Education

AUSTIN (AP) ― They struggled with missed tackles, blown assignments and the nerves of playing in their first game.

Then they made big hits, blocked a punt and got better as the game wore on.

Texas freshmen safeties Earl Thomas and Blake Gideon gave up some big plays but made some too in a 52-10 romp over Florida Atlantic, getting their first taste of college football in front of 98,000 screaming fans watching to see if they would mess up.

"It was overwhelming at first," Thomas said as the Longhorns (1-0) prepared for Saturday night's game at Texas-El Paso (0-1). "But it slowed down after a while and I got used to it. ... You have no choice but to grow up."

Texas (1-0) gave up 252 yards passing and one touchdown but held Owls quarterbacks Rusty Smith and Jeff Van Camp to 17 of 39 passing (43 percent).

For Thomas and Gideon, it was all about surviving the first quarter as Smith ripped the secondary for 151 yards. Thomas seemed to be getting the worst of it, then made a big play that seemed to change everything. Florida Atlantic had driven inside the Texas 10 when he tipped a pass that was intercepted in the end zone.

Later, he blocked a punt to set up a touchdown and finished with five total tackles, good for second on the team. He also learned a valuable lesson for a defensive back.

"When you have bad plays, you have to forget about it. Something good will happen," he said.

Thomas is a redshirt freshman who was able to watch and learn last season. Gideon is a true freshman who enrolled at Texas in January to be able to participate in spring drills with new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp.

"I knew to some extent it would be leveled out with the new defense coming in, we'd all be starting from scratch," Gideon said.

Coach Mack Brown was impressed, especially after worrying so much about them before the game.

"It was probably the biggest and fastest learning curve I've ever seen with young guys, and hopefully they will play better this week, but it really was what scared me about the game," Brown said.

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APOLOGY ACCEPTED: Longhorns players said suspended defensive tackle Lamarr Houston gave the team a sincere apology after his arrest on a drunken driving charge and that all is forgiven.

"Lamarr is a very good person. He's a very caring individual. It's unfortunate the situation happened. Some guys, you can kind of see that path or that wild streak, (but) Lamarr's a very good person," senior defensive tackle Roy Miller said.

"He apologized to the team. We know he messed up but we rallied around him. I felt so bad for him," Miller said

Houston started against Florida Atlantic and had three tackles. He was arrested on a misdemeanor drunken driving charge about 3:15 a.m. Sunday and suspended for the game against UTEP.

Senior Aaron Lewis will start in Houston's place. Lewis, who has played both defensive tackle and end, has 10 previous career starts. His single biggest highlight was a one-handed takedown of Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson in Texas' win over the Sooners in 2006.

"We've got depth so we're going to use it," Miller said. "Everything will be all right."

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KICKERS GALORE: Senior Ryan Bailey is the most accurate field goal kicker in Texas history and was named to the watch list for the Groza Award given to the best kicker in the country.

And he may have lost his job.

Bailey, who is 24 of 28 on field goals in his career with two game winners, has been bothered by a sore leg in his open competition with Hunter Lawrence for the starting job.

Lawrence started against Florida Atlantic, making a 40-yard field goal and all six extra points. Brown said Bailey felt good enough to take one extra point, which he made, late in the game.

"He's (feeling) better. But he got behind. Hunter's done a great job so we let Hunter do it," Brown said.

Bailey will have to earn the job in practice to replace Lawrence if and when he's ready.

"If you mean what you say and there's competition every day and the one that performs the best plays, then you got to get back and get your job back," Brown said.

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OOPS: Quarterback Colt McCoy threw a classic "look out" block against FAU: You know, the kind where the blocker misses the defender and turns and yells to the ball carrier "look out!"

McCoy whiffed on a block on a wide receiver pass, forcing Jordan Shipley to toss an ugly-looking throw that never had a chance to find a wide open Quan Cosby down field. Shipley took a huge hit as the ball fluttered to the ground.

"I just had a guy right in my face. I tried to get the ball off but I couldn't really get a good grip on it," Shipley said.

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BY THE NUMBERS: Thomas' blocked punt against FAU gave Texas 49 blocked kicks since 2000, most in the nation over that span. ... Texas played eight true freshmen against FAU. ... The distance from Austin to El Paso is 580 miles and one time zone. El Paso is on Mountain Time, which means the game won't start until 9:15 p.m. in Austin. "You have all day to sit and watch other games, and you don't want to be drained emotionally all day," Brown said.

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QUOTABLE: "Hit someone." -- Lewis on the daily message from defensive coordinator Will Muschamp.

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