40 Acres Sports

Small town running back Traylon Shead will get a chance to show his skills to the nation. (Image: Rivals)

The second big high school all-American game of the year happens this Saturday at noon when at least six future Horns take part in the US Army All-American Bowl on NBC. No expected new commits for Texas at the game but it will be a chance for fans to see a bunch of future Longhorns compete against top notch talent.

The most interesting commits to watch may be quarterback [tag]Connor Wood[/tag] and running back [tag]Traylon Shead[/tag]. In these wide open all-star games QB and RB are two of the spots where you get the best reflection of what a player is actually capable of. Shead is one of the most prolific prep running backs in the history of Texas high school football and today will be a great chance to see what the stud from tiny Cayuga can do against the country’s best.

On the defensive side of the ball watch for defensive end [tag]Reggie Wilson[/tag] and linebacker [tag]Tevin Jackson[/tag]. Both players are incredible athletes who can fly around the football field. With the pass happy game plans it should mean lots of chances for Wilson to get after the quarterback.

(click to view the positions and numbers of the Texas commits …)

Want to watch the entire [tag]Fiesta Bowl[/tag] in high resolution on your computer? Hulu.com has the game up in remarkably good quality. Enjoy…

I think I could watch Quan Cosby’s game winning touchdown over and over again, and now I can.

The Fiesta Bowl isn’t the only game up on Hulu, you can also watch stuff like the US Army All-American game and the other BCS games as well.

Robert Timmons, Marcus Davis, and Alex Okafor will play for the Longhorns (Rivals.com)

Today’s US Army All-American Bowl is the first of two high school all-star games this weekend that will give Texas fans the opportunity to see some future Texas Longhorns play against elite competition. Back in 2002 this game was our first chance to see how special a young man named Vincent Young might be. Today, seven commits and a few possible blue chip targets will play at noon today on NBC for the West squad.

The defensive line will be full of Horns with tackle [tag]Calvin Howell[/tag] and ends [tag]Alex Okafor[/tag] and the uncommitted stud Devon Kennard likely spending a lot of time in the East backfield. I also want to see how running back [tag]Chris Whaley[/tag] looks and if a big back can fit into Texas’ spread offense.

Here are the Texas commits and targets to keep an eye on during the game:

Name	Number	Position	Commit?	Ranking
[tag]Tariq Allen[/tag]	43	Linebacker	Yes
[tag]Marcus Davis[/tag]	28	Cornerback	Yes
[tag]Calvin Howell[/tag]	99	Defensive Tackle	Yes
Devon Kennard	42	Defensive End	No
Dre Kirkpatrick	13	Cornerback	No
[tag]Alex Okafor[/tag]	80	Defensive End	Yes
[tag]Garrett Porter[/tag]	78	Offensive Tackle	Yes
[tag]Greg Timmons[/tag]	81	Wide Receiver	Yes
[tag]Chris Whaley[/tag]	25	Running Back	Yes

View the full US Army rosters.

We’ll have thoughts on these guys and the rest of the game this weekend.

Rivals has posted an interview from new Orangebloods.com editor Jason Howell with three of the Texas commits participating in the US Army All-American Bowl this Saturday at noon. Jason talks to [tag]Alex Okafor[/tag], [tag]Tariq Allen[/tag], and [tag]Greg Timmons[/tag] about their experience preparing for the game, going up against top competition, and being part of the Longhorn family.

Man I love Timmons hair, definitely a look that should never have gone out of style. All three players look like they’ll represent the University well, and Allen and Okafor in particular are very well spoken young men.

The US Army All-American Bowl is most fans first chance to see the top high school recruits for themselves. Texas fans can see several Longhorn commitments take the field for the West squad as well as take their first look at 5-star stud running back Darrell Scott, who reportedly may now favor the Horns. Tune in now (12 pm Central) to NBC to catch the game.

Here are the Texas commits and targets to watch for:

Name	Number	Position	Commit?	Ranking
[tag]Nolan Brewster[/tag]	24	Safety	Yes
[tag]Dan Buckner[/tag]	4	Wide receiver	Yes
[tag]Dravannti Johnson[/tag]	44	Linebacker	Yes
[tag]DJ Monroe[/tag]	25	Defensive back	Yes
Rahim Moore	15	Safety	No
Darrell Scott	2	Running back	No
[tag]David Snow[/tag]	76	Guard	Yes
[tag]Justin Tucker[/tag]	23	Kicker	Yes
[tag]Aaron Williams[/tag]	7	Cornerback	Yes

I’ll post some relevant updates and thoughts below:

First Quarter

• Nice looking punt by Justin Tucker. He’s been recruited as a placekicker but it certainly wouldn’t hurt if he could help out as a punter as well.
• DJ Monroe makes a good break on the football and knocks the pass up in the air for Nolan Brewster to pick it off. A third Texas commit, Dravannti Johnson, was also right there after the play was over. Impressive play by Monroe.
• Fantastic catch by Dan Buckner taking advantage of his size to go up high and grab the ball over a shorter corner. Definitely something I think we’ll see a lot of during his Longhorn career.

Second Quarter

• Good coverage by corner Aaron Williams but he gets beat deep. Williams has reportedly been very impressive this week and may be on the verge of getting a fifth star. He’s got good size but his speed (despite being listed with a 4.4 forty time) may mean he ends up at safety.
• It’s pretty clear where the Terrelle Pryor/Vince Young comparisons come from. The kid is big and natural and makes things look easy. Vince became Vince because of his intangibles and the improvements he made while in school, if Pryor can do the same he’ll be special.
• Monroe doesn’t look afraid of contact. Came flying up on screen and made a solid tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
• Another play by DJ Monroe. Good high punt by Tucker and Monroe gets down the field quickly as one of the gunners and covers up the ball after the East returned muffed it.
• Good tackle by Williams. I love to see secondary guys who can actually tackle.

Third Quarter

• I haven’t noticed Darrell Scott much. I don’t think he’s been in on a ton of snaps.
• Safety Rahim Moore, who is committed to UCLA but is still being recruited by Texas, just made a big hit on a pass breakup then popped up and gave the double hook ’em. Don’t know what our chances are but new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp won’t hurt.

Vince Young was a decent football player at Texas and these highlights of the 2002 US Army All-American Bowl proves he was pretty decent in high school too:

Pretty fun stuff to watch. I think there was even a Clint Haney sighting. I didn’t remember how skinny Vince was when he first got on campus. You could really see he was special back then, even though he wasn’t “as polished as McNeal.” Ha.

Just a reminder that the US Army All-American Bowl will be on NBC today at noon. The game takes place in San Antonio at the Alamodome and features some of the best high school football players in the country.

This will be most Longhorn fans first opportunity to watch any of the 2007 football commits in action. Bevo Sports will have some thoughts on the game and possibly some video later this weekend. There will be 13 Texans on the West squad and the Longhorns have six commits and a few targets playing in the game. Here’s the guys to keep an eye on during the game:

Texas Commits

• Tray Allen, West #56
• Curtis Brown, West #3
• John Chiles, West #5
• Michael Huey, West #70
• Blaine Irby, West #19
• Andre Jones, West #89

Texas Targets

• Ron Brooks, West #81
• Joe McKnight, West #4
• Christian Scott, West #23

Others to Watch

• John Brantley, East #12
• Matt Simms, East #2

National Signing Day is finally upon us and Longhorn fans will unexpectedly have something to look forward to.

With a fantastic class in both quality and quantity mostly wrapped up months ago, the only recruit that Texas has offered that has yet to announce is 4-star safety Jonas Mouton out of California. Texas didn’t get in on Mouton till after the US Army All-American Bowl three weeks ago but made a very strong push and has a great shot of landing him. It’s a three team race between Texas, Michigan, and USC.

He’ll be announcing his decision at a 8:30 p.m. CST press conference on Fox Sports West and we’ll have that info as well as any other news or rumors here as soon as we hear them.