40 Acres Sports

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).

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.

The spring game comes around Sunday just in time to help with detoxing off of football season. After Sunday football junkies only have the draft and Mel Kiper’s hair to look forward to. We all know the familiar faces: Colt McCoy, Sergio Kindle, Roddrick Muckelroy, etc. But what about the guys who didn’t play as much last year but will be counted on in 2009? Here is a list of guys you need to watch in the spring game.

1. Christian Scott - The Longhorn defense played the majority of the snaps last year with five defensive backs on the field. Last year, Will Muschamp used two safeties and three cornerbacks in the nickel defense. This year Muschamp is trying to use Earl Thomas’ cover skills to get three safeties on the field in the 4-2-5. Having three safeties on the field will help in run support and with blitzes. Most feel Scott is just too good to not have on the field, but if mental mistakes and inconsistency rear their ugly head Muschamp will have no choice but to bring a Curtis Brown or Deon Beasley off the bench. I think it is safe to assume Thomas can handle the slot, so it will be up to Scott to make the formation work.
2. Ben Alexander - The defensive line was hit hard in departures this offseason. Guys like Brian Orakpo, Roy Miller, and Aaron Lewis are working out for pro scouts. The only guy up front with significant experience on the defensive line is Lamarr Houston. Alexander is entering his senior season and he knows it is his time to shine. If not now, when? By all accounts the big guy has lost some weight and added some quickness. The coaches had moved Houston, a former defensive end, to the nose tackle position to start the spring, but with the emergence of Alexander, who is a more natural one technique, Houston can move back to his more familiar three technique.
3. Vondrell McGee - Call me a hopeless romantic, but I’m holding out hope McGee lives up to the hype he had coming in. People forget McGee had a great freshman year as the short yardage and goal line guy. He showed great explosion in the Tech game that year when he was in for a hobbled Jamaal Charles. Flash forward to now and the Longview native is entering his junior year after not even getting a snap in the bowl game. This spring is huge for McGee. Cody Johnson had been emerging as the starter before he went down with a hamstring injury and Foswhitt Whittaker is injured again. That leaves McGee and two second year guys who haven’t been counted on yet. McGee was hurt at the beginning of the season, but he had begun to emerge before the Fiesta Bowl fiasco. If he can get his burst back, he may get his job back.
4. Sam Acho - Quietly Acho has cemented himself as the starter at the strong end position this spring. The junior has a nose for the ball and has shown he can get to the quarterback as well. Eddie Jones may get a look on that side when he recovers from his injury, but he’ll likely play at the quick end when Kindle is playing outside linebacker. Acho is a smart and hard working player who wasn’t overly hyped coming into the program, but has made plays ever since he showed up. The concern with Acho is at the point of attack. Texas received great play from Henry Melton at the power end last year, and Acho going to have to step up to prevent any drop off.
5. Keenan Robinson - I love me some Keenan Robinson. His skill set is perfect for Muschamp’s defense and the type of offenses used in the Big 12. Robinson can play all three downs as an outside linebacker in the 4-3 and as a middle guy in Texas’4-2-5. With his speed the sophomore would appear to be a great blitzer as well. Kindle will play some outside linebacker so in certain formations Robinson will likely be on the bench, but he is setting himself up to be an impact player for this defense. We will begin to see how he is used Sunday.
6. Malcolm Williams - The only thing missing in Texas’ aerial attack last year was the deep threat. Quarterback Colt McCoy’s strength is the intermediate passes and for the most part that is where Texas will concentrate, but a guy like Williams has to be given at least two opportunities a game to make a big play down the field whether he is covered or not. The sophomore has proven he can beat people deep, just look at the offense when Williams replaced Quan Cosby in the Texas Tech game. Greg Davis dialed up one fly pattern for Williams in the Fiesta Bowl and he beat Thorpe Award winner Malcolm Jenkins. Colt McCoy didn’t get the ball out there, but hopefully it had to do with not having the timing McCoy has with Jordan Shipley or Cosby. With an offseason without Cosby or Shipley Williams and McCoy should be on the verge of building a great report. Williams can get deep on anybody and a few shots down the field in the spring game would be a good sign.
7. Ahmard Howard - Someone needs to step up at tight end, and Howard needs to be that guy. Blaine Irby most likely needs another offseason to get ready and DJ Grant hurt his ankle. That leaves Ian Harris who has a history of stingers, Greg Smith who is a converted offensive lineman, and Howard. Neither Smith nor Howard is going to strike fear in defenses as a receiver but Howard at least gives Greg Davis that option. With Smith on the field last year Texas declare they were running the ball or using max protection. Howard will allow Texas to be more flexible. With the talent at the wide receiver position Texas will go to a four or five wide if no one will step up. Mack Brown wants to focus on running the ball, but he may have to abandon it all together if no one steps up at tight end.
8. Britt Mitchell - Starting right tackle Kyle Hix is missing the second half of spring to get healthy. In his place Mitchell has been impressive. Tray Allen has been Texas’ third tackle, but he is being cross trained at guard this spring. That leaves Mitchell in line to be the third tackle and the possible starter at right tackle when Adam Ulatoski leaves (Hix will likely move to the left side). Mitchell has been playing with the ones and will do so on Sunday. He faces some of the best past rushers in the nation every day in practice and has held his own. The junior has flown under the radar in terms of hype, but if he can have a solid spring game he’ll set himself up to contribute next year to a possible national championship team.
9. Alex Okafor - Mack Brown hasn’t always been eager to give true freshman real playing time, but nobody can stop talking about the talent of the Pflugerville native. The guy is tearing up practice at a time he should be worrying about Prom. His first step is probably faster than everyone on the roster not named Sergio Kindle. A defense can never have too many pass rushers, especially in the Big 12. It is unlikely Okafor will redshirt so expect a good number of snaps if he keeps this up.
10. Aaron Williams - Chykie Brown is a near lock to man one corner back position. The other spot will be manned by Aaron Williams, Deon Beasley, or Curtis Brown. Right now it looks like Williams is in line to be the starter. He is the youngest of the group, but the sophomore probably has the most physical upside. The former McNeil star is also a solid tackler and a smart football player. If the Earl Thomas in the slot experiment doesn’t work, Williams will likely move to the slot. That would leave Beasley or Brown to battle it out for the other corner spot. My money is on Curtis Brown in that one. Where Aaron Williams plays seems to be more of an appropriate question than if Aaron Williams plays so watch out for him on the slot or on the edge. A secondary of Thomas, Blake Gideon, Scott, Chykie Brown, and Williams would be mighty salty to say the least.
11. Antwan Cobb - The fullback position has been practically erased from Davis’ offense in the last few years. And while some see it as scheme it really has to do with not having any bodies for the position. People are quick to forget what Ahmad Hall did for this offense in 2005. Many of the Longhorns running woes can be attributed to not having a dependable lead blocker at full back. Cobb’s strength is probably catching the ball out of the back field, but when he is healthy he is more than a capable and willing lead blocker. Texas has said they want to take more snaps under center, and with a fullback who can catch out of the backfield on the field Texas would have options they haven’t had in a few years. It will be telling how many snaps Cobb gets in the spring game.

Texas will enter the 2009 season with national yitle hopes after a stellar 2008 campaign. In fact, Mack Brown 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 Vince Young, 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 Charlie Tanner, Michael Huey, and Kyle Hix 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 Cody Johnson 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 Chris Whaley 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 Vondrell McGee, Foswhitt Whittaker, Tre Newton, and Jeremy Hills. 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 Sergio Kindle 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 Brian Orakpo, but who will replace Kindle’s? Right now it looks like Sam Acho will get the start with Eddie Jones and maybe even freshman Alex Okafor getting looks on pure rushing situations. Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has Acho’s brother Emmanuel working at the buck end position along with starting inside linebacker Jared Norton. 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 Blake Gideon and the message board deity Christian Scott 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 Earl Thomas 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 Chykie Brown and Aaron Williams are locked in as the starters with Curtis Brown and Deon Beasley 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. Colt McCoy, Jordan Shipley, and Adam Ulatoski 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 Roy Miller 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 Roddrick Muckelroy would lead the charge, but both of those guys are quiet and low key by nature. Lamarr Houston 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.

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.

The Longhorns enter this year’s Fiesta Bowl as the favorites. Texas wants to prove a point and make a case for a split National against a team with great name recognition. Many are overlooking Ohio State and the third ranked Longhorns are going to need more than Colt McCoy and Brian Orakpo to finish the season with a victory and a likely number two ranking.

Vondrell McGee

The sophomore from Longview has looked quicker and more explosive as the season has worn on. The feeling is that McGee has finally been healthy. With Foswhitt Whittaker back in the lineup the onus is not all on McGee to produce in the run game. It has appeared that he does not relish the number one role. That is not necessarily a bad thing, not all backs are made to be work horses. McGee will come into the game and run hard. With Ohio State having to use linebackers in pass coverage expect the Longhorns to use the pass to set up the run. As the game goes on Texas should look to use the run game in similar fashion to their game against Oklahoma. McGee has shown a nose for the endzone and we’ll look to add one Monday night.

Malcolm Williams

Texas will face the best cornerback in the nation when they face the Buckeyes’ Malcolm Jenkins. The Thorpe award winner will likely matchup with Quan Cosby for most of the night and the coaching staff is sure to focus on taking Jordan Shipley away. This will force Texas to use another option, and with none being available at tight end, it will have to come from one of the extra receivers. Ohio State is physical in the secondary and out of all of the Longhorn receivers Williams possesses the best skill set to offset any advantage the Buckeye corners may have against Brandon Collins and James Kirkendoll. Williams has shown the ability to get deep; I believe Texas will try to take a shot early in the game.

Ben Alexander

Alexander isn’t going to start, and he may not even play a ton of snaps. But this may be the best chance for Alexander to show his stuff heading into a crucial offseason for his career. The big nose tackle is a prototypical off center one gap tackle. The offenses that Texas faces in the Big 12 limit his effectiveness because of a lack of lateral speed. For the first time maybe all season, Texas is going to face a team that will show a heavy dose of downhill running. Texas’ two other tackles not named Roy Miller are former defensive ends. Will Muschamp will need the size of Alexander on obvious running downs throughout the game. If Alexander can take up blocks and hold his gap it will help the Longhorn linebackers control Ohio State’s ground game.

Jared Norton

Much like Alexander, Norton finds himself a duck out of water when he faces the offenses in the Big 12. Norton excels playing downhill at his middle linebacker position and may in fact be the best NFL prospect of the group. Unfortunately for Norton, in the Big 12 a linebacker needs to play well laterally and in space. Norton to this point has had a hard time in both of those categories. Enter Ohio State and Beanie Wells. This will be a game Norton can thrive in. Rashad Bobino will likely get the start as the senior, but if Ohio State has success running the ball early, and maybe even if they don’t, Norton will become a factor in the game. The junior will be a sure starter next year and we’ve seen how a good bowl game can propel a player into a great offseason.

Blake Gideon

A lot of people think the true freshman from Leander’s job is in jeopardy this offseason. Most still view Gideon as an overachieving two star recruit who is playing because of his brains and intangibles. The talk heading into the spring will depend a lot on how Gideon plays in this game. If he comes out and plays a good game and makes a play or two the talk will quiet, but if he struggles or Christian Scott makes a huge play one of the major offseason hot topics will be the status of Gideon’s job. The word is the only thing holding Scott back is his work on the practice room and in the film room, if the light turns on in year three on campus the super athletic Scott will be in line for many more snaps in 2009. If he isn’t a transfer could be possible.

Obviously this year’s Texas vs. Texas A&M football game has more on the line than just bragging rights. The Longhorns enter the game at number two in the BCS, but hold such a slight lead in the standings that many worry that an Oklahoma win over Oklahoma State will propel the Sooners into the Big 12 Championship game and with that into the National Title game.

On top of all the BCS hoopla, Texas also wants to erase the memory of the Aggies ruining their last two seasons. The Aggies are awful, but they were for the last two years so the focus for Mack Brown and his staff has been to keep their players focused on the task at hand. There are some aspects of this puzzle that the football team can control and some that they can’t. The Longhorns must focus all their energy on what they can control.

For this week’s preview we look at what the Longhorns must do to sway a few voters back their way.

1. Beat the Hell out of A&M. The fans yell it, the team must do it. Even if the BCS wasn’t in the picture the recent history of this game should give these players enough motivation to put it on the Aggies. There is no doubt Texas has had the better team the last two years, but there is also little doubt who wanted the game more. A&M have been more physical than the Longhorns over that stretch and in football the team that hits the other in the mouth first usually has the upper hand. Keep in mind that while players like Colt McCoy have beaten the Sooners twice in their career, they have not beaten A&M. Texas needs to do it big this week.
2. Don’t let up. Mack Brown is a nice guy. Too nice at times. Coaches like Bob Stoops and Mike Leach make no bones about putting up big points even when the game is well out of reach. And while common sense would suggest that the voters would understand that a win is a win style points do count. There is no doubt that Oklahoma will put a as many points as they can if given the opportunity on Saturday night in Stillwater and Texas must do the same on Thanksgiving night. Texas needs to let their players play the whole game and put up over 60 points. All the voters know that Texas beat OU head to head, but many have given the nod to the Sooners in the polls because they feel Oklahoma has been more dominant in the last few games. Texas needs to put up a huge score on Thursday because the vote on Sunday will likely come down to who looks better this week.
3. Run the ball. Oklahoma is being viewed as the better team because people feel they have more ways to beat you. Last week against Texas Tech the Sooners did something Texas couldn’t do. They controlled the line of scrimmage and moved the ball on the ground at will. Voters, especially the coaches, want to see balance. Texas has not had balance this year unless the running comes from McCoy. With Foswhitt Whittaker back in the mix and the emergence of a health Vondrell McGee, the Longhorn running game has improved over the last few weeks. The Longhorns need to be able to run the ball when the other team, the announcers, and everybody watching knows they are about to run it. The Longhorns have struggled with that this year, but voting is a what have you done for me lately job and if Texas can come out and dominate it will erase a lot of the concerns people have had about the UT offense all season long.
4. Shutout. It might be a little much to ask for a shutout, but this team needs something close to that to impress the voters. I think most people consider Texas’ and OU’s offense on par with each other. Oklahoma gets the advantage in most people’s mind because of a perceived opinion that the Sooner defense is better than Texas’. A score of 42-6 would help Texas more than say a score of 65-24. Texas needs to be dominant in every aspect of the game, but a complete whipping of the Aggies on defense would impress the voters tremendously. All eyes will be on Texas this weekend and Will Muschamp needs to prove why he is being selected as the next head coach at Texas.
5. Remind the voters 45 - 35. This is going to be on the fans. Mack Brown and his staff have rightfully put all the week’s energy on beating A&M. It will be up to the fans on Thursday night to get the word out that what happens on the field should matter the most. It can be done with chants of “45 – 35″ and with the signs that the Longhorn nation is looking to print out and distribute to all the people in attendance. When the cameras go into the stands in between plays or coming back from commercials the viewers at home need to be bombarded with evidence of the victory at The Fair Grounds.

Even with all this done it might not be enough to stay in front of Oklahoma, but at least UT would have done everything they could to get there. If the Big 12 Championship is OU vs. Missouri it will be a match up of two teams Texas beat by double digits on the year. The Longhorns have over achieved for much of the year and deserve to catch a break. Hopefully they will this weekend. No matter what happens just remember: Go Baylor Bears.

Texas enters their last road game of the year with a beat up football team. The weather is supposed to be bad with wind and cold weather in the forecast and a number of Longhorn players are banged up. As always players such as Colt McCoy and Roddrick Muckelroy will need to play well for Texas to keep their conference and national championship hopes alive, but some guys under the radar will have to step up to come away with the win.

Vondrell McGee

With the emergence of Chris Ogbonnaya and the comeback of a healthy Foswhitt Whittaker, the sophomore has become a forgotten man in the Longhorn backfield. Ogbonnaya is still suffering through an ankle injury while Whittaker doesn’t have the body to carry an entire games worth of runs. Because of this McGee has found himself still getting carries after a slow start to the season. In fairness to McGee he was banged up as well early in the year but appears to be back close to 100%. Quietly McGee has played extremely well in the last few weeks. On the road, especially in windy and cold conditions, good teams need to be able to get some plays out of the running game. Whittaker will be the main guy, but if McGee can come in and keep the chains moving the Longhorns may be able to wear out an undersized Kansas defense. McGee performs best when he is coming off the bench and with Whittaker and maybe Ogbonnaya in front of him this week McGee is right where he needs to be.

David Snow

Last week many were wondering if the true freshman from Gilmer was beginning to push the older guys at the guard position for some serious playing time. The coaching staff loves Snow’s mean streak and competitive nature. This week starting center Chris Hall went down in practice with a leg injury and with the dismissal of Buck Burnette for racist comments on the internet Snow finds himself the starting center for the first time in his career. Snow should get a challenge in his first start because it is on the road and opposing teams have been found of blitzing Colt McCoy. Snow has played mostly guard on the season, but Mack Brown says he still practices snaps before every practice. Certainly Snow has concentrated more on center for the past week and a half after the dismissal of Burnette. Having the quarterback in the shotgun for the majority of the game should help the young center, but if Texas looks lost in blitz pickup we’ll know the freshman is taking his lumps.

Sergio Kindle

Of course everyone looks for Kindle every game. He has become a dominant force on the Texas defense, and may have done enough over the season to become a hot target in this year’s NFL draft. This week don’t necessarily just watch Kindle’s play, watch where the junior lines up. Kindle is listed as a linebacker, but as the season progresses he has been lined up more and more at defensive end. For the first part of the season he only did this on obvious passing downs, but with Brian Orakpo missing last week’s game Kindle lined up at defensive end almost exclusively. Kindle excels when playing downhill and coming off the edge. He has struggled in space on pass coverage, so Will Muschamp has turned Kindle into Texas’ version of Lawrence Taylor. Orakpo is expected to be back, but it is unlikely he will be at full strength. Look to see the ratio of snaps at defensive end to linebacker for Kindle this week.

Earl Thomas

The red-shirt freshman safety played his best game of his young college career last week against Baylor, a week after being one of the two players that gave up Michael Crabtree’s winning touchdown in Lubbock. It was huge for Thomas to bounce back and he did, showing the mental toughness that Muschamp has been glowing about since spring practice. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the young Texas secondary faces another tough test in the passing game. The young safeties have had their struggles on the season but they have played extremely well for the most part. The best evidence for that was the long pass play the Texas defense gave up on the first play Thomas was out with a minor injury. Ben Wells came in to replace Thomas and got beat deep for the only long passing play Baylor was able to muster against the Longhorns. Thomas was able to come back into the game and continued to play well. He may have been the best player on the field for UT’s defense last week and that kind of play will be huge again for Texas to avoid an upset in Lawrence.

Ryan Bailey/Hunter Lawrence

Most fans are hoping this game doesn’t come down to a field goal. Not because they don’t have confidence in the Texas kicking game, but because they feel UT should be able to win big against a struggling Kansas team. The last time Texas went to Lawrence they barely came out with a victory, so a close game is not out of the question. After being the place kicker last year Ryan Bailey lost his job in fall camp to Hunter Lawrence. The change had come without much fanfare because Lawrence was perfect on the season. That changed last week when Lawrence missed both of his field goals. In the end the misses did not matter, but when Texas lined up for their third field goat attempt Ryan Bailey trotted out for the try. Bailey made the kick and the questions about who would be the kicker going forward began before the referees even raised their arms. Bailey didn’t appear to do anything to loss his job, and he has proven he can make big kicks as he did in Nebraska. The coaches said Lawrence didn’t kick the last field goal because he was “sore”. We will know on the first field goal attempt if this was just lip service or not.

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

Texas vs. Baylor tweets

• Final score is #UT 45, Baylor 21. Now to watch and hope for LSU and Oklahoma State. Geaux Cowboys! right after the game
• Bah. They call another one on Cody. Apparently the Big 12 didn’t get the point of complaints on non-calls. Two BS ones late dont count. during garbage time
• Damn. Big TD run by Chiles is called back because of holding on Cody Johnson well out of the play. during fourth quarter
• #UT offense doing much better job milking play clock today than we did last week with 90 seconds left. during fourth quarter
• Disappointing effort by #UT defensive backups. K Robinson and N Brewster need to do better job taking on blocks instead of avoiding. during fourth quarter
• Ryan Bailey kicks FG instead of Hunter Lawrence. Might be seeing Bailey on shorter FGs now? #UT 45, BU 14 during fourth quarter
• Chiles fumbles 3rd down snap and forces FG. Hope Chiles keeps his head up it’s been fun to watch him play with more energy (and fun) lately during fourth quarter
• @kbohls agree about Baylor improvement. Think A&M is wishing they had hired Briles right about now? during fourth quarter
• Retweeting @suzhalliburton: McCoy’s final stats — 26 of 37 for 300 yds, five TDs, two picks. #UT during fourth quarter
• Colt is done and John Chiles is in at QB for #UT. during fourth quarter
• Sure hope this is Colt McCoy’s last series after that (late) hit. Get a score and call it a day during fourth quarter
• If I’m Baylor on 4th and 41 I throw deep and see if I can get a pass interference penalty called. during third quarter
• How do you lose Shipley like that? Wide open for TD catch. Great long drive with 2 4th down conversions. #UT 42, BU 14 during third quarter
• Very annoyed that FSN never shows play clock. Really odd that I think it hasn’t been put on screen once today. Malfunction or bad coverage? during third quarter
• V McGee running with a little extra pep and strength today as well. Good to see during third quarter
• FSN announcers are right (for once). Running game creates wide open B Collins for 40yd TD catch. #UT 35, BU 14 during third quarter
• Ulatoski out with elbow injury (hyperextension?) and tray allen in during third quarter
• #UT WRs need to do better job concealing holding on run plays. Tougher to get away with out in the open. during third quarter
• 2nd half is underway with great KO tackle. #UT defense could use some fan support but no one is in the stands. during third quarter
• Click to view first half…

Wow, what a game. I must say that after Oklahoma scored so quickly on their first two possessions, I thought we were going to get run out of the Cotton Bowl. Thankfully Jordan Shipley stepped up and Colt McCoy was able to keep the team calm. After that our defense made some big plays and Colt seemed to have full control of the game.

My favorite play of the game was easily the Quan Cosby block where he laid out #11. And my least favorite had to be the horrible penalty call when we supposedly “ran into” the punter. That punter has been watching too much soccer because that was some serious flopping.

So now Texas is 6-0 and #1 in the nation. No more relaxing, the target is on our backs. But enough of that, let’s see how each position fared against OU:

Quarterback - Overall Grade: A-

Even though Colt McCoy’s stats don’t really show he had a great game, I felt his leadership and calmness was the key to victory against OU. Colt finished with 28/35 passing, 277 yards, and 1 touchdown. The most important stat Colt put up Saturday was zero turnovers. Colt simply didn’t make any mistakes. Colt definitely put himself into the thick of the Heisman race with this victory, and I think it is about time. Sam Bradford may have had better numbers, but I would take Colt any day.

John Chiles actually got some early playing time, probably trying to catch OU off-guard, but it was to no avail. Chiles did absolutely nothing and continues to disappoint.

Running Backs - Overall Grade: A-

Chris Ogbonnaya got the start again Saturday, and I think he proved why. He ended up with 127 yards on only 15 carries, including a long 62 yard run which sealed the game for Texas. And even though Cody Johnson only got 3 carries, he made the most of them scoring touchdowns on each one. He has proved he is a great goal line runner, and he and Ogbonnaya are proving to be a lethal 1-2 punch. In our most important game of the year so far, Vondrell McGee ended up with only 1 carry for -2 yards. I think it is safe to say the coaches know who to give the ball to now.

Wide Receivers - Overall Grade: A

I didn’t think Texas could win this game with only 2 receivers, but the combo of Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby was just too much for the Oklahoma secondary. Shipley seemed like he was open on every play and made some key first downs. He finished with 11 catches, 112 yards, and 1 touchdown. Cosby was all over the place too adding 9 catches and 122 yards. Cosby may be a little undersized, but he probably has some of the best hands in the Big 12 and always seems to make big plays. The rest of the receivers combined for 4 catches and 16 yards.

Defense - Overall Grade: B+

Even though I think the defense played great, I do have to dock them for allowing 5 passing touchdowns. The greatest part of the defense on Saturday is that I actually noticed our safeties, and in a good way. Blake Gideon seemed to always be around for the tackle, and Earl Thomas ended up with two interceptions. Both young safeties seem to be coming around and I can’t wait to see how much more they can improve before Missouri. And Roddrick Muckelroy was simply ridiculous. He led the team with 16 tackles, 13 of them solo. Didn’t you notice every time OU ran the ball they seemed to go nowhere? Yeah, that was “Muck”. Sergio Kindle showed again that he is scary athletic. Kindle flies around the field with reckless abandon, and the combo off him and Brian Orakpo coming off the edges is just too much for most teams to handle.

Special Teams - Overall Grade: A

The A mainly comes from Jordan Shipley’s 96 yards kickoff return in the 2nd quarter. Texas was down 14-3 at that point and it looked like it could be a blow-out. I think that play single handedly kept Texas in the game and was the spark to get the team going. Hunter Lawrence added 3 field goals and looks like he is a kicker that we can rely on in tough situations.

Overall Grade: A-

How can you not be pleased after that game. Even after the referees giving OU a free touchdown, Texas still prevailed. Now Texas faces the pressure of being #1, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier. They only have #11 Missouri, #8 Oklahoma State, @#7 Texas Tech, and @#16 Kansas. And did you realize the Big 12 Conference South Division has 4 teams in the top 8? That has to be a first.

Texas did beat beat a decent conference opponent on the road by 24 points, but did we really look all that good? I would say the defense probably had their best all-around game, but there are still some areas of concern. The offensive line had one of their worst games of the season and is anyone going to step up at the receiver position so Colt can throw to someone else besides Cosby and Shipley? And our running backs? Obviously Chris Ogbonnaya had a great game, but we need some more consistency from Cody Johnson and Vondrell McGee. It’s pretty scary to have to rely on Colt to do everything.

Now with all of that said, Texas is 5-0 and you really can’t ask for much more heading into OU. I guess we will really get to see what Texas is made of with their tough upcoming schedule (OU, Mizzou, OSU, @Tech).

My favorite stat of the game? QB Cody Hawkins threw for only 13/33 and 118 yards. I bet he is going to have nightmares this week of the Texas defense. Now let’s see how each position fared:

Quarterback - Overall Grade: B

Colt McCoy probably had his worst game of the season. Colt’s stats aren’t horrible, 23/30 for 262 yards and 2 touchdowns. The concerning part is the two interceptions. One of them was just a poor decision and had Tony Romo written all over it. Luckily Colt is having his off day in a game that wasn’t ever in question. I expect Colt to bounce back and have a great game against Oklahoma.

John Chiles seems to be looking more and more lost out there on the field. And now when he is running and seems to be reluctant and has no purpose. Hopefully this isn’t the future of the Texas QB.

Running Backs - Overall Grade: B

Chris Ogbonnaya had a career game. Chris O started off the game with a 65 yard touchdown and reception and later added a 51 yard run. His performance on Saturday deservedly earned him the starting nod against OU. It’s the other running backs that have me a bit worried. Vondrell McGee did show a little speed, but ended up with only 30 yards on 8 carries. I was expecting big things from McGee this year and he has yet to have that breakout game. Cody Johnson did score two touchdowns, but had only 27 yards on 11 carries. It looks like Cody Johnson will be useful for short-yardage situations, but probably doesn’t have the fitness for much else. When is Fozzy Whittaker going to return? We need him stat.

Wide Receivers - Overall Grade: B-

Of course Quan Cosby and Jordan Shipley had great games, but I am docking the receivers because someone else needs to step-up and give Colt a solid target. Only 3 catches were made by receivers other than Cosby and Shipley (not counting RBs). That just won’t cut it against Oklahoma this weekend. Man that Blaine Irby injury is looking more and more costly.

Defense - Overall Grade: A

The defense was the main bright spot against Colorado. The defensive front-seven controlled the game and spent most of the game in QB Cody Hawkins‘ grill. The defensive MVP had to be Roy Miller, who had a monster game in the middle with eight tackles, a fumble recovery, three QB hits, and two pass breakups. The play of the game goes to Chykie Brown when he knocked down a long pass attempt early in the game. If he doesn’t make that play and Colorado scores, the game could have been totally different.

Overall Grade: B

The offense was decent and the defense showed signs of greatness. So how am I feeling going into next week? Pretty nervous. But luckily no matter what happens, OU will still SUCK!

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 Arkansas 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 Colt McCoy 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.

John Chiles 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. Vondrell McGee got the majority of the carries with Mack Brown 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 Cody Johnson 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 Jeremy Hills 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 Major Applewhite 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.” Jordan Shipley looks like he is the new safety net for Colt now that we know Blaine Irby 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 Quan Cosby added one more. The one nice thing about a blowout win is we get to see some young players get some action. Sophmores James Kirkendoll and Brandon Collins 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 Casey Dick, 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. Earl Thomas actually made some plays, and Blake Gideon’s name was called for some other than getting beat. It looks like Will Muschamp might actually be getting through to these guys.

Aaron Williams 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 Brian Orakpo 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. Bobby Petrino 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 Colorado team who is looking for revenge after their 70-3 loss in the 2005 Big 12 Championship game.

Three games into the 2008 season the Texas Longhorns have answered most of the preseason questions facing the team. However going into this week’s game against Arkansas things are still hazy in the running game, at tight end, and with the pass defense. Read on below to see five players to keep an eye on this Saturday afternoon who might provide some much needed answers.

John Chiles

The Texas staff stressed getting the best 11 players out on the field this year regardless of class or position. Chiles is clearly one of those players even if he is not the best quarterback on the team. Chiles offers the big play ability that UT severely needs for this offense to be as dynamic as it can be. Offensive coordinator Greg Davis must find ways to get the former blue chip recruit involved, be it in the running game or in the passing game as a quarterback or as a receiver.

Vondrell McGee

This could be McGee’s last week to show the coaches he is worthy of important carries in important games. So far the sophomore has done nothing to warrant a starting job and is not only getting pushed by injured Foswhitt Whittaker, but by bruiser Cody Johnson. With Texas wanting big plays out of the running game, expect to see fewer and fewer carries for McGee unless he comes out and impresses this weekend against a SEC defense in Arkansas.

Peter Ullman

Losing Blaine Irby for the season is a huge blow for Texas’ offense. Irby allowed the Longhorn offense to lineup in four receiver sets without changing personnel. While Ullman will never scare opposing defenses in the passing game, he will be an upgrade in the running game and if he can add a few catches in the flats or in the shallow middle of the field Texas’ offense will continue to succeed. If the former Round Rock Dragon cannot offer any threat to opposing defenses UT may have to look at a different position for a player to contribute at the tight end position.

Sam Acho

The coaches have been impressed with Acho since fall camp began. In reserve duty behind star Brian Orakpo Acho has played well. If he continues to outplay Henry Melton (who isn’t playing poorly) and backup Eddie Jones, the staff may have to look at getting Orakpo, Sergio Kindle, and Acho on the field at the same time. Texas wants pressure on the quarterback, and through the first three games Acho has shown more ability to do that on a consistent basis than any other defensive lineman not named Brian Orakpo. If it continues some upperclassmen are going to find themselves standing next to Will Muschamp more than they’d like.

Chykie Brown

It is no secret that the weak link on the defense; and the team for that matter is in the Texas secondary. Going into the season most onlookers expected Deon Beasley to start next to Ryan Palmer, but through the first three games it has been sophomore Chykie Brown. Brown had his struggles tackling in the first game, with every other member of the secondary, but has made good strides in the last two ball games. Texas plays a lot of five defensive back sets with Beasley playing in the slot. Opposing defenses will continue to test Brown until he shows he can make plays. A good game heading into conference play will go a long way in building confidence for the ultra talented corner.

Texas faces old rival Arkansas this weekend in Austin. The game was supposed to take place two weeks ago, but the threat of Hurricane Ike caused UT to postpone the game two weeks. The Longhorns have yet to face a team that deserves to be on the same field as them this season, and even though Arkansas is a SEC team, the Razorbacks are going through a rebuilding year after losing their best two players and hiring a new coach. The Razorbacks barely snuck by two lower divisional schools, and got thumped by Alabama last week. This week should be another one where the success and outcome of the game will depend solely how Texas plays.

When Texas has the ball

Not enough can be said about Colt McCoy’s play this season. Without him, Texas is no better than the sixth best team in the conference. With him, the Longhorns have a chance to win every game on their schedule, even OU and Missouri. Great quarterbacks have the ability to cover up the weaknesses on their team while exploiting the weaknesses of the opponent. So far Colt has been almost perfect, throwing for 11 touchdowns and leading the team in rushing. Expect no different this week against a young Arkansas defense.

Texas’ running game has problems. The offensive line has been solid, but the backs have struggled. When your quarterback is not named Vince Young, he shouldn’t be your team’s best running threat. Starting running back Vondrell McGee has struggled against lackluster competition. Backup running back Foswhitt Whittaker has been sidelined with injuries to both knees. The best two running backs have been versatile Chris Ogbonnaya and bruiser Cody Johnson. The deficiencies running the ball have been masked by the play of McCoy and the fact that all of the games have been blowouts. As the competition gets better, one would think McCoy’s success will not come as easy. The major question for this offense will be to figure out where to get yards on the ground when they need them.

UT’s offense suffered a huge blow when Blaine Irby went down with a dislocated knee. Texas’ tight ends will now be counted on for blocking more so than in the passing game. Expect Texas to use more four to five receiver sets in obvious passing downs. If the offense struggles do not be surprised to see Ogbonnaya get some snaps at tight end because of his experience at wide receiver. Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby have performed at an all conference level, but the team still needs a go to third receiver, preferably one that can get deep.

The Arkansas defense has struggled giving up 33.3 per game.

When Arkansas has the ball

The good news is Texas is only allowing 11 points a game, and only Rice has scored in the second half. Each opponent has thrown the ball with success against the Longhorn secondary, and the tests should only get tougher from here on out. Texas ranks ninth in the Big 12 in Pass Defense Efficiency, allowing opposing quarterbacks to attain a 112 passing rating. Arkansas’ Casey Dick is averaging over 300 yards per game through the air. The tackling has improved in the secondary, but the group is still giving up too much easy yardage and allowing too many third down conversions. Safeties Earl Thomas and Blake Gideon must continue to improve each week if the defense has any chance of helping the offense win a conference title.

The best way to help out the inexperienced secondary is to apply pressure. Texas recorded seven sacks against Rice, many of them coming in the second half. This proves that the defensive line can wear out an offense. In today’s age of quick passing sacks have lost some value, but applying pressure on a quarterback to change the timing of the routes as well as disrupting footwork is still key. Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp keeps a stat on number of pressures the team has, so far they are up to 45 through three games.

The run defense has been great, which could be a result of the offensive philosophy that UT’s opponents have used. Texas has a good rotation along their front seven. The line backing core this year has performed better than any group under Mack Brown. Muschamp is becoming a cult hero in Austin, and his desire and work ethic has directly influenced this group.

If Texas wants to get better, and they do, the defense needs to start creating more turnovers. Opposing offenses are giving the secondary too many chances to have only recorded one interception. Texas’ defense has been great in the red-zone giving way to the assumption that they are playing a bend but don’t break type of defense, but truly the lack of execution and talent has provided opportunities for stops. Does anyone believe this defense could stop the Big 12 powers 11 times within the 10 yard line?

Texas should once again be tested, but this is another week where the result isn’t truly in question. Texas’ goals are to be more consistent and allow less big plays while making a few more of their own.

The Texas offense was again on point racking up a total of 600 yards (341 pass, 259 rush). Colt McCoy controlled the game and looks like a quarterback playing with great confidence. The Texas defense continued its trend of bend-don’t-break, allowing 300 passing yards but only 10 points. Overall I would say Texas looked like the #7 team in the nation dominating a decent Rice team.

Now let’s see how each position fared:

Quarterback - Overall Grade: A+

Finally Colt McCoy gets that A+. Colt had all of his talents on display. He threw with great accuracy, controlled the game, and ran with speed and power. Colt threw for 329 yards on 19/23 passing and 4 touchdowns, and added 83 yards and a touchdown on the ground. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must see the highlight of Colt’s touchdown where he ran over two defenders before stepping into the end-zone. You don’t often see that from a quarterback. And if all of that wasn’t enough, Colt also became the new career touchdown pass leader with 62, breaking the previous mark of 60 set by Major Applewhite. All in days work for Colt.

Since the game was a blowout, John Chiles got some decent action rushing for an impressive 72 yards on 10 carries, including a 25 yard run in the 4th quarter for a touchdown. Chiles was only called on to throw the ball once, which he completed for 12 yards.

Running Backs - Overall Grade: B+

Cody Johnson seems to have emerged as the goto back for the Texas Longhorns. We all know Johnson has the power to run up the middle, but against Rice he also showed he has some serious speed on the outside. Johnson ended up with 67 yards on 15 carriers and 1 touchdown. Vondrell McGee also got a few carriers, but turned out to be not all that effective. Chris Ogbonnaya continues to impress catching passes out of the backfield, breaking one for a 46 yard touchdown in the 3rd quarter.

Receivers - Overall Grade: B+

Jordan Shipley had the best game of his career, racking up 155 yards on 5 catches and 2 touchdowns. On Shipley’s second touchdown of the second quarter, he was so wide open there wasn’t a defender within 15 yards. Quan Cosby was the consistent player he always is, catching 7 passes for 90 yards and a score, the only issue being the fumble near the end-zone which ended up as a touchback for Rice. Those types of mistakes can’t happen during Big 12 play. Losing Irby for the season is big, but hopefully Ullman and/or Smith can step-up continue to be a safety valve for Colt.

Defense - Overall Grade: B

Allowing 301 passing yards is obvious cause for worry with our young secondary. We still have a few games left before we hit the meat of our schedule, so hopefully that will be enough time for Will Muschamp to work his magic. Thankfully the Texas front seven is looking strong. They recorded seven sacks and dominated the line of scrimmage. Sergio Kindle ran around like a mad-man disrupting many a play, and Brian Orakpo proved why he is one of the better defensive ends in the nation recording 2 sacks for 29 yards lost and 1 forced fumble. If the young secondary can improve by the beginning of October, Texas will have a very formidable defense.

The highlight of the day for the defense had to be the goal-line stand from the 2 yard line. Texas endured 11 plays and 2 pass interference calls, ending with a interception in the end-zone. Not often you see something like that.

Overall Grade: A-

Colt looks like he is on a mission and has this offense on a roll that cannot be stopped. The defense continues to look a little shaky, but luckily right now the greatness of the offense is outweighing the weakness of the defense. I actually feel pretty good right now about how things are progressing.

I wouldn’t say that I ever thought the game against UTEP was in jeopardy, but I will admit I was a little worried and/or disappointed that we only carried a 15 point lead going into the 4th quarter. It seemed pretty obvious that Texas was dominating the game, but they just couldn’t put it away until late in the game. And once again we showed our weakness lies in the young secondary, which didn’t really show much improvement from the previous game against Florida Atlantic. Luckily we still have some time before we have to face OU.

Now let’s see how each position fared.

Quarterback - Overall Grade: A-

Colt McCoy had another outstanding game, throwing for 282 yards and 4 touchdowns. Colt’s one interception came in the 3rd quarter when wide receiver Dan Buckner was not able to get off the line against the smaller cornerback. I can’t really blame Colt on that one. Colt spread the ball around well, completing passes to 7 different receivers. I really like the confidence Colt is playing with so far this year and it doesn’t look he will be slowing down anytime soon.

Backup quarterback John Chiles did make a brief appearance in the game, but did not attempt any passes. He did run twice for a measly 5 yards. He was a total non-factor. Greg Davis needs to get him more involved.

Running Backs - Overall Grade: B+

The highlight of the running back group is the emergence of a possible future star, Fozzy Whittaker. Fozzy missed the first game with a knee injury but showed no signs of that against UTEP. Fozzy showed off his great lateral speed and ability to get around the corner in a hurry. He is the perfect compliment to the downhill slasher, Vondrell McGee. Fozzy ended up with 72 yards on 12 carries for an impressive 6.0 yards per rush average. Vondrell ended up with only 6 carriers and 18 yards. He better watch out, the way Fozzy ran Saturday, he better improve his production if he wants to see more action on the field.

Receivers - Overall Grade: A-

If you remember last week I was a little disappointed with Quan Cosby’s performance. Well you can throw all of that away, because this week he had the game of his life against UTEP. Quan caught 8 passes for 154 yards, including one where he completely burned the cornerback for an easy touchdown. Tight end Blaine Irby found the end zone again with a nice leaping touchdown up the middle in the second quarter. Dan Buckner also scored a nice touchdown off of a Colt scramble, but his inability to get a push off of a much smaller corner ended up with Colt’s only interception. Dan has the size, he just needs to learn to be more physical around the goal line. Chris Ogbonnaya continued to show he is always a threat coming out of the backfield and is definitely a nice luxury to have on 3rd downs.

Defense - Overall Grade: C+

So how do you give up only 13 points and still get a C+? By letting a team move the ball on you the whole game. Well ok, maybe not the whole game, but at times UTEP moved the ball down the field with ease. Texas allowed 3 drives over 65 yards, 4 field goal attempts, and 1 touchdown. The young secondary again looked average at best. Earl Thomas is supposed to be the one all of the coaches were impressed with in practice. Well somehow he needs to figure out to translate his success in practice to the field.

The defensive played a decent game, but only started to dominate late in the game when they had finally worn out the UTEP offensive line. Brian Orakpo did end up with 2 sacks, but with their size and speed they should have dominated the whole game. Linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy had a ridiculous game, racking up 14 tackles and returning a fumble 26 yards for a touchdown. Overall the linebackers played pretty decent.

Special Teams - Overall Grade: B+

Quan Cosby had an impressive game at the wide receiver position, but he also made an outstanding play on special teams. Quan caught a missed field goal right on the edge of the endzone and alertly returned the ball all the way to the UTEP 35 yard line. Texas scored easily and basically put away the game right there. The kick-offs were much improved from last week, but that is probably due to the high altitude in El Paso. We’ll see how that goes next week.

Overall - Overall Grade: B+

I give Texas the same rating as last week. Not too great, not too bad. They definitely need to sure up some things in the secondary, but luckily there is some time for them to improve. And besides, right now Colt is on fire and the offense is rolling, so let’s save the worrying for a few more weeks.

Follow along below with our live thoughts and analysis during tonight’s game versus UTEP. 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!

Update: Game is over, use the viewer below to read through the entire game or view a plain HTML version here.

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Comments now open.

It may be the biggest game in UTEP football history but tonight’s game featuring the Texas Longhorns and UTEP Miners should be over quickly. The Longhorns are the team traveling 600 miles west (without leaving the state), but tonight the Miners will be the ones sent packing.

Las Vegas has the Horns as 26.5 point favorites, but read on below to see how we see tonight’s game shaking out:

Matt - I think last week Colt McCoy proved to a lot of people that he is going to be a different player this year. He ran with purpose and threw with amazing accuracy. Colt and the Longhorns offense rolled over FAU and racked up 52 points pretty easily. They will probably score at least that much this week and it might be just as easy. UTEP’s defense is not what you would call impressive, and their offense isn’t much better. I will be interested in seeing how the young safeties respond this week after struggling a little in their first game. This one shouldn’t be close.

Texas 55 - UTEP 16

Brian - This looked like a tougher game before UTEP got blown out by Buffalo last week. The Miners might not be that bad and were simply been looking ahead to this week’s game, but the Longhorns should still crush them. I fear the late start means Texas comes out of the gate a little slowly but things should be rolling by the start of the second quarter. Vondrell McGee and John Chiles both have huge games tonight on the ground as the Horns gash them with their running game.

Texas 45 - UTEP 17

The UTEP fans and players have likely had this weekend circled on the calendar for months. Their match-up against the Longhorns might be the biggest game they’ve ever played in the Sun Bowl. After the Miners’ loss to lowly Buffalo last week this game lost a little luster, but the Texas team still has plenty to work on both for this game and the rest of the season.

Read below for the Longhorns’ keys to beat the UTEP Miners:

1. Don’t sleepwalk to start the game.

A 9:15pm game time is not normal for the Texas players but they can’t let it affect the way they start the game. There’s going to be a lot more downtime for the team on gameday but the players need to find a way to get into their routine and be ready for the opening kickoff. If it takes Texas two quarters to wake up, UTEP will gain confidence and start believing the upset is possible.

2. Secondary play must improve.

The young secondary certainly looked inexperienced in the first half against FAU before they settled down a bit. UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe had a rough season opener but was great in 2007 and will test the pass defense. There have to be fewer mental mistakes and fewer missed tackles this week and the safeties in particular need to improve quickly. The passing defense may not hurt the Horns this week or even against Arkansas, but when the team travels to Colorado in October they better not be playing like freshmen anymore.

3. Get more big plays out of the running game.

Vondrell McGee and Chris Ogbonnaya were both solid last week but the longest run of the game came on a 25-yard scamper from QB Colt McCoy. The offense was near perfect but not explosive, this week it would be good to see McGee take one 30+ yards to the house. Getting the speedy Fozzy Whittaker back will certainly help but he’s still not full strength yet.

4. Hit UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe.

The best way to help out the secondary is by getting after the quarterback. The defensive line did get decent pressure on FAU QB Rusty Smith but didn’t record a single sack. That has to change this week. Against UTEP the Horns will likely stay pretty vanilla on defense but the team should still be able to get to and hit Vittatoe repeatedly. I want to see at least one sack each from Brian Orakpo, Henry Melton, and Sergio Kindle Saturday night.

Obviously the Texas Longhorns were supposed to beat Florida Atlantic pretty easily (24 point favorites), but I was a little worried about how they were going to perform with all of their young talent. But I must say that I came away from the game very impressed overall. The offense looked solid, the defense was decent, and they looked liked they were playing with some confidence. I am looking forward to seeing this team progress.

Now let’s look at how each position fared.

Quarterback - Overall Grade: A

If there were any doubts about how Colt McCoy would perform this year, he quickly put the naysayers to bed by completing his first 13 passes and 19 out of his first 20. And if that wasn’t enough he tacked on 100 yards rushing, joining Vince Young as only the second player in school history with 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in the same game. One of the best things about Colt’s running was he didn’t have that chicken-with-his-head-cutoff style he seemed to have perfected last year, but that he actually ran with a purpose. And luckily for us, he was even able to survive two very late cheap shots from the FAU linebackers on the sideline.

John Chiles also got into the action as both QB and in the new “Q package” on offense. The Q package didn’t necessarily contribute to any big plays, but having Chiles out there with Colt at the same time definitely made the defense think a little extra. Hopefully will get to see this a little more throughout the season. Chiles also threw for his first touchdown, 29 yards down the middle to WR James Kirkendoll.

Running Backs - Overall Grade: B+

The running backs didn’t do anything to get me too excited, but Vondrell McGee, Chris Ogbonnaya, and Cody Johnson all had solid games. All three scored touchdowns, and Ogbonnaya even caught 4 passes for 35 yards and a touchdown.

I must say I am a big fan of McGee and I think he has a lot of potential to be a great running back this year. He showed that he isn’t afraid to run up the middle, and also has the speed on the outside. McGee finished with 63 yards and 1 touchdown. Even though they split a lot of time at the running back position, I expect to see a few 100 yard games out of McGee this season.

Receivers - Overall Grade: B

It’s easy to have a good game as a wide receiver when the quarterback is on fire. Tight end Blaine Irby had a stand-out game catching 7 passes for 62 yards and a touchdown. Irby seemed to be Colt’s safety valve throughout the game. Jordan Shipley put in a solid performance, including a nice touchdown catch in the back of the end zone. I do hope to see some more production out of Quan Cosby in the next game. Cosby never really seemed to be a factor, and dropped a catchable ball from McCoy after a nice scramble.

Defense - Overall Grade: B-

It’s hard to give the defense a B- when they only allowed 10 points, but the secondary looked somewhat shaky throughout the game. Our young safeties struggled as expected, as redshirt freshman Earl Thomas got beat on several big plays. At least he helped to make up for it with a blocked punt. The front seven was actually pretty strong. Even though the defense did not record a sack, they were constantly putting pressure on FAU QB Rusty Smith and forcing him to make some hurried decisions. Muschamp definitely has some work to do with this defense, but one good sign is it looks like they responded well after giving up to early red zone drives.

Special Teams - Overall Grade: B-

Starting the game off by kicking it out-of-bounds is not something I wanted to see. I am not sure why we always struggle with the kick-off, but it is something they eventually need to correct. Quan Cosby was returning some punts, which is pretty scary considering he is one of our main receivers. Not sure we can handle an injury to Cosby at this point. Earl Thomas’ blocked punt was nice, and I think having Akina back focused on special teams will be a good thing this year.

Overall - Overall Grade: B+

Like I said, overall I was pretty impressed with the performance. The offense executed well and Colt looks like he is back on track. There are still some things we need to sure up on defense, but they are young and have a lot of potential to be very good.

Florida Atlantic isn’t a national power but they’re not the typical Texas first game opponent either. Sun Belt champs and a bowl winner last year under coach Howard Schnellenberger, FAU is certainly capable of giving the Horns a scare if they don’t bother showing up.

The last thing Texas coaches and fans want is a repeat of the Arkansas State game a year ago. Here’s three things the Longhorns need to do to make sure the big upset doesn’t happen:

1. How will the young safeties react under fire?

The five safeties listed as co-starters for the Horns are all freshmen and two of them have been in class less than a week. Meanwhile FAU quarterback Rusty Smith led the Owls to a bowl game last year with his strong play in the latter part of the season including a 336 yard, 5 touchdown performance against Memphis in their bowl game. If the safeties (and the entire secondary) can limit mental mistakes and the resulting big plays the Longhorns should be able to stave off the upset.

2. Use John Chiles and the Q Package.

We saw Greg Davis use John Chiles in a few unique situations last season but mostly as a decoy or a traditional quarterback. The full “Q Package” installed this offseason reportedly has Chiles all over the field including quarterback, receiver, and running back. It’s important for the success of the offense to have someone step up as a big play guy and if Chiles is that guy it needs to start early. Hopefully not only will Chiles line up in multiple spots but we’ll get to see him throw, catch, and run a little from all over the field.

3. Get the running game started early.

Last year with Jamaal Charles the Texas offense still waited till late October before getting a consistent running game going, if they want to have a chance at a Big 12 South title this year they’ll have to get rolling a lot sooner than that. It’s going to be a running back by committee approach this year with sophomore Vondrell McGee leading the way. Against FAU Davis needs to get McGee 15 carries before halftime and see what he can do.

Position Rating: C+
Starter: Vondrell McGee
Reserves: Foswhitt Whittaker, Chris Ogbonnaya

Going into spring practice Vondrell McGee was the clear number one guy at running back but freshman Fozzy Whittaker’s big play ability has earned him a share of the job. The talent is there but the lack of experience brings down the group’s preseason grade.

McGee was the top running back in the state in the 2006 class and has been solid so far in his short career. He’ll be expected to carry the bulk of the load especially early in the season. Whittaker doesn’t have Jamaal Charles’ top end speed but does have the quickness and elusiveness to break big runs. Neither player has much experience, McGee’s 75 carries last season are the duo’s only career touches, but together they have the ability to make up for the loss of Charles to the NFL.

Senior Chris Ogbonnaya is a reliable backup who will again contribute as the team’s third down back. As a former fullback and wide receiver Chris is perfect for the role, providing blitz pickup help and a sure-handed outlet receiver out of the backfield. His experience and versatility bring stability to the running backs corps but he likely won’t be relied on to provide much offensive output.

Related Links

• Quarterbacks preview
• Wide Receivers preview
• Tight ends preview
• Offensive line preview
• Defensive tackles preview
• Defensive ends preview
• Linebackers preview
• Cornerbacks preview
• Safeties preview

Update: Bevo Sports is giving away NCAA Football 09, enter to win!

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:

Real Name	Name	Year	Position	Rating
Buck Burnette	C #66	Soph(RS)	C	78
	C #60	Fresh	C	72
Deon Beasley	CB #7	Junior	CB	85
Ryan Palmer	CB #13	Senior(RS)	CB	84
Curtis Brown	CB #3	Soph	CB	83
Aaron Williams	CB #26	Fresh	CB	80
Chykie Brown	CB #8	Soph(RS)	CB	80
Earl Thomas	CB #12	Fresh(RS)	CB	78
DJ Monroe	CB #27	Fresh	CB	76
Roy Miller	DT #99	Senior	DT	90
Jarvis Humphrey	DT #96	Fresh	DT	80
Brian Ellis	DT #90	Soph(RS)	DT	78
Ben Alexander	DT #92	Junior	DT	76
Kheeston Randall	DT #88	Fresh	DT	76
Chris Ogbonnayya	FB #3	Senior(RS)	FB	93
Cody Johnson	FB #31	Fresh(RS)	FB	72
Ben Wells	FS #5	Fresh(RS)	FS	84
Christian Scott	FS #6	Fresh(RS)	FS	77
Blake Gideon	FS #21	Fresh	FS	77
Vondrell McGee	HB #2	Soph(RS)	HB	85
DeSean Hales	HB #30	Fresh	HB	80
Antwan Cobb	HB #24	Soph(RS)	HB	79
Fozzy Whittaker	HB #22	Fresh(RS)	HB	78
Jeremy Hills	HB #32	Fresh	HB	76
Tre Newton	HB #23	Fresh	HB	73
Hunter Lawrence	K #15	Junior	K	82
Justin Tucker	K #9	Fresh	K	69
Lamarr Houston	LE #33	Junior	LE	91
Aaron Lewis	LE #95	Senior	LE	85
Henry Melton	LE #37	Senior	LE	80
Charlie Tanner	LG #52	Junior(RS)	LG	86
Tray Allen	LG #70	Soph	LG	82
Chris Hall	LG #71	Junior(RS)	LG	81
Aundre McGaskey	LG #76	Fresh(RS)	LG	74
Sergio Kindle	LOLB #2	Junior	LOLB	85
	LOLB #16	Fresh	LOLB	80
	LOLB #57	Fresh	LOLB	76
David Snow	LT #78	Fresh	LT	78
Britt Mitchell	LT #72	Soph(RS)	LT	78
Rashad Bobino	MLB #44	Senior(RS)	MLB	90
Jared Norton	MLB #11	Junior	MLB	85
Trevor Gerland	P #17	Junior(RS)	P	83
Colt McCoy	QB #12	Junior(RS)	QB	89
Sherrod Harris	QB #17	Soph(RS)	QB	81
John Chiles	QB #7	Soph	QB	79
Eddie Jones	RE #32	Soph(RS)	RE	92
Brian Orakpo	RE #98	Senior(RS)	RE	90
Russell Carter	RE #97	Fresh(RS)	RE	77
Cedric Dockery	RG #55	Senior(RS)	RG	89
Michael Huey	RG #63	Soph	RG	81
Roddrick Muckelroy	ROLB #38	Junior(RS)	ROLB	87
Keenan Robinson	ROLB #53	Fresh(RS)	ROLB	82
	ROLB #4	Fresh	ROLB	75
Adam Ulatoski	RT #74	Junior(RS)	RT	85
Mark Buchanan	RT #54	Fresh	RT	74
Ishie Oduegwu	SS #19	Junior(RS)	SS	88
Nolan Brewster	SS #36	Fresh	SS	79
Peter Ullman	TE #86	Senior(RS)	TE	81
Ahmard Howard	TE #13	Fresh(RS)	TE	74
Blaine Irby	TE #19	Soph	TE	73
Quan Cosby	WR #6	Senior	WR	89
Jordan Shipley	WR #8	Senior(RS)	WR	84
Montre Webber	WR #14	Soph(RS)	WR	83
Dan Buckner	WR #4	Fresh	WR	79
Malcolm Williams	WR #9	Fresh(RS)	WR	78
DJ Grant	WR #80	Fresh	WR	75
Antoine Hicks	WR #81	Fresh	WR	75
James Kirkendoll	WR #87	Soph	WR	74

Downloads

• Texas player ratings
• Full top 25 player ratings

Battle to replace RB Charles highlights Texas’ spring practice. I thought Fozzy Whittaker looked great going against the other twos.

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.

Tray Allen gets the start today at left tackle with Adam Ulatoski out.

I thought Brandon Collins had dropped that pass but on the replay cornerback Deon Beasley 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. Colt McCoy threw a nice pass but put it over Quan Cosby’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 Jordan Shipley reverse by Henry Melton. 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.

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

John Chiles and Fozzy Whittaker 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 Vondrell McGee ended with him delivering a blow to Earl Thomas. 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 Justin Tucker. We’ve already got Ryan Bailey and Hunter Lawrence and I want one of them to win the kicking job this year so we can afford to redshirt Tucker.

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

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