The Eyes of Texas

Kyle Field seated the second-most fans in school history on Thanksgiving night, and all 88,645 attendants got to see the Texas Longhorns beat the Texas A&M Aggies in what could be the last-ever Lone Star Showdown. Texas trailed early in the game, but eventually came back and won on a 40-yard field goal by Justin Tucker in the final seconds of the game.

The only thing Texas seemed to do right was play defense. Carrington Bydom, Kenny Vaccaro and Quandre Diggs all had interceptions while the Longhorn defensive line consistently applied pressure on quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Offensively, the burnt orange and white couldn't convert a third down for anything, but thanks to a Bryan Harsin trick play and a power run by running back Cody Johnson, the Texas offense was able to produce two touchdowns. The defense took the reigns from there, scoring a touchdown and limiting the Aggie offense to 25 points - a performance that wasn't perfect, but just enough to get out of College Station with a W.

It was the same story for A&M. Off to a hot start, but in the third quarter the Aggies allowed 17 straight points and lost all momentum. Ryan Tannehill looked confused and nervous and the Texas defense was able to capitalize on the senior quarterback's uncertainty.

The Aggies will now head to the SEC with a bad taste in their mouths. They'll be losing a lot of their star players, and I don't think Alabama or LSU will welcome the A&M players to the SEC by going easy on them.

Just as the Longhorns have always remembered the score 13-0, the Aggies will now forever remember 27-25.

Tim Tebow is the Real Deal

Skeptics,  beware! I have been on the Tim Tebow bandwagon since his sophomore year of college, and Thursday night's comeback victory over a very tough New York Jets team only solidified my support for the former Gator. As far as throwing is considered, well, Tebow might be one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. However, the last time I checked, the teams that make the playoffs are the ones with the most wins. And you know what? Tim Tebow is 4-1 as a starter this season, and that's more than most other quarterbacks can say right now.

What seperates Tebow from other quarterbacks in this league? His running ability. He's not the fastest guy on the field by any means, but he has enough power to shed tackles and muscle his way to a first down. It's not pretty, but the results are the only things that count. He's already rushed for 320 yards (6.7 yards per carry!) and two touchdowns this season.

As far as passing is considered, he's no Tom Brady, but look at the stats. 12 touchdowns, 4 interceptions. The coaches will take that ratio every day of the week. His completion percentage is obviously sub-par, but if you're not turning the ball over, you're giving the team a chance to win.

To all the people upset about commentators saying "Tebow won the game" when he under-performs in a Broncos victory, listen closely: If you've ever played sports in your life, you know that it only takes one guy to fire up the rest of the team. Tebow instills a high level of confidence in each and every one of his teammates, and that's all it takes for one player to make that tackle, or the kicker to hit that 50-yarder, or that running back to break that extra tackle and pick up the first down. It's the intangibles that make the greats, and Tebow has them.

Leave Joe Paterno Alone

I've heard too many people wrongfully criticizing Joe Paterno and affiliating him far too deeply with this whole issue who have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. So let me break it down for everyone so we can stop blindly pointing fingers and accusing the innocent. Here are the facts:

1. Jerry Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant coach who retired in 1999, has been accused for 40 counts of child abuse.

2. On March 2, 2002, a graduate assistant told Paterno that he has witnessed Sandusky violating a 10 year old boy in the showers.

3. On March 3, 2002, Paterno calls Tim Curley, the Penn State athletic director, to his home the next day and reports what the graduate assistant had said.

4. Later that month, Curley and the vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz called the graduate assistant into a meeting and discussed the situation.

5. Curley and Schultz confiscated Sandusky's locker room keys and reported the incident to "The Second Mile", an organization founded by Sandusky that began as a group foster home dedicated to helping troubled boys and grows into a charity dedicated to helping children with absent or dysfunctional families.

6. No police question the graduate assistant until he testifies in December 2010.

7. On November 7, 2011, the Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly said that Paterno is not a target of the investigation into how the school handled the accusations.


Did Paterno cover up the incident? No. Did he report the incident as soon as he heard it? Yes. Could Paterno have done more to make this known? Maybe. The man did what he thought was best at the time. He even said,

"With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more," Paterno said.

Paterno realizes now the actions he should have taken, but during that time frame he did what was appropriate and called attention to the matter.

I think that Sandusky should spend the rest of his pathetic life behind bars with an easily-annoyed body builder named Hank, but the foul words and hatred shown towards Joe is just not fair. If you're going to be furious, focus your rage on Sandusky, not every single person affiliated with Penn State.