40 Acres Sports

Do the Longhorns need Vondrell McGee and the rest of the running backs to step up?

Not that I’m breaking any news when I say this, but it bears repeating: this could be a special year for our Longhorns. A majority of our starters return, our coaching staff is arguably the strongest in Mack’s tenure and they have an understandably large chip on their shoulders after getting rooked out of the National Championship last year to a team they beat. Coming out of the spring game, here is #1 concern I’ve heard/read from Horn fans: what about the running game? Who’s the go-to running back? WHAT ABOUT THE RUN GAME??!?!??!

To that I say… play it cool Superman, play it cool.

Look I know that a run game is important, but is it vital? Ehhhh… not sure. The run game last year was subpar (by Texas standards) and it would be nice to be able to just run, run, run on anyone we damn well please because, in all honesty, nothing emasculates your opponent more than just cramming the ball down their collective throat. I get it, what I don’t get is the panic-stricken nature that us fans are treating this.

Conventional wisdom says you need to be able to run the ball to win championships; however, conventional wisdom also said that a team couldn’t win a National Title either running the spread (until we did) or if your leading rusher was a quarterback (again, until we did). The point is, teams that obey “conventional wisdom” rarely make history.

Looking at it, what makes our offense more imposing; forcing one of our unproven tight ends out on the field and lining up out of the I, or getting Jordan Shipley, Malcolm Williams, Brandon Collins, and James Kirkendoll out on the field at the same time? In my view, that’s the difference between asking someone which they would rather juggle, water balloons or grenades. A mistake with one leaves you mildly inconvenienced, while the other leaves you totally destroyed.

Let’s be honest, it’s not like any of the guys in the backfield are Jamaal Charles quality; they each have their strengths and weaknesses, and none of them are a complete back. On the other hand, our receiving core is the deepest and most talented group of the Mack Brown era. Jordan Shipley is nails, Brandon Collins is smooth route runner and great after the catch, Kirkendoll seems to be scratching the surface and the ceiling for Malcolm Williams seems to be Limas Sweed at worst! Not trying to be dramatic, but this set of receivers is a gift, we should use them as much as we can.

Most importantly, we have (by the numbers) the most accurate quarterback in the history of college football back for his senior year. Is our offense better served forcing the ball to our stable of good not nearly great running backs, or letting the most precise passer we’ve ever had in burnt orange throw darts to our studs out wide?? Our run game last year worked this way: run a little in the first half to keep the defense honest, but most of the damage was done with quick passes to the wideouts, which not only gained us yards but also served to sap the strength out of the opposing defenses legs. In the second half, the creases became bigger and the holes came more frequently (see the Oklahoma game for a perfect illustration).

Aaron Williams was great on defense and electric with the ball in his hands. (Photo: MB-TF)

The Texas Longhorns gave us the first real look at what next year’s team is going to look like on Sunday for the Spring Game. Of course these games need to be taken with a grain of salt because both sides bring vanilla game plans. Sergio Kindle didn’t play very much, but the defense dominated for most of the scrimmage. Here are five things we learned from the game.

1. The secondary has grown up.

A few months removed from being the perceived weak link of the defense the Longhorn secondary dominated the offense the whole game. The defense played predominately out of the 4-2-5 and showed very little blitzes but they made plays. Last year the group had troubles creating turnovers but the safeties intercepted two passes, the first by Nolan Brewster against the second team offense. The second interception was the play of day, a pick six by Earl Thomas off of Colt McCoy. Thomas was far and away the best player on the field on Sunday. The sophomore was everywhere, he showed off his coverage ability, he was a sure tackler, and show off his speed by running down a kick returner. Texas has four safeties that could start and all of them have at least three years of eligibility left. The corners looked good too. Aaron Williams and Chykie Brown have an opportunity to leave campus as the best duo Texas has had at cornerback. Add Curtis Brown and Deon Beasley and this group is deep and athletic. Will Muschamp couldn’t blitz as much as he might have liked last year because of the inexperience in the secondary, but the training wheels will come off this season. And it may just be scary good.

2. The tight end position is on life support.

It is true that this program has been spoiled at the tight end position in recent memory. It didn’t look like that was going to change with the emergence of Blaine Irby. A horrific injury to Irby, a few injuries to the back ups, and a few misses in recruiting later and we’re left with the current situation. Ian Harris bobbled a ball to cause the first interception of the game and Greg Smith almost did the same later on. Right now it looks like Texas may have to use the four or five receiver set as their base offense this year when they really want to move the ball. Mack Brown is hesitant to abandon the run, but having a tight end on the field is becoming a liability. Irby is nowhere close to be being back, and there is no guarantee he will ever be the same if or when does get back. Maybe if DJ Grant gets healthy or one of the two incoming freshman come in ready to contribute the position has a chance. But as we stand right now Greg Davis really needs to think about using the offense he used in the second half against Oklahoma for the majority of the snaps. Luckily Texas has the receivers to play that set with no problem. In fact keeping one of them on the sideline in favor of the current tight end on the roster is a form of football dyslexia.

3. Cody Johnson needs to be in shape

Both Vondrell McGee and Foswhitt Whittaker found the endzone on Sunday, and each showed a few flashes of their potential with the ball in their hands. But Texas averaged less than 3.0 yards per carry. Before his hamstring injury in the second half of the spring coaches and insiders had been raving about Johnson’s progress both running the ball and dedicating himself to being in shape. The knock on Johnson has always been his weight, but right now the coaching staff has decided to worry more about his body fat. Johnson is going to be counted on as the every down back if he can prove he can handle it. Right now Whittaker offers the team the skills needed in a third down back as long as he can prove he’ll block blitzing linebackers. Where that leads McGee is anybody’s guess, but with a good summer and fall practice it couldn’t be a total shock to see him get the opening day start. The variable in the whole situation is incoming freshman Chris Whaley. The big back from Madisonville just participated in the 100M at the Texas Relays and by all accounts the young man is an athletic specimen. The staff was so high on him as a running back, many experts project him to outgrow the position that they chose not to recruit another one. If he reports in shape and ready to take the punishment he will be given every opportunity to win the job. If all else fails the Texas offense may look like something from Lubbock. Is that a bad thing? I can’t decide.

4. Colt McCoy will have plenty of targets.

Texas’ leading returning receiver, and Colt McCoy’s roommate and fishing buddy if you haven’t heard, Jordan Shipley didn’t participate in spring practices to recover from injury the Longhorns fielded maybe the best trio of receivers ever at Texas. None of the wide outs are on the level of Roy Williams, but collectively this group may be better than the BJ Johnson and Sloan Thomas group. They weren’t as highly recruited but Malcolm Williams, Brandon Collins, and James Kirkendoll all bring something different to the field and they work great in this offense. The quarterbacks struggled with the wind, and the secondary had seen all the patterns every day in practice, but it was obvious how much big play potential will be on the field at all times. Kirkendoll showed off his speed on a reverse, Collins works the middle beautifully and led the team in yards, and Williams can get deep whenever he wants. McCoy’s bugaboo has been the deep ball and twice he nearly missed huge plays on the outside deep down the field with Williams. One was completed but the ball was too far outside to be kept in bounds and the other was thrown a little too far in front of the streaking Williams. The sophomore just looks the part out there in his number 9 uniform. Williams, fellow receiver Dan Buckner, and Aaron Williams just jump out at you from a pure athletic stand point when you look at their physique. Watching this group work has to put a smile on the Longhorn nation’s faces because they will be on campus for a few more years. That’s not even taking into account Buckner, John Chiles, and the red-shirt freshman on campus. With the questions at tight end and in the running game the receiver becomes the most important position besides quarterback for this offense.

5. Texas football is in good hands.

Mack Brown has been the best thing that has happened to this program, and maybe to the University as a whole from an athletic standpoint, than anybody since Darrell K. Royal. With as good as Brown has been, head coach to be Will Muschamp has injected an energy into this program that needed a little jumpstart following the departure of Vince Young and the rest of the 2002 recruiting class. With one hire, and Brown deserves credit for making it and then realizing he couldn’t lose his personal energizer bunny on Red Bull, the stigma of Texas being soft or unmotivated was erased for the present future. Just a few years ago these Spring Jamborees were offensive exhibitions. Remember when the opening kickoff was returned for a touchdown every year? That won’t happen anymore. Muschamp has made everything competitive. He has given the defense pride, and more importantly, thanks to Brown he has given them stability. A stability that the offense has had the luxury of since Brown and Greg Davis arrived on campus. For the first time in a decade the defense is going to have a steady hand leading the way. With Muschamp the hand might not be steady, it may be pumping up and down, but I’ll take it.

Future Longhorn track star and possible slot receiver Marquise Goodwin won this week’s 100m at Texas Relays with a blazing fast 10.38 time. Watch the race below:

Lots of Cody Johnson news this week that we’re just now catching up on. When the Horns were coming back to practice earlier this week from Spring Break word was out that he was working hard and impressing the coaches and had risen to the top of the running back depth chart. His performance on the field also had the Texas coaches worrying less about his weight:

Johnson’s personal battle of the bulge has dogged him throughout his college career. But [Mack] Brown is learning to gauge other factors than merely the scales when looking at the 5-foot-11, 255-pound Johnson and his productivity and value for the Longhorns.

“We’ve quit trying to get Cody to lose weight, we’re working with body fat and we think that’s the key to it,” Brown said. “He looks like he’s in good shape. He came back in good shape after the break. We feel like that he’s doing a really good job.”

But then on Wednesday Johnson tweaked his hamstring and threw the whole thing back in the air. The injury isn’t too serious but he will miss the next two weeks of practice including the spring scrimmage on April 5th. This will open things up for Vondrell McGee and Fozzy Whittaker to get more practice reps and impress the coaching staff, and also possibly may make it even less likely that incoming true freshman Chris Whaley will redshirt.

College coaches are not allowed by NCAA rules to talk about potential recruits or commits until National Signing Day. With signatures from all 20 commits this morning, Texas head coach Mack Brown finally has a chance to talk about each of the future Longhorns and breaks down each one on film. Mack sits down in front of reporters and talks to reporters for nearly 30 minutes and it is definitely worth your time to sit down and watch.

Watch Mack talking about the class and discussing each of the recruits below:

Many thanks to Statesman.com for again providing embeddable video of Mack’s press conferences.

Garrett Gilbert and Paden Kelley sign their Letters of Intent (Image: Statesman.com)

Wednesday is National Signing Day and we’ll have frequent updates throughout the day on the 40 Acres. This is the first day high school senior recruits can sign a binding letter of intent to play college football. The Longhorns have 20 commits in the 2009 class with 8 already on campus and 12 expected to send in their LOI tomorrow. We’ll have updates when those letters come in as well as the important news on the two remaining targets, linebacker Jarvis Jones and corner Dre Kirkpatrick.

Follow @40AcresSports on Twitter (after the jump) and keep track of other #signingday news as well.

(more …)

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 Calvin Howell and ends Alex Okafor and the uncommitted stud Devon Kennard likely spending a lot of time in the East backfield. I also want to see how running back Chris Whaley 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
Tariq Allen	43	Linebacker	Yes
Marcus Davis	28	Cornerback	Yes
Calvin Howell	99	Defensive Tackle	Yes
Devon Kennard	42	Defensive End	No
Dre Kirkpatrick	13	Cornerback	No
Alex Okafor	80	Defensive End	Yes
Garrett Porter	78	Offensive Tackle	Yes
Greg Timmons	81	Wide Receiver	Yes
Chris Whaley	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.

Texas 2009 commit Chris Whaley is one of the top recruits in the state and top running backs in the country. With 4.5 speed at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds (and still growing), Whaley possesses a rare combination of speed and power for a high school back. He’ll be a great complement to the speed backs (Vondrell McGee and Fozzy Whittaker) when he first gets on campus and could be Texas’ next big time running back.

Check out his highlights below:

Can’t wait till he gets onto the Forty Acres.

AC100 On Campus: Chris Whaley. Good Athlon Sports video piece on the future Texas running back.

It’s barely March but it looks like Mack Brown is close to wrapping up his 2009 recruiting class already. After starting out strong with Garrett Gilbert and six other commits at the team’s first junior day, the Horns have since added eight more of the state’s top football players to bring the total tally up to fifteen.

Two of the biggest commits were at linebacker, where Irving’s Tariq Allen and Grand Prairie’s Patrick Nkwopara made their pledge to play for defensive coordinator Will Muschamp’s defense. Both players were top targets of the Texas defensive coaching staff and appear to fit their mold perfectly for a linebacker, speed guys who aren’t afraid to knock your head off. If you’re a Rivals subscriber, watch Allen’s videos and you’ll be very excited about our future middle linebacker.

The team also got help in the defensive backfield by picking up commits from cornerbacks Eryon Barnett from Euless and Kenny Vaccaro out of Brownwood. Vaccaro is one of the state’s most heavily recruited DB’s and held offers from the likes of Florida, Oklahoma, and Stanford when chose the Longhorns. Barnett was a virtual unknown before committing to the Horns but Texas offered quickly and he certainly passes the eyeball test so he looks like a player who will shoot up the rankings once the scouting services get film of him.

Texas also did an excellent job filling needs from the top in-state options. Defensive end and tight end were both positions the Horns needed to fill holes at in this class. At defensive end the two big fish are still out there, Alex Okafor and five-star Devon Kennard, but the Horns added two very capable prospects in Dominique Jones and Kyle Kriegel. The tight end commits look like the two best in the state in Trey Graham and Barrett Matthews. I’m particularly excited about Matthews, whose versatility, athleticism, and toughness allow him to play an H-back role or maybe even end up on defense. It doesn’t hurt that he plays for Galena Park North Shore, a school that has now put out three top Division I tight ends in a row.

The fifteen current commits are listed below:

Name	Position	Rating*	LSR**	Hometown
Tariq Allen	LB		65	Irving
Thomas Ashcraft	OL		13	Cedar Hill
Eryon Barnett	DB		NR	Euless
Marcus Davis	DB		15	League City
Garrett Gilbert	QB		2	Austin
Trey Graham	TE		NR	Waco
Dominique Jones	DE		NR	Kilgore
Paden Kelley	OL		31	Austin
Kyle Kriegel	DE		64	Elysian Fields
Barrett Matthews	TE		59	Galena Park
Patrick Nkwopara	LB		NR	Grand Prairie
Garrett Porter	OL		30	Odessa
Greg Timmons	WR		10	Aldine
Kenny Vaccaro	DB		53	Brownwood
Chris Whaley	RB		8	Madisonville

*Note: Most of the star ratings are just estimates based on the video I’ve seen of the recruits and Orangebloods.com’s state rankings.

**Note: LSR is Geoff Ketchum’s Lone Star Recruiting Top 100. The numbers represent the player’s ranking as of 2/13/2008.

Texas’ first Junior Day of 2008 over the weekend resulted in seven young men giving Mack Brown their pledge to become Longhorns in 2009. It started a little early last week with quarterback Garrett Gilbert’s commitment and the last one came in yesterday as lineman Thomas Ashcraft called the staff to tell them he’d be a Longhorn.

The future of the offense looks bright as Horns picked up commitments from the top quarterback (Gilbert), top running back (Chris Whaley), and top wide receiver (Greg Timmons) in the state of Texas. Those guys will have Ashcraft and two other top offensive linemen blocking for them up front. Cornerback Marcus Davis is the defense’s lone commit so far, but the highly recruited player out of the Houston area is a heck of a start.

Here’s the list of 2009 commitments so far:

Name	Position	Rating*	LSR**	Hometown
Thomas Ashcraft	OL		13	Cedar Hill
Marcus Davis	DB		15	League City
Garrett Gilbert	QB		2	Austin
Paden Kelley	OL		31	Austin
Garrett Porter	OL		30	Odessa
Greg Timmons	WR		10	Aldine
Chris Whaley	RB		8	Madisonville

*Note: Several of the star ratings are just estimates based on the video I’ve seen of the recruits and Orangebloods.com’s state rankings.

**Note: LSR is Geoff Ketchum’s Lone Star Recruiting Top 100. The numbers represent the player’s ranking as of 2/13/2008.