CenTexSports
09-07-2006, 01:56 PM
Anybody see the ESPN commercial for this week's UT game? About halfway through it it shows Billy Pittman running down the field with the ball and freezes him in an almost Heisman pose. Also the story below is in the DMN today.
UT's new QB in good hands
By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – After watching North Texas load up to stop the run and limit Texas to 47 yards on 13 carries in the first quarter, Ohio State will certainly follow suit.
So if redshirt freshman quarterback Colt McCoy is to become the hero Saturday night, he'll probably have to throw to two of the heroes of last year's victory over Ohio State: Limas Sweed and Billy Pittman.
It would only be fitting considering the work the two junior receivers put in over the summer to help McCoy get ready for moments like this.
When they were first-year players, Sweed and Pittman didn't get help from key teammates right away. They got grief. Then Vince Young came along before last season, when the receivers at Texas were a huge question mark, and worked overtime to bolster their confidence.
"I know how much Vince [Young] helped me and Billy, so we wanted to do the same thing for our young quarterbacks," said Sweed, who etched his name in Texas history by catching a touchdown pass from Young with time running out to beat Ohio State in September.
"Limas and I just wanted to fill the young quarterbacks with positives and bring them along," said Pittman, who also had a breakout game against the Buckeyes last season with five catches for 130 yards and a touchdown.
Sweed, Pittman and McCoy are small-town guys trying to make it in the big city. Sweed, from Brenham, and Pittman, from Cameron, know how overwhelming it can be for a kid from Tuscola (McCoy) to break in at a place like Texas.
Upon first glance, McCoy has all the makings of an All-American, bumpkin cliché.
He talks in a heavy drawl and grew up milking cows, baling hay and picking cotton on the wind-swept plains of West Texas.
"Country, country, country," were offensive guard Kasey Studdard's first impressions.
McCoy says the biggest town he's ever lived in is Kermit, which has seen its population drop from 5,714 to 5,281 since 2000.
McCoy, who turned 20 Tuesday, gave up drinking soda in sixth grade and hasn't had a carbonated drink since (yes, that includes beer). Instead, he drinks about a half-gallon of milk a day.
"I wanted to see if I could be dedicated to something," McCoy said. "At the time, I loved Dr Pepper and was drinking about six a day."
That kind of information in the wrong teammates' hands could cause all kinds of grief.
Sweed and Pittman should know. Last season, they helped reveal some of the selfishness that may have been holding the Longhorns back in years past.
Pittman talked about how unapproachable star receivers Roy Williams, B.J. Johnson and Sloan Thomas were when he and Sweed arrived at Texas and redshirted in 2003. Williams was a big reason Sweed picked Texas. He worshipped Williams. Sweed wears No. 4 because of him.
But Williams, Johnson and Thomas did very little to help along the team's young receivers. Instead, they mostly cracked jokes about younger players when they dropped a pass and then barricaded themselves in a clique that wasn't open to anyone else.
Said coach Mack Brown of the team's chemistry: "We thought we were doing everything in our power to win a football game, and somewhere it got off track and got to be about stars."
If anyone needed extra counseling and support from upperclassmen, it was Sweed and Pittman. Sweed had great physical tools, including long-legged speed at 6-5 and 219 pounds, but he was clueless about playing receiver. He played tight end at Brenham in a wing-T offense.
"I didn't know what a corner route was," Sweed said. "As a tight end in high school, I would just run until I got open."
During his redshirt year, Pittman had a medical condition called Bell's palsy, a form of temporary facial paralysis.
Williams, Johnson and Thomas made fun of him. It affected his confidence. It wasn't until Young approached Sweed and Pittman before last season that they took off as players.
"Vince just told us how much he needed us and said we were going to work all summer to get our timing down and become a great passing team," Pittman said. "And then he just kept telling us how good we were doing."
No one needs to look any further than last year's Ohio State game for the results of that positive motivation, and Sweed made one highlight catch after another against Colorado, Baylor and Kansas. Pittman led the nation in yards per catch (22.6).
Sweed and Pittman decided they would do everything they could to build the confidence of McCoy and freshman quarterback Jevan Snead.
"We just kept telling them, 'You're going to make mistakes, and that's OK. It's how you react to the mistakes that matters. If you hang your head, your teammates will feed off that,' " Sweed said. "When they did something well, we made sure to tell them."
McCoy appreciated the counseling, and it appeared to pay off against North Texas. McCoy and Sweed hooked up five times for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
McCoy's success so far has even surprised Sweed, who remembers how lost he was as a redshirt freshman.
"Everything was coming at me so fast," Sweed said, "and I just couldn't grasp it all."
"For Colt to grasp it all the way he's doing, I take my hat off to him. ... He's definitely farther ahead of where I was my redshirt freshman year."
McCoy can give Sweed and Pittman big thanks for that.
UT's new QB in good hands
By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – After watching North Texas load up to stop the run and limit Texas to 47 yards on 13 carries in the first quarter, Ohio State will certainly follow suit.
So if redshirt freshman quarterback Colt McCoy is to become the hero Saturday night, he'll probably have to throw to two of the heroes of last year's victory over Ohio State: Limas Sweed and Billy Pittman.
It would only be fitting considering the work the two junior receivers put in over the summer to help McCoy get ready for moments like this.
When they were first-year players, Sweed and Pittman didn't get help from key teammates right away. They got grief. Then Vince Young came along before last season, when the receivers at Texas were a huge question mark, and worked overtime to bolster their confidence.
"I know how much Vince [Young] helped me and Billy, so we wanted to do the same thing for our young quarterbacks," said Sweed, who etched his name in Texas history by catching a touchdown pass from Young with time running out to beat Ohio State in September.
"Limas and I just wanted to fill the young quarterbacks with positives and bring them along," said Pittman, who also had a breakout game against the Buckeyes last season with five catches for 130 yards and a touchdown.
Sweed, Pittman and McCoy are small-town guys trying to make it in the big city. Sweed, from Brenham, and Pittman, from Cameron, know how overwhelming it can be for a kid from Tuscola (McCoy) to break in at a place like Texas.
Upon first glance, McCoy has all the makings of an All-American, bumpkin cliché.
He talks in a heavy drawl and grew up milking cows, baling hay and picking cotton on the wind-swept plains of West Texas.
"Country, country, country," were offensive guard Kasey Studdard's first impressions.
McCoy says the biggest town he's ever lived in is Kermit, which has seen its population drop from 5,714 to 5,281 since 2000.
McCoy, who turned 20 Tuesday, gave up drinking soda in sixth grade and hasn't had a carbonated drink since (yes, that includes beer). Instead, he drinks about a half-gallon of milk a day.
"I wanted to see if I could be dedicated to something," McCoy said. "At the time, I loved Dr Pepper and was drinking about six a day."
That kind of information in the wrong teammates' hands could cause all kinds of grief.
Sweed and Pittman should know. Last season, they helped reveal some of the selfishness that may have been holding the Longhorns back in years past.
Pittman talked about how unapproachable star receivers Roy Williams, B.J. Johnson and Sloan Thomas were when he and Sweed arrived at Texas and redshirted in 2003. Williams was a big reason Sweed picked Texas. He worshipped Williams. Sweed wears No. 4 because of him.
But Williams, Johnson and Thomas did very little to help along the team's young receivers. Instead, they mostly cracked jokes about younger players when they dropped a pass and then barricaded themselves in a clique that wasn't open to anyone else.
Said coach Mack Brown of the team's chemistry: "We thought we were doing everything in our power to win a football game, and somewhere it got off track and got to be about stars."
If anyone needed extra counseling and support from upperclassmen, it was Sweed and Pittman. Sweed had great physical tools, including long-legged speed at 6-5 and 219 pounds, but he was clueless about playing receiver. He played tight end at Brenham in a wing-T offense.
"I didn't know what a corner route was," Sweed said. "As a tight end in high school, I would just run until I got open."
During his redshirt year, Pittman had a medical condition called Bell's palsy, a form of temporary facial paralysis.
Williams, Johnson and Thomas made fun of him. It affected his confidence. It wasn't until Young approached Sweed and Pittman before last season that they took off as players.
"Vince just told us how much he needed us and said we were going to work all summer to get our timing down and become a great passing team," Pittman said. "And then he just kept telling us how good we were doing."
No one needs to look any further than last year's Ohio State game for the results of that positive motivation, and Sweed made one highlight catch after another against Colorado, Baylor and Kansas. Pittman led the nation in yards per catch (22.6).
Sweed and Pittman decided they would do everything they could to build the confidence of McCoy and freshman quarterback Jevan Snead.
"We just kept telling them, 'You're going to make mistakes, and that's OK. It's how you react to the mistakes that matters. If you hang your head, your teammates will feed off that,' " Sweed said. "When they did something well, we made sure to tell them."
McCoy appreciated the counseling, and it appeared to pay off against North Texas. McCoy and Sweed hooked up five times for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
McCoy's success so far has even surprised Sweed, who remembers how lost he was as a redshirt freshman.
"Everything was coming at me so fast," Sweed said, "and I just couldn't grasp it all."
"For Colt to grasp it all the way he's doing, I take my hat off to him. ... He's definitely farther ahead of where I was my redshirt freshman year."
McCoy can give Sweed and Pittman big thanks for that.