40 Acres Sports

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Bears.

Pre-Game WTH Baylor?! This is the Big 12! This is the big boy league. I understand showing school pride to the 46,453 fans that attended the game. But having a tarp that says “This is Bear Country” in the end zone to cover up seats that should be watching RG3 versus the Horns. Come on Man!

1st Quarter (14:38) WTH RG3?! C’mon Bears give the opposing team a chance to get their head in the game. The Horns defense which includes Blake Gideon watched a perfect throw by Robert Griffin to a streaking Kendall Wright for a 59 yard touchdown on the SECOND play of the game.

1st Quarter (:33) WTH Irby?! Who does not love Blaine Irby? He made a helluva catch in the back of the end zone for the first touchdown of the night for the Horns. Do you think he might have any eligibility left?

2nd Quarter (10:53) WTH Fat Man?! I do not know what Coach Harsin called this play but this razzle dazzle play had two offensive linemen split out on either side of the formation. One lineman faked a catch on one side while Case McCoy threw a fade to Luke Poehlmann in the end zone. Love Luke’s touchdown celebration by grabbing his gut to identify him as the fat man scoring.

2nd Quarter (7:40) WTH Goodwin?! Longest touchdown pass play of the season saw Marquise Goodwin dash 80 yards for the touchdown. He added a signature triple jump step in the end zone. This was the last highlight of the regular season for the Horns.

2nd Quarter WTH McCoy?! I know everyone loves the “it” factor that Case McCoy has in his game. The read and throw he made was awful. He looked at his primary receiver the entire time and he does not have the arm strength to get it there. The interception took the Baylor to the Horns 2 where RG3 strolled in to the end zone to lead at halftime. Why were we not running the ball to secure the lead at the half?!

3rd Quarter (4:15) WTH Gilbert?! This third interception by Case McCoy was clearly a throw for Mike Davis to go after which neither one were on the same page. Case had a night in Waco like Garrett had in Manhattan. Case had 4 interceptions which Baylor turned into 17 points.

4th Quarter (7:43) WTH RG3?! The UT defense said that Robert Griffin was not going to have a Heisman type night on them. Well UT defense, RG3 is headed to New York. RG3 threw his second touchdown of the night to finish with 320 yards of passing and he ran in two scores. Looks like THE hardware is coming to Waco!

Next up for the Longhorns are the Cal Bears on December 28th in the Holiday Bowl.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at 40AcresSports or follow me at Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Aggies.

Pre-Game WTH 118 years?! I agree that egos have caused this rivalry to end. The Aggies says “It’s time for Texas A&M”… to slug it out with the SEC. The Horns have their path to blaze (LHN). Divorce is tough. Let’s reunite for the kids’ sake.

1st Quarter (7:26) WTH Tucker?! The 31 yard punt by Justin Tucker was making every Longhorn fan pull out their hair. The only good outcome was that most of his punts were never returned. He definitely made up for his punting woes at the end.

2nd Quarter (12:13) WTH Refs 1?! Keenan Robinson was called for roughing the passer when the QB Ryan Tannehill landed on him? Keenan must have pissed off the entire officiating crew because he also got called for a horse collar penalty in the third quarter when he clearly just had the jersey.

2nd Quarter (9:31) WTH Shipley?! This is not for the pass play to Irby for the first score. Before that play and the muffed punt that caused all the electricity for the Horns, Jaxon Shipley I think had the play of the game. On third down his bad knee gave way and he barely got a hand on the ball to knock it down. An Aggie defender was there ready to make the interception and take it to the house. Close call!

2nd Quarter (1:47) WTH Harsin?! Coach Harsin I am going to blame you for this interception thrown by Miles Onyegbule. Your innovative play calling gets this Horn team so fired up that they will throw into triple coverage to please you.

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WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Wildcats.

Pre-Game Respect. A great decision by the UT brass to have a moment of silence before the game for the Oklahoma State’s tragedy of losing two of their women’s basketball coaches in a plane crash. Nice touch with the OSU logo on the Godzillatron.

1st Quarter (11:03) WTH Ash?! David Ash needs to realize that you do not need to jump when you throw the football. He has a tremendous upside but the decision making is suspect. Wildcats put the first points of the game after the turnonver.

2nd Quarter (3:02) WTH Blue Chip?! Way to take the momentum right out of the stadium. Coach Brown decides to go for it on fourth down at their own 41 yard line. Tray Allen false starts which kills the drive and ends up leading to a punt and the turning point of the game.

2nd Quarter (2:51) WTH Refs?! I am getting sick of these judgment calls! The KSU punt returner, Tramaine Thompson, fumbles the ball and the Horns recover in great field position. The ref felt that the returner was scared of the oncoming pressure and decided to throw the flag. Best Mack Brown meltdown ever.

2nd Quarter (:57) WTH Mack?! KSU was trying to get into position for a score before the half. Wildcat Sheldon Smith did his best tight rope act along the sidelines with a 24 yard catch which the refs really enjoyed by deciding to make the judgment call that it was a catch. Mack you have got to challenge that call. You do not need the timeouts so why not get the booth to review it.

3rd Quarter (3:43) WTH McCoy?! I guess the golden horseshoe is back in place. Case McCoy steps in an orchestrated a 6 play – 79 yard touchdown drive. Great designed play by Coach Harsin for McCoy to hit senior Blaine Irby for his first touchdown of the year.

End of Game (:00) WTH UT Defense?! What an incredible display of domination by this unit. It was sad to see the effort was wasted with a loss. The Horns held the Wildcats to 121 yards of total offense. Collin Klein, aka Honey Badger (please), had 4 net yards of rushing on 26 carries. The other telling stat is that the Wildcats had 9 series which they had 3 plays and punt.

Next up for the Longhorns are the Aggies for the final time? at 7PM on Turkey Day.
Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at 40AcresSports or follow me at Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Tigers.

Pre-Game (15:00) WTH SEC?! Hey SEC… did you really get a look at what you just invited to the party. A stadium that has a hill set aside for MU Fans to lay blankets and pillows to watch a game?! Did you ever think that an SEC team is now going to have to play a game in the snow with this group?

1st Quarter (13:11) WTH Acho?! Clearly the leader of the defense, Emmanuel Acho, came up with a momentum changing turnover to stop a possible opening score. Acho lead the team in tackles with 12. He is one player that Manny Diaz cannot afford to lose.

1st Quarter (10:30) WTH Turning Point One?! Fozzy Whittaker was the only real option at running back with Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron nursing injuries. Captain America, Superman, MVP, whatever you want to call him; went down with a season ending injury on the 6th offensive play of the game. The emotional leader of the offense was helped off the field as well as any semblance of a running game left with him. A true warrior!

2nd Quarter (8:55) WTH Turf?! Missouri, I understand that your stadium needs to add some seats for the invasions of the SEC rednecks. You may want to improve your turf while you’re at it since your number one running back Henry Josey sustained a season ending knee injury. You claim MU that you are getting more money by moving to the SEC. Spend it wisely!

2nd Quarter (5:02) WTH Turning Point Two?! Are we moving closer to touch football? Kenny Vaccaro had the hit of the game that any coach would be proud to show his team. The refs thought he was headhunting and threw the flag. The next play the Tigers ran over the deflated Horns defense for a 35 yard score.

3rd Quarter (3:31) WTH Special?! There is nothing special about a MU punt block earlier in the quarter which led to a field goal. But when the Horns came back with their own punt block, this turned into less of a score with a safety. I guess Murphy was on the Horns sideline because everything went wrong with this game.

End of the Game WTH Scribes?! Score one for the Sportswriters school of choice which is Missouri. MU can revel in the fact that they beat the evil empire and the LHN before they go to the SEC. Good luck boys, you are going to need it. I guess the homely girl can score every once in a while.

Next up for the Longhorns are the Wildcats of Kansas State visiting Austin at 7PM on November 19th.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at 40AcresSports or follow me at Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Red Raiders.

David Ash runs for a big gain against Texas Tech.

Pre-Game (15:00) WTH Skies?! We owe a big debt to the men and women of the Armed Forces that were in attendance and for those who have lost their life which were shown on the Jumbotron. I thought it was a good sign when the first of the parachute team landed right in the middle of the field on the Longhorn logo. Cool!

1st Quarter (9:45) WTH Academy?! I understand that you need to get the Red Raiders out of rhythm and try to slow them down, but do you really need that performance. Emmanuel Acho apparently was trying to get off the field when the coaching staff told him to stay on the ground. Acho did is best acting job by hitting the turf so that he can be escorted off by the training staff. One play later Acho makes a crucial stop to limit Tech to field goal. And the Academy Award goes to…

2nd Quarter (6:56) WTH Royal?! Fozzy Whittaker ran the wildcat formation to perfection to put two rushing touchdowns on the board and later handing the ball to a streaking D.J. Monroe for another. The Horns racked up 439 yards of rushing with an attitude that has not been seen around here for a while. Wonder if these young Horns remember Coach Royal’s speech about how three things can happen when you pass and two of ‘em are bad.

Halftime WTH Zorro?! I know that UT Band uniforms look a little outdated, but come on Texas Tech. I believe I have seen that outfit at a local Mexican food establishment. Need salsa with that sir?

3rd Quarter (2:45) WTH Ash?! The future of our passing attack was clearly shown when David Ash threw one of his only seven attempts for a strike to a fast moving target like Marquise Goodwin for 37 yards. David Ash is growing up before our eyes. I really liked the decision by Ash to tuck it and run for 47 yards to end the first quarter.

4th Quarter (1:01) WTH Hat?! Red Raiders offense is the epitome of “All Hat No Cattle”. The offense runs up and down the field for 381 yards of passing but can only score 20 points with the last touchdown coming very late in the game.

End of the Game WTH Mizzou?! I know the Big 12 is not the most stable group of teams, but you could see some semblance of getting their act together with the additions of TCU and WVU. A&M wanted out before the season even started. Missouri really started all of this flirting when they saw the Big 10 looking around. Radio personality Paul Finnebaum had a great line when describing the Tigers move to the SEC. A&M is the abused girl looking for a new boyfriend; Missouri is the homely girl at the end of the bar that no one really wants.

Next up for the Longhorns is probably the last meeting with the Tigers at 11 AM on November 12th.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on Twitter at 40AcresSports or follow me at Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Jayhawks.

So dominating was the performance of the Longhorns over the Jayhawks (43-0) that I focused on some of the more interesting things not involved on the playing field.

Pre-Game (15:00) WTH Gill?! I can see the ploy of not putting names on the back of the uniforms to suggest that you are all one team. But having a microscopic Jayhawk (fictitious bird) on the back of the jerseys is a little silly, Coach Gill.

1st Quarter (9:59) WTH Halloween?! Not too many Halloween costumes in the stands this night where 99,211 were in attendance. The best I saw was a large sombrero made completely out of beer pull tabs. The man wearing it looked like he drank every beer that night to make that hat.

2nd Quarter (15:00) WTH Jet Blue?! Looks like the airline had bigger issues with stranding people on a plane in Hartford. You could at least get a fan that knows how to kick a field goal. Who is responsible for picking out these people? You may want to get a little good publicity after last week’s snowstorms and find someone that can make it through the uprights.

Halftime WTH Twirler?! The biggest cheer of the night was for the baton twirler as the Longhorn Alumni Band performed for the UT faithful. A special shout out to that older gentleman, Don Hart, who thrilled the crowd with one last heave of the baton that he caught at the end of the program.

3rd Quarter (3:13) WTH Smokey?! Since the Horns were dominating the Jayhawks on the field, it looks like the Cowboys spirit organization decided to have some fun. The cannon fire after one score produced a giant smoke ring for the crowd to see. Wonder if that technique is performed at campus dorms with another apparatus?

4th Quarter (15:00) WTH Camera Shot?! The UT stadium camera crew was trying to keep the Longhorn fans entertained while the game was already decided. The crowd shots of all the women were nice, especially the view of one coed that had a shirt that said “Horn Star.”

Next up for the Longhorns are the Red Raiders as they host to Texas Tech on November 5th.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on Twitter at 40AcresSports or follow me at Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Cowboys.

Texas was a half step away from a game changing defensive TD by Blake Gideon.

Pre-Game (15:00) WTH Fans?! The Longhorns are 4-1 and need some support after the Oklahoma beat down, and the UT fans struggle to get to the game. Announced attendance was 100,101 but there were clearly tons of empty seats.

1st Quarter (9:49) WTH Ash?! We now know who the QB is for the moment. David Ash played the entire game. The freshmen mistakes keep coming with an interception driving into OSU territory. The best bet for the Horns is one signal caller. Hope the turnover bug will get flushed out of Ash soon.

2nd Quarter (14:46) WTH Brown?! Great day by Malcolm Brown with the first of his two touchdowns to start the second quarter. Brown finished with his first century day of his career (135 yards) with many more to come.

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WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Sooners.

Pre-Game (15:00) WTH Defer?! Is it me or do we lack that killer instinct? What a great opportunity to take a young team and attack on offensive first after winning the coin toss. Horns chose to defer to the second half. I will defer to the 96,000 plus in attendance, but I believe no one liked the choice of shirt by Mack Brown with the Longhorn on the pocket.

1st Quarter (9:30) WTH McCoy?! This would be the first of many turnovers for the Longhorns. A sack and subsequent fumble by Case McCoy was later turned into an OU field goal. I guess Case forgot his horseshoe. Great job by the defense to bend but not break in the first quarter, but that was about the change quickly.

2nd Quarter (15:00) WTH Diaz?! Understand that you were trying to play coverage most of the day, but there were no blitzes of memory that were up the middle to disrupt the timing of Landry Jones. An easy lob over the UT defense to Kenny (crazy hair) Stills was a sign of bad things to come to start the second quarter.

2nd Quarter (2:50) WTH Ash?! The Horns are a young team… young team… young team (trying to justify the mistakes). I just wish they had not made a whole season’s worth in one game. David Ash was trying to make something happen by throwing across his body to the waiting arms of OU Demontre Hurst who rambled 55 yards for the first of three defensive touchdowns to establish the Red River Rout.

2nd Quarter (2:38) WTH Cap’n America?! One of the few bright spots was Fozzy Whittaker (aka Captain America) 100 yard kickoff return to bring the north side of the stadium to its feet. Thanks Fozzy for the highlight.

2nd Quarter (:31) WTH Dagger?! After the kickoff return by Fozzy, the OU offense dialed up a quick 8 play drive to the end zone to retake the mojo for a 34-10 lead into halftime.

This year's OU game quickly slipped away from Mike Davis and Texas.

3rd Quarter (8:12) WTH One Play?! I have heard of offensive efficiency but this is ridiculous. OU Dominic Whaley takes the hand off at its own 36 and is never touched for a 64 yard touchdown. I guess every play is drawn up to score… this one did.

4th Quarter (12:29) WTH Davis?! I am sorry kid but I am going to have to bust you on this one. The OU defensive back rips the ball away from Mike Davis and takes it 56 yards to the house. I thought our problem was not catching the ball, now we have to hope you hold on to it?!

Next up for the Longhorns are the Cowboys as they host to Oklahoma State for the game on Oct. 15th.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at 40AcresSports or follow me at Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

We have completed a quarter of the season and it’s time to start looking at conference match ups for the Horns. But before we get back to football, I want to look back at Realignment Armageddon 2.0. We can surmise that the Big 12 is back together and everything is back to normal. (Who believes that?) I do think we need to take a look at what was lost. Here is what I believe the PAC 16 would have looked like if Larry Scott and the rest of the universities on the left coast would have opened the door to the 4 schools in the East.

The pod system would have played out by having the schools in the East only having to travel to the western time zone twice a year for football. The teams would play a home and away series for two years and switch to the other remaining teams in that pod. The travel schedule for most of the other university sports would be quite different due to the size of this conference, but we all know that football pays the bills. The media markets that this league would boast would cover 12 of the major 28 markets including the biggies such as LA, SF, Houston, & DFW.

Here is a look at the possible football schedule using the pod system for the Longhorns for the 2012 and 2014 season. The odd years would result in the teams switching destinations to accommodate the home and away series. The OU game would still be played at the Cotton Bowl every year. The remaining 3 non-conference games of the season would be a host of cupcake teams to offset a brutal but highly entertaining regular season (goodbye A&M)!

2012 – Pac 16 conference games

@ Oregon
Washington St
@ Standford
UCLA
@ Colorado
Arizona
@ Texas Tech
OU
@ OK State

2014 – Pac 16 conference games

Oregon St.
@ Washington
USC
@ California
Utah
@ Arizona St.
@ Texas Tech
OU
@ OK State

The Pac 16 games would provide better match ups and great destinations over the Big 12. The conference titles games would be the former Pac 8 schools (NW/West) against the Mountain/East division schools in locales such as Pasadena, Tempe or maybe even at Cowboy Stadium. Texas wants to play in large television markets for exposure and to play in mostly southern climates to recruit elite high school talent. The cons to this new frontier is that it would be much more difficult to reach a BCS bowl game or even the National Title game under the PAC 16 scenario. It looks like the Big 12 will allow the Longhorn Network to exist as long as the Tier 1 and Tier 2 television rights are shared among all schools in the league. There are probably some hurt feelings and back room deals that still need to be ironed out and another team needs to be added for this Big 12 conference to work. I just thought you might want to see what was lost last week when the Pac 12 was said that their full right now. I did enjoy DeLoss Dodds assessment of Texas during this entire upheaval. “We are who we are.”

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter @40AcresSports or follow me @Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Bruins.

1st Quarter (15:00) WTH Bruin Fans?! I have never seen so many empty seats at the Rose Bowl (54,583 in attendance). The Rose Bowl is a beautiful venue, but it was an eye sore with the overhead shots of the stadium where there were plenty of seats to be had.

1st Quarter (12:35) WTH Prince?! UCLA QB Kevin Prince was in a royal mood by supplying the greatest of all gifts which were three interceptions all in the first quarter. The prince became a pauper and sat the bench for the rest of the game.

2nd Quarter (11:36) WTH Malcolm?! We have to call out the freshmen’s first touchdown run of his career as a Longhorn. Malcolm Brown had a spectacular day finishing with 110 yards while running for his first touchdown with only one shoe on. Wonder what he will do to top that feet on his next TD run?

2nd Quarter (:58) WTH Flag Football?! It is amazing to see how Marquise Goodwin has set the tone for this team with his speed and blocking. The hit that laid out the UCLA defender was a thing of beauty to spring Mike Davis for a nice reception. The referee thought that they played two hand touch in California when he threw the flag for the personal foul.

2nd Quarter (:21) WTH Horseshoe 1?! Shout out to Beau Edge from 104.9 The Horn to give the ultimate description for Case McCoy. Not a great practice player and not the measurable you would see from a top ranked prospect but the kid has a golden horseshoe up his butt and he just makes plays. Case scrambles around and makes something out of nothing by hitting Mike Davis for a 25 yard play that eventually leads to another touchdown before the half.

3rd Quarter (9:45) WTH Horseshoe 2?! Case McCoy delivers another crazy play when he throws up a prayer that is tipped by the UCLA defender right into the waiting arms of Mike Davis for 45 yards. Case will make more mistakes as he is growing into the leader of this team. But it does seem that he has the IT factor that we all want from the position.

3rd Quarter (1:40) WTH Harsin?! Coach Harsin is demonstrating how to operate an offense when he uses the wildcat formation to spring Fozzy Whitaker in for a back braking touchdown to put the Horns up by 22 points. Hope that Coach Applewhite is learning the play calling skills because Harsin will be head coach sooner than the Horn fans want to think about it.

4th Quarter (12:29) WTH DB’s?! What a coming out party for this young secondary. Adrian Phillips, Kenny Vaccaro, and Carrington Byndom all had interceptions. But Adrian needs to be singled out for the ferocious hit he delivered to force the ball out from the UCLA receiver which was recovered by Blake Gideon. Great job by the defense to switch momentum after the Horns suffered a fumble deep in their own territory.

Next up for the Longhorns are the Cyclones as they travel to Ames for the game on Oct. 1st.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at @40AcresSports or follow me at @Horns1991. HOOK EM!!