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| Tech's Wes Mitchell converts against Texas A&M |
It was not a good weekend to visit an Allied Rugby Conference club. Home teams dominated as Baylor ran rough-shod over Sam Houston in a played forfeit, Texas Tech played an explosive first half against an Aggie team that woke up too late, and Oklahoma shut out Texas in the out-of-conference Red River Rivalry match.
If you take a close look at the scorelines of all the matches so far this season, a bit of parity is revealed. It is tough to be a visiting squad in the ARC, regardless of how strong your team was at home the week before. This type of parity is exactly what the Allied Rugby Conference was formed to achieve.
Baylor 52, Sam Houston 20
Sam Houston took several new rugby players to Waco, Texas on Saturday. While the Bearkats were able to score four tries, Baylor's fitness and skills played out late in the game. The Bears ran away with the game in the second half. Baylor now sits at 2-1 and only two points behind Texas Tech in the standings. Baylor next plays Texas A&M in College Station on March 22.
Texas Tech 50, Texas A&M 19
Texas A&M made the long trip to Lubbock only to let the Red Raiders own the second half. Halftime saw the score at 21-19, but A&M had lost Senior Captain, Chris Frasier, to injury in the first half. The first few minutes of the second half were hard fought and scoreless. However, one Aggie handling error put the ball in the hands of Tech's speedster. With the wind at their back and the sure foot of Flyhalf Wes Mitchell, the Red Raiders were off to the races. Texas A&M had used up all their strength in the first half driving in forward-centric scores. The Red Raiders came away with the bonus point win and some redemption from a close loss to Baylor. Tech faces Oklahoma in their final game of the season on March 29. A make-up game in Norman, OK.
Texas A&M made the long trip to Lubbock only to let the Red Raiders own the second half. Halftime saw the score at 21-19, but A&M had lost Senior Captain, Chris Frasier, to injury in the first half. The first few minutes of the second half were hard fought and scoreless. However, one Aggie handling error put the ball in the hands of Tech's speedster. With the wind at their back and the sure foot of Flyhalf Wes Mitchell, the Red Raiders were off to the races. Texas A&M had used up all their strength in the first half driving in forward-centric scores. The Red Raiders came away with the bonus point win and some redemption from a close loss to Baylor. Tech faces Oklahoma in their final game of the season on March 29. A make-up game in Norman, OK.
Oklahoma 39, University of Texas 0
Press Release by OU Rugby
On Saturday the Sooners took on the Longhorns in the long-lived Red River Rivalry. This was the 1st time in many years that OU hosted the event in Norman.
“This rivalry is one of the best know in college sports,” said Sooner Head Coach Jason Horowitz. “Football, Basketball, etc. always make this match up a big deal. In fact, we kicked off at 2 p.m. and just an hour later across the parking lot, Men’s Basketball hosted Texas as well. It was a big day on campus with 2 big wins.”
The Sooners opened up the scoring 4:30 into the 1st half as sophomore winger Tom Murphy struck off the centers for a 22 meter run to find the line. Scoring was all over the field with the Longhorns defending well end-to-end and applying pressure forcing the Sooners to balance an attack and create space. No easy tries were scored on the big physical Texas side.
“I was happy that we were able to get our young players another solid match. Most of the team is made of up freshmen and sophomores, which has been challenging… but will pay off for sure in coming contests. Coming off a tie with A&M, it was important to solidify those learning experiences,” said Horowitz. “Our defense was impeccable for the most part, still with many improvements to come.”
Junior captain Mike Al-Jiboori was happy with the outcome of this very intense game. “The Red River Rivalry is always one of the most physical and most anticipated games of the year. It is the biggest rivalry in the South in all sports. We respect each other as athletes, but when the whistle blows it’s a different story. It’s all about the pride of being the dominant University, which is why this game is so great. We played strong at some points of the game and less cohesive at others. We are a young growing team so we are still working on it. Our coaches set some goals and we nailed most of them. A win over UT is gladly taken any day no matter the fashion. Sooner Glory.”
The Sooners have the next weekend off and well deserved as they have been at it since early January. The season will kick back into gear on the weekend of 3/15 as they host Wisconsin during the 40th anniversary weekend of OU Rugby and the get back into conference play the following weeks.
OU vs Texas scoring line
Murphy, 1 try
Hutzler, 1 try
Gatica, 1 try
Al-Jiboori, 2 tries
Koh, 2 conversions
Crowder, 1 try
Lair, 1 try
Press Release by OU Rugby
On Saturday the Sooners took on the Longhorns in the long-lived Red River Rivalry. This was the 1st time in many years that OU hosted the event in Norman.
“This rivalry is one of the best know in college sports,” said Sooner Head Coach Jason Horowitz. “Football, Basketball, etc. always make this match up a big deal. In fact, we kicked off at 2 p.m. and just an hour later across the parking lot, Men’s Basketball hosted Texas as well. It was a big day on campus with 2 big wins.”
The Sooners opened up the scoring 4:30 into the 1st half as sophomore winger Tom Murphy struck off the centers for a 22 meter run to find the line. Scoring was all over the field with the Longhorns defending well end-to-end and applying pressure forcing the Sooners to balance an attack and create space. No easy tries were scored on the big physical Texas side.
“I was happy that we were able to get our young players another solid match. Most of the team is made of up freshmen and sophomores, which has been challenging… but will pay off for sure in coming contests. Coming off a tie with A&M, it was important to solidify those learning experiences,” said Horowitz. “Our defense was impeccable for the most part, still with many improvements to come.”
Junior captain Mike Al-Jiboori was happy with the outcome of this very intense game. “The Red River Rivalry is always one of the most physical and most anticipated games of the year. It is the biggest rivalry in the South in all sports. We respect each other as athletes, but when the whistle blows it’s a different story. It’s all about the pride of being the dominant University, which is why this game is so great. We played strong at some points of the game and less cohesive at others. We are a young growing team so we are still working on it. Our coaches set some goals and we nailed most of them. A win over UT is gladly taken any day no matter the fashion. Sooner Glory.”
The Sooners have the next weekend off and well deserved as they have been at it since early January. The season will kick back into gear on the weekend of 3/15 as they host Wisconsin during the 40th anniversary weekend of OU Rugby and the get back into conference play the following weeks.
OU vs Texas scoring line
Murphy, 1 try
Hutzler, 1 try
Gatica, 1 try
Al-Jiboori, 2 tries
Koh, 2 conversions
Crowder, 1 try
Lair, 1 try