Jantz is one of the main reasons why. He came in last year as a junior college transfer, and has thrown for 666 yards and six touchdowns in three games so far this season. He is completing 57.5 percent of his passes this season and has as many interceptions as touchdowns at this point in the season. He is also a dangerous runner and will present dual threats to the Texas defense. UCLA benched Kevin Prince against the Longhorns, so Texas really hasn’t faced a duel-threat quarterback this season. His best game came in a triple overtime win against Iowa three weeks ago, where he completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. A similar performance would keep the Texas defense on its heels.

Knott is the best player on the Cyclone defense, and his name will be called a lot on Saturday. He racked up 130 tackles last season and was selected as a second team all-Big 12 linebacker. With 33 tackles so far this season, he is already on pace to break his mark from last year. He posted eight tackles in the matchup last year, helping Iowa State to its first ever win against Texas. With Texas rushing the ball more this year, Knott will play an important role in the Cyclone game plan as he tries to keep Texas from rushing up the middle.

Knott is the best player on the Cyclone defense, and his name will be called a lot on Saturday. He racked up 130 tackles last season and was selected as a second team all-Big 12 linebacker. With 33 tackles so far this season, he is already on pace to break his mark from last year. He posted eight tackles in the matchup last year, helping Iowa State to its first ever win against Texas. With Texas rushing the ball more this year, Knott will play an important role in the Cyclone game plan as he tries to keep Texas from rushing up the middle.

Kelechi Osemele, Senior OT

Jake Knott, Junior LB

Gene Pavelko | Iowa State Daily

Jim Reuter | Iowa State Daily

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On September 22, 2011, Dan Beebe stepped down from his position — which he had held for four years — as Big 12 Com-missioner. On Tuesday, 79-year-old Chuck Neinas, a veteran in the world of college sports, will officially assume the title as in-terim commissioner of the Big 12 Conference.

Neinas held a media telecon-ference last week during which he addressed an array of press-ing questions concerning his plans to piece back together the fragmented Big 12. Once a coali-tion of twelve powerful collegiate programs, the conference will be down to nine schools following the official departure of Texas A&M to the Southeastern Confer-ence next year.

Despite the Aggies’ departure from the Big 12, Neinas believes that Missouri will not leave. How-ever, if Missouri does jump ship, Neinas holds that it would still be possible for the Big 12 — which would be composed of the eight remaining schools — to reestab-lish its legitimacy and reclaim its reputation as a powerhouse con-ference.

The interim commissioner is by no means intending to take a cautious approach in his pursuit

of reorganizing and reviving the Big 12.

“They’ve hired me to be a com-missioner and I’ll act like one,” Neinas said at the teleconference. “If you look at my record, I’m not afraid to make decisions. They can always fire me.”

Neinas stresses that trust between Big 12 schools is one of the most critical require-ments for success in his endeavor to restructure the con-ference. Also, he ac-knowledges the need to mend and refine the conference’s image. Neinas has not made any remarks regarding plans of expansion.

In his more than 50 years working in the sports arena, Neinas has held a number of notable positions including commissioner of the Big 8 and the executive director the College Football Association. In 1990, Sports Illustrated ranked Neinas the 75th most powerful person in sports, and in 2003, the magazine deemed him the 10th most pow-erful person in college football.

Neinas is the President of Nei-nas Sports Services, a consulting firm responsible for assisting the University of Texas at Austin in hiring current head football coach

Mack Brown. The Texas athletic program

—along with its $300 million deal with ESPN establishing the controversial Longhorn Net-work—is not only being blamed for disunity in the Big 12 but also

as a direct cause of the departures of Nebraska, Colorado, and most recently A&M from the con-ference.

Neinas believed he can calm the ani-mosity between the conferences’ schools.

“Bringing people together is what I’m going to do,” he said.

Former Okla-homa coach Bar-ry Switzer thinks

Neinas is a perfect fit for the job.

“When I heard Beebe was leaving, Neinas was the first guy I thought of. He knows every athletic director in the country... He’s the one who can rein in Tex-as, if it can be done. That’s what they’ve got to have.”

Neinas has made clear that he is “not a candidate in any way shape or form on a permanent basis.” However, with his reputa-tion, Neinas could be the tempo-rary hero that the Big 12 needs to rescue it from its current state of


Interim commissioner Neinas vows to revive, organize Big 12

By Kristin OttoDaily Texan Staff

Chuck Neinas Big 12 Interim Commissioner

Kits WINES·SP IR I TS F I N E R FO O DS

(512) 280-7400specsonline.comCelebrate victory with a tailgating spread from Spec’s. We’ve got everyday low prices

on Texas’ largest selection of wines and spirits, plus hundreds of beers, party snacks and enough gourmet treats to feed the whole team. CHEERS TO SAVINGS

14 games2watch 1514 games2watch


— By Chris Hummer | Daily Texan StaffGAMESTOWATCH

� is is the � rst year the Big 10 has split into two divisions, the Legends and the Leaders. � is match-up between Nebraska and Wisconsin could very well be an early season preview of the Big 10 championship game, as Wisconsin and Nebraska are the clear favorites in those two divisions. Both teams come into Week Five undefeated and have had impressive early season starts, espe-cially the Badgers, who have won all four of their games by at least 34 points. Wisconsin was good last year, but the team has taken a real step forward with North Carolina State transfer, Russell Wilson, under center, Wilson has given the Badgers something they have lacked throughout the years-- a gunslinger at quarterback to compliment an excellent run-ning game. He is throwing an impressive 75.8 completion percentage. Nebraska has also gotten o� to a running start in its � rst year in the Big 10, literally. As they are 8th overall in the nation in rushing yards, at 272.5 yards a game. � ey will look to continue this pattern against the Badgers on Saturday night. Ex-pect a classic game of smash mouth football.

Overall 4-0 Big Ten (0-0)

Overall 4-0Big Ten (0-0)

Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wis.Oct. 1

Time: 7:00 p.m.TV: ABC

No. 8 Nebraska No. 7 Wisconsin@ No. 3 Alabama No. 12 Florida@ No. 13 Clemson No. 11 Virgina Tech@ No. 14 Texas A&M No. 18 Arkansas@

Alabama at No. 12 Florida-� e SEC seems to have a great game every week with its seem-ingly unlimited depth of football powerhouse programs. � is week that game includes two teams that are responsible for three of the last � ve national titles-- Florida and Alabama. Alabama has title hopes again this season thanks to a su� ocating defense that is only al-lowing eight points a game. � e defense has more NFL prospects on it than some of the smaller conferences have in total. � ey pres-ents a monumental task for the resurgent Ga-tors, who are 4-0 under new coach Will Mus-champ-- who Texas fans might remember as their former head coach-in-waiting. Florida is riding high on the strength of their dynam-ic running game that includes one of the best one-two running punches in college football with seniors Chris Rainey and Je� Demps leading the charge. Rainey leads the Gators in with 411 rushing yards, while also leading the team in receiving yards with 214. � e Gator’s will lean heavily on Rainey to attack a stout Alabama defense, so be sure to watch out for Rainey in multiple formations.

Clemson is rolling along a� er beating two straight top-25 teams -- the defend-ing national champions, Auburn, and the trendy national title pick, Florida State-- in back to back weeks. But now the Ti-gers � nally hit the road a� er four straight home games to start o� the season, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier. � ey will visit Blacksburg, Virginia to play the Hok-ies, which is one of the toughest environ-ments to play in in all of college football. However this is an untested Virginia Tech team that they will face, as the Hokies have yet to even play a BCS conference school this season. However this is an experi-enced and battle tested Tech team from their experiences the last few years. � ey have won three of the last four ACC cham-pionships, and would love to do nothing more than add to that resume starting with Clemson. But there is a bit of a re-venge factor involved for the Tigers who lost the 2010 ACC championship game to the Hokies. Expect a high scoring, tradi-tion ACC a� air.

Two years ago the Aggies and the Ra-zorbacks resumed a rivalry that had has spanned a century, playing for the � rst time since 1991. � e game has the biggest stage possible in America, taking place in Cowboys stadium in front of 100 thou-sand fans. Arkansas has taken the � rst two games in the Southwest Classic, but this year the Aggies come in with an explosive o� ense and a top-15 ranking for the Ra-zorbacks to contend with. However both of these teams are coming o� of demoral-izing loses to top-10 teams; A&M losing late to a high � ying Oklahoma State team, and the Razorbacks being demolished by Alabama. Expect both teams to come in motivated as they hope to get the sour taste of last week out of their mouths, � e game should be a shootout as both of-fenses feature a top-20 passing attack and defenses that are suspect to giving up the big play. Expect to see the scoreboard to light up frequently and the huge screen in Cowboys stadium to get a workout replay-ing all the highlights from this game.

Overall 4-0SEC (1-0)

Overall 4-0 SEC (2-0)

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Fla.Oct. 1

Time: 7:00 p.m.TV: CBS

Overall 2-1Big 12 (0-1)

Overall 3-1SEC (0-1)

Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas. Oct. 1

Time: 11:00 p.m.TV: ESPN

Overall 4-0ACC (1-0)

Overall 2-0 ACC (0-0)

Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, Virginia.Oct. 1

Time 5:00 p.m.TV: ESPN 2

� e lesson Iowa State is so glee-fully learning this year is the same one Texas learned the hard way last season.

It doesn’t matter who you’ve got on defense, how many skill players you’ve got on o� ense or how good of coaching you’ve got.

It’s the quarterback that’s the most important position on the � eld. A good one gets you to a bowl game. A bad one � ushes you down the toilet.

� is year’s new-and-improved Cyclones illustrate that better than anybody in the nation. Junior col-

lege transplant Steele Jantz has made the di� erence for a team most thought would once again � nish in the cellar of the Big 12. ISU is 3-0, suddenly has a legitimate home-� eld advantage, suddenly has some national acclaim. When’s the last time this team was this relevant?

You’d have to go back to the days of Seneca Wallace, one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the conference.

Told you those guys make all the di� erence.

On the year, Jantz has posted a harrowing-yet-solid stat line: 61-for-106, 666 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions.

Indeed, we thought it’d be a cold day in hell if the Cyclones were

ever among the top-25 teams in the nation. � ey’re knocking on the door now.

Remember when the same was said about Baylor? Enter, Robert Gri� n III. Figured the same thing about Kansas, too. � en came Todd Reasing, who carried the Jayhawks to an Orange Bowl win in 2008.

Believe it or not, ISU does have a nice little quarterback history. Wal-lace was followed by Bret Meyer, who was followed by Austen Arnaud. Steele carries that torch, but there’s just something di� erent about him that neither Meyer nor Arnaud had.

Could be he’s a winner. At the City College of San Francisco, he led the team to the California State community college title game,

racking up 3,676 total yards and 37 total touchdowns along the way.

“� eir quarterback has been a key for their 3-0 start,” said Texas head coach Mack Brown. “And he’s been the surprise of their team because they weren’t sure who the quarterback would be a� er the young man graduated last year.”

So Jantz has been the missing piece. He has a good o� ensive line to protect him — Kelechi Osemele could be a � rst-round pick in next year’s NFL Dra� — and some tal-ented players around him. But there’s no question the Cyclones would not be 3-0 without him. Ac-tually, they might have been 0-3.

Jantz led a furious comeback against Northern Iowa in Week 1,

running in for the go-ahead score with 40 seconds le� . Matches against Iowa and Connecticut were the same story: ISU falls behind early, Jantz brings them back.

“Watching the Iowa comeback was unbelievable because they’ve had trouble beating Iowa,” Brown said. “And not only did Jantz bring them back, but the play he made on the goal line where he runs up inside and bounces back out and sprints to the right and hits the guy to win the game in overtime was just an amazing play.

“I think right now Iowa State players and coaches really believe he’s the guy.”

Good for the Cyclones. � ey needed one of those.

By Trey ScottDaily Texan Columnist

Jantz proves that good teams need good QB play

15

For QR Code reader, visit http://percentmobile.com/getqr with your mobile device.

DART Rail service begins as early as 7 a.m. for the Texas-Oklahoma game. Remember: The game starts at 11 a.m., so start out early. This year, DART is offering

text alerts for the latest service information. Just text DARTTXOU to 41411 or subscribe at DART.org.

RIDECowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas.

Oct. 1Time: 11:00 p.m.

TV: ESPN


Florida State corner charged with prejury, resisting arrest

Cornerback and return specialist Greg Reid was arrested early Mon-day morning on charges of resist-ing arrest and perjury. According to a police report, Reid was trying to protect a friend of his that was being pursued for forcefully resist-ing arrest after being stopped by police earlier while riding a scooter that Reid owned. Reid then signed a sworn document that was false dur-ing questioning, even though he was told he would be charged with per-jury if he provided false information. Reid has already been suspended once this year for violation of an un-specified team rule.

Ex-Vols coach bought flight for running back prospect

Yahoo! Sports has reported that former Tennessee assistant Willie Mack Garza paid for a top running back recruit and his mother to fly to Knoxville during Lane Kiffin’s time as head coach. According to the re-port, Garza wired $1,500 to talent scout Will Lyles in July 2009 and the money was used to buy plane tickets for running back prospect Lache Seastrunk and his mother, Evelyn.

“We’ve been verbally contacted by the NCAA enforcement staff regard-ing a recruiting issue in 2009 related to the former coaching staff and a student-athlete who never attended Tennessee,” said Tennessee spokes-man Jimmy Stanton in a statement.

A native of Temple, Seastrunk had signed with Oregon out of high school before transferring to Baylor this August amid rumors regarding his recruitment. Lyles, who opened his own scouting company in Janu-ary 2009, is still under investigation by the NCAA to see if any of the ser-vices he provided to Oregon inter-fered with NCAA regulations.

“Whatever undercover dirty stuff that they’re doing, I’m pretty sure that Willie Lyles is not the only per-son,” said Evelyn Seastrunk. “He’s just the only one that’s been caught. This is something that they’ve been doing forever.”

Clemson WR leaves team, focuses on early graduation

Sophomore Bryce McNeal has decided to leave the football pro-gram but will remain at Clemson as

a student. McNeal had appeared in all three of the Tigers’ games this sea-son and recorded one catch for eight yards. He has 20 career receptions for 195 yards.

“Bryce has been a fine represen-tative of the Clemson program and we hoped he would remain with the team,” said head coach Dabo Swin-ney. “But, he wants to fully concen-trate on his studies so he can gradu-ate this summer. He plans to attend another school and play football in 2012. Graduating in three years will be quite an accomplishment.”

Arkansas lose depth at DE as injuries begin to pile on

Defensive end Jake Bequtte re-mains questionable for this week’s game against Texas A&M. The senior has been battling a hamstring injury that has kept him out of the past two games and has yet to be cleared to play by the Razorbacks medical staff. Head coach Bobby Petrino was not able to offer any further insight on Bequette’s return this week.

“Certainly, that would help us if he was back ready to play for us this weekend, but I think it’s still real questionable right now if he’ll be ready or not,” Petrino said.

Bequette’s counterpart at defen-sive end, Tenarius Wright, will not be available against the Aggies after he broke his arm last week’s loss to Alabama. Wright will miss four to six weeks. Freshman Trey Flowers will see a lot of action this weekend if Bequette is not able to play.

Southern California QB reprimanded for remarks

Trojans quarterback Matt Bark-ley was reprimanded by the Pac-12 this week for his comment last week suggesting Arizona State linebacker Vontaze Burfict is a “dirty player.”

“Of course everyone blew it up, but what you didn’t hear is that it was coming from a place of respect for Vontaze,” Barkley said. “I know him as a player and a person and think he is a wonderful player, which is what I said.”

“It doesn’t change what I said about him — I think it’s still true — but you’ve got to be careful because people twist your words and do whatever they want with them.”

USC stated that Barkley will face no further punishment.

— By Nick Cremona | Daily Texan Staff

NATIONALnotebook

16 17 heismanwatch16

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During the bye week, the

Longhorns had the opportunity to relax and take a break from football. Some members of the team stayed in Austin, some went home and a couple even went hunting.

“I just went home and ate and I ate some more,” said senior center David Snow. “Anytime when you get to go home and get some home cooked meals it’s really great. I gained a little weight over the weekend.”

Snow spent time with his � ve siblings and his family. He said while he’s at school, espe-cially during football season, he doesn’t get the opportunity to spend much time with them.

Snow said the team’s practices over the week were very strong and he is excited for the game next weekend.

While Snow was in Gilmer

with his family, senior safe-ty Blake Gideon went to his family farm.

“I relaxed a little bit and hunted and hung out with my grandparents and probably ate way too much of my grandma’s food,” Gideon said.

He said it seems like it has been a long time since the team has played a game. He is anxious to get back on the � eld and play in another game.

“We’re chomping at the bit but it’s a good sign that we are ready to get back to our work,” Gideon said.

Senior tight end Blaine Irby also tested his hunting skills. He went to his girlfriend’s place in Victoria and went dove hunting.

“It went awesome,” Irby said. “It was great. I wasn’t too lucky with a couple of my shots but it was fun. It was a fun weekend just to kind of relax and just sit down and take advantage of our time o� .”

While some players stayed in Texas, senior Emmanuel Acho went to Philadelphia for a wed-ding. Although the � ight was three hours with a stop in Mis-souri, he was productive while in the air.

“On the � ight I watched the three game tapes of Iowa State versus Northern Iowa, UConn and Iowa,” Acho said. “So I got to watch all three of those games. One of those games went into overtime so you got to see really what plays they called in crunch time so that was really good and that was very helpful.”

Senior running back Fozzy Whittaker said the team is con-sidering the � rst three games of this year the “� rst season” and now they are preparing for their second season, which is the next three games against Iowa State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

Whittaker spent the weekend in Austin and went to a Little League football game.

“It was nice being able to relax and recuperate a little,” Whittaker said. “I am happy to be back this week getting ready to prepare for Iowa State.”

Senior Kheeston Randall said having a bye week is a nice break, but he is excited to get back on the � eld for a game.

“It’s bittersweet because you see everybody else playing on TV and you want to play,” Ran-dall said.

Keenan Robinson also stayed in Austin and worked out. He said he made sure he focused on football during the break.

“All week we were practic-ing and watching � lm of Iowa State, so we were preparing for them,” Robinson said. “We were preparing on the tempo o� ense, we were preparing on how their quarterback can make plays with his feet and we were just preparing and making sure we could stay focused that week and get better and not just take the week o� .”

Head coach Mack Brown con-� rmed Whittaker’s sentiments and said the break was bene� -cial for the players, but that the second phase of the season is the next three weeks.

“Our coaches and our players really enjoyed a weekend o� with the bye week so they could rest their bodies and minds and got to see a lot of great football over the weekend and especially how good the Big 12 is,” Brown said.

Although the Longhorns got a break from games, they know that Iowa State is a strong 3-0 team with something to prove. Just like them.

“It [the bye week] gets your body revamped and ready to go,” Snow said.

Enjoying the bye week

By Lauren GiudiceDaily Texan Sta�

Horns use time o� to visit family, hunt while preparing for Iowa State and remainder of conference campaign

Daniella VilllasanaDaily Texan Staff

17 heismanwatch


— By Nick Cremona | Daily Texan Staff2011HEISMANWATCH

Kellen Moore - QB Boise StateSeason stats- Passing: 80 of 105 (79%) for 995 yards and 12 TD 2 INTFour Moore passing touchdowns for the senior quarterback last week against Tulsa. Because of Boise State’s unfortunate predicament of being in the Mountain West Con-ference, Moore doesn’t get much publicity, but he has an NFL-caliber arm and is as accurate as anyone in the country. He should also continue to put up gaudy numbers against the MWC’s inferior teams.

Marcus LattimoreRB South CarolinaSeason stats- Rushing: 107 rushes for 611 yards (5.7 ypc) and 8 TD Receiving: 12 receptions for 139 yards and 1 TDLattimore failed to eclipse 100 yards on the ground for the � rst time this season, but he did add another rushing touchdown and three receptions for 73 yards and a score to bring his combined touchdown total to nine on the season. He will continue to see a heavy workload as SEC play revs up.

Landry Jones QB Oklahoma Season Stats- Passing: 88 of 122 (72.1%) for 5 TD 4 INT Rushing: 8 rushes for 3 yards (0.4 ypc) and 2 TDJones turned in a sloppy game by his standards last week against Missouri with two in-terceptions compared to three touchdowns. At this point Jones’ numbers looks paltry compared to those of Gri� n and Moore. He will need to bounce back in a big way this week against Ball State.

ON THE RISE

Brandon WeedenQB Oklahoma State Season Stats-Passing 142 of 191 (74.3%) for 10 TD and 6 INT

Ronnie HillmanRB San Diego State

UPDOWN

Robert Gri� n III - QB BaylorSeason stats- Passing: 70 of 82 (85.4%) for 962 yards and 13 TD 0 INT Rushing: 24 rushes for 167 yards (7.0 ypc) and 1 TDThirteen passing touchdowns, no interceptions and only 12 incomplete passes. If a robot had a stat line it may not even look as good as the num-bers Gri� n is putting up. He’s also got one rushing touchdown and is showing no signs of letting up. Keep your eye on this guy— he’s got something special going and it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch.

Steve Cannon | Associated PressDavid J. Phillip | Associated Press

Landry Jones QB Oklahoma Season Stats- Passing: 88 of 122 (72.1%) for 5 TD 4 INT Rushing: 8 rushes for 3 yards (0.4 ypc) and 2 TDJones turned in a sloppy game by his standards last week against Missouri with two in-terceptions compared to three touchdowns. At this point Jones’ numbers looks paltry compared to those of Gri� n and Moore. He will need to bounce back in a big way this week against Ball State.

Season Stats-Passing 142 of 191

David J. Phillip | Associated Press

Season Stats- Passing: 88 of

Rushing: 8 rushes for 3 yards

Jones turned in a sloppy game by his standards last week against Missouri with two in-terceptions compared to three touchdowns. At this point Jones’ numbers looks paltry compared to those of Gri� n and Moore. He will need to bounce back in a big way this week against

Rod Aydelotte | Associated Press

Rick OsentoskiAssociated Press

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19


TEXANSTAFFPICKS

Sameer Bhuchar

Trey Scott Austin Laymance

Christian Corona

Nick Cremona

Lauren Giudice

Wes Maulsby

Chris Hummer

Last Week’s Record (5-5) (5-5) (7-3) (8-2) (5-5) (6-4) (5-5) (8-2)

Overall Record (19-11) (23-7) (21-9) (24-6) (22-8) (21-9) (20-10) (24-6)

No. 17 Texas at Iowa State TEXAS TEXAS TEXAS TEXAS TEXAS TEXAS TEXAS TEXAS

No. 14 Texas A&M at No. 18

ArkansasARKANSAS TEXAS A&M ARKANSAS ARKANSAS ARKANSAS TEXAS A&M ARKANSAS TEXAS A&M

No. 13 Clemson at No. 11 Virginia

TechCLEMSON VIRGINIA TECH VIRGINIA TECH CLEMSON VIRGINIA TECH CLEMSON CLEMSON CLEMSON

SMU at No. 20 TCU TCU TCU TCU TCU TCU TCU TCU TCU

No. 15 Baylor at Kansas State BAYLOR BAYLOR KANSAS STATE BAYLOR BAYLOR BAYLOR KANSAS STATE BAYLOR

No. 3 Alabama at No. 12 Florida ALABAMA ALABAMA ALABAMA ALABAMA FLORIDA FLORIDA FLORIDA ALABAMA

Nevada at No. 4 Boise State BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE

No. 8 Nebraska at No. 7 Wisconsin WISCONSIN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN NEBRASKA WISCONSIN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN

Arizona at USC USC USC USC USC USC ARIZONA USC USC

Mississippi State at Georgia GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI STATE GEORGIA GEORGIA GEORGIA GEORGIA GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI

STATE

PREGAME RITUAL: “I like to tailgate in West Campus with my fraternity or head to the Texan tailgate near the Bob Bullock museum.“

WHERE HE’LL BE WATCHING TEXAS VS. IOWA STATE: At the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house

TEXAS SEASON PREDICTION: “I think Texas will have about a 70-percent win percentage.”

LASTWEEK’SWINNERSubmit your weekly picks on the Double Coverage site for a chance to be immortalized as a “Fan Pick ‘Em” winner. Last week’s winner won in a close content. Jason’s 7-3 record actually beat most

of our staff last week.

Jason TennenbaumAdvertising/RTF sophomore

double coverage 9-30-2011

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