Watch below as ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit talks about Sam Bradford’s return to the field and Texas’ need to win out and control their own destiny if they want any hope of another national title:
ESPN’s Pat Forde takes his weekly dash around college football and this week of course there’s a lot of talk on the Red River Rivalry. Good read.
Highlights from Texas’ complete thumping of [tag]UTEP[/tag] are below:
Follow along live with 40 Acres Sports on Twitter and below for our thoughts and analysis during today’s game versus [tag]UTEP[/tag] on FSN. We’ll be live right around kickoff so join us to discuss the game right around 2:30pm this afternoon.
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!
One more game to tune up for the Longhorns before Big 12 play gets fully underway. The Longhorns are big favorites, but how to the editors of 40 Acres Sports see the game going?
Brian – Is this the [tag]Tre Newton[/tag] coming out party? In the last non-conference game for the Horns I expect the Texas coaches to try to feature Newton and jumpstart the running game for the rest of the season. [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] will start slow again but this time Greg Davis will go to hurry up in first quarter so he’ll play three good quarters of football instead of two. Defense comes up big against a UTEP offense that has been struggling against even average early season opponents. Texas 60, UTEP 14
Michael – The 2009 Longhorns have yet to live up to preseason expectations, and there’s little chance of that changing this afternoon against an uncommonly weak UTEP team. However, the offense has a golden opportunity to show that they really are the dominant, well-oiled machine that Texas fans expected them to be. Look for a healthier Colt McCoy to establish his passing dominance, hopefully with more deep shots to Malcolm Williams to take some pressure off of [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag]. With Tre Newton as the starting back, I’d like to see more running plays inside the box as well to get our offensive line some practice in being aggressive. Defensively, there’s still room for improvement. Look for [tag]Deon Beasley[/tag] to make his return at some point this afternoon, and Muschamp will most likely be working to tighten down the zone defense to eliminate some of the bend in the “bend and not break” scheme. Texas 52, UTEP 10
Ross – This game against UTEP needs to be the breather that all Texas fans have been hoping for. Colt McCoy had 4 TD passes last year against the Miners and we should expect the same this year. The emergence of Tre Newton as the starting running back should open up the middle of the field where opponents/linebackers have not respected the running game. This will be the momentum game that will help the UT players feel good going into the bye week. Texas 45 – UTEP 17
Predictions from Twitterverse
- kslonghorn 55-14 Texas – great showing by Chiles today
- paulwalker 49-14…
- dagr81210 Colt gets it going and for 4 quarters and Texas wins big Utep 7 TEXAS 46! Hook’em Horns!
- willifordj UT 48 UTEP 17. Tre Newton with 148 yds rushing and 2 TDs. Earl Thomas with 1 pick. Okafor with 1.5 sacks.
- Bill_Morrison 48-10 #UT; McCoy to throw for 3 TD’s, run for 1; SergioK w/ 2 sacks;
- marshallboone Texas 55 UTEP 13
The Texas defense will try to swarm Trevor Vittatoe and the UTEP offense.
A week after a tough Big 12 matchup against [tag]Texas Tech[/tag], the Texas Longhorns play one more non-conference game against the UTEP Miners before getting into the meat of their schedule. The Miners are 1-2 to start the season while the Horns are 3-0 and ranked #2 in the country.
Here are a few UTEP players to keep an eye on during Saturday’s game…
Trevor Vittatoe, QB #10
2009 Stats: 54.9% comp pct, 602 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
The senior quarterback from Euless Trinity has put together back-to-back 3,000 yards seasons out in El Paso. Last year he was both prolific and efficient finishing the year with 33 TD passes against only 9 interceptions. In last year’s matchup against the Horns, Vittatoe threw for 267 yards and 1 TD in the loss. He’s still trying to get in a rhythm in 2009, and [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] and his Texas defense will look to make sure that doesn’t happen until next week.
Jeff Moturi, WR #6
2009 Stats: 12 receptions, 106 yards, 0 TDs
Like Vittatoe, senior wideout Jeff Moturi is a good player that is struggling early this season. He caught over 50 balls in each of the last two seasons and has 22 career touchdown catches. Moturi had 5 catches for 59 yards last year against Texas but he’s still looking for his first TD of the 2009 season. UTEP spreads the ball around between Moturi, Kris Adams, and several other backs and receivers so the entire Texas secondary won’t be able to focus just on one player.
Da’Mon Cromartie-Smith, S #23
Stats: 42 tackles, 2 FF
Cromartie-Smith actually plays as a linebacker/safety hybrid that UTEP calls the “Miner” position. He’s allowed to run all over the field an make plays, sometimes in coverage and sometimes going after the quarterback. He’s a playmaker who has forced two fumbles and his 42 tackles on the season are up with the nation’s leaders.
Last year’s win over [tag]UTEP[/tag] was great and all, but the best part of last year’s Longhorn game against the Miners wasn’t the win it was a Miner player getting hit in the nuts with a practice deep snap. Watch and enjoy:
That’ll never stop being funny. I can’t wait until Mike Judge’s vision of the future comes true.
Posted September 25th, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Recruiting
Texas coach Rick Barnes has brought in some of the best players in the entire nation over the last decade and The Sporting News noticed. He has been named recruiter of the decade for bringing guys like TJ Ford, Kevin Durant, and Avery Bradley to Austin.
Posted September 25th, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Recruiting
Very interesting article on how star guard Avery Bradley ended up as a Longhorn. Crazy to hear how he went from good to elite in such a short time, and how a few years in Arlington watching TJ Ford tear it up at Texas helped him end up in Austin.
Bad news on the injury front. As was rumored over the weekend, Texas linebacker [tag]Jared Norton[/tag] needs season-ending surgery on his shoulder and is done for the year. Read the official university release below:
After further evaluation of the right shoulder injury that Longhorn senior linebacker Jared Norton sustained in UT’s season-opening victory over ULM, it was determined that he will need to have season ending surgery, Texas Head Athletic Trainer for Football Kenny Boyd said on Monday.
Norton, who registered six tackles against ULM, will apply for a medical redshirt year in hopes of returning for the 2010 season. The 6-foot-3, 237-pounder has played in 38 career games, starting nine, and posted 128 tackles, 4.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss.
He started seven of 13 games and had 54 tackles, 2.5 sacks and four TFL last year and played in 12 games, starting one, with 53 tackles, two sacks and four TFL as a sophomore in 2007. As a true freshman in 2006, Norton played in 12 games and registered 15 stops and one TFL.
“It’s disappointing not being out there with my teammates especially with this being my senior year,” Norton said. “I’ve been through this process before, so I know how to deal with it.
“I’m just going to work hard rehabbing and focus on my schoolwork and getting my degree. Hopefully, the rehab will go well and I can come back next year and help lead the team to another
successful season.”
Good luck to Jared in his recovery.
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