'Rout 66' revisited
Texas, UCLA meet in rematch of last year's massacre
Posted: Monday September 07, 1998 05:59 PM
| |
Cade McNown and the Bruins hammered Texas 66-3 in Austin last season Stephen Dunn/Allsport |
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas linebacker Aaron Babino didn't pick up a newspaper, didn't watch the news or answer his phone.
He didn't want to go to class on the following Monday for fear of having to face questions about THE loss. The massacre at Royal-Memorial Stadium. Rout 66. Whatever you want to call it.
"A lot of people just looked at you like ... what happened?'" Babino said Monday. "It was horrible."
Other Longhorns dealt with last year's record-setting 66-3 defeat against UCLA by rubbing their own noses in it as a reminder never to let it happen again. They posted articles about the debacle on their walls.
"I just tried to forget about it," said running back Ricky Williams.
New Texas strength coach Jeff Madden made sure the Longhorns didn't forget about it, though. When players began dragging during conditioning drills in the spring and summer, he would yell, "Sixty-six to three. Is that how you want to be remembered?"
He usually got some extra effort.
On Saturday, the 23rd-ranked Longhorns (1-0) will go to the Rose Bowl and face a more experienced, higher ranked and possibly more confident group of Bruins than they faced last year.
No matter how good sixth-ranked UCLA is, however, Texas players vow they will never be embarrassed like that again.
"When we lost 66-3, it hurt the pride of a lot of players," Babino said. "No one on this team had ever lost that bad, in high school or ever. After that game, our season went south. That shouldn't happen to the University of Texas."
UCLA, which will be playing its season opener Saturday, has become a four-letter word to most Longhorns faithful.
The Bruins pinned Texas with its worst-ever home loss and the second worst loss in the history of the program. The Longhorns, ranked 11th and full of high hopes going into the UCLA game in week two last year, stumbled to a 4-7 season that cost coach John Mackovic his job.
It was 38-0 after two quarters. Even Texas coach Mack Brown remembers being startled by the halftime score when it was broadcast during a game his North Carolina Tar Heels were playing against Stanford.
"I heard 38-0, and I remember Cleve Bryant saying, 'I'm sure that's a mistake,'" Brown said.
Bryant, an assistant with Brown at North Carolina who came with him to Texas, wasn't hearing things.
The Longhorns, who were sacked seven times and committed eight turnovers that led to 42 UCLA points, recall it as one of the longest they've ever played.
"It seemed like it would never end," said quarterback Richard Walton, who made only his second start for Texas in that game and was, fairly or not, stuck with much of the blame.
Walton, who played well in a 66-36 season-opening victory over New Mexico State, says he has nothing to prove in this year's game.
"It was a shock to me and to the whole team," Walton said. "We were not expecting to get blown out like that. But when you turn the ball over eight times and the other team doesn't turn it over once, you are going to lose. We have to take better care of the ball this week. It's that simple."
Saturday's game will showcase two early favorites in the Heisman Trophy chase as Williams goes up against UCLA quarterback Cade McNown.
Williams led the nation in rushing (1,893 yards) and scoring (13.8 points per game) last year, while McNown led the nation in passing efficiency (168.6).
"I don't play defense, so I have no control over what Cade McNown does," said Williams, who had 215 yards on 36 carries with six touchdowns against New Mexico State. "I just see it as our offense against their defense."
When asked whether the player with the biggest numbers would come out of the game ahead in the Heisman race, Williams said, "If we're winning, I don't think the yards that he has will make a difference."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
MULTIMEDIA
