Regarding Houston (Texas)
filed in Post-game on Dec.11, 2002
This board has been like a ghost town this week. It probably has nothing to do with the fact that there hasn’t been a new article since the Big XII championship at half-filled Reliant Stadium in Houston Texas.
There is plenty to be said about why the Buffs lost 29-7 in Houston. The absence of Chris Brown and Bobby Purify from the lineup had plenty to do with it. Sure Pat Brougham missing 3 field goals had a role. Robert Hodge’s inability to complete a pass, I’d buy that. Katfish thinks it was telegraphing our plays by only putting Bobby Purify in the game when we were going to pass. Perhaps it was the fact that we never threw the ball downfield. Barnett might say it was the inability to convert in the red zone. Or maybe it was because our heralded offensive coordinator Shawn Watson never even considered using Marcus Houston in the game. All of these played a role in our defeat.
What I saw from my seat on the 30 yard line at Reliant was a lack of intensity. The fire that was there when we tore up UCLA and KState was missing. Everytime we missed a field goal, our team deflated. Everytime Mariscal was on the field our heads lowered. Even after we were primed to go up 14-13 in the game after we stopped OU with a 3 and out in the third, our team didn’t respond. We went through the motions, and no team will ever win a championship that way.
The Buffaloes impressed me as a team this year overcoming plenty of adversity as the saying goes. I enjoyed watching this team dig deep to find ways to win games throughout the season (USC excepted). That was missing in Houston. Let’s bring it to San Antonio.
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December 12th, 2002 on 2:26 pm
There was something huge missing in Houston. It was simply mind boggling to watch our team seem so completely lost on the field while on offensive. On the bright side how about that Bloom kid? That boy can run. I love watching him return kicks because you can tell within the first 5 steps if he is going deep. He sees and hits the gaps so quick it almost makes you think he could be a great RB. I pray we get to see him again next year. Other than that…the defense had moments but the only other thing that really stood out for me was Mariscal. He has continued to get better and better throughout the season. He is consistent and reliable now. Awesome, I wish we could say that about the rest of the team. Of course having Brown and Purify would have upped our chances. Couple that with 9 missed points from the kicking game and I think we win. But who knows. All we know for sure is we did not deserve to win.