40 Acres Sports

Vince Young likely to start Sunday against Raiders. Might not be 100% but they think he won’t re-injure his quad.

An incredible video of future Longhorn [tag]DeSean Hales[/tag] of Klein Oak breaking off a ridiculous 71-yard touchdown run against Klein Forest from last night.

Wow.

Hales has been recruited by everyone to be a wide receiver in college but after seeing that maybe he needs a shot at running back. Somehow you have to get the ball in his hands in open spaces and give him a chance to make plays. I’m not sure Texas has had a receiver that could make plays like that in a long, long time.

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Brown wants to get running game on track, “We’ve got to improve our north-south running game.” Duh.

It wasn’t pretty and it was way too close for comfort, but Texas got things together eventually and finished off [tag]Baylor[/tag] 31 to 10. Here’s what the media and blog-o-sphere are saying about the game:

Austin-American Statesman

• Texas 31, Baylor 10
• The tortoise of Horns backs, Griffin scores on persistence
• Third and Longhorns
• Survivor: Waco
• Victory over Baylor no masterpiece
• QB McCoy has become Texas’ best runner
• Machen mastering Bears’ lead spot

Dallas Morning News

• McCoy struggles but perseveres
• Upset slips through Bears’ grasp
• Texas-Baylor notebook

Houston Chronicle

• Texas puts away Baylor in fourth quarter
• UT Notes: Oduegwu rewarded with time at safety

Other

• Which UT is for real?
• Horns Sidestep Bear Trap
• Inside Texas photo gallery
• Postgame React: Baylor
• Live blog: Texas at Baylor
• Baylor gets picked off by Texas 31-10
• Longhorns finally find a way to move ball
• Horns turn into pickoff artists late
• Texas passes test from Baylor
• Texas beats Baylor 31-10
• #19 Texas beats up on Baylor
• UT/BU reaction and Pros/Cons

Texas moves up to #19 in latest BCS rankings. Moves up 3 spots and is right on Georgia’s tail.

I’ll be surprised if Bill Callahan survives the weekend after Nebraska’s blowout loss to A&M. I knew Nebraska was terrible but didn’t expect A&M to score almost 40.

Despite miscues, Longhorns earn 10th straight win vs. Baylor. Game was too close for too long but Texas pulls away late.

Nothing gets me more fired up than watching Ducks Unlimited TV before a big Longhorn game. Do you think Versus would show a show about hunting and killing ducks if Oregon was playing instead of Texas and [tag]Baylor[/tag]? That might be a little awkward.

If you’re not one of the many Texas fans who made the trip to Waco you’ll have to surf through about 1,000 channels before you’ll find Versus and you’re probably only getting it if you have satellite or digital cable. Versus is on channel 603 on DirecTV, channel 151 on Dish Network, and on 470 if you’ve got Time Warner digital cable in Austin.

Here we go…

First Quarter

• I like the straight zone run play with [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] than the zone read or the counter. Gives Jamaal a chance to hit the hole fast and get going north/south quicker.
• I like that a professional football announcer doesn’t know the difference between the zone read and a counter. Not even run out of the shotgun is a zone read.
• Three attempts towards [tag]Jermichael Finley[/tag] already. One good completion, one ball he should have caught, and one that he and [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] had a miscommunication on.
• And another pass towards Finley. Texas attempts a fake field goal after he goes out wide and uncovered but [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] can’t get the play off quickly enough and then can’t get the ball out to him before the defense adjusted. Versus missed the whole play because we were zoomed in on kicker Ryan Bailey’s helmet.
• [tag]Erick Jackson[/tag] has been serviceable at safety this season but he is absolutely awful at adjusting to the ball in the air. He was there in coverage on a terrible Baylor pass but couldn’t make a play on the ball. Looked similar to the unnecessary pass interference penalty he picked up last week.
• Baylor offensive lineman Dan Gay IV commits a holding penalty. How unfortunate is that last name? Especially with the IV after it. You can essentially put any noun after that and hilarity will ensue.
• I’m surprised how empty Floyd Casey Stadium is. Enough Texas fans normally make that trip to fill up the place a little better.
• Second time already that I thought the Baylor defensive back got there early on pass coverage. [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] doesn’t drop many passes, it looked like he got bumped early.
• Great punt but Jackson can’t down it before it bounces into the end zone. The only good thing to come out of the Kansas State game is punter Justin Moore.
• Versus really likes to use the camera angle from the roof of the press box. The damn thing is so high i can’t tell anybody’s number.
• [tag]John Chiles[/tag] and the second team offense is in there for this series. I actually like the timing of this one better than last week. The first team offense didn’t have much momentum so it’s not really going to disrupt them.
• Chiles has to be more careful with the football. First downs are important but not as important as holding onto the football. Don’t stretch the ball out in traffic on your own 40 yard line.
• Smithson Valley sucks!
• Big run by [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] up the middle. 18 yards on the carry is probably the second teamers biggest gain against first team defenses. I think as Chiles gains more experience running the zone read the whole offense opens up. Right now he looks a little like he’s keeping and handing off randomly and not doing a great job reading the defensive end. That’s a tough read and you can only really learn in live game situations.
• Set your feet before you throw John.
• [tag]Ryan Bailey[/tag] nails the 46-yard field goal into the wind. Right down the middle.

Texas 3, Baylor 0

• How sad is Baylor that the announcers are talking about their defense getting a victory by holding the second team defense to only a field goal?
• Not sure if this is their first series or not, but the young group of linebackers are in there now for Texas.
• What did they rule that play on the field? I thought I saw an official pointing that he was down before the fumble. Looks to me like the ball is coming loose a little before the Baylor running back hits the ground.
• Not sure how they ruled he was down after reviewing that play. Looked pretty clear from one angle that the ball was loose before his butt hit the ground.

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Pretty good week for Big 12 fans as there’s two games to definitely keep an eye on. Texas Tech and Missouri could hit 100 and Kansas has a chance to prove it’s worthy of being the 13th best team in the country.

On the national scene, two SEC games today between ranked teams. Florida at Kentucky if the afternoon and a primetime match-up between Tigers tonight when Auburn visits LSU.

Here’s how to spend your day on the couch:

(22) Texas at Baylor – 11:30 am on Versus. DirecTV finally picks up FSN HD and Texas’ game is on the even crappier Versus. If you thought last week‘s announcing was bad, today’s game could be worse.

(15) Florida at (7) Kentucky – 2:30 pm on CBS. The Wildcats are the seventh-ranked team in the country and just knocked off LSU but they’re still 7 point underdogs today at home against the Gators. If Kentucky’s line can protect Andre Woodson they can pull the upset at home today.

(24) Texas Tech at (16) Missouri – 2:30 pm on ABC. Should be one of the highest scoring and most exciting games of the day. Whichever team plays a little defense will win.

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It looks like [tag]Priest Holmes[/tag] is on the verge of finally making his NFL return. He returned to the practice field for the Kansas City Chiefs this week for the first time since suffering a spinal injury October 2005. ESPN has video of Priest’s first day back below:

The Chiefs also traded away former #2 running back Michael Bennett, a signal that they’re expecting Holmes to contribute immediately. Larry Johnson is clearly the team’s featured back, I expect Priest to see playing time mostly on third downs due to his excellent receiving and blitz pickup skills. Bennett only carried the ball 20 times in six games but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Holmes get 6 – 8 carries per game once he’s in game shape.

There is still no official word if Holmes will be activated in time to play in this Sunday’s Chiefs – Raiders game, but all signs point to him being ready for a limited role. We’ll have updates when we hear anything new on his status.

Update: The Chiefs have activated Holmes for Sunday’s game against the Raiders.