Three scariest games for Texas in 2008

3. FAU: I'll probably get the most criticism for this one, but the very reason for that criticism is why this game worries me. Since any of the current players have been on the team the first game of the season has been a sort of "tune-up before grownup football starts." Make no mistake, this is not Arkansas-State or the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, this is a developing team with the ability to pull a quick one. Not because they have great talent or superior coaching, but because we are expecting to beat them easily, and they are coming in with a very decent spread offense against our extremely green defensive secondary.    

2. @ Colorado: This game in Boulder has all the makings of a trap game. CU hates Texas for good reason, and has a grudge to settle. Many Texas fans might not remember the speed bump the juggernaut that was 2005 Texas football cruised over on the way to winning a National Championship, but I guarantee you Colorado has not forgotten about the embarrassing 70-3 loss in the Big 12 Championship. Dan Hawkins has a bright future as a head coach, and with a weapon like Darrell Scott just hitting his stride when the Horns make the trip to Boulder, his team could be very hard to beat.

1. @ Texas Tech: The Raiders have had our number for years, and this year everything seems to be going their way. Not only is this game in Lubbock, Tech will be loaded with a turbo version of their usual prolific offense. When you combine their ability and willingness to pass, the fact that they return 22 starters, and the inexperience of our safeties, you get the potential for huge momentum crushing pass plays in an already excessively hostile stadium.

Red Raiders brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts upset Longhorns

Although it was a maddening loss to an in-state rival and will definitely make a negative impact on the Horns' NCAA seed, if handled properly this could prove to be a valuable one going into the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments. Being down by 10 with two minutes left is a whole different game situation then being up by 25 from the half onwards. Texas has proved itself time and time again in games where they can  pull away early, but hasn't had too many games where the score is close or they fall behind late. This loss makes it quite clear exactly what Texas needs to work on going forward.

Numbers that were good: 38 rebounds to the Raiders' 28 and D.J. Augustin's 30 points.

Numbers that were not good: 40.8% from the field (that's 31-76), 30 personal fouls to Tech's 19, and a mind boggling 9-13 shooting free throws. Not so much that the Longhorns missed four, but that only 13 were taken. At one point late in the second half I heard a commentator say that Texas had yet to make it to the free throw line in the half. Oh yea, and the Raiders made 34-43 free throws. They more than tripled our attempts, and literally won the game from the free throw line.

NOTE: all the statistical information in this post came from espn.com.

Texas (24-4, 11-2) at Texas Tech (15-12, 6-7)

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Good news: with 776, the Longhorns have made 130 more field goals than the Raiders (although Tech has played one more game, the Horns have played a tougher schedule).

Bad news: the Longhorns have made 45.7% of their field goal attempts, the Raiders have made 46.5%. From three-point land, the Longhorns have made 38.4% and the Raiders lead the conference with 38.9%.

Stat to make your friends think you know stuff about basketball: the Longhorns average 7.4 more rebounds-per-game than the Raiders.

Totally made-up untrue non-fact: Bobby Knight left Indiana in 2000 after receiving a phone call from Mike Leach, who informed him that he had heard news of a pirate's treasure buried somewhere on the Texas Tech campus in Lubbock and was planning on becoming the football team's head coach so that he could search for it. Knight and Leach became head coaches the same year at Texas Tech, coincidence? I think not. As it turns out, Lubbock used to be covered by a very large inland bay that covered all of Texas (that's why Lubbock is so dusty). A pirate ship sank over what is now the Red Raider campus, leaving its bootiful treasure behind. 

NOTE: all the statistical information in this post came from espn.com.