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WTH Moments – Red River Rivalry

Ross — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:40:50 +0000

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!!

WTH Moments: Lost my 12 Pac

Ross — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 12:45:48 +0000

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.

Northwest Pod

Oregon state
Oregon
Washington
Washington State

West Pod

Stanford
California
UCLA
USC

Mountain Pod

Arizona
Arizona State
Colorado
Utah

East Pod

Texas
Texas Tech
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State

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.”

Texas and OU headed west to form Pac 16?

Brian — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 00:37:30 +0000

Video from ESPN on the latest in conference realignment caused by the Aggies running away from Texas to the SEC:

How to Clean up College Football

Ross — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 23:34:39 +0000

As we are on the verge of another college football season, the biggest debate is not over who is ranked number one in the preseason polls (looks like OU in 2011), but whose team is going to be on probation. The entire season will be littered with teams that are on probation, dealing with secondary violations or owners of the dreaded lack of institutional control. I believe that we are nowhere close to the brash and blatant cheating of the 80′s, but this season will be scrutinized by fan bases identifying this team as the dirtiest program in college football.

So how do you propose to change it? I do not have all the answers but I will throw up a few for debate.

Do Not Pay Players

I cannot stress this one enough. Most fans want to see college football players get paid because of all the millions of dollars that colleges rake in. People forget that football pays the bills for many college sports including all the Title IX sports. For every great college football player that is glamorized on TV or on a video game there are a host of other no name college athletes that are still getting scholarship money paid for by the school. Not to mention the facilities that the athletes use, the travel that they get to experience and the notoriety that they can obtain all on the schools tab. No regular college kid would ever be able to have that kind of head start after they graduate. Jay Bilas wants kids to have the ability to make money off their name while in school by autograph signings. Do you think anyone wants to buy the Northwestern’s wide receiver autograph or for that matter want the polo teams John Hancock? There is no solution that be can be equally administered or financially viable for all of these universities.

Shine the Light

Have you ever read a college scholarship offer that is signed by these young athletes? I have never seen the verbiage or the rules that it states. How about language in a scholarship that states that if you take improper benefits you will be permanently kicked off the team? Compliance offices are set up to help guide the student athlete on how to handle overzealous fans. How about every season ticket holder going through a course on what is acceptable behavior around student athletes? Let’s shed a light on these contracts that these kids are signing and educate fans on what their jock sniffing efforts will do to their program.

Coaches’ Amnesia

This is the biggest crock of all. Head college football coaches hide behind the fact that they cannot watch their players 24/7. Coaches have immense resources from academic counselors to compliance personnel, other coaches, and their true football leaders in the locker room. The current thought is if it is not reported than it cannot be wrong. Reporting violations while tedious is still the best way to clean up the bad apples before it affects everyone else. If you are worried about Johnny Five Star going out late and damaging the reputation of your program, do not recruit the kid. Former Coach Mike Leach said that coaches are their own worst enemy because they think that they can rehabilitate these kids when they bring them into their environment. Probably the real problem is that head coaches are numb from all the stupid rules that exist. Until the universities that run the league take a hard look at overhauling the NCAA, it needs to follow the rules that are set forth for everyone. It’s time for head coaches and the AD’s to be accountable for the millions of dollars that they earn every year to police their teams and keep the little issues from festering into a lack of institutional control.

Harsher Penalties

I love the fact that Coach Nick Saban calls runners and agents that hang around college football as pimps. (Don’t college coaches do the same thing?) Ask college basketball coaches what they think about AAU programs and you might find a more colorful word for those people. States need to get involved and legislate harsher penalties so that recruiting services, boosters and agents will be met with loss of certification, jail time and financial penalties. Most state governments around the country made money off the tobacco industry. They sure could use another revenue producing vehicle and college football is full of money. Also, please inform the NCAA that taking wins away does not hurt a school at all. The NCAA needs to affect the schools pocket books with the elimination of college bowl games and television appearances.

College football fans will never tone down their fervor for recruiting, daily updates and the need to go to every practice to rub elbows with the players and coaching staff. Since the passion of college football will never be squelched. Universities, state attorneys, and even the television networks are going to have to shine a light on college football to show everyone what is going on. We thirst for more information on twitter, blogs, and the internet. Add compliance notices and simple NCAA rules for the fans to add to their daily intake.

WTH Moments – Texas vs. Oklahoma

Ross — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 02:05:35 +0000

Ugh.

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.

WTH?! articles are supposed to be funny or poignant moments in the game. These days almost every mention is for the lack of focus this Longhorn team has shown. The Horns are out of the Top 25 for the first time in over 10 years. As the season progresses please refer back to my “prediction article” to feel a little bit better.

Start of Game (15:00) WTH Sooner Nation?! While signing the national anthem, before the stirring last stanza of this patriotic song, you replace it with “Home of the Sooners.” Isn’t Sooner a description of a cheater than crosses ahead of everyone else to squat on some land? Hey OU fans, I do not think our national anthem needs to be changed.

1st Quarter (14:24) WTH Keenan?! I know that you need to come jacked up to play this game but come on Keenan Robinson you do not need to hit an OU lineman in the back. Stupid is as Stupid does.

1st Quarter (12:23) WTH Oucho?! Sam Acho ridiculous hold/tackle of Demarco Murray was a brain dead move that helped OU continue their drive for an opening touchdown. Stupid is as Stupid does.

1st Quarter (3:46) WTH Monroe?! What an electrifying play by DJ Monroe who covered 60 yards for the first touchdown for the Horns. That run was probably faster than anyone since Doak Walker. Sad part was that DJ had only 3 more touches to finish with 68 yards (UT’s leading rusher?!).

2nd Quarter (7:19) WTH Coaches?! The coaching staff gets into the mental midget category with a substitution penalty on an OU extra point. It did not hurt the Horns, but it just shows how little discipline this team has.

3rd Quarter (8:10) WTH Jones 1?! The first real momentum turner was when Eddie Jones recovers a Landry Jones fumble only to have it called back because Eddie lined up offside. Stupid is as Stupid does.

4th Quarter (13:45) WTH Jeffcoat?! Another great defensive stand is wasted when Jackson Jeffcoat decides to retaliate with a cheap shot on an OU player to extend a drive that is capped by a brilliant tight rope walk down the sidelines by Demarco Murray. Stupid is as….you get the idea.

v4th Quarter (1:35) WTH Jones 2?! Landry Jones almost gives the Longhorns the game with his butter finger routine with a fumble that lands out of bounds on the 6 yard line. Unfortunately, the final blow was Aaron Williams dropping the OU punt that sealed the game for the Sooners.

Next up for the Longhorn’s are the Huskers in Lincoln at 2:30 pm on October 16th.

Football Nerdity: Air Raid

Jack — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:09:31 +0000

With the departure of Mike Leach from Texas Tech and the addition of Neal Brown to run Tuberville’s offense, things have changed on offense out in Lubbock. Some folks think a spread is a spread is a spread, but the differences between the Prairie Pirate’s Air Raid and Brown’s NASCAR is striking. The best example I can think of is driving a car versus racing in one. (Side note: Neal Brown is 30 and his predecessor at Tech was 27, ECU’s Lincoln Riley. Thought that was interesting.)

First off, they have a common ancestor but are run completely differently. I think 10 years after OU won the national title using a hybrid version left behind by Mike Leach and refined by Fat Mark, the original idea has evolved so much that it’s now a package for some teams. The irony is the best example of the Raid in 2010 being a play package probably is OU. They’ve changed things up quite a bit over the years to cater to talents like Adrian Peterson but can still effectively no huddle an opponent in a snap if they decide to. If you really want to get into it – look at Case Keenum and Kevin Sumlin’s offense at Houston. They’ve taken the best parts of the OU hybrid (with an Jenkins-era run n’ shoot receiver at OC), mixed in motion from a bunch of 4.3 40 wideouts jet sweeping and sluggoing you to death, and snap the ball every play when the whistle blows.

Mike Leach’s ideal vision was calling six plays repeatedly out of forty different formations and dreaming of going a full season without running the ball. Huge line splits and calling “mesh” six straight times allowed Tech to go downfield 62 yards in 1:28 to knock off #1 UT a couple of seasons ago. Leach’s style and attitude toward his offense fits his personality. He’d see if a play worked, regardless of coverage, and put a check next to it. Then he would try another one, and check or cross it off. Then he’d set off with his improved game plan and try to extend the offense’s number of snaps over a game. They did run a little more hurry up if the clock didn’t stop but it wasn’t a true hurry up no huddle spread. He wasn’t going to adjust to beat you – he was more into finding something that worked and then dare a defense to try and shut it down.

Brown’s version is going to look much more like the Houston version than the one seen the past few years in Lubbock. Every skill position player has a wristband and every play is called from the sideline. They try and snap the ball within five seconds of the whistle. They’ll run less sets with more plays and try to catch you out of position. Leach likes shallow crossing routes and spacing the field – Brown likes to burn out corners and runs his guys all over the place. They’ll run the ball, too – I don’t think Tech has the personnel yet to do it effectively, but can you imagine a no huddle run-first offense? If it’s clicking and the OL is dominating the front seven on D, damn right Brown will do it. Troy ran the ball 49 times against MTSU and 45 against UNT, both wins with over 250 yards of rushing offense.

This was a quote from Chris at Smart Football when I asked him to characterize the two: “The Troy offense is a nice contrast: instead of trying to get in the right play, with the right route, and the right concept on each down and constantly getting completions, the theory is more like what Gus Malzahn does at Auburn: come at the opponent fast and furious, use your plays (which are good plays), and force them into mistakes. Leach’s is more probing: find your weaknesses, get in a good play, and keep making you pay.”

Live coverage of Jeffcoat and Hicks announcements

Brian — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:47:26 +0000

Follow along live with 40 Acres Sports on Twitter and below for beat by beat coverage of the two big recruits making their commitments today. We’ll have breaking news and our thoughts during today’s and press conferences. Things start early with Jeffcoat’s announcement from Plano West High School at 10am. We’ll be live here and on Twitter so join us to discuss the next Longhorn greats.

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!

From Jeffcoat’s announcement…