40 Acres Sports

There were several of teams off last week in the conference but there was still a lot of movement in the power rankings. Losses by Colorado and Nebraska and a shaky home win by Texas A&M sent all those teams down a bit. Meanwhile Oklahoma State continues to win in impressive fashion. The Cowboys are undefeated and putting up big offensive numbers so have moved up three spots to number five. Conference play starts Saturday so things should be much clearer in next week’s rankings.

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

1. [tag]Oklahoma[/tag]

   
   LW: 1

   The Sooners jumped to a huge first quarter lead against [tag]TCU[/tag] and then just road that through the end of the game. QB Sam Bradford threw for a ton of yards but had by far his least accurate performance of the season. More troubling for OU is the complete ineffectiveness of the running game. They tried to force the issue but manage to only rush for an abysmal 25 yards on 36 carries.

2. [tag]Missouri[/tag]

   
   LW: 2

   Bye week. The Tigers face Nebraska this weekend to open Big 12 play.

3. Texas

   
   LW: 3

   Another week and another 52 – 10 win for the Longhorns, this time over SEC rival [tag]Arkansas[/tag]. The Texas offense has been impressive all season but for the first time all season the defense was dominant. The front seven was able to sack the Razorbacks’ QBs seven times and the Horns are now top five nationally with 16 sacks on the season. Texas faces Colorado Saturday at 6pm on FSN.

4. [tag]Texas Tech[/tag]

   
   LW: 4

   Bye week. Red Raiders open Big 12 play against Kansas State.

5. [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag]

   
   LW: 8

   Okie Lite put another 50 spot on the scoreboard this past weekend against Troy. The Trojans aren’t exactly a national power but [tag]Ohio State[/tag] struggled to get past them while the Cowboys racked up 612 total yards. They host the Aggies Saturday at 7pm.

6. [tag]Kansas[/tag]

   
   LW: 7

   Bye week. KU opens conference play with a virtual bye against Iowa State.

7. [tag]Colorado[/tag]

   
   LW: 5

   Colorado didn’t show up well in a surprisingly thorough loss to [tag]Florida State[/tag]. QB and coach’s son Cody Hawkins was inaccurate and inefficient and the running game didn’t do enough to pick him up. The FSU offense wasn’t much better but thanks to terrible kick coverage was able to play with a short field on several possessions. The Buffaloes face the Longhorns Saturday.

8. [tag]Nebraska[/tag]

   
   LW: 6

   Nebraska fans may be disappointed in a home loss to [tag]Virginia Tech[/tag] but Bo Pelini’s team fought hard till the end and almost came back and won it. This week Nebraska has a tough one when they host #4 Missouri.

9. [tag]Baylor[/tag]

   
   LW: 10

   Bye week. Next up are the number one ranked Sooners.

10. [tag]Kansas State[/tag]

    
    LW: 9

    Another shaky week for the Wildcats, barely beating a 1 – 3 Louisiana-Lafayette team in Manhattan. QB Josh Freeman and the offense again looked solid but the defense looked like swiss cheese. The Ragin’ Cajuns ran all over them to the tune of 335 total rushing yards in the game. Not good. Up this week is Texas Tech.

11. [tag]Iowa State[/tag]

    
    LW: 12

    Bye week. This week the Cyclones face off against Kansas.

12. Texas A&M

    
    LW: 11

    Just how bad are the Aggies? Army wasn’t just winless but they were winless against mediocre competion, and at Kyle Field the A&M needed a fourth down stop to escape with a win. Their match-up with Oklahoma State Saturday night will be an interesting one to watch (but not actually watch because it’s embarrasingly not being televised).

The great [tag]Colorado[/tag] fan site Buffs.tv has written up a nice preview of the Texas vs. Colorado game. They definitely think their team is in for a long Saturday evening. If the Horns show up and play like they have been lately they’re definitely the better team.

Read a quick excerpt below and then head over there to read the full thing:

This week will be a true test for this squad. I’m not one to believe in moral victories, but after the tough loss last week this might be the best the Buffs can hope for. If Colorado can come out and play a complete game on offense, defense and special teams, get a couple of breaks to go their way they have a good chance to win this game. I am hoping that the team that showed up last week is not the true Colorado Buffaloes, if it is then this will be a long long day and could affect the team for the rest of the season.

Texas quarterback is up for the ESPN All American Player of the Week award for his week five performance against [tag]Arkansas[/tag]. McCoy was 17 of 19 passing with three touchdowns while adding another 84 yards and two scores on the ground. He’s up against [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] QB Sam Bradford, Alabama’s John Parker Wilson, and Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rodgers.

Text 'VOTE' to '51234' & vote for Colt

UT’s own Colt McCoy is up nominated for AT&T and ESPN’s All American Player of the Week this week. The other three players, chosen by ESPN based on their outstanding performance, include Sam Bradford (QB, Oklahoma), Jacquizz Rodgers (RB, Oregon State), and John Parker Wilson (QB, Alabama). It’s up to fans to now vote for the winner – and after McCoy’s performance, he deserves to win!

Register to vote by texting “VOTE” to “51234” before Wednesday at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be announced at halftime of the Thursday ESPN College Football Primetime.

Anyone who votes is entered for a chance to win a trip to the 2009 BCS National Championship game in Miami. Each vote counts as one entry & there is no limit on fan voting.

Also, stay in touch with the Longhorns by texting “Horns” to 72645 – you’ll receive text alerts with game day reminders and the latest team statistics, updates and news for all 20 Longhorn sports. You’ll also be able to test your Longhorn knowledge with polls. Compete for a chance to win Longhorn football tickets!

Former Longhorn running back [tag]Cedric Benson[/tag] has signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. Last week two separate Travis county grand juries decided not to indict Benson and less than a week later he’s found a team that needs his services enough to take a chance on him. He had worked out for several teams since being released by the Bears but the lingering legal issues made teams reluctant to sign him.

Benson will come in and back up Chris Perry who is averaging only 2.9 yards per carry so far this season for the Bengals. If he picks up the offense quickly, he should be able to compete for carries and possibly the starting spot.

From the official Bengals website:

With running back DeDe Dorsey out for year, the Bengals turned to a star-crossed former first-round pick in Cedric Benson to back up Chris Perry Sunday in Dallas.

Benson joins the Bengals five days after two Travis County grand juries declined to indict him on charges of boating while intoxicated, resisting arrest and driving while intoxicated. in two spring-time incidents that spurred his release from the Bears.

Dorsey went to season-ending injured reserve with a hamstring injury while Perry’s other backup also nurses a hamstring problem. Kenny Watson, inactive last Sunday, appears to at least be questionable for the Cowboys, leaving only Perry and fullbacks Daniel Coats and Reagan Maui’a as healthy in the backfield.

The most interesting part of the story isn’t that Benson signed with an NFL team so quickly, it’s that the Bengals took another chance on a player with off-field issues. Bengals players over the last several years have repeatedly had run-ins with police and the team is on thin ice with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on the issue. The team talked big back in April about community standards when they released WR Chris Henry and then re-signed him four months later. The signing of Benson makes football sense for the team but will likely have public relations repercussions in the city of Cincinnati.

Thanks to upsets losses by USC, [tag]Georgia[/tag], and [tag]Florida[/tag] the Longhorns have vaulted into the top five of both the AP and USA Today Coaches polls. [tag]Alabama[/tag] flew past the Horns after their win over the UGA but the easy win over [tag]Arkansas[/tag] was enough to move Texas up to spots to the number five ranking. Texas is relatively comfortably ahead of [tag]Penn State[/tag] in both polls, but rankings this week don’t matter much as Texas will prove itself over the next three weeks when they face [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] and [tag]Missouri[/tag] in consecutive games.

Check out this week’s rankings or view the top 10s below:

Senior fullback [tag]Luke Tiemann[/tag] is done for the year after tearing the ACL in his left knee during the Texas win over [tag]Arkansas[/tag]. Despite scholarship offers from other Division 1A schools, the young man out of Pflugerville decided to walk on at Texas. Tiemann started games at fullback during both his sophomore and junior seasons while also spending time at defensive end and contributing on special teams. His efforts earned him a scholarship before the beginning of this season.

Read the official university release below:

Longhorn senior fullback Luke Tiemann sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in his left knee in Texas’ 52-10 victory over Arkansas on Saturday, and will require season-ending surgery, UT Head Athletic Trainer for Football Kenny Boyd confirmed Sunday.

“It’s really disappointing that this injury is cutting my senior year short,” Tiemann said. “Being a part of this team has meant so much to me, and although I can’t help the team on the field, I’ll still be right here with my teammates cheering them on and helping any way I can while I’m rehabbing and finishing school.”

Tiemann is a fifth-year fullback who has also played defensive end and contributed on special teams during his 34-game career. He began his career as a walk-on and earned a scholarship in August 2008 after making the switch to fullback midway through 2006. He had played in all four games in 2008.

In 2007, Tiemann saw action in 11 games, including one start, at fullback and on special teams. He played in all 13 games at fullback and on special teams in 2006 and also saw limited action on defense at linebacker. The Pflugerville native is a 2007 first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection and a six-time member of UT’s Athletics Director’s Honor Roll.

“Luke is one of our great senior leaders,” said head coach Mack Brown. “He got a standing ovation when we presented him his scholarship in August, and he has, and will continue to have, a great impact on this team. He is as tough as they come, and has contributed so much from the full back position and on special teams. On top of that, he is an outstanding student. His presence on the field will be missed and someone will have to step up to fill his void.”

Get well soon Luke! Hook ’em!

Eddie Jones, Sam Acho, and Aaron Lewis

The Longhorns played their most complete game of the season in Saturday’s 52 – 10 thrashing of former SWC foe [tag]Arkansas[/tag]. The offense was sharp from the very first snap of the game and the defense dominated their SEC opponent. The victory was one of the most lopsided in the series’ long and storied history.

See what the dying print media and the rest of the World Wide Web said about the game below:

Bevo Sports

• Texas vs. Arkansas video highlights
• Live game blog

Local Media

• Texas dominates Arkansas 52-10
• McCoy moving up in Heisman race
• Stopping the run was key part of UT victory
• Texas defense shines in win over Arkansas
• Horns Crush the Hogs
• Running Game – With McCoy – Is Just Fine
• Any way you look at it, Texas was just better
• Hogs’ defense can’t steer Longhorns off field
• Texas flood: No. 7 Longhorns dismantle Razorbacks in Austin
• Longhorns harass Razorbacks QB
• Starting at end: Henry Melton
• Centering that which is off center
• Video: From the film room – Arkansas
• Game quotes
• Game notes
• Photo gallery

Texas media

• Defense overwhelms Petrino and Arkansas
• Texas QB McCoy makes case for Heisman
• Confident Texas crushes Arkansas, 52-10
• UT finding defensive identity
• Longhorns’ defense taking care of business
• Texas Longhorns can’t start celebrating just yet

National media

• QB McCoy nearly perfect as Texas embarrasses Arkansas
• What we learned in the Big 12, Week 5
• ESPN photo gallery

Texas blew out [tag]Arkansas[/tag] 52-10 Saturday thanks to big plays, near perfection from [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag], and an impressive defensive showing. It was great to see the Texas defensive front seven really get after the quarterback, something that will need to continue in conference play in order to protect the young secondary.

Watch highlights from the game below:

Somehow the video quality from these highlights almost looks better than the live game did in standard definition on ABC yesterday. Hopefully the Horns have played their last SD game of the season now that they’re playing real opponents.

Mack Brown and Bill Murray

Comedian Bill Murray is in Austin for the Fantastic Fest film festival and stopped by to visit the Texas football facilities. He wanted to see DKR – Texas Memorial Stadium and was able to get a tour of that, Mack Brown’s office, and met briefly with Mack and a few players. Mack kissed babies, gave Murray a Texas jersey with his name on the back, and in general did his thing all in a brief 90 second meeting.

MB-TF.com was able to sit down for a quick interview with Murray and has also posted some photos as well. Read a few of the questions below:

Are you a big fan of college football in general: I am. It’s more fun. I’m from Illinois, but I really adored when Texas beat Southern Cal, because I thought that was good for the world. I thought that was great. I root more of the Illinois teams, because that’s where I’m from. But I’d like to see Illinois and Texas face off, because they both wear a variant of the orange. The burnt orange versus the orange from the Illini would be sort of like a Darwinian kind of war about which species of the orange would survive.

Are you planning on coming to the game: Well, I might. I’m getting caught up in the excitement. I’ve got an orange shirt now.

Do you see [Austin] as diverse and artistic as its reputation: I can see that. The fellow who was giving us a ride around town has a sticker on his computer that says, ‘Keep Austin Weird.’ I guess that’s a popular sentiment. But there seems like there are a lot of ‘individuals’ here. It seems more relaxed than maybe the impression a lot of people have of Texas. It’s very relaxed and I like the way the city lays out. I like the look of the buildings. Obviously there are new buildings going up, but I like the older buildings. I did see the Paggi House, which is being redone on the inside, but the few neighborhoods we’ve driven through, I like the way they felt. It seems like it would be a very pleasant place to live.

Follow along below with our live thoughts and analysis during today’s game versus [tag]Arkansas[/tag]. 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.