40 Acres Sports

Sentencing for the former Texas RB will be in November.

Someone should let Houston Chronicle writer John Lopez know he should at least try a little to get some facts right. He doesn’t have to be perfect, just come closer than he did in this article where he urges Aggies to judge Dennis Franchione based on what he does on the field.

Lopez compares Fran’s situation in College Station to John Mackovic’s tenure in Austin:

Once upon a time, there were Longhorns who thought former coach John Mackovic’s biggest problem was his aloof, high-society ways. But that wasn’t it. Mackovic was a failure and not the right fit because he got his tail consistently whipped by Barry Switzer and Jackie Sherrill on the recruiting trail and again on Saturdays.

Nice story, too bad it’s completely fictional. Mackovic was the Texas head coach from 1992 – 1997. Barry Switzer was cheating in Norman, Oklahoma from 1973 through 1988, and Jackie Sherrill was cheating in College Station from 1982 to 1988. Don’t worry John, you were only four or five years off.

And in his first three years at Texas, Mackovic was 19 – 14 – 1 compared to Fran’s 16 – 18. He also won a Southwest Conference title and had two second place finishes. The Aggies finished 5th, 4th, and 4th in the Big 12 South. Comparison’s not working out too well there. By the way, Mackovic also won one more Big 12 title than Franchione ever will at Texas A&M.

Nevermind actual facts, keep Fran!

Our Thoughts

Brian – None of my five guys move because none of them had a strong week. Adrian Peterson has yet to put up a huge game, and against the mighty Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State he was again only solid. Troy Smith had a chance to pass Peterson but against Penn State Smith had his worst game of the year. It was a week of boring matchups and the top guys put up average performances to match.

Matt – Garrett Wolfe is quickly becoming one of the more impressive players in college football. Wolfe had another spectacular weekend, running for 198 yards and catching for 42 yards. I ended up bumping Steve Slaton down a couple spots mainly because he didn’t do anything to wow me against East Carolina.

Related Links

• Last week’s poll
• ESPN Experts Poll
• SI.com Heisman Watch

Mom said the MRI was good news, could play against SHSU.

Former Texas quarterback Chris Simms had an emergency splenectomy today after the Tampa Bay Bucs lost to the Carolina Panthers. At some point during the game Simms ruptured his spleen but Simms played through the injury and led the Bucs to a go ahead field goal that did not hold up.

It was originally reported that Simms was in critical condition but that information was inaccurate. Simms had the surgery to remove his spleen, received blood transfusions, and will be Tampa’s St. Joseph’s Hospital for several days. He should make a full recovery but will probably miss several months and possibly the rest of the season. He’ll eventually be able to return to action and play without a spleen at no increased risk of injury.

This is very serious news for Chris and his family and our thoughts are with them as they get through this.

Does any team choke more often than the Michigan State Spartans? Not only do they choke often but they find varied ways to do it. Year after year they find away to blow a good start to a season or choke away a big win or blow a big game after an upset win. Tonight they’re running the ball down Notre Dame’s throat and once they get the lead they stop giving it to their tailbacks. I guess it’s was probably for the best, as just like Ohio State fans Michigan State tends to burn things anytime they win a football or basketball game.

Notre Dame is a decidedly average football team. Their below average defense from last year has returned and improved to be just slightly below average this season. What’s surprising is how much worse their offense has become this year. They can’t run the football and they can’t protect Brady Quinn. And Quinn seems to make poor throws when he’s under a decent pass rush. The Irish are an overhyped, middle of the pack football team and nothing more.

Sounds like he’ll miss at least a few weeks.

I’m liveblogging the game over at the NCAA FanHouse. If you want to follow along or join in on the conversation if you’d like. Here’s the first half.

Second half underway now and it gets it’s own post.

A touching article on Matt Nader and the people who helped save his life.

Something he repeatedly proved to Texas fans last year.