Longhorns, Raiders liking end results
Texas Tech defensive end Jake Ratliff has started every game this season, but when circumstances dictate he doesn’t mind deferring to McKinner Dixon and Brandon Williams. The latter two, statistically speaking, are among the top three pass rushers in the Big 12 Conference.
Williams
“McKinner’s always been a player since he was a freshman all-American (in 2005),” Ratliff said. “He knows when it’s game time and knows when to flip the switch and come play. And Brandon has worked harder than anybody I’ve seen in the weight room and offseason. It’s really paying off for him this year, and you can tell with the results.”
Saturday’s Texas Tech-Texas showdown doubles as a showcase of star pass rushers. UT’s Brian Orakpo and Tech’s Williams and Dixon rank 1-2-3 in the league in sacks with 81/2, eight and seven, respectively. (The NCAA carries Dixon at six sacks, because Nevada statisticians judged one play as a quarterback rush and gave Dixon a tackle for loss rather than a sack.)
Williams and Dixon, both juniors, have been neck and neck all season for the team leadership.
“Whether it’s said or not, I’m not sure that they don’t have a little bit of their own personal competition going on,” Tech defensive line coach Charlie Sadler said. “You’d think that’d be natural for them to do that. They both obviously have the natural talent and the willpower to give us consistent pass rushers, and it’s benefited us.”
Dixon
Tech’s single-season record for sacks is 14, set by Adell Duckett in 2003. Aaron Hunt had 12 two years before that.
The Red Raiders would love for either Williams or Dixon or both to jump up on the chart come Saturday. None of the quarterbacks Tech has faced this season are playing as well as Texas junior Colt McCoy. McCoy, born in Hobbs, N.M., when his father was coaching at Lovington, is second in the nation in passing efficiency, has 21 touchdown passes to four interceptions and – maybe most impressive – is completing nearly 82 percent.
The fact that McCoy runs well makes him all the more dangerous. He has 412 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground this season.
A year or two ago, such a gifted
dual-threat quarterback might have been more than Williams and Dixon could handle.
And now? They look more prepared.
Defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill says Williams and Dixon are showing their age this season – in a good way.
“They don’t hesitate as much, and that comes with experience,” McNeill said. “A young kid tends to hesitate a little bit more. The older they’ve gotten, the less they hesitate. Their recognition of plays and blocks is a lot quicker.”
Williams, the 6-foot-5, 246-pound product of Fort Worth South Hills, plays more snaps than Tech’s other defensive ends. He made a mark early in his career as a situational pass rusher. To realize his potential, Tech coaches told Williams that hise run defense needed to improve.
“He’s gotten stronger, he’s gotten more physical and has made some strides to be a more balanced player than what he was a year ago,” Sadler said.
Dixon, who played as a Tech freshman in 2005, went elsewhere for two years to regain his academic eligibility.
Tech coach Mike Leach was harshly critical of Dixon this August when it appeared the Raiders were in danger of losing him again for not meeting academic requirements.
Once the season started, though, Dixon has been a plus, even while not starting. Though a defensive end by pedigree, he enters at defensive tackle on pass-rush packages.
Though their sack totals are most noteworthy, Tech’s defensive ends have been about as valuable this season at holding their lanes so that quarterbacks can’t take off and run.
“They’ve been doing a great job of containing the pocket – holding guys in the pocket and squeezing and not letting them get out and run for a bunch of yards,” safety Darcel McBath said. “That’s their job, and they’ve been doing it well.”
Through eight games, opposing quarterbacks have run for only 67 yards in 61 attempts. The only QB to hurt Tech running the football was Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick, who finished with 92 yards on 17 attempts out of the Wolf Pack’s run-dominant “Pistol” offense.
Five of the starting quarterbacks to face Tech this season have finished with negative rushing yards.
Kansas State’s Josh Freeman, who had a 95-yard rushing performance this season, posted a season-low 13 against Tech. Nebraska’s Joe Ganz, who had a game with 69 rushing yards, had 7 versus Tech.
Keeping the quarterbacks penned up has been a point of emphasis for the Raiders, and that starts with the ends.
“Of course, it’s something that we stress with them and coach them on,” McNeill said. “They’ve done a good job of taking coaching and listening and doing what we ask.”
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Texas Tech fans remain calm, prepared to storm on Texas Longhorns
By GIL LeBRETON
glebreton@star-telegram.com
Expecting the worst, I lurked in a Texas Tech online bulletin board Tuesday.
I braced myself for the persecuted twaddlings of The Most Thin-Skinned Fandom in College Sports.
The rudest e-mail I have ever received came from a Texas Tech Red Raider fan. I forget the details, but the reader seemed to take personally my comments about Tech’s 70-points-or-bust offense. He disparaged several of my family members, living and dead, and even accused me of being a confederate of Texas A&M. Which is kinda funny, for anyone back in Louisiana that knows me.
Throughout the Mike Leach era in Lubbock, a span of eight years, various Tech fans have lost their sense of humor like this. Ask any area media person, and most will agree that the bitterest e-mails, the whiniest complaints and the most cancel-my-subscriptions always seem to come from the Red Raiders fans.
Thus, I was stunned by my Tech online visit on Tuesday. The No. 1-ranked college football team in the land — hated Texas, as most Red Raider fans know it — will be putting its perfect record on the line Saturday against Texas Tech’s 8-0 mark.
And, yet, there was an eerie peace online in Tech country. It was guns up, venom down.
Four days before the game, and Red Raiders fans weren’t whining about Colt McCoy getting more column inches than Tech’s sensational quarterback, Graham Harrell, or why no one was doing an HBO special this week on Raiders receiver Michael Crabtree.
Instead, they all seemed to be thinking like the guy on texastech.rivals.com who started a message thread titled, “Act like you’ve been there before.”
The fan asked, innocently enough, “Is it okay to act like you haven’t been there before if you really never have?”
Several equally sober comments followed. The consensus seemed to be that whatever happens Saturday in Lubbock, Tech fans are prepared to handle it with all dignities intact. No ramming visiting fans with the goal posts, or anything like that.
I like it. I like the fact that after nine seasons of riding the Mike Leach roller coaster, Tech fans seem to finally trust their football team — and its fate.
At last, they’re willing to let their team speak for itself.
Guns up, paranoia down.
And it should be, especially after last week’s undressing of Kansas, 63-21.
In past seasons, with a gauntlet of Texas-Oklahoma State-Oklahoma awaiting them, the Kansas game was a Saturday where the Red Raiders would have stumbled.
Tech’s last two Big 12 victories have come on the road, reversing an old trend. They came after the Raiders had outlasted Nebraska in overtime — another Saturday where they might have faltered in the past.
The answer to the bulletin board writer’s question is no, the Red Raiders have not been here before. Not since the Leach football renaissance has a Tech team faced a No. 1-ranked visitor at Jones AT&T Stadium.
Which is one of the reasons why the Red Raiders have a chance Saturday. A visit by an unbeaten Texas team this late in the season is what Tech fans have been crying for over these past nine seasons.
Harrell against McCoy, and the winner probably gets the Heisman Trophy. Texas receivers Quan Cosby and Jordan Shipley against the Raiders’ Crabtree, the Big 12’s reigning offensive player of the year.
If there is an intriguing advantage brewing in Tech’s favor, however, it comes at running back, where the Longhorns have yet to find a workhorse. In recent seasons, Texas has always been able to rely on its running game to keep the Tech offense off the field. The Longhorns’ Chris Ogbonnaya will come into the game having gained only 309 rushing yards.
Guns up, pressures down.
Granted, hosting a No. 1 team with two unbeaten records, plus BCS consequences, all on the line is enough to make any young stomach squirm. But as the Tech bulletin board zealots seemed to say, the pressure this time is on Texas.
The burden of carrying the No. 1 ranking can be daunting. Texas had to earn every minute of its 28-24 victory last week over Oklahoma State.
“We get everybody’s best shot,” Cosby said after the game. “Every team wants to knock us off now.”
He can bet on that Saturday in Lubbock, where they’ve never had a week like this.
Guns up, nasty e-mails to sports columnists down.
I have to applaud the change.
GIL LeBRETON, 817-390-7760
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STATS , STATS, STATS. What it all boils down to is simple. When all the pieces of the clock are working you can tell what time it is. Everyone doing their job equals victory. There are the other guys making those sacks happen by playing in the scheme, too bad nobody sees how everyone grades out. Some schools put emblems on the helmets to show reward for good play. When was the last time somone get credit for getting held because he was about to make a sack or a tackle for loss, that’s negative yards. Not to mention pressuring the QB out of the pocket to get sacked , hurry a throw, or even an interception. I give credit to the hard workers that don’t require mustard on their hotdog to be able to eat, trust me Tech is absolutely full of overacheivers because i didn’t see too many 5-STAR, BLUE-CHIPPERS signing with us. PERHAPS now they can read the writing on the wall and start making their way to some of the most exciting football i’ve ever witnessed. “RAIDERLAND”
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Gil, thank your for thinking beyond the first impressions of people who send those ugly reponses and emails.
A few people never represent the whole. Please do not think all are whiners and cry babies.
The people who create the good things that are represented by TTU are fine upstanding men and women of character.
There are a lot of good people in the world, including those who support the Scarlet and Black.
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What is that? The earth is shaking. I hear a rumbling. It’s getting louder and louder. It’s the Horn’s on their way. My Lubbock friends, the Eyes of Texas are upon YOU!!! What you gonna do when number one stampedes into town? It’s time to play with the big boys. No more no name teams. Are you shaking in them boots!!! Bet u r. Ha-Ha-Ha… HOOK-EM HORNS!!!
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Texas Tornado, we had no control over what order our games were scheduled by the Big 12. We play most of the same ranked teams Tex did, we just get them later. Texas plays no ranked teams after the Tech game and we play 2 more. I wouldn’t exactly call a ranked Kansas a “no name” team. Last week Texas started showing its weakness against Ok State with McCoy throwing an interception and fumbling the ball. Meanwhile, Tech is riding sky high and has a chip on its shoulder. I think our defense decides this game. If they step up and get pressure on McCoy like they did against Reesing, you can forget it. It is going to be a wild and crazy night crowd at Jones Stadium. Tech-56, Tex- 35. Go Raiders, Wreck ‘em Tech!
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Mikey,
Sit down son, before you hurt yourself. Let me remind you who the Horns are. Check this out…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QZyrd6KGRg
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This article is dead on. I live in Dallas and am an Avid Red Raider Fan. Keep up with them like crazy, love trying to dig deep and find all the stats and info on my team. This week people have been asking me what I think of the game next Sat and who will win, and of course most everyone says Tech will lose. When I say do you want to put money on it? in a very calm fashion, they look at me like Im crazy. I love it. You see, we as red raider fans have been waiting for this year for a long time. Texas Tech has stepped up this year and its really un-explainable. Its like when you KNOW something is going to happen, but you don’t know why or how to explain it. Thats the way we Red Raiders feel about this game. The football team HAS earned this college game day and they sure arent going to screw up now. It’s time for the nation to really see what the Red Raiders are made of….something we as Alumni and Fans have known from the beginning of this year. Im not bothered by the UT fans talking all this smack…let them talk. The best way to shut someone up is to do what they say you can’t do. Thats what the Red Raiders will do Saturday and it will be great. Keep talking smack UT fans….add Fuel to the fire. You will learn.
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I agree Danny let’s just let them play it out on the field saturday.
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Texas Tornado, this is not austin, no one here cares who the horns are. All we see them as is the next obstacle in our way towards a 9-0 record.
Go Raiders, Wreck ‘em Tech!
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Danny, I couldn’t agree more. That’s what I’ve noticed over the years about Ut fans. For as much as they’ve accomplished, they sure talk a lot of crap. But you’ve got the right idea, lets do our talking on the field, and they will disappear just as fast as they showed up.
Go Raiders, Wreck ‘em Tech!
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I hope we’re wearing the black on black uniforms Saturday. Win or lose on national TV, we’ll look bad ass….
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We do luv to talk trash, especially “trailer trash” Ooooh… That’s right I went there. So, you can take those water guns, turn them side ways, and stick them up your candy a#@. Oh yeah, tell all those honies we’re taking over the watering holes. So they can find “real men” there for a change. And that ain’t no bull. One more thing, what’s up with that “girly zorro wanna be” mascot of yours? Oh and by the way Joey boy, those black uniforms will go well with all those bruises your over-rated players are gonna get. HOOK’EM HORNS!!!
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Boy the Texas Torndao is sure proud of his “bought” team. Remember TT (how ironic) if the Raiders win, your boys will have been beaten by a clean program. Not to mention beaten by guys your coaches chose to pass over. Don’t you wish you could say that? UT the best team Red McCombs can buy!
WRECK the WRONGWHORNS!!!
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So this austin windbag is bragging about having a freakin’ cow as a mascot?
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Bla…bla…bla…bla… Look Noel, don’t be hatin’ because your boys weren’t Longhorn material. I know, it’s tough to swallow and hard on their ego, but hey, not everybody can wear the “burnt orange” baby. Are you jealous that we in Austin actually have paved roads?
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Texas Tornado, very classy, I’m sure Ut is proud to have you as a fan.
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What’s up with that youtube clip, Tornado? Uh, the Texas teams of the past don’t play the Raiders of today. Go ahead and stay in memory lane because it won’t take you or your team to Lubbock on the day you need to (and won’t) win.
Texas really struggled last weekend in their own yard and only put up 28 pts..pretty sad. I was surprised and disappointed to see they didn’t drop in the polls due to that and the fact the other top contenders won their games. In fact, I read one of your team players say they gave it all they had…all they had!? Ewww…not good if you need to go against Tech in Tech’s yard.
The Horns are a bit overrated I say without any doubt. Their schedule isn’t any more difficult than Tech’s either. The Horns didn’t win on OU’s turf either. There were some bad calls against OU ,by the way, in that game…so you know.
Horns are slower at putting up points and don’t have a defense to take on Tech’s pistol offense either. Their runningback situation isn’t as good as Tech’s and they don’t have as many available good receivers to choose from to move down the field.
52-35 Tech
Proud Tech Grad
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Joey,
The Horns are Steers, not cows. Geez… And these same Horns are 4 time national champions. So, go on and get back to your high school musical video. Go on, git!
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Chad,
sorry to have left you “hanging”. Now, in the words of the joker, “WHY SO SERIOUS?” Look proud grad, the Horns will beat Tech and will go on to win a 5th National Title, PERIOD!
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Steers, cows, bovine none the less. An incredibly stupid creature that spends it’s life eating, crapping, and eventually slaughtered. I can see the simailarities with the “texas windbag”.
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Texas Tornado, serious question here, I’m just curious if and when you attended and/or graduated from Ut-austin?
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Joey,
Okay son, don’t have a “cow”. Look, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Oklahoma St said the same nonsense before they got HOOKED!!! And YOUR NEXT!!!
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I really like the video, especially the run by Ricky Williams against A&M……….since A&M went on to win the Big 12 Championship after that game.
The Metallica is good also…………really good.
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Uh, finally, somebody with good taste. Thanks for the luv Jeff. I especially love the part where that Red Raider gets hammered. Oooh… must of hurt… I bet he has a Longhorn branded on his chest.
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Well, boys and girls… Gots to go. See ya tomorrow. (off singing….The Eyes of Texas are upon you…)
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Dear austin windbag,
Since I have seen no reply to the question on when, or if, you actually attended texas university at austin, I am assuming you are just another hanger-on, bandwagon fan of t.u.’s fleeting success. One of us will still be talking come Sunday morning, the other will be cryin’ like a baby. As for me, I’m having steak for dinner Saturday night….
Raiders 49, cows 21.
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Oh, I’m sorry Joey. Yes, I graduated from UT(Master’s) and am currently in Med School in San Antonio. Will do my residency at John Hopkins. Any further questions will be answered tomorrow. Really…gotta go…
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Texas Tornado, hahahahha, now that’s funny! Nice try, though.
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Joe, I second your disbelief…. If he’s gonna be a doctor, I’m looking into home remedies….
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Joe I smell a T-shirt fan!!
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I, too, am in disbelief about the educational credentials of this so-called Texas Tornado. First off, I don’t believe any med student would get the name of Johns Hopkins wrong (as he forgot the “s” in “Johns”) and I also question his awful grammar. As to his big gripe that the “horns” are a steer? Well, if you want to be represented by a castrated bovine, then more power to you…I fondly remember that Tech once had a calf for a mascot…well, at least until the post-victory BBQ.
Raider Power!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiT65OxCy0s
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Great, back to the youtube links now. You better run now Tornado, Daddy’s going to spank you for being on the computer too long! hehehehehe
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Hey Joey,
I have a couple Longhorn jerseys. You want one.
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Mike Leach faced #1 Nebraska early in his tenure in Lubbock at Jones SBC stadium. The final was embarassing 70-10 or something to that nature.
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Texas Tornado-
I am an avid Longhorn fan and take a chill pill man. Show some class and respect, They are 8-0. We are 8-0. may the best team win. There is no need to sink down to that level. There is a difference being proud and being rude. Walk humbly, be proud, wear your orange and when TEXAS wins continue to be a good sport.
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I do not think Nebraska was ranked #1 when Tech beat them 70 to 10 Raiderfan223. My understanding is UT is the first #1 ranked team to play at Jones “thank goodness it was fixed up” Stadium.
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Texas Girl,
Sure, whatever you say babe. Now, get me a beer.
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Yeah Nebraska wasn’t even in the top 20
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texas tornado.. what a clown.. go ahead tout your texas history utube stuff.. guess you also did the research on Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Alabama, etc… They all have more national titles than t.u. Besides in college football, the present world.. anybody can beat anybody.. and this game looks like a 50/50 chance either team could win.. so you would be an idiot to think Tech cannot win this game.. Just ask Wes Welker about 2002 when Texas was ranked 3rd in nation and talking national title. A little more Texas History.. back in 1938 your longhorns lost “13-0″ and your steer or mascot got branded 13-0.. Hell, it looked like a B and O… so you student body started calling him “Bevo”.. Lol
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Folks, ignore Texas Tornado. It’s obvious he’s an aggot in disguise. Only an aggot would write such ridiculous comments.
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hey, Texas Tornado…. or dust devil or whirlwind (floydada’s true nickname)… r you sure yur not an aggot dressed up like bevo?
seems so? maybe we can buz Dirk West and find out… ya think?
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Texas Tornado is no closer to being a doctor than Howard Garrett the “Dirt Doctor!”
I too, noticed that ridiculous “John Hopkins” reference, with the other made up credentials! What an idiot!
Any way, I’ve encountered many ignorant, t-shirt fans in person this week talking noise to me, re-affirming the reason I’ve hated UT just about all my life! At any rate, Texas has a very good team, and I hope we’re on the winning end come Saturday night.
And no, that Nebraska team was average at best, not rnaked #1.
I do think though that Washington in the early 80s and/or USC in the late70s might have been no. 1 when they came to Lubbock.
I also thought North Carolina in 1980 was 1 or 2.
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In response to Ralph and Jeff… In 1978 USC came to Raiderland as the #1 team in the nation, Tech led most of the game, based upon a then real good kickin’ game and a defense led by “senior sac” aka Gabriel Rivera… ultimately John Robinson’s led Trojans prevailed. This was one of those home-and-away series with SC which the previous year (‘77) featured a Tech led offense by none other than freshman Ron Reeves, who graduated from Monterey HS there in Lubbock. Tech led 9-0 at the half, they were not ranked and were probably as surprised as SC…eventually they lost their m.o. and Charles White breathed a sigh of relief.
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I am in the process of becoming a doctor. And, I can already tell you that the prognosis is not good for Saturday. That’s right, expect a lot of broken bones and bruised egos. Tech, your perfect record will soon be no more. Texas will beat you. The good news is that the fans there get to see in person the 2008 BCS National Champions- The Texas Longhorns!!!. Now, has anybody seen Texas Girl? I’ve been looking everywhere for her?
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Doctor…Bevo will need all seven stomachs to digest the results of Saturday evening.
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GUNS UP RAIDERLAND!!!! This is gonna be good…real good! By all means, invite the burnt orange gloater over for a beer before the game…no harm in that!
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Did somebody say, BEER? Now u talkin’ my language vato. Finally a raider with class. Sabes que, you vatos are alright.
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And one more thing, I’ll bring the menudo ese. I make the best!!!
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Damn, still can’t find Texas Girl. Not to worry, she’s just playing hard to get. O’…Texas Girl where r u? Daddy’s looking 4 u. Texas Girl just know one thing. Sabes que guera (blondie), you complete me.
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I just want to say to you is: GET YOUR OWN BEER!
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i do not under stand how tech lost to OU there a good team but they were not in that game otherwise go Red Raiders :]
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haha wuts up dude
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