40 Acres Sports

ABC was about to screw Longhorn fans once again, they botched things the last two weeks and seemed like they weren’t going to switch away from the Texas Tech game. They would’ve had throngs of angry Horns fans on the doorsteps if they did it to us again.

Big game today, I really don’t think the Buffs are as good as people think they are. They’re good, but they played poorly against the only top opponent they’ve played so far this season. They’re getting a lot of love for throttling the Aggies, but who hasn’t done that. It’ll be interesting to see how we do if Jamaal Charles is limited or doesn’t play and to see how we match up with their big tight end, Joe Klopfenstein.

First Quarter

• Great 3 and out from the defense. A lot of pressure on the Colorado quarterback, Joel Klatt.
• You don’t have to call a freaking foul on every kick return, it looked like Tarell Brown brushed against the guy and they threw a flag. Weak call but not a smart play by Brown either. After the penalty and a great kick we’re going to start back on our own 10.
• Penalties have started already.
• Vince Young is looking good already. Looks comfortable in the pocket and is getting time to throw. He’s hit several open wide receivers in stride.
• Selvin Young hasn’t had much room to run yet.
• Going for it on 4th down and we have to blow a timeout. That defeats the whole damn purpose.
• I was about to yell at Vince for not running for the first down just now but he finds Brian Carter open down the field and hits him for a huge first down.
• I like the screen call to Romance Taylor but that didn’t work at all.
• Another great job protecting Vince and another good job by him to find the open man on 3rd and 13. David Thomas caught the ball short and made a great effort to get the first.
• Yikes that was scary. Great play action and pump fake by VY but then he dove for the goal line and got hammered. Careful big guy.
• QB sneak by VY for the touchdown to cap off a fantastic opening drive by the Longhorns. We passed the ball very well and converted several 3rd downs and a 4th too. 16 plays covering 90 yards but not much success running the ball.

Colorado 0, Texas 7

• Great kick by Greg Johnson for the touchback. Not wonderful depth but perfect location.
• Weak roughing the passer call. This isn’t the NFL, the QB’s aren’t made of glass. Tim Crowder took one step and hit Klatt and they throw the flag. Two guys should have had the sack before then though, I think Brian Robison and Rod Wright both missed him.
• Wow, a personal foul not against us. That’s downright shocking. Big penalty puts them in a 3rd and a mile situation.
• Charles isn’t healthy and Selvin Young is a serviceable back, but JC just brings another gear. While the game is in doubt we need him in there just to make CU think about him.
• Another third down conversion to Thomas. You guys might want to cover him.
• Fantastic play by Vince and just as good by Billy Pittman. Young is scrambling and finds Pittman who throws on the brakes, makes a great catch, and gets moving down field.
• Great run by VY for a TD. Great fake on the zone read to Selvin, then made several guys miss and got the ball just inside the pylon. Of course the refs decide to review the play since it was an obvious touchdowns, only plays that hose us aren’t reviewed.

Colorado 0, Texas 14

• Another good kick by Johnson is returned from 2 yards deep in the end zone. CU starts inside their own 20.

Second Quarter

• If we’re going to blitz a safety, we can’t miss the quarterback. Michael Griffin came untouched but out of control. Luckily Klatt overthrew his WR and it landed right in Aaron Ross’ hands for an interception. Defense had given up a little yardage on that drive but got the big play when they needed it.
• I LOVE BILLY PITTMAN! He just finds a way to get wide open deep and Vince always seems to find him. Great pass protection again.
• It wasn’t only from 5 yards out but that was one of Selvin Young’s better runs this year. Looked light and quick and got himself into the endzone easily.

Colorado 0, Texas 21

• Another deep kick and good coverage, we look like a different football team out here today in all facets of the game. I guess this is what our team looks like when we don’t play sloppy.
• Defense stepped it back up this series for another quick 3 and out.
• Oooooh! We we’re going big again and Taylor had a step but Vince overthrew him by about 10 yards. He puts a little touch on that ball and we’re up 28.
• Nice to see Nate Jones on the field and making a catch. He’s got speed and talent and after starting a few games last year has barely played this season.
• Selvin still looks hesitant when there’s no hole. He almost just freezes and falls down thinking about where he should cut instead of just hitting it hard and getting as much as he can.
• Great run by Vince but I think he fumbled it before the ball broke the plane. He recovered it himself at the 6 inch line though.
• Well yippee a bad replay decision went our way. They reviewed it but I guess couldn’t tell conclusively when he fumbled the ball and if it was before he scored.

Colorado 0, Texas 28

• Rod Wright looks a step slower than he did a year or two ago. I don’t know if he’s out of shape or hurt or what. He’s done well and holds his own inside, but without his old quickness he’s just not as disruptive as he used to be.
• I wouldn’t trust Gary Barnett with my kid. He’s not as slimey as former Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel but there’s just something about him.
• Brian Orakpo is playing a lot early. As he gets more comfortable against the run he’ll see even more action spelling Robison and Crowder.
• Mason Crosby is a stud, that 49 yarder would’ve been good from 60. And we did give a scholarship to a place kicker this season and a punter last.

Colorado 3, Texas 28

• Limas Sweed really does look like Roy Williams out there with the way he moves and looks in that uniform. Hasn’t played like Roy yet but he’s stepped up his game big time this year.
• Speaking of Sweed… what a play! Beautiful deep ball from Vince, just tossed it up there and let Limas go get it. Great throw that Vince doesn’t usually make (as evidenced earlier to Ramonce) and just as good a catch in the very back of the end zone.

Colorado 3, Texas 35

• Why are the announcers shocked Colorado is going for the touchdown and not the field goal? They’re down by 32 points they don’t have time to kick 10 field goals and get back in this game. Idiots.
• Touchdown CU. I was hoping we’d step up and stop them and knock them down mentally a little.
• Missouri win in overtime is good for us BCS-wise since we don’t play Iowa State this year.

Well that wraps up the first half. We’re up huge and we’re playing well on both sides of the ball. Offense has been darn near perfect and scored TD’s on all five possesions. Vince Young’s first half stats are just sick: 16 of 18 passing for 259 yards and 1 TD and 7 rushes for 48 yards and 3 more TD’s. With the way he and the whole team are playing right now and USC down by 7 at the half to Notre Dame, he might be gaining Heisman steam and the Horns might be picking up first place votes.

Third Quarter

• I’ve never seen a QB get this much credit for the offensive line’s blocking. You’d think Vince was blocking for himself.
• Seriously Colorado, you really might want to cover David Thomas on third down. That’s at least the third time he’s been wide open in that situation.
• Good blitz pick up by Selvin Young and all the lineman. Seems like everytime they blitz we’ve still had plenty of time to find a receiver open.
• How legal is that for Steve McNair to be giving Vince jerseys that probaly cost $200? Shhhh!
• Great catch by Limas Sweed on a ball down below his knees.
• You know what they say about wide receivers with big hands…
• We seem to get called for holding more than any team in the country. That was a pretty obvious one against David Thomas, he seems to be struggling a little with his blocking this year. If he wants to play in the pros next year he’ll have to get better at that.
• David Pino pushed the 39 yard field goal attempt to the right and missed it. His first miss of the year. I think I trust him kicking a big field goal (under 45 yards), but he’s nowhere near automatic.
• Pay as you go cell phones are a dumb idea.
• We need the defense to stop them this series. We’re up 25 but there’s still a ton of time left and the offense is probably going to play a little more conservatively this half.
• If that call is against Tarell Brown I’m going to shoot someone. First off the CU receiver is the one initiating all the contact. Then the ball uncatchable 3 yards out of bounds, is there no such thing anymore as an uncatchable pass? What a freaking joke. Once again the Big XII should be embarrased by the officials they’re trotting out there.
• Vince could’ve gotten the first if he cuts up sooner, he only needed two yards. Vince looked shook up after the play and no one seemed to notice. If Vince freaking coughs in the huddle I’m calling in the trainer, a handful of doctors, and a respiratory specialist.
• You don’t see us running too many draw plays the last two years, this may be the first game we’ve played in the Vince Young era where we’ve used the pass to set up the run.
• Good amount of applause from the crowd when they see Henry Melton staying out there for first down after picking up the 3rd and short. Three runs in a row for Big Henry but only about 4 yards total on them.

Fourth Quarter

• Wonderful protection, perfect throw, and a tough catch by Sweed for another touchdown. Great job by everybody on the play, but Limas has really stepped up today and had a big game and made several difficult catches.
• Why do the announcers keep wanting us to sit Vince with a whole quarter to go? They thought he should’ve been out of 25 point game midway through the third quarter.

Colorado 10, Texas 42

• As nice as it would be for USC to lose, I hate Notre Dame so much that I really don’t know how I want that game to turn out. The score is tied at 21 right now and I’m a little worried that the media might hump Charlie Weis’ leg if they beat the Trojans. They might even jump some of the undefeated teams ahead of them that have played much better football this year.
• We’re a much better tackling team this year than in year’s past, in the secondary especially.
• With the ball at the 2 to start the drive we better see Vince out there for one more series. You don’t want to send Matt Nordgren out there in that situation and CU know we’re only going to run the ball.
• That Ryobi Laser Level is pretty cool, too bad I have no use for it.
• Or we could send Vince out there and only run the ball. Bah!
• Big time dangerous screen to Taylor and then he fumbled the ball. Crap.
• I love that the first guy shoved Mike Garcia but he gets the flag for retaliating. Just because he did it better, doesn’t mean he’s the only one who should be penalized.
• Did the announcer say damn or bam?
• The Buffs convert Taylor’s fumble into 7 points. Defense did their best and got CU into a 4th down but couldn’t hold them.

Colorado 17, Texas 42

• I didn’t know it was possible, but the black shoes make Matt Nordgren look even whiter.
• Nordgren definitely needs the reps and we need Vince healthy, but for the 80% of poll voters who watch maybe one game a week we need to win big. 42 – 17 looks pretty good, let’s hope the defense can keep it that way. Maybe Nordgren can lead us to some points as well.
• Chris Ogbonnaya getting some carries.
• Great history of rap music by John Saunders right now. I’m kidding, that was a brutal monologue.
• Big hit by Tarell Brown and he forces the fumble. Drew Kelson (in what might be his first playing time of the day, what’s the story there?) makes the recovery and gives the Texas offense a chance to get some points.
• I think Melton may actually run the ball better in open spaces than he does in short yardage. Lately on those short ones he just falls forward for a yard or two (though he is getting the yard he needs.)
• The biggest difference between football and being in the Marines is you’re not at war. Great reporting by Susie Schuster on Ahmard Hall. Sideline reporters make me nauseous.
• Nordgren takes a knee rather than trying to put more points on the board and the ball game is over.

Final Thoughts

Vince Young played about as good a game as a quarterback can today. The Rose Bowl is his signature game but he did all of that on his own and most of it with his legs, today he showed everyone that he’s a complete football player. He ran and threw the ball effortlessly today and played a near flawless game. His final stats: 25 of 29 for 338 yards and 2 touchdowns and add 59 yards and 3 more TD’s on the ground. Just as importantly, his receivers showed up today as well. David Thomas had 5 catches and converted several important third downs and Limas Sweed had 7 catches, 88 yards, and 2 touchdowns. I don’t remember a single dropped ball and there were probably 5 fantastic catches. If we had a healthy Jamaal Charles or if we had kept putting the ball in the air in the second half we could have won by 40. A very complete football game by the Horns.

Players of the Game

Offense – Is there any doubt about this one? Vince Young had this honor wrapped up about midway through the second quarter. Fantastic all around game and looked comfortable and had fun doing it.

Defense – Tougher call here as there was pretty much the entire defense played a great game. Defensive coordinator Gene Chizik probably deserves it for the well timed blitzes and overall great schemes, but I’ll give it to Brian Robison for being in the backfield throughout the game. He was all over Joel Klatt and there was nowhere for CU’s backs to go when they came his way.

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