Red River Rivalry hinges on trash talk
Jimmy Burch
Knight Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
AUSTIN, Texas — What we have
here is a significant difference
of opinion.
On one side of the Red River,
Texas football coach Mack Brown
gushes about the improvement of
quarterback Chris Simms, who is
prepared to make one of the defin
ing starts in his college career when
No. 3 Texas (5-0, 1-0) meets No. 2
Oklahoma (5-0, 1-0) at 2:30 p.m.
Saturday at the Cotton Bowl.
On the other side of the river,
Oklahoma coaches wonder how
much of Simms’ stellar completion
percentage (56.1) and improved
touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio
(10-3) should be attributed to a
schedule that has yet to see the
Longhorns face an opponent with
a winning record.
Asked to gauge Simms’ progress
since throwing four interceptions in
last year’s 14-3 loss to the Sooners,
Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator
Mike Stoops said: “It’s hard to tell.
They haven’t seen a lot of quality
defenses this season. A lot of pres
sure is reduced in those situations
because (Simms) hasn’t had to
force anything. When you play
against good people, you’re forced
to try and make bigger plays when
your running game isn’t working.”
"People wanted
to comment that
we weren't sincere,
but we were "
Bob Stoops
Oklahoma coach
In Brown’s estimation, Simms has
more than acquitted himself during
victories over five opponents with a
combined record of 10-17. He cited
a laundry list of areas where Simms
is better in 2002, including leader
ship, judgment, mobility and men
tal toughness.
“He’s only made one bad throw all
year,” Brown said, referring to a po
tential interception that was dropped
by a Houston defender. “He’s really
stepped up his game in all areas.”
Despite an enviable pass-efficien
cy rating (132) that places him 47th
nationally among major-college
quarterbacks, Simms knows he will
never be judged by what he does
against North Texas or Tulane. Not
after balancing 12 turnovers against
one touchdown pass in his past
three appearances against top-10
opponents (all losses).
In many ways, Simms’ legacy as a
college quarterback figures to be
shaped by what happens Saturday
at the Cotton Bowl. The senior from
Franklin Lakes, N.J., said Monday
that he is ready for the scrutiny.
Color the Sooners skeptical. After
offering pregame praise for Simms
last season and having Brown dis
miss it as possible gamesmanship,
Oklahoma coaches are not tossing
verbal bouquets this season.
Asked if Simms is less error
prone in 2002, Oklahoma coach
Bob Stoops said: “That’s hard to
say. I never thought he was care
less with the ball. ... Our com
ments (last year) that he was bet
ter went unnoticed. People wanted
to comment that we weren’t sin
cere, but we were. We don’t lie. We
say what we mean.”
This time, the Sooners are say
ing Simms must prove it to them
on the field.
(c) 2002, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
Michael Mulvey Dallas Morning News (KRT)
The Texas defense will hope to swarm the Oklahoma offense at the Cotton Bowl.
Texas Tech, Iowa State QB’s
face off in ‘other’ Big 12 battle
Keith Whitmire
The Dallas Morning News
(KRT)
DALLAS — The little border
skirmish at the Cotton Bowl won’t
be the only battle of Big 12 heavy
weights Saturday.
The Texas-Oklahoma game will
settle a lot of differences and have
far-reaching consequences. So will
the quarterback battle between Iowa
State’s Seneca Wallace and Texas
Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury.
Only one quarterback can come
away a winner Saturday. Similarly,
only one can ultimately carry the
label of the best quarterback in the
Big 12.
So far, Kingsbury and Wallace are
making convincing arguments to be
the first-team All-Big 12 quarterback.
Kingsbury is stereotyped as a “sys
tem” quarterback who puts up huge
numbers because he throws so
many passes. Wallace is labeled an
“athletic” quarterback because he’s
capable of making plays with his feet
as well as his arm.
Kingsbury’s numbers are astound
ing, and they are only going to get
bigger. He’s thrown 22 touchdown
passes when no one else in the Big
12 has more than 10.
He’s passed for 2,134 yards in half
a season. The next-best in the league
is Wallace’s 1,653.
Wallace has rushed for 115
yards, but his own coach will tell
you he could have much more if he
wasn’t always looking to make a
jaw-dropping throw.
If the deciding factor is whose
team is performing better, you might
give a slight edge to Wallace. The
only blemish on Iowa State’s record
is a 38-31 loss to Florida State. Wal
lace dazzled the Florida State’ de
fense as he nearly led the Cyclones
to a huge upset.
More recently, Wallace led Iowa
State to a historic win over longtime
power Nebraska.
Kingsbury can boast of a win over
Texas A&M at Kyle Field. He also led
a furious comeback in an overtime
loss to North Carolina State.
You could probably start a fight
in certain parts of Ames, Iowa, or
Lubbock if you said the wrong
quarterback was better. Fortunate
ly, Kingsbury and Wallace have a
ch^nqe to $gtfle the,i$sue on the
Mitchell Mulvey Dallas Morning News (KRT)
Taurean Henderson and Texas Tech have a showdown with Iowa State on Saturday.
field when they meet Saturday at
Iowa State.
No Big 12 coach is going to say
publicly whether Kingsbury or Wal
lace is better, especially if they have
to face either one. You can’t even get
them to choose which style of quar
terback is tougher to face.
“You can probably count on a slow
death one way or another,” Kansas
State coach Bill Snyder said.
One thing Snyder will take a stand
on is the issue of Kingsbury being a
“system” quarterback. Kingsbury
doesn’t have a rifle arm, and many of
his passes are thrown either behind
the line of scrimmage or just over it.
But Kingsbury’s touch, accuracy
and ability to find weaknesses in a
defense more than make up for any
shortcomings.
“I’m convinced that Kliff is a tal
ented, talented guy,” Snyder said.
“Everybody can have a system, but
you’ve got to have somebody to
make it work.”
Overlooking Kingsbury’s skills be
cause of all the dink passes he
throws is the same as painting Wal
lace as an “athletic” quarterback be
cause he can make plays on the run.
Just because Wallape cap make
defenses look silly with his scram
bling ability doesn’t mean he’s not an
accomplished pocket passer.
Wallace is the Big 12’s highest-rat
ed quarterback with an efficiency
rating of 158.2, eight points better
than anyone else, including Kings
bury who’s third at 147.8.
Wallace has attempted 129 fewer
passes than Kingsbury, and his com
pletion rate is 64 percent to Kings
bury’s 67 percent.
And by the way, Sooner fans,
Nate Hybl is rated the No. 2 quar
terback in the Big 12, thanks to
a 60 percent completion rate and
no interceptions.
That all still leaves unanswered
the question of who’s better, and
how you measure the difference.
Maybe, like Kansas coach Mark
Mangino said, it’s better to put the is
sue aside for now and just appreciate
both quarterbacks.
“Let me tell you this,” Mangino
said, “with both of those guys play
ing against each other, that will be a
fan’s delight.”
(c) 2002, The Dallas Morning News.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
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