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.

Halftime WTH Aggies?! Every year we lose the halftime show to the Aggies, but the Longhorn band won this one.

3rd Quarter (11:06) WTH UT Defense?! Another awesome display by the defense in the second half which got kick started by Carrington Byndom 58 yard interception return for a touchdown. The secondary was stellar throughout the night which gave the defensive front time to unload on the QB.

3rd Quarter (6:53) WTH Cowboy?! Speaking of the secondary, what a great interception by Kenny Vaccaro along the sideline. Special shout out to Kenny for wearing Fozzy’s jersey #2 in honor of him.

3rd Quarter (:31.2) WTH Mason?! I love the fire that was shown by Mason Walters along the offensive line. But I thought Mason was going to body slam Case McCoy when the team was charged with a delay of game. Just to correct everyone, Mason Walters was not offside as ESPN said early in the 4th quarter.

4th Quarter (1:15) WTH Refs 2?! I will call out the refs no matter who it benefits. The helmet to helmet hit by Aggie Trent Hunter was bogus. Let’s play two hand touch next time refs.

4th Quarter (:33.6) WTH Horseshoe?! Case McCoy showed the same moxie that is brother had against the Aggies by running 25 yards to set up the winning field goal. That horseshoe sure came in handy.

Final Play (:02) WTH Aggies?! Justin Tucker put a cold blooded kick down the middle to the disgust of most of the 88,645 in attendance which was the second largest crowd at Kyle Field. Second largest? Come on Aggies where’s the love? Wonder if Coach Sherman ever looked up at the kick? Goodbye to A&M.

Next up for the Longhorns are the Baylor Bears at 2:30PM on December 3rd to end the regular season.

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!!

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!!

I’m not quite as sure why the SEC wants A&M, because other than getting its toes into the state of Texas – assuming College Station counts – this is like a high-end mall expanding to add a Walgreens.

From Jeff Schultz at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Andy Katz thinks pretty much every other recent conference move made sense, except of course the Aggies moving to the SEC. Some quotes from Katz:

This move specifically is done because Texas A&M didn’t like the way Texas was getting favored status from the Big 12.

And…

They didn’t like being treated as the second child.

The best one comes from the other host though…

A&M has been in the shadow of Texas for quite some while now.

Too bad for the Aggies. Instead of being little brother to Texas and Oklahoma whipping boy, they’ll now be fighting Mississipi State for fifth place in the SEC West. Aggie fans somehow think they’ll be better in SEC. They couldn’t consistently beat Texas Tech and Baylor but think they can hang with Bama and LSU.

Some brief highlights and thoughts on the game from ESPN are below…

Next up for the Horns are back-to-back road games against top 15 opponents. They’ll face #12 Monday night on ESPN and then travel to play #15 on Saturday on CBS.

True freshman receiver Marquise Goodwin's kick return TD in the 4th quarter ended it. (Image: Statesman)

1st Quarter (13:44) WTH Goonies?! The UT defense (aka “Goonies” or “Legion of Boom”) gave up a 70 yard touchdown pass to A&M Jeff Fuller which got the Aggies student body kissing crazy. The defense could not come up with any significant stops most of the night (A&M had 532 total yards). Some say that the short week caused the defense to be tired. Whatever the reason for the worst defensive outing of the year Coach Blood needs to get it corrected.

1st Quarter (10:12) WTH 4th Down?! decided that he was practically going to go for it on every 4th down play (1 for 3 for the night). I do not mind the aggressive play calling but the razzle-dazzle option play to punter that traveled 15 yards to come up two yards short was ridiculous.

2nd Quarter (14:10 & 1:11) WTH 65 yards?! That is exactly the yardage that ran up the middle to gouge the A&M defense for the go ahead score to start the second quarter. The run was so spectacular that it will definitely be replayed in New York during the Heisman presentation. That also happens to be the exact amount of yardage that Colt led the offense just before the half to take back the lead 21-14. He completed 4 out of 5 passes and ran twice during this series to grab back any momentum away for the Aggies. Two signature moments that every Longhorn fan needs to remember about Colt because I know the Aggies will never forget it.

2nd Quarter (6:27) WTH Frederick?! I have heard of being juked out of your shoes, but I never thought I would see it. A&M Terrence Frederick was trying to cover UT when Terrence came out of both of his shoes. He did make the tackle in his stocking feet after the 12 yard completion.

Halftime WTH Aggie Band?! Well we lost another halftime to the Aggies. Will we ever win one?!

4th Quarter (6:57) WTH Goodwin?! The great equalizer after your rival just scored a touchdown to bring them within 3 points in the 4th quarter. returned the kickoff 95 yards for the final margin that sealed the win for the Horns. Speed kills and Marquise had the ultimate answer.

Next up for the Longhorn’s is the Big XII Championship against the Huskers at 7pm on Dec. 5th.

Brian - Why are so many people predicting this game is going to be remotely close? This is a Texas A&M team that got blown out of the water by and embarrassed by a shell of an team. They gave up 30 and barely beat Utah State. The Aggie offense has had it’s moments this season and quarterback Jarrod Johnson can chuck it a little (though he often has no control of where it’s headed), but the vaunted Wrecking Crew defense is one of the nation’s best. Tonight in front of a national Turkey Day audience the Horns are going to roll up big points and is going to put up more big numbers for his Heisman campaign. Texas wins big. Texas 45, Texas A&M 17

Ross - Why I am nervous about the A&M game? Let’s take a look at the last few regular season games for this Longhorn team. Here are the winning margins of the last five games: 31 points, 33 pts, 32 pts, 27 pts, and last week was 34 points. Why should I be worried, the Longhorns have been putting teams away since the Sooners. OK, let’s look at the last five A&M contests.

2004 26-13 Win / 2005 40-29 Win / 2006 7-12 Loss / 2007 30-38 Loss / 2008 49 – 9 Win

The record is 3-2 that past five years and Colt McCoy has a losing record against the Aggies. The 2005 undefeated team went in to College Station (same momentum) and won a much closer game than the score indicated. I would like to think that we would win by the same 30 point average that we have racked up the last few weeks, but this is a rivalry game so I expect this to be a nail biter. Texas 28, Texas A&M 17

More Predictions

• Inside Texas
• Orangebloods
• Statesman Prediction Contest

While in recent history of this rivalry has leaned the longhorns way, there have been those games where Texas comes in needing a win to achieve their goals. And the unthinkable happens a dreaded loss. has led the longhorns down the undefeated path this year, and with the win last week, he is now the winningest quarterback in college football history. So what better feather to put in McCoy’s cap, than to beat A&M, win the Big XII, and win a National Championship? Once we get our fill of turkey, let’s hold our horns up high and root loud and proud. This years game looks to be a good one, but I expect the Longhorns to walk away late and win big.

Or if you want to choose your own seats check out what’s available on StubHub.

Based on the early results I saw when I responded, it seems that an overwhelming majority of UT fans want A&M to win. There were various reasons stated for voting this way. Some said because A&M already is down and we need OU to be down as well. Some expressed their hate of OU is stronger than their hate of A&M. Some dismissed A&M as any competition to Texas and thus it didn’t matter if they won or lost, but it was important for OU to lose because they are Texas’ bigger rival.

To all of this I say balderdash, garbage, nonsense, poppycock, baloney and malarkey!

Maybe it is a Dallas vs. Houston situation, but living in Houston I don’t know any OU fans. When OU beats Texas I don’t wait for the idiot fans to post the score in their cubicle or send out their Christmas card with a picture of the scoreboard. It doesn’t happen in my world. BUT, when A&M wins the Aggie roaches come out of the woodwork.

I can hear it now, “but A&M sucks, they aren’t our biggest rival”. Wrong!

We have two equally big rivals in my opinion. But Texas has a bigger advantage when A&M is down than when OU is down. Let me explain.

In the last 30 years, OU has had 24 winning seasons while A&M has had 23 winning seasons. UT’s record against OU is 15-15, against A&M it is 14-16. Since Mack Brown arrived UT is 5-6 with OU and 8-3 with A&M. You can see that OU is at least UT’s equal on the field and it hasn’t prevented Texas from having an unprecedented amount of success in recent years. Texas loses recruits to OU every year, but still gets the lion’s share of recruiting riches. This would be different if A&M wasn’t currently so bad. UT doesn’t go head to head with A&M in many recruiting battles because A&M isn’t in the mindset of most top flight Texas blue chips. If A&M hired a top flight coach, or decided to return to their rogue program past, times could get tougher.

Tech is Tech, hell, it is in LUBBOCK! They are never going to be a consistent threat to UT recruiting dominance. Baylor, yeah right, , nope, , no way, but A&M could be a pain in UT’s backside. I remember the Sherrill and early Slocum years of recruiting dominance in this state. Whether by cheating or not, it happened. It killed Texas football for a decade. The talent differential was amazing when the teams lined up the week of Thanksgiving. Those days can’t be allowed to return!

A&M needs to stay terrible!! It is close enough to Houston and East Texas and the talent pool that exists there to make some large waves if they turn their ship around. Talent wins out over everything else most of the time. We have the talent. We have to make sure that we continue to get that talent. This involves keeping A&M down and not an option for top recruits.

You should root for another 77-0 on Saturday.

And if you need another reason to want A&M to lose, just think about all the Aggie a-holes you know and how much pain they will be in when they finish 6-6 and play in the Texas Bowl.

Have you ever wondered how Texas A&M yell leaders prepare for football games? Well obviously they sing and dance on their way to the stadium. And from what I gather from this video, this is a pretty regular occurrence. Too bad this didn’t help them against Kansas St, since they lost 62-14. The sideways video angles are a nice touch also.

WTH Buffs?! – Coach Dan Hawkins proclaimed double digit wins for his team which is now mathematically impossible unless they go to a bowl game (yeah sure!). With losses to Toledo and Colorado State the Buffs are 1-3 as they come into Austin this coming Saturday. Hey RB Darrell Scott (91 total yards through 4 games) still happy about choosing to attend Colorado.

WTH Sooners?! – You get a slight pass due to the injuries that you have sustained, but come on now. You were supposed to be undefeated (2-2 record) instead you lose to Miami and BYU heading into conference play. They say a wounded animal is dangerous. I hope the rest of the BIG XII sees this as an opportunity to shoot you instead of run away from you.

WTH Aggies?! – I know that the Razorbacks are from the SEC, but you do not need to be scared of them. QB Jerrod Johnson looks more like Reggie McNeal than the second coming of Vince Young. I wondered watching Coach Mike Sherman with his huge plastic menu/play sheet which section told him to teach blocking for his QB.

WTH Raiders?! – Be on the lookout for more insanity coming from the mad scientist/pirate that is Coach Mike Leach. He banned twitter from his players after it was posted that he was less than punctual to one of his team meetings. He now has the opportunity to have a junior QB carousel in which to play with after Taylor Potts went out with a concussion and in stepped Steven Sheffield to lead Texas Tech to a 3rd win of the season (3-2).

WTH BIG XII?! – The conference stands with a 34-12 non-conference mark which is hardly something to write home about after our chief rival, the SEC, ended up with a 24-3 non-conference mark and the SEC held a 6-3 advantage over BCS conference foes. Throw in that the Big XII finished with a 4-7 record against BCS teams that included a 0-3 finish this past Saturday. (UT did not schedule one BCS non-conference game this year which is a concern). The beginning of the season the BIG XII had 3 in the Top 10 in the Associated Press poll which as of Oct. 4th we only have one – the Longhorns.

WTH SHOUT OUT?! – To the University of Texas No. 2 ranked women’s volleyball team lead by Coach Jerritt Elliott and senior Destinee Hooker who are now 11-0 overall and have a 6-0 conference record. The biggest props go to the team for beating Nebraska Cornhuskers on their home court last Saturday the 26th which snapped their 82 match home winning streak. Next up for the Longhorn women is a showdown with OU this Saturday October 10th at 12pm at Gregory Gym. See the women play in the afternoon and finish the day up with the men later that evening. Go Horns!

Next up for the Longhorn football team is Colorado at 6:15pm at DKR on October 10th.

This week Texas A&M was picked a very distant last place in the Big 12 South by the media. Yes, behind Baylor. Nearly 40 points behind Baylor. Sad.

Of course, this is the same genius who just two seasons ago tried to claim the Aggies had passed the Horns in football. So yeah, take anything Justice writes with a grain of salt and just enjoy some choice quotes…

Sometimes you’ve got to be slapped up in the head region four or five times before you get the message. Eventually the message gets through, but the process can be painful. I’m writing today in the hope of shortening the process for the good people at Texas A&M. I’m writing because I care.

One of my favorite things about Aggies is that they pretend they were once a respected football “power”…

The Aggies are resigned to finishing last in the Big 12 South, and that’s why I’m writing my annual plea for the Aggies to finally look in the mirror and see their football program for what it is instead of what they’d like it to be. I know, I know. The Aggies did such and such in 1912 and then they were really good in 1934 and wow you should have seen us in 1832.

They’ve got the facilities but not the coaches, and certainly not the players to compete in the Big 12 South…

One thing we probably can all agree on is that the Aggies can’t be a contender in football as long as they’re in the Big 12. They seem unlikely to ever pass Texas or Oklahoma in the standings. They’re probably not going to pass Texas Tech or Oklahoma State, and they’ve fallen far behind Baylor.

Moving to Conference USA won’t be an immediate panacea either, they’ll have to hope for some breaks to knock off might SMU…

In terms of winning football games, A&M isn’t beating UH or Rice anytime soon, and if June Jones is doing his usual magic, A&M isn’t going to be beating SMU. But A&M won’t finish last, either. A&M will be competitive, and eventually A&M could work itself into position to be one of the better teams in C-USA.

And now finally, the pièce de résistance…

Bring on Southern Miss!

Well done Richard, trolling at it’s finest. But at least the target was a fun one.

Can Texas make it through their schedule and back to the Rose Bowl for another MNC?

It’s about that time to start sizing up the college football season, so here’s my rundown of games on the Longhorns schedule, in order from easiest to hardest. These rankings take each team’s projected strength, plus the location and timing of the game.

12. (Sept 5)

Why they’re here: Because this is a gimmie game. Don’t kid yourself; this is the Glass Joe on our schedule. In their two games versus big-time teams last year (Auburn and Ole Miss) the Warhawks were outscored 93-0. Best of luck fellas!

Why they’re not higher: Because they finished 4-7 last year and the game is at home. Seriously, the Christians walking into the Coliseum to face Lions had more of a chance. On the bright side, this may be our first glimpse at the QB of the future Garret Gilbert.

11. At (Sept 12)

Why they’re not here: Okay, this team is also Glass Joe… but playing at home in what should be the biggest game in their history. Sorry that’s all I got.

Why they’re not higher: Because the got pounded by the “big boys” in the WAC last year (TCU, Utah, BYU) by a combined score of 129-14. Bite the curb, and tell us how it tastes. We’ll try and not make you look too bad in front of your parents.

10. (Sept 26)

Why they’re here: Yes, they are a small conference school, but they have a coach who guided his previous team to two Rose Bowls. Don’t underestimate the importance of coaching in college football.

Why they’re not higher: Because when you move past the coach, this is still the same team we beat 42-13 in El Paso last year. And there won’t be any chicks giving their boyfriends hand favors on the mountain to distract our defense this year.

9. (Nov 7)

Why they’re here: They gave us a hell of a tussle in their place a couple of years ago. More than any “gimme” in the schedule, they probably believe they can beat us. Plus, given where they fall on the schedule (between Oklahoma State and Baylor) our boys could be due for a letdown.

Why they’re not higher: Because they lost to UTEP by 45 points last year. THE END.

8. Colorado (Oct 10)

Why they’re here: Because their coach is pretty damn good, and they play division one football there. Not intramurals brother…

Why they’re not higher: Because we smoked their ass last year, and this team traditionally is not great away from Boulder. Seriously, look it up: the school’s biggest three wins since joining the Big 12 have either come at home or on the a neutral site. Danger Dan Hawkins, danger!!!

7. At (Oct 24)

Why they’re here: Because last year at this time, people were picking them as a National title contender. Sure they lost a bunch of talent, but I’m sure Pinkle has a bunch of talent ready to shine, right?

Why they’re not higher: Wrong. Sorry, but Chase Daniels was special (for Missouri at least) and Jeremy Maclin and Chase Coffman are NFL talents. So far, Missouri hasn’t shown the ability to reload and keep pace in the Big 12.

6. (Sept 19)

Why they’re here: Because they beat us last year, and are always a tough out. Tech is the most hit-or-miss team in the country: when they’re off they can lose to SMU, when they’re on they can beat Oklahoma or Texas…

Why they’re not higher: at home. Sorry, I should have finished that thought. Look it up, Tech’s biggest wins in the last few years have come in Lubbock. Factor in that they will be working in a new starting quarterback, and the timing of this game is the final nail in the Red Raiders coffin. Don’t underestimate the “revenge” factor working in Texas’ favor.

5. At Texas A&M (Nov 26)

Why they’re here: It’s the Aggies; they have one good game in them a year and they always seem to save it for “t.u.”. They also will be playing at home and have the benefit of the 12th Man, plus they have a former NFL coach at the helm and a better-than-you-think reservoir of talent.

Why they’re not higher: Because the reservoir doesn’t run THAT deep. Look at the rankings, the Ags recruiting fell off mightily during the Fran tenure (or as they call it on Texags.com “the Dark Ages”). Plus the fact that the Horns seniors are 1-2 versus the Ags will provide a little extra motivation. A+M will really need the 12th Man… hell, they might even need to grab a 13th and 14th while they’re at it.

4. At (Nov 11)

Why they’re here: Because the Bears have the fastest collection of skill players in the Big 12 (no really!), and now their Freshman All-American QB Robert Griffin has a full year starting under his belt. If you recall, the Bears battled back to tie the score at 14 in Austin last year before Texas pulled away. I just have the feeling that Art Briles has one major upset in him next year… and A&M doesn’t count.

Why they’re not higher: Because playing Baylor on the road is only slightly more difficult than playing them at home. Waco is basically a stone’s throw from Austin, relatively speaking, so the crowd will be 40% Horn fans at worst. Plus, Colt McCoy’s girlfriend will be in attendance, so he’ll be extra motivated. Wouldn’t you be?

3. (Nov 21)

Why they’re here: Because Kansas is good, that’s why… potentially REALLY good. Todd Ressing is a top 10 quarterback nationally, and Kerry Meier and Dezmon Briscoe form the conference’s best 1-2 punch on the outside. The Jayhawks’ falloff last year can directly be attributed to the defense, which should be much improved this fall.

Why they’re not higher: Because the game is in Austin and an improved Kansas squad is still a notch below what the Horns will line up with. The Texas D, playing without All-American Brian Orakpo, shut down the Jayhawks last season holding them to a season-low 7 points. Plus the timing of this game likely means the Horns will either be locked in on a BCS berth, or at the very worst trying to salvage the Cotton Bowl; regardless, it is unlikely they will have their guard down coming into this game.

2. (Oct 17)

Why they’re here: This is always the game of the year in the Big 12 conference, but with all the late season debate and hoopla last year, this game’s intensity has been ratcheted up to another level. The Sooners are they only team quite in UT’s weight class on the schedule, and like it or not, they’re won the last three conference championships. The offense is manned by Heisman winner Sam Bradford and All-American Jermaine Gresham (who’s caught three touchdowns in his career versus the Horns), and their defense looks both deep and talented. Plus they have Ryan Reynolds back, who’s like the greatest football player ever!

Why they’re not higher: No, really he’s not. This is still the same defense that Colt hung 38 on last season, and Greg Davis seems to have Brent Venerables’ number. The Sooners’ also lost four starters on the offensive line along with their top two receivers, so Bradford won’t likely duplicate his numbers from last year. And to be honest, all the extra motivation is on Texas’ side: they beat OU, OU gets the BCS title shot and Bob Stoops crows and taunts by taking some less-so-subtle shots at Mack Brown. It’ll be a battle, but Texas looks to be a little stronger than 08, whereas OU looks to have taken a slight step back.

1. (Oct 31)

Why they’re here: 26. That’s the combined halftime deficits the Horns have faced their last two trips to Stillwater. I don’t know if it’s something in the water or what, but our boys always seem to stumble through the first half, only setting the stage for a thrilling comeback. This team is too good for us to spot double digits in the first half, plus the Horns will be coming off one huge game (Oklahoma) and one somewhat tough road game (Missouri) the two previous weeks; can they be at their best three weeks in a row?

A lot of things about this scenario bring back memories from Lubbock last year.

Ouch.

Cowboys fans should be excited they’re getting a quarterback who couldn’t even start for his college team, just like Dallas legend Quincy Carter. Plus, he’s a jerk:

McGee actually isn’t terrible and was done in by horrible coaching and mediocre teammates at A&M, maybe he’ll have better success with a poorly run NFL franchise. Dennis Franchione tried to make into an option QB for no reason and then current head coach Mike Sherman decided the team’s future was more important than McGee’s. With good coaching, McGee has the talent to become a decent backup in the league, hopefully he gets an attitude adjustment as well.

Source (Note: Watching Aggies and Tech fans argue on the Internet is hilarious.)

“Maybe it’s because we don’t have real cheerleaders!” “Wrecking Crew my ass!” Hahahahaha…

Great work by somebody, they took a few good shots at everybody. I’m not sure what they’ve got against Taco Cabana, who doesn’t love that place? I think I know what I’m having for lunch tomorrow.

Colt McCoy once again carried the Horns on his back

Texas did everything they could on Thanksgiving night beating the Aggies 49-9. The defense was dominant and may have secured the Heisman Trophy. The Longhorns wait to see how the BCS situation shakes out while we look at the top 11 performers from Thursday night.

1. – McCoy bounced back from a turnover filled sophomore season with arguably the best season a Texas quarterback has ever experienced. Texas A&M had been the bugaboo for the junior star until Thursday night. McCoy did everything once again for the Longhorns accounting for four total touchdowns and over 300 yards passing. He continued to be Texas’ number one running threat while completing his passes at a record breaking clip. Texas needed to impress the voters and their quarterback made sure they did.

2. – There are a lot of players that deserved the top spot on Texas’ defense but Sergio is going to get the nod. Kindle was everywhere on the night showing off his unfair athletic ability. Kindle has found his home coming off the edge for the Longhorn defense but showed Thursday night the ability to play in space. The former Dallas prep star finished with five tackles, three of which were for losses, and a sack against the overmatched Aggies. Aggie quarterback Stephen McGee thought he had something to say after Kindle’s sack but quickly realized it would have been a very bad idea.

3. – The soon to be first round pick made a huge impact in his first extended game action since the injury he suffered in the Texas Tech game. Orakpo is the most physically dominating player on the field every time he steps on the field. Even facing double teams and chips from running backs and tight ends, Orakpo is able to disrupt seemingly every play. He finished with a sack and a half and added four more recorded quarterback hits. The pressure the front four produces allows the secondary to get better each week.

4. – Seemingly all year long the young receivers have taken turns making an impact as the third receiver for the Longhorn offense. It was Collins’ turn this week. Collins had a team high 103 yards on a tied for team high six receptions. The sophomore did most of his damage on middle screens out of the spread set. His 20 yard touchdown catch in the second quarter gave the Longhorn offense the momentum it needed to get the scoring rolling. Texas would score a touchdown on the next four possessions.

5. – There will be no more questions on Earl Thomas’ speed. The freshman safety made two jaw dropping plays on the night, one being when he caught speedy Mike Goodson on what appeared to be a 90+ yard touchdown reception. Despite a bad angle Thomas caught Goodson and let him know about it. Thomas gives the secondary an edge and was in on a number plays on Thursday night in both the run and pass game. Thomas has bounced back from the end of the Texas Tech game with three outstanding performances from his safety position.

6. – The senior made his last game in DKR a memorable one by catching one of McCoy’s two touchdown passes. Cosby was one of the few players on this team that got on the field in the win over USC in 2005, so I’m sure he was happy to see the team back on top. Cosby has been McCoy’s rock all season and continued to come up with key third down and red zone completions. Cosby finished with six catches and 80 yards to go along with the touchdown.

7. – It is hard to account for two touchdowns and over 100 yards on the ground and not earn top five ranking but the truth of the matter is that Johnson’s yards came mostly when the game was out of reach. The big guy in the backfield did show some impressive speed on his 61 yard run late in the game. Johnson has continued to be excellent in his role as short yardage back, but could be so much more for this team moving forward if he can get his weight down 10 pounds or so. It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff uses the red-shirt freshman in the bowl workouts and in the Spring.

8. – Texas A&M managed to gain -24 yards rushing on the night. Texas’ run defense has been ranked in the top five all season in yards given up per game and while a lot of that may be attributed to the offenses that are ran in the Big 12 the man playing the best week in and week out against the run has been Roddrick Muckelroy. The junior is becoming one of the best linebackers in the era. He leads the team in tackles on the year and seems to do so in every game. Muckelroy finished with a tie for the team lead with six tackles, including one for a loss.

9. – Shipley had a quiet day by his standards for most of the game against the Aggies, but was able to come up with the highlight of the game on a 68 yard catch over the middle to set up a first and goal. Colt McCoy’s roommate, in case you didn’t know, caught for balls for 85 yards. Shipley seemed to be the focal point for the A&M defense which allowed other players, such as Collins, to step up. Did you know Shipley and McCoy go fishing and hunting together?

10. – Roy Miller has played great in the middle all season for Texas. His impact cannot be measured by looking at the box score, but he finished with two tackles, a pass breakup, and two quarterback hits. Texas A&M could get nothing going up the middle from the run or screen game for the entire 60 minutes. Miller must be given credit for his lead blocking on short yardage situations for the offense as well.

11. – Didn’t hear his name on Thursday? That is a good thing. With no fanfare at all the true freshman has stepped in to play center for a potential national championship team and nobody has even noticed. Texas continues to struggle in the run game and has not protected McCoy as well as they would like but Snow has stepped up tremendously with injured. It is likely Hall will be back for the bowl game, and in that case Snow will get snaps at guard on top of backup center.

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