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: Houston's Clear Thinkers

2008 Weekly local football review

By Tom Kirkendall

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip; previous weekly reviews are here).

Colts 31 Texans 27

The following was a conversation that I had with another long-suffering fan of Houston sports teams after the Texans' (0-4) crushing 4th quarter meltdown against the Colts:

"Well, this loss wasn't as bad as the University of Houston's last-second loss to Joe Montana and Notre Dame in the 1979 Cotton Bowl."

"That's right. And at least it was not nearly as devastating as the University of Houston's Phi Slamma Jamma losing to Jim Valvano and North Carolina State on a tip-in at the buzzer in the 1983 NCAA Basketball Tournament National Championship Game."

"Well, come to think of it, it wasn't nearly as bad as the Oilers' 1991 NFL playoff loss to the Broncos on John Elway's last minute 98 yard drive."

"And don't even suggest that this was even close to being as bad as the Oilers' 41-38 overtime loss to Buffalo the 1993 NFL playoffs after leading at halftime 35-3."

"Really, this wasn't even as bad as the Houston Rockets' 1997 Game Six Western Conference Final playoff loss to the Jazz on John Stockton's last-second 3 pointer."

"Actually, this doesn't even come close to being as bad as when Brad Lidge served up that gopher ball to Albert Pujols in the 2005 National League Championship Series when the Stros were one out away from the World Series."

But then my friend concluded before hanging up:

"However, this loss was right up there with those other ones."

Although there will undoubtedly be much gnashing of teeth around Houston this week because of the way in the Texans lost the game, remember that the game was lost primarily because a backup QB was trying too hard to win rather than not taking the risks necessary to win. I take some solace in that. The Texans host the revived Dolphins (2-2) next Sunday at Reliant Stadium.

Texas Longhorns 38 Colorado 14

The Longhorns (5-0/1-0 Big 12) were impressive in dismantling the Buffaloes in Boulder. About the only blemish in the Horns' performance was that high-performing QB Colt McCoy was picked off twice despite going 23-30 for 262 yds and 2 TD's. The price of poker now goes up dramatically as the 5th-ranked Horns turn their attention to the game of the 2008 college football season to date next Saturday afternoon in Dallas against No. 1 Oklahoma (5-0/1-0 Big 12).

Oklahoma State 56 Texas A&M 28

The woeful Aggies (2-3/0-1 Big 12) must be satisfied with moral victories these days, such as holding the 21st-ranked Cowboys (5-0/1-0 Big 12) to less than 60 points and scoring 28 themselves (tying a season high). The Aggies host Kansas State (3-2/0-1 Big 12) next Saturday in one of the relatively few games in Big 12 conference play that A&M has a decent chance at winning. This could get much worse for the Ags before it gets better.

Tulsa 63 Rice 28

The Owls (3-3/2-1 C-USA) hung with Tulsa (5-0) for a half, but then the high-powered Golden Hurricane offense buried Rice in the second half. Tulsa is the type of team that is Rice's Achilles Heel -- a team with a good enough defense to slow down the Owls' potent offense a bit with an offense that can overwhelm Rice's undermanned defensive unit. After an off-week next Saturday, the Owls host Southern Mississippi (2-3/0-2) on October 18th at Rice Stadium.

The University of Houston had a well-deserved day off on Saturday and hosts UAB (1-5) in a Thursday night game this week at Robertson Stadium.

Full post as published by Houston's Clear Thinkers on October 06, 2008 (boomark / email).