1994 Texas - Houston
UH upended by Longhorns
QB Brown's 320 passing yards leads 6-4 Texas by Cougars
Johnny Ludden
Daily Texan Staff
In case there was any fear among Texas fans, the Longhorns' 48-13 win
over Houston Saturday does indeed count as a victory over a Division I-A
opponent.
Led by redshirt freshman quarterback James Brown and senior wide
receiver Eric Jackson, the Longhorns (6-4, 3-3 in the Southwest Conference)
turned in their most dominating performance of the season before 56,645
fans at Memorial Stadium, qualifying for a bowl game for the first time
since 1990.
"We came together and played like we knew we could today," Texas senior
outside linebacker Norman Watkins said. "We worked hard all week in
practice, so it was fun to come out and play a game like this. I have to
give all of the credit to my teammates for playing the type of game we
should have been playing all along."
Even if Texas loses to Baylor on Thanksgiving, the Horns look like an
almost lock to play in the Sun Bowl in El Paso on Dec. 30. Texas probably
will face Southern Cal in the Sun Bowl if Oregon captures the Rose Bowl bid
by beating Oregon State Saturday.
Six wins over Division I-A opponents are needed for a bowl berth. In
Mackovic's first season at Texas in 1991, the Longhorns finished 6-5 but
were ineligible for postseason play because one of the their victories came
over Division I-AA North Texas.
The Longhorns still are mathematically alive for the Cotton Bowl, but
Houston must beat both Texas Tech and Rice for the Horns to have any hope
of playing in Dallas on Jan. 2.
Saturday's win came against a Houston team (1-8, 1-4 in the SWC) that
ranked last in nine of 14 statistical categories in the conference, but the
Longhorns still looked impressive, finishing on the positive side of a
blowout for the first time in three weeks.
Texas rolled up 497 yards on offense, its highest total since last
season's opener against Colorado, and prevented the Cougars from crossing
midfield until late in the third quarter when the Horns already owned a
41-0 lead.
In just 21/2 quarters, Brown, making his second career start in place of
the injured Shea Morenz, completed 22 of 27 passes for 320 yards and a
team-record tying four touchdowns. Brown's 320 yards were the
fourth-highest passing total in Texas history. Todd Dodge holds the top
mark with 359 yards against Rice in 1985.
Brown completed a 32-yard pass to Jackson on the opening play of the
game, and the rout was on.
"After that, we knew we could move the ball," Brown said. "We knew we
could control the tempo of the game."
The Longhorns went on to score on the opening drive with Brown throwing
a three-yard TD pass to junior wide receiver Lovell Pinkney.
A 24-yard touchdown pass to Eric Jackson and a 22-yard field goal by
redshirt freshman Phil Dawson extended the Longhorns' advantage to 17-0 at
the end of the first quarter. Jackson, playing in his final game at
Memorial Stadium, had six catches for 129 yards and a touchdown in the
opening quarter and finished the game with a career-best seven receptions
for 139 yards.
"I take everything personal that's going on on the field," Jackson said.
"If they throw 20 balls, I plan on catching 20 balls."
Brown split two defenders with a 29-yard TD pass to Curtis Jackson in
the second quarter and lobbed a 25-yarder in the third quarter that Pinkney
hauled in for his record-tying 14th career touchdown reception.
Brown led one more scoring drive -- a 4-yard touchdown run by redshirt
freshman tailback Darrell Wilson that gave Texas a 38-0 lead with 7:07 left
in the third quarter -- before being replaced by redshirt freshman John
Dutton.
"I don't want to start comparing quarterbacks, but James got things
clicking early, and that's what we need," Eric Jackson said. "I like the
way he moves around. He can do that and find receivers open."
Texas' defense also shut down the Cougars, holding Houston to 1 yard
rushing in the first half and 158 total yards through three quarters.
Houston's two touchdowns came in the final 3:50 of the game with Texas
already leading 48-0.
The Longhorns finished with a season-high seven sacks, hounding Houston
quarterbacks Chad O'Shea and Clay Helton throughout the afternoon. Texas
senior cornerback Joey Ellis and freshman linebacker Kyle Richardson picked
off O'Shea's first two pass attempts of the game. Sophomore inside
linebacker Tyson King led the Horns with 10 tackles and a sack. Watkins was
a frequent visitor to the Cougars' backfield, adding five tackles and a
pair of sacks.
About the only thing missing from Texas' attack was a strong running
game. Wilson finished with 95 yards and two TDs on 14 carries, but the
Longhorns averaged only 2.9 yards per carry through the first three
quarters.
Despite Texas' success, some of Houston's players were reluctant to give
the Longhorns much credit.
"They have a decent team, but they're not as good as a lot of teams
we've played," Cougar freshman center Ben Fricke said. "We are a young
team, and we just played horribly."
"We were overmatched," Houston head coach Kim Helton said. "They did
pretty well what they wanted to do. They woke up and decided to play. Our
inexperience and youth made them look pretty good. We didn't help ourselves
very much."
For the Horns, the win was a welcome sight.
"We can't say we've proved that we're back yet," Texas left tackle Blake
Brockermeyer said. "But we can say the next time we take the field field
against Baylor, that it's going to be a knock-down, drag-out fight."
Texas 48, Houston 13
Texas 17 7 17 7 -- 48
Houston 0 0 0 13 -- 13
Texas -- Pinkney 3 pass from Brown (Dawson kick).
Texas -- E. Jackson 24 pass from Brown (Dawson kick).
Texas -- FG Dawson 22.
Texas -- C. Jackson 29 pass from Brown (Dawson kick).
Texas -- Pinkney 25 pass from Brown (Dawson kick).
Texas -- Wilson 4 run (Dawson kick).
Texas -- FG Dawson 37.
Texas -- Wilson 4 run (Dawson kick).
Hou -- J. Williams 9 run (Craft kick).
Hou -- J. Williams 2 run (pass failed).
A -- 54,654.
Texas Hou
First downs 25 22
Rushes-yards 35-139 32-55
Passing 358 240
Return Yards 29 0
Comp-Att-Int 25-34-0 25-42-2
Punts 5-30 7-36
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 12-115 13-100
Time of Possession 29:02 30:51
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Texas: D. Wilson 14-95, R. Walker 7-32, E. Jackson 1-7,
Holmes 5-6, Dutton 1-3, Coleman 3-3, J. Brown 4- (-7). Houston: J. Williams
12-47, McGuire 7-17, McPherson 1-12, Mouton 2-9, O'Shea 7- (-9), Helton 3-
(-21).
Passing -- Texas: Brown 22-27-320, Dutton 3-7-38. Houston: Helton
19-30-171, O'Shea 6-12-69.
Receiving -- Texas: E. Jackson 7-139, C. Jackson 5-69, Pinkney 4-68,
Davis 2-38, Wallace 3-31, Bradley 1-9, Lucas 1-9, Holmes 1- (-1), R. Walker
1- (-4). Houston: Peters 3-45, Herold 3-28, J. Williams 4-41, James 2-27,
West 2-25, Burton 3-19, K. Williams 1-5, Adams 2-24, McGuire 2-11, Pitre
1-8, Mouton 2-7.