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 UTEP.

Pregame – WTH Mongo?! – Steve McMichael was on the field to accept the honor of being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Steve, aka Bam Bam, was a tremendous defensive tackle for UT in the late 70’s. One of his funnier moments after his playing career was over came when he was ejected from a Cubs game in 2001 after he sang take me out to the ballgame and announced to the crowd that he was going to be waiting for umpire Angel Hernandez because of a disputed call against the Cubs.

1st Quarter (13:36) – WTH Sergio?! – Sergio Kindle’s penchant for violent QB sacks continued when he hit and separated the ball from UTEP Trevor Vittatoe. The play happened at almost the same place he crushed TT Tyler Potts last week.

1st Quarter (11:00) – WTH Monroe?! – D.J. Monroe has established himself has the only player in UT history to have 2 kickoff returns for a touchdown so early in the season. Speed does kill.

1st Quarter (8:43) – WTH Malcolm?! – Malcolm Williams hit on UTEP punter Greg Hiett made Coach Blood (aka Muschamp) giddy and wondering why you are not on the defensive side of the ball.

2nd Quarter (15:00 & 7:44) – WTH Davis?! – The Q package or Wild Horn that Coach Greg Davis puts in does not work with WR John Chiles when you exclusively run for 1 yard & -7 yards in the second quarter. Let Chiles pass the ball or run the option to get defenses guessing on what Wild thing we are going to pull.

4th Quarter – Not WTH but WHO the Heck are all of these players?! – Jeremy Hills and Jamison Berryhill contributed to the rushing totals as well as Trevor Walker took a few snaps as quarterback in the late stages for Texas. It was great to see so many players getting playing time from this very dominant performance by the Longhorns.

Final Score: Texas 64 UTEP 7

Next up is a Bye Week. Colorado is on the horizon at DKR Memorial on October 10th.

Follow along live with 40 Acres Sports on Twitter and below for our thoughts and analysis during today’s game versus on FSN. We’ll be live right around kickoff so join us to discuss the game right around 2:30pm this afternoon.

Feel free to leave comments and questions using the live tool, but not all comments will be published. Read below for more notes on comments and how the live blog will work. Hook ‘em!

(continue to read full live blog …)

Texas will enter the 2009 season with national yitle hopes after a stellar 2008 campaign. In fact, was pointing towards 2009 last offseason as the team he was looking forward to taking to his second title. Even with the anticipated success there are a few question marks on the field.

1. Will the offensive line play get better?

Texas struggled to run the ball late in games all of last year. Mack Brown wants that to change. So much so that all accounts point to the team spending most of the spring figuring out what needs to change. Outsiders point to scheme, but this is the same scheme that allowed , Selvin Young, and Jamaal Charles to rack up tons of yards in 2005. The difference is Kasey Studdard, Jonathan Scott, and Justin Blalock won’t be in the starting lineup. The big guys up front have been good, but not great, and with most of them now in their third and fourth year in the program there are no more excuses. Texas’ offensive lineman must play stronger at the point of attack for this offense to be as balanced as Brown wants it to be. The Longhorns may not have a true game breaker in the backfield, but they’re good enough to do damage if given the holes. If Texas can get a running game going the offense could be the best ever at Texas. Guys like , , and need to step up and be as dominant as most think they can be.

2. Who is going to step up at running back?

For most of the spring was running with the first team. Texas is looking to go under center more this year, and Johnson is clearly the best downhill runner on the roster, at least until reports. Unfortunately, Johnson got hurt and will miss the spring game on Sunday. The door could be no more wide open for the likes of , , , and . The staff knows what they have in McGee and Whittaker. McGee is explosive and a hard runner, but doesn’t offer the receiving and/or blocking skills position coach Major Applewhite stresses in his players. A lot of people feel like the staff wants Whittaker to be the guy because of his skill set, but the little guy just can’t stay healthy. There hasn’t been a huge buzz around Hills or Newton but an eye opening spring game could set them up for playing time in the fall. The fact is somebody needs to step up because the running game is the only thing holding this offense back.

3. Who will get to the quarterback?

We all know will be on one side, but who will be the other defensive end? Texas feels like Kindle will replace the production provided by soon to be multi-millionaire , but who will replace Kindle’s? Right now it looks like will get the start with and maybe even freshman getting looks on pure rushing situations. Defensive coordinator has Acho’s brother Emmanuel working at the buck end position along with starting inside linebacker . More than likely it won’t matter who is on the field, Muschamp won’t allow the defense not to get pressure. How much will Texas show in the spring game is a question that can’t be answered, but with a secondary that returns all but one contributor it is likely that Muschamp will unleash the hounds this year. The question is will he apply pressure because of his personnel like last year, or will he have to do it with scheme.

4. Who’ll play in the nickel formation?

For all intents and purposes the Longhorn defense is a 4-2-5. Texas says their base is a three linebacker set, but with the offenses they face in the Big 12 more times than not five defensive backs on the field. Going into the spring there were grumblings about the perceived battle between returning starter and the message board deity and who will get the snaps, but it looks like Muschamp has found an answer, and that answer is both. The speed and versatility of has allowed Muschamp to play him in the slot while keeping the brains of Gideon on the field while not sacrificing the athletic gifts of Scott. The cornerback situation appears to have already settled despite what anybody says. Right now and are locked in as the starters with and backing up. In the past it has been hard for underclassman to jump over guys with more experience but it looks like the talent of Williams is too much to overlook. The true sophomore to be has a chance to be one of the best defensive backs to come through the 40 acres if what the staff thinks about him is true. The whole formation depends on how Thomas does in the slot. If he can stay there, Texas can have three safeties on the field.

5. Who will step up and lead?

We know who the likely candidates are on offense. , , and would figure to take charge on that side of the ball. All three levels of the defense will lose the guy most pegged as their emotional leader. The defensive line lost and Brian Orakpo, the linebackers lost Rashad Bobino, and the defensive backs lost Ryan Palmer. If last year’s team taught us anything it is that leadership or the lack there of can never be overlooked. If you need any other evidence take a look at the Cowboys. From a talent perspective Kindle and would lead the charge, but both of those guys are quiet and low key by nature. has been said to be taking charge in the front seven and Thomas has it locked in the secondary. The team keeping the momentum and mentality of last year will ultimately decide if all the goals are met this season.

Follow along below with our live thoughts and analysis during today’s Texas Longhorns game versus on FSN. Participate in the discussion by following 40acressports on Twitter or by refreshing and commenting on this post.

Texas vs. Kansas tweets

• RT @suzhalliburton: Just saw Blake Gideon. Am told he’s fine. I was standing with Quan Cosby and Gideon waved at the WR. #UT postgame
• A couple of good Jeremy Hills runs and then a kneel down ends the game. Final score: #UT 35, KU 7 late fourth quarter
• And the defense holds despite the extra and goal snaps for KU. Sack and fumble recovery by #UT on 4th and goal from the one. Big stop. during fourth quarter
• Has Chykie Brown been playing today? If he’s not healthy why is he playing now? Did I just miss him earlier? during fourth quarter
• Roughing passer by R Palmer is huge penalty. Gives KU 1st down instead of 4th and long. Now #UT defense needs 4 more stops. during fourth quarter
• Backups are in for #UT defense in front 7. We need stops and to hold them at 7, every point matters this time of year. Right @kbohls ? during fourth quarter
• Texas safeties are really hitting today. Gideon, Scott, and Thomas have all gotten in a good lick or 2 for #UT defense. during fourth quarter
• Great run by Fozzy. We’re definitely trying to milk the clock here. Love to see long drive and get some points, then get Colt out of there. during fourth quarter
• Collins makes up for his false start by getting wide open on post route. Looked just like play last week against BU. 36 yd TD. #UT 35, KU 7 during third quarter
• Christian Scott sure likes to fly around at safety. Big hit, strip the RB, then recovers the fumble for #UT. Texas needs to put this away. during third quarter
• Not sure where the safety was but Cosby makes the catch on the slant on 3rd down for the TD. Good protection & good throw. #UT 28, KU 7 during third quarter
• Three straight Kirkendoll catches. That was a LOOOONG WR screen/hitch. Don’t like the play call but Kirk fought and got the 1st down. during third quarter
• Very nice catch on a quick slant by James Kirkendoll gets #UT another first down. during third quarter
• First long McCoy run in several weeks. Middle of the field opened up wide for him and he took off for 25 yards out to midfield. during third quarter
• Christian Scott catches like the guy he replaced (Gideon). Scott can’t hang on to the floater. #UT during third quarter
• Why do our DBs interfere after they’ve got great coverage? Beasley was there but got a little handsy once the ball was in the air. #UT during third quarter
• Blake Gideon is down with head/neck injury. Took a big hit from KU RB. during third quarter
• Wild 4th and long catch by KU extends drive and KU punches it in. Huge play keeps Kansas in the game. #UT 21, KU 7 during third quarter
• Blitzes by #UT defense have been successful today but KU has given QB decent time if we only bring 4. during third quarter
• Why can’t we run block like that outside the red zone? Another easy TD run, this time by Chris O. #UT 21, KU 0 during third quarter
• KU moved first and then Dockery. Bad false start call by refs but it was a close one. Sets up tough 3rd and 15. during third quarter
• #UT fakes the FG on 4th down and Shipley flies over top of everyone for 1st. Aggressive 3rd and 4th down play calls. during third quarter
• #UT will start 2nd half with good field position as kickoff goes out of bounds. start of third quarter
• RT @bevobeat: Halftime stats: Run yds: TX 38, KU 3 … Pass yds: TX 122, KU 99 … First downs: TX 12, KU 4 … McCoy 14 of 19 passing. during halftime
• Click to view first half…

Colt running for a first down

Man the Texas Longhorns sure seem to like the score 52-10, now beating 3 of the 4 teams they have played this season by that same exact margin. Let’s just hope we don’t see the other side of that score this year.

Again the Longhorns looked impressive against dominating the Razorbacks in every aspect of the game. Going into the game I was actually a little worried, but after seeing Casey Dick throw up floating lobs into the secondary, my fears were quickly dissipated.

My favorite stat of the game? Texas rushed for 208 yards on the ground while Arkansas managed only 11 yards. Talk about a butt-kicking.

Let’s see how each position fared in the game:

Quarterback – Overall Grade: A+

Another almost near perfect performance for as he continues prove he can hurt you through the air as well as on the ground. Colt finished with only two incomplete passes going 17 of 19 for 185 yards and 3 touchdowns. Colt also added 84 yards on only 9 carriers and 2 touchdowns. I don’t really like to think about the Heisman so early in the season, but he is definitely making a case to at least be mentioned in the talks.

got plenty of action Saturday since the game was basically over in the first quarter. By now we all know that he can run, but I would like to start seeing him try to become more of a pass first style quarterback. Why not try to develop his passing skills during the game when we are up by 40?

Running Backs – Overall Grade: B

I wasn’t really all that impressed with that impressed with the Texas running game. got the majority of the carries with obviously still trying out the position, but he only managed to average 3.0 yards per carry with a long run of 9 yards. That kind of production against a weak team like Arkansas just doesn’t cut it. Luckily had a pretty decent game averaging 4.8 yards per carry and ended up with 1 touchdown. Right now it looks like Cody Johnson is the best back we have, and as long as he can keep is conditioning up we should be ok.

The one major blemish on the day for the running backs was when showed absolutely no hustle late in the game on a John Chiles fumble, which ended up getting returned by Arkansas for their only touchdown of the game. You can’t totally blame that on Hills, but if you are seeing limited action you need to hustle on every play. I’m pretty sure had a few words for Hills on that one.

Wide Receivers – Overall Grade: B+

It’s really hard to give grades when you beat a team as easily as Texas did on Saturday. The receivers played pretty good all around, but everything seemed so easy it’s hard to say they were “great.” looks like he is the new safety net for Colt now that we know is done for the season. They said it a few times on the telecast, but it really does look like Colt and Shipley are just out there relaxing and playing a game of catch in the backyard. Shipley ended up with 2 touchdowns and added one more. The one nice thing about a blowout win is we get to see some young players get some action. Sophmores and both look to be solid receivers.

Defense – Overall Grade: A

I believe this is the defense’s first A of the season and it is well deserved. The front seven had constant pressure on , and knocked him around so much that I actually almost started to feel bad for him. And for the first time this season I actually started to notice some of the secondary in a positive way. actually made some plays, and ‘s name was called for some other than getting beat. It looks like might actually be getting through to these guys.

returned an interception 81 yards for a touchdown in the 4th quarter on an absolutely horrible pass by the Arkansas backup quarterback. The front seven added 7 sacks with leading the way with 2 for 17 yards in losses. Hopefully we can keep this up.

Overall Grade: A

That was about as dominating a performance as you can have. has to be a little embarrssed with the way he made his debut in this storied rivalry. Texas now gets to start Big 12 play against a team who is looking for revenge after their 70-3 loss in the 2005 Big 12 Championship game.

Update: Download named rosters for NCAA Football 10. (7/23/2009)

NCAA Football 09 is less than a month away, the demo is up on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network, and player ratings are starting to make their way on to the Internet. EA Sports released the team top 25 and player ratings for all those teams.

I went through the list and put the players’ real names in where possible. I had trouble with a lot of the true freshmen in the game so if you know who any of the blank names are or if I made any mistakes please let me know in the comments. It really looks like EA did a poor job this year on the roster and depth chart. Hopefully it’s a little more accurate when the game is released.

You can download Excel files of the player ratings at the bottom of this post or check out the overall ratings for the Texas team below:

Downloads

• Texas player ratings
• Full top 25 player ratings

The last scrimmage/practice of the spring is about to get underway on Fox Sports Southwest. The Orange-White Game is most fans’ first look at a lot of players and it’s always interesting to see who is playing where. We won’t see much (if any) new scheme or plays, but it’s football and gosh darnit I like it. The most important thing in this type of event is always that nobody gets seriously injured.

I’ll be posting my live thoughts and opinions below.

First Quarter

Nice to see we tackled more this spring, much more so that we did more full contact drills than in a scrimmage like this.

Here’s the spring roster off the official site. Definitely going to be needed today.

gets the start today at left tackle with out.

I thought had dropped that pass but on the replay cornerback made a nice diving play to break it up. Collins probably needs to use his body better though to prevent the defender from being able to do that so easily.

I don’t know about that interference penalty on Beasley. threw a nice pass but put it over ‘s wrong shoulder. He had the position and Colt should have been able to put it in a more catchable position.

Not a good job on the reverse by . As the backside defensive end his responsibilities are RCC (reverse, counter, or cutback) and while he held his spot for a moment he started to pursue too quickly. Not a good job by the corner/safety over there either, the moment they saw Shipley going back the other way they should have been screaming at the top of their lungs.

is in street clothes on the sideline, I didn’t realize he was hurt. I assume that’s why true freshman got the start at safety for Team Tradition. Okay that’s the last time I’ll mention these lame team names.

and screwed up the hand-off on their first play of the day. Zone read and Chiles tried to change his mind and keep it but they put in on the turf.

On his first pass attempt Chiles makes a decent throw to Collins but he looked like he was tripled covered. The pocket was still holding so I think John could have waited another tick, bought himself some time, and looked for a more open receiver.

Nice run by ended with him delivering a blow to . Good play though by Thomas to hold on despite the big hit and make the tackle.

I hope we’re not planning on playing freshman kicker . We’ve already got and and I want one of them to win the kicking job this year so we can afford to redshirt Tucker.

sure looks like a football player. Big old sucker. Nice play by him bringing down Whitaker.

(more …)

The big one got away today (under suspicious circumstances) but the 2008 Texas recruiting class is still a good one. Mack Brown and the Horns signed 20 young athletes to letters of intent, nine of which are already on campus for the spring semester.

The class is headlined by defensive backs Aaron Williams and DJ Monroe, who along with safety Nolan Brewster, should anchor the Texas defensive backfield for the next four or five years. On the offensive side WR/RB DeSean Hales is electric with the football in his hands and wide receiver Dan Buckner is huge and will catch anything thrown in his general direction.

Here’s the full list of signees:

Name	Position	Rating	Hometown
	LB		Dallas
	DB		Denver, CO
	OL		Austin
	WR		Allen
	RB		Giddings
	DB		Leander
	WR		Austin
	RB		Klein
	ATH		Mansfield
	RB		Alief
	DT		Cedar Hill
	LB		Nederland
	DB		Angleton
	RB		Southlake
	OL		Brenham
	DT		Beaumont
	RB		Brenham
	OL		Gilmer
	K		Austin
	DB		Round Rock

Congratulations to the newest Texas Longhorns!

Little brother of and future Longhorn running back is a four star recruit and is somehow still flying under the radar of most Longhorn fans. He’s got the pedigree and, from the video I’ve seen, the talent to be a big time running back for the Horns. Check out the video below:

Don’t forget that these highlights are only from one game and aren’t a normal highlight reel. The run he had with about 1:30 left in the video where he jumps over a guy then cuts on a dime is pretty sick. Jeremy rushed for 170 yards and two touchdowns in the 35-21 loss to Houston Westside.

Just like last year the 2008 recruiting season is just a few weeks old and the Longhorns have already bagged nine of the top recruits in the state.

The headliners of the group are possible 5-star wide receiver Dan Buckner out of Allen and offensive lineman David Snow from Gilmer. Buckner is big (6-foot-5) and fast (4.5 forty), he could be the next number 4 out at wide receiver for the Horns. Some have Buckner rated as the top receiver in the country.

I’m also excited about Justin Tucker, a kicker out of Austin Westlake. Tucker is the nation’s top rated kicker and the Horns didn’t let this one get out of their own backyard (see Mason Crosby). Tucker will be a redshirt freshman when Hunter Lawrence is a senior, meaning we’re actually stacking the roster and won’t have to rely on a true freshman walk-on kicker for once.

2008 Commits

• LB – Dallas
• OL – Austin
• WR – Allen
• ATH – Giddings
• RB – Alief
• DB – Angleton
• RB – Brenham
• OL – Gilmer
• K – Austin
• DB – Round Rock

Update: Added Emmanuel Acho to the list as his commitment became official this morning. The 6-foot-2 linebacker out of Dallas St. Mark’s is of course 2007 signee Sam Acho‘s little brother. Check out some great video highlights of Emmanuel.