Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 046, Ed. 1 Friday, January 8, 2010 Page: 12 of 12
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CM K
Sports
Page 12 ■ Friday, January 8, 2010
Sweetwater Reporter
Crimson T de stops Texas to win title
PASADENA, Calif. (AP)
— The running game wears
teams down. The defense
changes games.
Yes, Alabama, this sea-
son's version of the Crimson
Tide could have been your
dad's Crimson Tide, too.
Or Bear Bryant's.
The Alabama 'D' knocked
Texas quarterback Colt
McCoy out of the BCS title
game early, then made
a big play late to stop a
Longhorns comeback in a
37-21 victory Thursday that
brought glory back to the
program Bear built.
"We back," said Mark Ing-
ram, the Heisman Trophy
winner who ran for 116
yards and two scores.
Instead of Bear's hound-
stooth hat, it's Nick Saban
in a polo shirt who walks
the sidelines these days.
Nobody's complaining.
In the short span of three
years, Saban took a pro-
gram that had drifted far
from what it had been and
brought it back to champi-
onship caliber.
This was Alabama's first
title since 1992, its eighth
since the advent of the polls
in the 1930s and its seventh
Associated Press champion-
ship.
The top-ranked Tide
(14-0) won the AP title
unanimously and was set to
receive that trophy today.
Alabama 37.
"When you get 92,000
people at a spring game, I
mean, that's a lot of positive
energy and a lot of positive
support," Saban said, try-
ing, as usual, to spread the
credit for his quick revival.
It was the coach, of
course, who brought in most
of these players, and his
defense changed the tenor
of the game suddenly and
startlingly when Marcell
Dareus hit McCoy, injuring
the quarterback's shoulder
and knocking him out of the
game on Texas' fifth offen-
sive play.
"I just heard a thump
when I hit him," Dareus
said. "I did lay it down pret-
ty hard. I didn't try to, but it
felt great."
McCoy said he lost feel-
ing in his right shoulder but
wasn't in pain. He asked
to come back in, but coach
Mack Brown didn't want to
risk it. "I would have given
anything to be out there,
because it would have been
different," McCoy said.
Not to be, though, and
when Dareus picked off
backup quarterback Garrett
Gilbert's shovel pass and
returned it 28 yards for a
score right before halftime,
the Tide was rolling with a
24-6 lead that looked like it
would get bigger. But some-
thing funny happened.
Red-hot SHS girls to start
district at B wood; boys
entertain BaQinger today
BYRON HOWELL
Sports Editor
The vastly-improved Sweetwater High
School girls basketball team will tip off
District 2-3A play today at Brownwood
while the SHS boys play their final non-
district home game against Ballinger.
The Mustangs (11-7), who have also
shown big improvement after winning
just eight games a year ago, tip off at 8
p.m. after freshman and JV contests at 5
and 6:30 p.m., respectively.
Under new head coach Jerry McSherry,
the SHS girls — after managing just three
wins in 31 games a year ago — are 12-9
and have won five straight games, the
latest an exciting 41-38 victory over Roby
at home Tuesday. Roby, a perennial Class
lA power, won 59-34 a year ago en route
to capturing a state championship but fell
victim to a late rally this time.
Sweetwater trailed 36-34 with about
five minutes left, but the Lady Mustangs
went on a 7-2 run and survived a last-
second 3-point attempt for the victory.
Today's game will begin about 6:30 p.m.
with freshman and JV games also on tap.
The SHS boys, who will begin their dis-
trict season Jan. 15 against Breckenridge,
also won Tuesday, defeating Grape Creek
54-41 as Jason Vause had 18 points and
Paxton Kelley 12. Sweetwater is at Hawley
on Tuesday to wrap up the non-district
portion of its schedule.
There are several other area games
tonight involving Nolan County teams. In
District 11-lA, Division I, the Roscoe boys
and girls host Cross Plains and in District
14-A, Division II, Highland's girls host
Ilermleigh while the boys face Sterling
City. Blackwell's girls start District 10-A,
Division II play by hosting Water Valley
and the boys will entertain Menard.
Kansas-UT looms as Big 12 begins
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)
— Start the hype now for
Kansas vs. Texas.
Still a month away, that
one game looms over the
Big 12 as conference play
starts this weekend. Two
undefeated teams, No. l vs.
No. 2, about a dozen future
NBA players on the court. It
could be the greatest game
in the history of the Big 12.
Of course, they've got to
get there first.
Back to being one of the
toughest conferences in the
country, the Big 12 offers
plenty of banana peels to
slip up the top two teams in
the country.
If the Jayhawks and
Longhorns end up unde-
feated when they meet in
Austin on Feb. 8, they will
have earned it.
"Anybody can go any-
where and get beat and
being able to hold at home
is going to be tough because
the talent level is so good,"
Kansas coach Bill Self said
Thursday. "We've been for-
tunate to have quite a bit
of success in the league the
past few years, but I believe
this will be the hardest year
to win the league since I've
been in the league — and
I believe we have a good
team."
The 2008-09 season, at
least by the previous year's
standards, was a bit blah.
There were some good
teams, one great player
(Oklahoma's Blake Griffin)
and not a lot of respect from
outside the conference.
Well, the Big 12 is back,
baby.
Every team has a win-
ning record, the conference
has set a record with 140
non-conference wins and its
teams are a combined 105-1
at home. The Big 12 has
had at least four teams in
the Top 25 for five straight
weeks, including those two
big names at the top of
the poll, has the nation's
second-best RPI, and an
8-3 record against ranked
teams.
Clearly, the Big 12 isn't
just two teams and a bunch
of also-rans.
"I think so many people
are focusing on Kansas and
Texas as the best teams in
the country, but they don't
realize how good the Big 12
is," Kansas State forward
Curtis Kelly said. "If you sit
back and stop focusing on
two teams — they're great
teams, no doubt — you'll
notice there's other teams
in this conference that are
good."
Kansas and Texas are
about to find out.
The Jayhawks have to
play at No. 16 Tennessee
on Sunday and open con-
ference play on the road
against 12-3 Nebraska on
Wednesday. The Longhorns
will face six teams with at
least 10 wins and have a
non-conference road game
against No. 13 Connecticut
mixed in before the big
game in Austin.
The biggest stumbling
blockfor both teams couldbe
Kansas State. The Jayhawks
and Longhorns both have
to go to Manhattan, where
the nth-ranked Wildcats
are confident, athletic and
off to their best start in 61
years.
"They've lost one game,
their wins have been impres-
sive and they've done it
away from home," Self said.
"I'd say I'm probably most
TEW
Eryk Anders' devastating hit forced a Texas fumble and enabled the Tide to finish
off the Horns.
Gilbert, the highly recruit-
ed freshman who had only
thrown 26 college passes,
grew up in a hurry.
HeledtheNo. 2 Longhorns
(13-1) on touchdown drives
of 59 and 65 yards, capping
both with scoring passes
to All-American Jordan
Shipley.
The lead was only 24-21
with 6:15 left and all the
momentum was in Texas'
favor.
"It's a hard learning
curve but he learned fast,"
Brown said. "At one point, I
thought he was going to win
the ballgame."
Texas got the ball back on
its 7-yard line with about
3 minutes left, trailing by
three.
Gilbert had a chance to
complete the comeback and
go down as one of the most
out-of-nowhere success sto-
ries in college football his-
tory.
Instead, another unlikely
star, Alabama linebacker
Eryk Anders, got a blind-
side sack and stripped the
ball. Teammate Courtney
Upshaw recovered. Three
plays later, Ingram scored
from the 1 to give 'Bama
some breathing room. A few
minutes after that, Trent
Richardson scored to make
a close game look more lop-
sided than it really was.
The Alabama win brought
a fourth consecutive title
back to the Southeastern
Conference.
Richardson ran for 109
yards and two touchdowns,
and combined with Ingram's
effort, the Tide won despite
a modest 6-for-n passing
night from Greg McElroy.
Talk about getting it done
on the ground: Dating to
Bryant's last title, in 1979,
Alabama has thrown the
ball a grand total of 32
times in its last three bowl
games that led to national
championships.
Ingram became the first
running back to win the
Heisman and the nation-
al title in the same season
since Tony Dorsett in 1976.
Ingram was Alabama's
first Heisman Trophy win-
ner. Before this year, the
Tide used to point to all
its championships and say
winning those were better
than winning Heismans
(Remember that, Auburn?).
But Ingram showed it's
possible to have both.
Romo says bad playof:
memories are in the past
impressed with K-State."
It doesn't stop there.
Baylor has outstripped all
expectations, opening 11-1
after being picked to fin-
ish 10th in the conference.
Another surprise, Oklaho-
ma State, is 12-2, as is No.
22 Texas Tech. Nebraska
seems to be better than its
nth-place prediction.
Missouri and Texas A&M
are both 11-3 and have
seven teams in front of
them. That's how good the
conference is.
"It sets up for an unbe-
lievable year as far as the
fans are concerned, as far as
the players are concerned,
and it's going to be a long
year for coaches because
each and every night you
better have your team ready
to play," Nebraska coach
Doc Sadler said. "Whoever
finishes 12th is going to win
some big games this year, I
promise you."
They dive right in on
Saturday.
Nebraska and Texas A&M
get to see how good they
really are in College Station.
Texas faces a much-im-
proved Colorado team. Bay-
lor faces Oklahoma, which
is probably better than its
9-5 record.
IRVING (AP) - Tony
Romo's postseason memo-
ries with the Dallas Cowboys
are filled with tears.
There was that tear-
ful apology to teammates
after he botched the hold
of a chip-shot field goal late
in his first playoff game.
And Terrell Owens tear-
fully defending the quarter-
back after Romo finished
his other playoff loss with
an interception in the end
zone.
"Those past games have
absolutely no bearing on
anything going forward,"
Romo said this week while
preparing for his next play-
off chance, Saturday night
at home in a quick rematch
against Philadelphia.
"Experiences, things you go
through, you learn. You try
and improve."
No longer with the dis-
tractions of Owens or a
celebrity girlfriend — the
Cowboys cut the often dis-
ruptive receiver last spring,
and Romo ended his rela-
tionship with pop singer
Jessica Simpson before
training camp — Romo
has broken single-season
Cowboys passing records,
including some of his own,
while throwing a career-low
nine interceptions.
With Romo leading the
way, Dallas (11-5) clinched
the NFC East title with a
three-game winning streak
capped by a 24-0 victory
over the Eagles last week-
end.
"I don't think I've ever
seen him more confident
than he is now," said tight
end Jason Witten, one of
Romo's favorite targets and
best friend since they came
in as rookies together in
2003. "I've never seen us
more confident in him."
Romo became the Dallas
starter seven games into
2006, a season that ended
with a 21-20 playoff loss in
Seattle when Romo flubbed
the hold and was then tack-
led short of the end zone.
A year later, the Cowboys
were home as the No. 1 seed
in the playoffs after a bye
week and Romo's much-
publicized weekend getaway
to Mexico with Simpson
and some teammates. They
lost 21-17 to the New York
Giants after Romo's fourth-
down pass with 9 seconds
left was intercepted.
"Those are lifetimes ago,"
offensive coordinator Jason
Garrett said.
"In a great deal of areas,
he's just not the same guy,"
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
said this week. "He's had
a small lifetime of experi-
ences both on and off the
field, media exposure, cri-
tique and I can tell you first-
hand that ultimately that
will toughen you up or it
will knock a little of naivete
out of you. ... I'm glad to be
going with a guy who has
been through that — that's
a plus."
Consider what Jones went
through after Hall of Fame
quarterback and three-time
Super Bowl winner Troy
Aikman retired follow-
ing the 2000 season until
Romo, who initially arrived
as an undrafted rookie
out of Eastern Illinois for
a $10,000 signing bonus,
took over as the starter.
Among the Dallas starting
quarterbacks in that span
were Quincy Carter, Ryan
Leaf, Chad Hutchinson and
Clint Stoerner. After cutting
Carter, former coach Bill
Parcells depended on vet-
erans Vinny Testaverde and
Drew Bledsoe before finally
handing the job to Romo.
Midway through 2007, his
first full season as a starter,
Romo got a $67 million, six-
year contract extension.
Romo is 38-17 in his 55
games as a starter, his fran-
chise victory total to open
a career surpassed only
by Danny White (42) and
Roger Staubach (40). Romo
threw his 100th career TD
last month, in his 53rd game
— only Dan Marino, Kurt
Warner and Johnny Unitas
reached that mark faster.
Now if Romo can just
have some postseason suc-
cess.
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Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 046, Ed. 1 Friday, January 8, 2010, newspaper, January 8, 2010; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth229060/m1/12/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.