Brown throws 4 interceptions, is benched for Walton

"I just tried to play my best football, and I ended up playing my worst football."
-- James Brown,Texas quarterback

Mike Finger
Daily Texan Staff

James Brown is the most prolific passer in Texas football history. He owns almost every record that a Longhorn quarterback can achieve, and he has perhaps meant as much to his program as any other player in this decade.

But with just four regular-season games remaining in his distinguished career, Brown may be in danger of losing his starting job.

Brown completed as many passes to Colorado defenders as he did to Texas receivers on Saturday, and the Buffaloes made him pay dearly for forcing dangerous passes into tight coverage. Brown's last pair of interceptions in the third quarter put the game out of reach, and his four total picks led to 24 points in the Buffaloes' 47-30 victory.

"I didn't feel any pressure," Brown said of his mindset during the contest. "I just tried to play my best football, and I ended up playing my worst football."

Colorado defensive backs Damen Wheeler and Ryan Sutter both intercepted Brown passes near midfield in the second quarter, and the Buffs were able to convert both of those turnovers into touchdowns. Yet the Horns' offense was still able to keep them in the contest until the third period, when the wheels came off the Texas wagon in a hurry.

Brown was pressured on Texas' first offensive play after the intermission, and he forced the ball near the right sideline to tight end Steve Bradley. But Sutter had perfect coverage on Bradley at the time, and he grabbed his second interception of the day before returning it 34 yards for a Colorado touchdown.

Then, only five plays later, Brown attempted a low-percentage pass to Derek Lewis over the middle, which was picked off by defensive end Terrell Cade and returned to the Texas 15-yard line.

"I didn't see [Cade]," Brown said of his last pass of the day. "If I would have seen him, I wouldn't have thrown it."

Brown's dismal performance prompted head coach John Mackovic to insert backup quarterback Richard Walton into the lineup on the Horns' next possession, but the turnover woes weren't over quite yet. Walton's second pass was intercepted by cornerback Ben Kelly, who wasn't brought down until Ricky Williams made a touchdown-saving tackle at the Texas 2.

The Texas defense held the Buffs to a field goal, but the damage had clearly been done. At that point, Colorado had scored 13 points while managing only one yard of total offense in the second half. And although the Horns made a late run, the 37-17 lead that CU had built during the first 10 minutes of the second half was too much to overcome.

"After that first interception [of the third quarter], it all fell apart," Williams said. "The defense did a good job out there, and then we let them get the ball right back and score."

Indeed, while the Texas offense was in the midst of its self-destruction, the defensive unit was playing some of its best football of the season. The Horns made two gritty stands deep in their own territory after the final two interceptions, keeping Colorado from reaching the end zone and putting the game completely out of hand.

But according to linebacker Dusty Renfro, the defense took little solace in that brief period of success.

"It's real frustrating," Renfro said of the Horns' second-half meltdown. "There's not a whole lot you can do whenever they're intercepting passes and taking them back for touchdowns."

Renfro's head coach agreed. While Texas showed sporadic flashes of excellence on Saturday, Mackovic explained, the inconsistency that has plagued the Horns all season once again became their weakness.

"You cannot expect to beat a team like Colorado with five interceptions," said Mackovic. "To turn the ball over where we turned it over just gave them some easy scores."

And after time expired on the field, the attention was once again turned toward Brown's status as the team's field general. Mackovic said that Brown's benching could possibly be carried over to next week, which would represent the first instance that he has been sidelined for a non-injury-related reason since winning the starting job from Shea Morenz in 1994.

"I haven't made that decision yet," Mackovic said. "But clearly, there's some questions that need to be answered at that position."

Brown said that he understood Mackovic's concern about the inconsistency at the quarterback slot, calling his latest showing "embarrassing." But even so, the man who has a chance to take over the reins of the Texas offense doesn't seem to want the job.

"I don't think it's an issue," Walton said. "James Brown is a great quarterback who's not playing as well as he can, but I'm not playing as well as I'd like to, either."

But in the aftermath of Brown's day, which saw his team-record streak of 82 pass attempts without an interception come to a screeching halt, one thing is certain -- Brown is not playing like the quarterback who won three consecutive conference titles.

And although reasons for his struggles abound, there seems to be no sure-fire way to help Brown leave Texas on the same high note as he arrived on.

"I don't know what's wrong with James. I can't speak for him," Walton said, "but I feel for him."


Buffed & Waxed

Texas drops its 2nd straight, 47-30 to Colorado at home

"I think it's just something new every week. I think we're better than some of the other teams out there. But the interceptions was our Achilles' heel this week. If we can bounce back and find something to play for, we'll be all right."
-- Ricky Williams, Texas tailback

Brian Davis
Daily Texan Staff

Looking like a beaten and worn-down soldier, Texas' swashbuckling hero, James Brown, may have finally fallen on his own sword.

The same player whose razor-sharp tongue and razor's-edge arm made believers out of Texas A&M and Nebraska was now without his armor, at a loss for words, and teams are now discovering that he truly is mortal.

Not only did Brown's four interceptions further darken UT's sad season with a 47-30 loss to Colorado, but now gone is the same valor, vigor and voodoo that Longhorns have banked on since his debut against Oklahoma in 1994.

After his second consecutive disappointing performance, Brown has been thrown to the wolves by head coach John Mackovic, and as Texas (3-4) begins preparations for Baylor, the senior from Beaumont is now mired in a good old fashioned quarterback controversy.

"I'm just trying to play my game," Brown said of Saturday's 4-of-15, 60-yard showing. "I didn't feel any pressure, I just tried to play my best football. But it seemed like I played my worst football."

The announced crowd of 78,005 fans at Royal-Memorial Stadium, who have grown restless and are searching for heads, even stooped to booing Brown after his fourth interception was returned 33 yards by Colorado's Terrell Cade, which put the newest nail in Mackovic's coffin.

But by that time, the damage had been done. Texas had held on for a 24-17 halftime deficit, which was only after some catch-up with a 10-play, 80-yard drive capped by halfback Ricky Williams' 1-yard touchdown run.

Earlier in the second quarter, Williams had hung a 71-yard touchdown scamper on the Buffs (4-3, 2-2) en route to his third consecutive 200-yard day.

Williams finished with 201 yards and four touchdowns as he became the fastest back in UT history to reach the 1,000-yard plateau in a season based on carries (144) and based on number of games (seven).

Williams also moved ahead of Iowa's Tavian Banks to become the nation's leading rusher (168.3 yards per game) and scorer (14.9 points per game). Williams is the first rusher to lead the nation in both rushing and scoring since former Texas great Earl Campbell in 1977 .

But when the second half opened, Colorado shut the door with three interceptions on consecutive drives by Brown and the Longhorns. The first was a 34-yard touchdown return by CU's Ryan Sutter. Cade's pick then put the ball on Texas' 15 for a chip-shot field goal by Jeremy Aldrich.

Now trailing 34-17, Brown simply paced up and down the sidelines as backup quarterback Richard Walton prepared to make his first appearance since the UCLA game -- the initial debacle that the Longhorns have never recovered from.

"He's not any different of a person," said Walton, who promptly had his second pass intercepted by Colorado's Ben Kelly, setting up another Buffs field goal. "He's the same guy, but it's just he's not doing as well as we would like him to offensively."

Without being prompted in his post-game remarks, Mackovic said: "If you're wondering whether or not we'll make a change at the quarterback position, I'll let you know later this week."

After a visibly upset Mackovic chewed both Brown and Walton for their deficiencies, Walton regained his composure to lead Texas on a 16-play, 65-yard drive that saw Williams fumble the ball. UT then regained possession on a wild fourth-and-1 play.

Williams cashed in his third and eventually his fourth touchdown runs later in the fourth quarter as Texas posted 13 points in the final stanza, but it was all for naught.

"I think it's just something new every week," said Williams, who later admitted that he might consider jumping ship if Mackovic is forced to pack his bags at the end of the season.

"I think we're better than some of the other teams out there. But the interceptions was our Achilles' heel this week. If we can bounce back and find something to play for, we'll be all right."

What Texas does have to play for is a bowl invitation, but at the rate things are going, even that looks like a pipe dream. The Longhorns must win three of their final four games (Baylor, Texas Tech, Kansas and A&M) to even qualify for a bowl.

Right now, UT is seventh in the conference standings with a 1-3 record. Only the top six Big 12 teams are extended bowl invitations. The Longhorns missed a prime opportunity to jump back into the standings due to Oklahoma State and Texas A&M's losses on Saturday, but much like the 1997 season, they blew that as well.

"We had some bright spots, but we still had too many mistakes," Texas linebacker Dusty Renfro said. "You can't make mistakes and expect to win. We're just going to have to try to work on these mistakes and try to get better."


Missed opportunities doom Horns

Jeff McDonald
Daily Texan Staff

King Midas never had an opportunity so golden.

Trailing Colorado by only a touchdown at halftime Saturday, Texas was afforded a chance to climb back into the Big 12 South divisional race, regain a shred of national dignity, and breathe new life in its heretofore debacle of a football season.

Earlier in the afternoon, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M, the two teams atop the division, had been upset in close contests, giving the Horns an opportunity to narrow the two-game gulf between themselves and first place.

Texas, however, respectfully declined.

The Longhorns were ultimately rebuffed by Colorado, 47-30, and as the final few seconds ticked off the Royal-Memorial Stadium game clock, so expired one last shot at salvaging a season gone horribly awry.

"It hurts. It hurts real bad," Texas linebacker Dusty Renfro said. "We have to win all the rest of our games to have a successful season."

Only hours before, Memorial Stadium was practically abuzz, brimming with the hope that a water-to-wine miracle was about to occur.

Oklahoma State had begun the day two games ahead of Texas and one ahead of A&M in the division, with five to play. A win over Colorado could have closed that gap and resuscitated UT's hopes for a fourth straight conference championship.

The crowd of 78,005 cheered raucously as the giant scoreboard at the south end of the stadium chronicled both OSU's 51-50 double-overtime loss to Missouri and the Aggies' last-second three-point setback against Texas Tech.

That optimism became even more palpable when Texas proceeded to hang tough with Colorado for much of the first half, stringing together a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown march just before intermission to keep the game within one score.

But, given a little more room to breathe, the Longhorns somehow choked to death, giving up 27 points on five turnovers.

In a season chock full of disappointments, the Horns' failure to capitalize on the weekend's pair of most unlikely losses may be the biggest of all.

"During the game we looked up and saw the [other] scores and knew we were still in the race," UT halfback Ricky Williams said. "It's just real frustrating to lose when you have a shot like that."

"We had an opportunity to get some things done today and we just didn't do it," Texas head coach John Mackovic said. "It just goes to show that those teams are even, and very few teams stand out."

Colorado, on the other hand, made significant strides in turning its own disappointing season around. With the win, the Buffs (4-3, 2-2 Big 12) posted two victories in a row for the first time this year.

"Any time you beat Texas, you know it was hard fought," CU coach Rick Neuheisel said. "You just can't afford to squander any game."

The Longhorns, who frittered away another 200-yard day from Williams, his school-record third in a row, can relate.

Williams ran for 202 yards, only the second time a Texas back has broken the 200-yard barrier in defeat. The first time that inauspicious task was accomplished was just last weekend at Missouri, when Williams' 235 yards were not enough to push Texas past the Tigers.

"I don't think anyone on our team was counting yards, just counting points," Mackovic said. "We're just disappointed that we didn't win the game."

In the wake of missed opportunity, thoughts for Texas turn now from repeating as conference champions to just putting up a winning season and attaining the minimum six wins necessary to be considered for a post-season bowl game.

Even Honolulu in December looks good about now.

Texas (3-4, 1-2 Big 12) will need to win three of its last four to attain the minimum six victories necessary to qualify for a bowl invitation.

"I think now we have to play for pride and play for ourselves, and just try to get to a bowl game," Williams said. "We can still accomplish that goal."

"We need to believe in each other," said wide receiver Kwame Cavil. "You can't accomplish anything unless you believe you can. We most definitely believe we can win out and make a bowl game."