40 Acres Sports

Quan Cosby levels Lendy Holmes

The play that had Texas fans up out of their seats screaming the loudest Saturday against [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] didn’t end up being a touchdown. Quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] found an open [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] across the middle and hit him in stride. Shipley was headed to the end zone for an apparent score when BOOM, fellow receiver [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] flies in knocks the daylights out of OU’s Lendy Holmes with a bone jarring block.

Shipley ended up being ruled down inside the one yard line, but that didn’t matter as the Horns eventually scored and Cosby’s big hit will be watched over and over by Texas fans for some time.

It was a thing of beauty. Enjoy it with an animated .gif and some YouTube clips:

Watch a couple more angles of the play after the jump.

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The Texas Longhorns picked up one of the biggest wins of Mack Brown’s career Saturday as they upset the #1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners 45 – 35. The Horns went down repeatedly but responded to every punch with one of their own until they finally knocked out the Sooners (literally) in the fourth quarter. A huge win for the Texas program quite possibly setting up a run at a national title.

Watch the ESPN highlights of the game:

Follow along below with our live thoughts and analysis during today’s game versus [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] on ABC. We’ll be live right around kickoff so join us to discuss the game right around 11am tonight. Today’s live blog may be a little less active from our end as we’ll be watching the game a lot more intensely, but we’ll definitely be adding thoughts and commenting on the game and you’re welcome to as well.

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!

Notes: Comments on the article itself will be turned off till after the game. The Writer can view all comments sent to them but only they can publish your comments for everyone to see. The “autoscroll” feature ensures you’re always shown the newest content without having to refresh or scroll your screen. Subtle sound effects alert you to new content as the writer publishes it. You can turn these features on or off by using the controls at the bottom of the Live Blog.

Will Brian Orakpo bomar Sam Bradford?

In the 103rd match-up between hated rivals Texas and [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] both teams are again among the nation’s elite teams. The Sooners are #1 and the Longhorns are #5 and both have legit shots at a national title if they come out of today’s [tag]Red River Rivalry[/tag] with a win. ESPN’s College Gameday is at the Texas State Fair and you should be too, but if you’re not the two teams will be on ABC HD at 11 am.

Which quarterback will stay hot? Can the Longhorns pull off the upset and become national title contenders? Read on to see what the editors of Bevo Sports think will happen today:

Brian – This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Longhorns but the coaching and more importantly the attitude of defensive coordinator [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] has this team and Texas fans believing. Both the Longhorns and the Sooners have been completely dominant this season and both have Heisman candidate QBs, which defense will step up? I think it’s Muschamp’s guys and I think thats means an upset win for the Horns. OU QB Sam Bradford will hit a couple of good long passes but the Texas front seven will get enough pressure to protect the secondary. Texas 27 – Oklahoma 21

Matt – For a #5 team in the nation, Texas has managed to keep a relatively low profile this year. I think that has been a blessing in disguise since it has let the team grow without a lot of added pressure. Honestly if you asked me to pick this game at the beginning of the season, I would probably have said Oklahoma without even a doubt. But with the way Texas has played this season and their improvement on defense, they have a legitimate shot of coming out of this one with a victory. Both offenses have overpowering stats and high profile quarterbacks. Neither quarterback has faced any adversity, and I think that will change greatly for Sam Bradford this week. Will Mushcamp has something going here in Austin, and I think that will be the difference in the game. Texas 38 – Oklahoma 37

Mike – I just can’t make myself pick Texas. I want to, but I can’t. Texas doesn’t have a receiver that presents any type of deep threat, a tight end that can catch, a running back with any burst, and their two safeties are freshmen. The Longhorns are playing great and coach Muschamp has every one believing, but Oklahoma is still the favorite. The Sooners have an advantage at every position excluding the defensive line and maybe quarterback. Can Texas win? Of course, but if a gun was to my head and I had to make the right pick to save my life I wouldn’t be picking UT (this should be how every pick is made). The game will be close and it will come down to protection and turnovers. OU will squeak it out at the end because of a better running game and less turnovers. I hope I’m wrong. Texas 24 – Oklahoma 31

Some really cool stats from ESPN’s Big 12 blog on how [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] and his fantastic 2008 season stack up against the best all-time seasons by Texas quarterbacks. Five games into the season, Colt’s QB rating is by far the highest and his total touchdowns are eight more than [tag]Vince Young[/tag] in 2005. The stats are also a reminder of just how good Major Applewhite’s 1999 season was. Check them out below:

Jordan Hamilton at the Lebron Skills Academy

Less than a month after reeling in 5-star guard [tag]Avery Bradley[/tag] the Texas basketball program continued their ascension to national power with another top 10 commit. Yesterday 5-star small forward [tag]Jordan Hamilton[/tag] committed to [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] and the Longhorns after long considering them his favorite. Hamilton is a 6-foot-7 small forward from Los Angeles who is considered one of the top players in the 2009 class by every major recruiting site. Rivals.com has Jordan as their fifth best player in the country and their top overall small forward.

Hamilton is an excellent scorer with the ability to shoot the three. He’s got great size and athleticism and should be able to take the ball to the hoop and finish. He has the ability to play anywhere from shooting guard to power forward depending on the type of lineup Barnes wants to put on the court.

Rivals.com expert Jerry Meyer gives the following scouting report on Hamilton:

“Hamilton is a physically imposing wing player with a multidimensional game which is effective anywhere on the court. Beyond his ability to score at all three levels, Hamilton is a tremendous rebounder and a lethal passer in the open court. His unique size, skill package and feel for the game make him a legitimate four position player.”

Hamilton’s commitment gives the Longhorns three of the top players and one of the top 2009 classes in the country. Barnes may not be done yet as he and his coaches are still pursuing several other elite recruits for this class. Hamilton, Bradley, and 4-star forward [tag]Shawn Williams[/tag] will help make the 2009-10 Longhorns a national contender if they can be mixed with some experienced leadership and depth. It should be exciting to watch.

Watch highlights of Jordan below:

Go check out some more videos of Josh over at YouTube, you’ll be impressed.

In the first week of conference play every team that was supposed to win did just that. [tag]Iowa State[/tag] gave [tag]Kansas[/tag] a heck of a run so they move up one spot even after a loss, but no one else moves. This week should be much more interesting as four of the top five teams in the conference go head to head.

Check out this week’s Big 12 power rankings below:

1. [tag]Oklahoma[/tag]

   
   LW: 1

   The Sooners throttled an overmatched Baylor team and ended the game quickly by putting up 28 first quarter points. Baylor QB Robert Griffin ran well against them so maybe [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] can do the same this week when the Sooners and Longhorns face off.

2. [tag]Missouri[/tag]

   
   LW: 2

   Mizzou wins in Lincoln for the first time in thirty years in a rout. The Tigers’ defense continued to give up big yards (particularly through the air) but only gave up 17 points to the Cornhuskers. This week the Tigers face Oklahoma State.

3. Texas

   
   LW: 3

   The Horns took care of business easily against CU in their conference opener. The offense wasn’t perfect but the defense nearly was in the team’s win. This week the Longhorns will try to take down rival and top ranked Oklahoma.

4. [tag]Texas Tech[/tag]

   
   LW: 4

   Tons of points for both Tech and Kansas State. The game was never in doubt for the Red Raiders but the team’s defense still is. The team faces a good passing offense this week in Nebraska and we’ll see if they’re up to the test.

5. [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag]

   
   LW: 5

   The Cowboys whooped the Aggies and at 5 – 0 are climbing up the national rankings. The team advantage of five Aggie turnovers and won easily despite giving up a lot of yards. The Cowboys face a big time defensive test this week against Missouri and I don’t think they’re up for it.

6. [tag]Kansas[/tag]

   
   LW: 6

   Uh oh. I was tempted to drop Kansas even after squeaking by with a win against Iowa State. They had to rally from a 20-point halftime deficit to the Cyclones but surprisingly held their #16 national ranking. Should be an interesting game against Colorado this week.

7. [tag]Colorado[/tag]

   
   LW: 7

   Colorado coach Dan Hawkins desperately needs to find offensive line help or he’s going to get his own son killed. The line was completely dominated by the Longhorns and therefore couldn’t get anything started on offense. They travel to Kansas this week for a battle to be the North’s second best team.

8. [tag]Nebraska[/tag]

   
   LW: 8

   They ran their mouth during the week and then spit on Missouri QB Chase Daniel before the game but got blown off the field once the game started. They make way too many mistakes (penalties and turnovers) to be a good team. Up this week is Texas Tech.

9. [tag]Baylor[/tag]

   
   LW: 9

   They’re still Baylor, in case you were wondering. Despite looking like an improved team early in the season they didn’t put much of a fight against Oklahoma. The defense surrendered nearly 600 total yards and 49 points in game that would have been much worse if OU hadn’t started taking it easy after just one quarter. This week the Bears have a winnable game against Iowa State.

10. [tag]Iowa State[/tag]

    
    LW: 11

    The Cyclones move up one spot despite losing. They jumped out to a big halftime lead but just couldn’t hold onto it once KU got going in the second half. The game could have been either a sign the team is getting better or a backbreaking loss that sends them into a tailspin. We’ll find out Saturday against Baylor.

11. [tag]Kansas State[/tag]

    
    LW: 10

    The Wildcats put up some yards against Texas Tech but were bad on third downs and couldn’t put up nearly enough points to make up for their defense. KSU needs to win their next two games against A&M and then Colorado if they hope to pull themselves up from the bottom tier of the conference.

12. Texas A&M

    
    LW: 12

    As predicted, the Aggies got their butts kicked against Okie State. The offense did put up a ton of yards but turned the ball over five times in the first half. This week they face a pretty average Kansas State at home so we’ll find out if they’re as bad as we think they are. Should be fun(ny).

BevoBeat has posted three nice long videos of interview sessions with [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag], [tag]Ryan Palmer[/tag], and [tag]Chris Ogbonnaya[/tag]. The team sounds ready to come out and give the Sooners hell. Watch the videos below to see the guys talk about this week’s match-up.

Colt McCoy talks about being a Big 12 quarterback and how much he loves the week of Texas/OU:

Ryan Palmer says the team needs to practice hard and the defense needs to tackle better to stop the Sooners’ offense:

Chris Ogbonnaya shares a story about the “lovely” Sooner faithful:

Source

Watch Peter King talk out of his ass.

Watch this video of SI’s Peter King then read my rant below…

Somehow the various talking head NFL experts have somehow gotten it into their head that Kerry Collins is the solution at quarterback in Tennessee. Peter King in the linked video is just the latest example of these guys speaking as if Collins is having some great season and [tag]Vince Young[/tag] is a chump. That argument isn’t sound and fails under the least bit of inspection.

Collins isn’t actually playing well. I’m not sure what games anyone is watching or box scores they’re looking at that say he is.

Until this week he was doing a MUCH better job of not turning the ball over than Vince but otherwise he’s been mediocre. Collins has completed just over 50% of his passes and is throwing for less than a touchdown per game. How is that good? His completion percentage is almost seven points lower than Vince’s was last year. Oh, and Collins’ yards per attempt this year are also lower than Vince’s in 2007.

If you take Collins’ numbers over four starts and assume he started 15 games (the number Vince played in last year) and he’d have 11.25 touchdowns and 11.25 picks over the course of the season. Is that really that much better than Young’s 9 and 17 last year? Last stat: Young’s QB rating in 2007 was 71.1 and Collins’ this year is only two points higher at 73.1.

2007 was an admittedly bad season for Vince but somehow the same numbers are good for Collins? How’s that logic work again?

So after all that… you are seriously going to tell me the Titans are going to cut their future and take a big hit on the salary cap because of VY’s bonus, so they can pay and play a 36-year old QB who isn’t very good? Give me a break. Peter King is talking out of his butt on this one.

Coach him up, get his head right, and help him understand he doesn’t have to make a huge play every time. If you cut down on INT’s and then there’s absolutely no facet of the game Collins is better than Vince. Vince was not good last year, but he has a future and a ton of potential. Let Collins be the backup or go be average somewhere else.

Who do I send my check to to make sure [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] stays in Austin for at least one more season? ESPN’s Pat Forde has an outstanding article on the Texas defensive coordinator that will make you want this guy around for a long time. Check out some of these choice quotes from Muschamp:

• “Stats are for losers. I like winning games.”
• “Jog off the field! Jog your ass off the field, goddammit!”
• “I like what I do. It’s my job to get these guys to play well and play physical. I play through them. When they make plays, I make plays. When they make a mistake, I make a mistake.”
• “Boom mother****er! Knock these mother****ers out!” (Okay that’s an old one.)

I just hope we’re as enamored about Coach Muschamp after this weekend and after this season as we are now. I was excited about the scheme and the energy he would bring before the season, so the fact that the defense has performed better than expected hasn’t changed anything. What do we (I’m looking at you DeLoss) have to do to keep him around and make sure he gets the chance to finish turning this team into a consistently dominant defense?