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Game Thread Game Two: Texas 25, Ohio State 22 (final)

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DMN on Ramonce Taylor.

Tough love puts UT speedster on right path

Taylor is emerging, but a bad attitude nearly cost him everything

01:04 AM CDT on Saturday, August 20, 2005

By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN – Texas sophomore, X-factor Ramonce Taylor, autographs his own shoes, has multiple nicknames for himself – The Truth, Mr. Touchdown, Reggie Bush Jr. – loves to wear sunglasses and fake diamond earrings and sees himself getting about 20 touches per game this season.

But long before his 4.2 speed in the 40-yard dash sent UT coaches scrambling to offensive mastermind Norm Chow for advice on how Chow used Reggie Bush at USC the last two years, Taylor was a kid who struggled with his grief.

Growing up, he pinballed between the tough love of his mother, Ramona Clark, a prison guard for 12 years, including two years working on Death Row in Huntsville, and the pampering love of his grandmother, Celestina Trejo.

Taylor's mother laid down the law, forbidding him from hanging out at the mall and making sure he was always home before the streetlights came on. His grandmother spent the day before she died in 2001 arranging to buy a car for Ramonce.

"I had to be the disciplinarian," Clark said. "My mother was able to spoil him."

Trejo's death from congestive heart failure during Taylor's sophomore year at Belton High School in Central Texas left Ramonce without one of his biggest fans and supporters. It also left him temporarily out of control.

Anger management

His anger manifested itself the wrong way as Taylor tuned out authority figures, including his mother and coaches – until he found himself kicked off the Belton football team.

"My sophomore year, I was a backup tailback, and thought I should have been starting," Taylor said. "I had a real high head and thought I was all that."

Said Belton coach Jay Warrick, who made the decision to boot Taylor: "It was a situation where Ramonce needed to understand we were going to treat him the same as everyone else, regardless of talent level.

"At that time, he didn't feel like he had to do everything everyone else had to do. We weren't going to operate that way. He made the changes he needed to make, showed some maturity and ended up having a great career."

Losing football for that season changed everything for Taylor, a kid who has never lacked confidence. He suddenly realized his grandmother would have been disappointed with him.

"My grandmother wrote me a letter before she passed away that I have in my room," Taylor said. "She wanted me to be something in life and not to do anything bad and to stay out of trouble. I took that to heart."

Taylor has the letter from his grandmother over his bed. He looks at it every day before heading to football practice. He writes "Celestina" on the bottom of his cleats before games. The words in the letter he reads over and over again say, "You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. You are going to be a success in life. I will always love you."

An emerging talent

Longhorns fans began seeing glimpses of Taylor's success last season. He bolted for 96 yards on four carries in the opener against North Texas. One of those runs went for 74 yards.

Concerns about Taylor's practice habits, however, including a penchant for fumbling during contact drills, kept him from seeing the field for another five weeks.

"I had some bad habits from high school, carrying the ball on my forearm, away from my body, and had to change that," he said. "Now, I carry it high and tight."

He finally saw action the week after the team's only loss – to Oklahoma. Against Missouri, he threw a reverse pass to quarterback Vince Young for 48 yards. Against Colorado, he ran 11 times for 84 yards, including a reverse for 36 yards. He added a 48-yard touchdown on a reverse against Oklahoma State, and he overcame a fumbled punt against Michigan in the Rose Bowl, by racking up 210 return yards in that game. He averaged 11.4 yards per touch, best on the team.

A multipurpose back

The plan this season is to use Taylor all over the field – at running back, slot receiver and flanker.

"Ramonce is best when he's in space," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "So we're trying to find ways to get him the ball in space."

Warrick is the first to say Taylor has a big personality. Taylor loves to look the part of a superstar.

"A lot of time that stuff rubs people the wrong way," Warrick said. "He's got some showmanship in him. But if you talk to him one-on-one, he's really a pleasant young man. He never once got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in high school. When he scored – and he scored a lot – he handed the ball to the official."

While Taylor says his mom ran their house like the prisons she worked in – strict and disciplined – he's quick to point out he chose Texas over Oklahoma and Texas A&M because it was close enough for his mom to come see him play.

The two talk all the time. She quit working for the Texas Department of Corrections in 1999 and now works for Nextel Communications. But she hasn't changed. She still asks him who he's spending time with, sometimes asking for detailed character profiles, and reminds him to always "watch your back."

"Working in a prison is an eye opener to people, the crimes they commit and how people get into bad situations," said Clark. "It taught me how to be stern and firm in following procedure. You always have to play the what-if game. I always raised my children to think about the consequences of the good and bad."

Taylor feels like he learned that lesson his sophomore year in high school, when a bad attitude caused him to lose what he loved most – football and the stage it provides.

"I just think about my grandmother, every time I write her name on the bottom of my cleats before a game," Taylor said. "I just look at her letter, and my mind goes to the right place."

E-mail [email protected]
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Ramonce Taylor
 
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Texasize said:
S-n-G.... Henry Melton is his name. He's been very impressive in practice so far. Y'all may not even see Selvin by 9/10. May be Melton 6'3"/275/4.6 and Jamaal Charles 6'1/190/sub4.4. Melton is a wrecking ball with wheels. Charles has ankle breaking moves and is a national level track star. R. Bush-like but a better running back. It will be interesting to see who emerges as the #1. I'd say Charles will start against y'all. Just my feeling.
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WTF?
Do you mean Robert Bush? You're telling us Texas has a 3rd/4th string running back who's better than Reggie Bush?:rofl: If he's not 3rd/4th string (I haven't really heard much about anyone other than Taylor and Young being the starters from Texas fans on here) I could care less. You're saying you have a tailback who's better than Reggie Bush, but there's a question as to who will start. You are, my friend, a complete tool. Have some rubies.
 
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i found that weird also,
maybe he meant a more pure running back, but that reggie bush is more versatile

oh by the way have you heard what everyone is saying about ashton, our rb recruit from texas? i've heard comparisons to alot of backs but i think hes more of a barry sanders than anything.
 
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Yes, he does. However, I think he's always been a scaredycat about playing young kids early.Maybe thinks they're not mature enough to handle the atmosphere of the big game. I'm not Mack Brown so I don't know what his reluctance is, but it's time to field the best Now. Not after we've been beaten by ou again.
 
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i wonder what wouldve happened if we didnt start clarett in '02, i doubt we wouldve won the national championship, but clarett wouldnt have challeneged the NFL age limit, and probably would become an even better college player, then moving on to be a top 10 pick in the draft.

i think that you should always show more respect to the seniors, but the best should play the game. did you guys know that the reason ohio state got a penalty called when they kneeled with under a minute left in the michigan game last year was because the players were confused because tressel put in a 4 year squad member so that he could say he played in the game.
 
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Texasize said:
Yes, he does. However, I think he's always been a scaredycat about playing young kids early.Maybe thinks they're not mature enough to handle the atmosphere of the big game. I'm not Mack Brown so I don't know what his reluctance is, but it's time to field the best Now. Not after we've been beaten by ou again.
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It's not reluctance, it's idiocy. Mack Brown is not a good coach. He returned a once proud, but struggling program to national prominence. He is a great recruiter and program builder, but he is a lousy coach on game day. He is John Cooper.
 
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Thanks for the tool comment,findlay. Shows you're maturity level. If you read my post, you'd understand. Reggie Busch-LIKE (speed, moves), but a pure, every down running back. You've only heard about Selvin til now because Mack has never let a freshman play any big game significant time until after ou.However, I feel that Charles will win the spot early & demand field time against y'all. Say what you want, when you see him play (if he's allowed to) you, my friend,will feel like the tool. :biggrin:
 
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with texas' offensive line it wont really matter who the running back is, i think it will be up to our defensive line to win this game for us, with our linebackers if our defensive line plays good than you will not be successfull running the ball, but if we get knocked off the line of scrimmage then we will have problems.
 
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Man oh man, I just can't wait for this game to get here, so we can finally close this thread with all its mega-inflated claims of Texas player ability.

  • Their linebackers will improve despite the loss of an AA LB.

  • Running back who is better than Reggie Bush, but is only 3rd-4th string on Texas.

  • Vince Young is a better passer than everyone thinks despite a 12/11 TD/INT ratio.

  • Their WR corps will be an upgrade despite having a grand total of 0 TDs between them.
 
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