Hear the latest one going around college football? The Texas Longhorns have started a new “honor system.”
“Yes, your Honor.” “No, your Honor.”
Yes, the Texas Bonghorns are having a rough year, and not just because they struggled to beat Central Florida and Kansas State blew them out at home. Opposing fans – and Austin police – are yelling, “Book ’em, Horns!” as they struggle through a year of more arrests than wins.
Sure, give them time. It’s only Week 6 and they will get more than four wins. Then again, they could also get more than seven arrests. That’s how many times players have been booked since June, forcing coach Mack Brown to deal “with more in six months than I’ve dealt with really in about 23 years.”
Brown, who in August received a two-year extension that made him one of the nation’s five highest-paid coaches, gets plenty of slack down Texas way. Yes, he delivered Texas’ first consensus national championship since 1963 two seasons ago. But he also has run a relatively clean program.
But what has happened in Austin is serious. Sophomore safety Robert Joseph was arrested twice on misdemeanor charges of burglary of a vehicle, then aggravated robbery and tampering or fabricating physical evidence. Freshman defensive tackle Andre Jones was charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon when he allegedly broke into an apartment and took money and video game equipment with Joseph.
Freshman running back James Henry was arrested Sept. 17 for obstruction and tampering with evidence for beating up a witness to the Joseph-Jones arrest. Filling the rest of the paddy wagon are junior defensive end Henry Melton and sophomore linebacker Sergio Kindle, arrested for driving while impaired charges, and senior safety Tyrell Gatewood on drug possession.
Mack has taken some steps. Joseph is transferring but remains in Travis County Jail; Jones, Gatewood and Henry were suspended indefinitely; and Melton and Kindle were reinstated Sept. 17 after three-game suspensions. Last month, Brown brought in Vince Young, the quarterback icon from two years ago, to address the team about pulling together and cutting out all the off-field chaos.
“When things happen off the field you’re not proud of – and at Texas, if it’s one incident it’s one too many – you tighten up to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Brown said Monday. “Most of the issues we had were in the summer. It’s harder to be around the team in the summer with the rules we have.”
The players say they haven’t been branded on campus – yet. They have addressed it and tried to move on. However, it’s a stat that will only fade with time.
“We’re coaching each other,” junior wide receiver Quan Cosby said. “We’re letting the young guys know that this is not the way it goes around here. In my opinion, we have a clean team. We have good guys out there, smart, spiritual guys.”
The question is, why now? Is it coincidence that these incidents happened less than two years after their national title? Maybe not. Since Florida won the last national title Jan. 8, the number of Gators arrested is nine and counting.
If these players have a sense of entitlement because they can flash a big ring in a cop’s face, then winning a national title isn’t worth it. But Henry and Jones are freshmen and don’t have rings. Still, in college sports, two or three arrests are isolated incidents. Seven is a trend. Ten and you have the Cincinnati Bengals.
Tom Palaima is a professor of classics at Texas and an active member of the faculty counsel who often writes about the conflict between athletics and academics. At Texas since 1986, the Cleveland native doesn’t think the national title has anything to do with the crime wave and chalks up the arrests to “absolute stupidity or lack of self-control.” But the way athletes are pampered is shocking to the average educator.
“I get invited over by athletics to view tutoring labs, and I’ve gone to interview players,” Palaima said. “I’ve seen inside. An equivalent of 50 percent of the players come from working-class backgrounds and they move into that luxury, that cocoon. They’re in these luxury surroundings. They’re put up in a hotel the night before a home game and bused from the stadium three blocks to the practice field. It would be impossible not to have a sense of entitlement.”
Texas has dropped to No. 19 in the AP poll and plays No. 10 Oklahoma on Saturday in their annual Red River Rivalry. Another loss and Texas fans won’t feel the Longhorns will be entitled to anything, let alone other people’s video game equipment.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
GAMES OF THE WEEK
No. 1 LSU vs. No. 9 Florida
A Florida win would go a long way toward making poll voters forget about that slip-up against Auburn. With another conference loss, the Gators (4-1, 2-1) would not only be out of national title contention, but they would have a tough time getting back to the SEC title game. Since LSU (5-0, 2-0), which has a 16-game home win streak, was last No. 1 in November 1959, 31 teams have held the top spot in the AP poll.
Big 12: Nebraska (4-1, 1-0) at Missouri (4-0, 0-0) – With Oklahoma and Texas entering their annual Red River Rivalry game each with a conference loss for the first time since the 1997 game, attention turns toward this battle between the preseason favorites in the North Division. Missouri hopes to make it three wins in a row over the Cornhuskers in games played in Columbia.
Mountain West: TCU (3-2, 1-1) at Wyoming (3-1, 0-0) – TCU has a one-dimensional offense based on running back Aaron Brown. Wyoming has its best run-pass mix in maybe a decade as the surprise No. 2 rushing offense in the MWC. The Cowboys have given up some points but rank fourth nationally in total defense at 248.8 yards per game.
COLORADO CONNECTIONS
Preston in starting role
Thanks in part to injuries in the linebacking corps, Andrew Preston has moved into a starting role for San Diego State this season. After earning the award as the scout team player of the year last fall, the redshirt freshman from Arapahoe High School in Centennial will make his third consecutive start Saturday against Colorado State. In his first start Sept. 22 against Portland State he had a sack, and last week against Cincinnati he had seven tackles.
Derrick Catlett, Iowa State: The sophomore tight end from Fort Collins has started four of five games this season and has six catches for 26 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown against Toledo two weeks ago. The Cyclones are at Texas Tech on Saturday.
