40 Acres Sports

The Longhorns face off against (formerly?) hated rival [tag]Arkansas[/tag] today at 2:30pm on ABC. Some current UT students weren’t even born yet when the Razorbacks left the old SWC but this rivalry still holds some heat and could keep today’s game closer than expected.

Will the Longhorns finally get their running game going? Can the defense get started before the second quarter starts? Read on to see what the editors of Bevo Sports think will happen today:

Brian – These aren’t your daddy’s Razorbacks. After changing coaches Arkansas is in a rebuilding year and the Longhorns are poised to take advantage today. New Texas coaches [tag]Major Applewhite[/tag] and [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] will make sure the Horns match Arky’s energy and this one will be a blowout. The running game won’t be perfect but [tag]Cody Johnson[/tag] will have his coming out party and top the century mark for the game. As a team the Horns will rush for over 250 yards and win easily. Texas 56 – Arkansas 21

Mike – [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] will continue to play at a Heisman level in a beat down game that should have happened two weeks ago. The last time Arkansas came to town they left with a shocking victory, but the Razorbacks don’t have super freak Matt Jones under center. The secondary will continue to give up big plays, but the players and the staff has shown the ability to make big game adjustments. Anything can happen (USC vs. Oregon State), but I don’t see this staff letting this team come out flat. The running game finally gets it going and the front seven dominates again as the Longhorns roll. Texas 41 – Arkansas 20

Matt – Man this match-up looked like a lot more fun when it was originally scheduled for Sept 13. This is a storied rivalry, but this won’t be much of a game. The Texas defense will be tested through the air, but they should be able to keep things under control with some Casey Dick mistakes. I don’t see Texas overlooking this game after what happened to USC. Colt and the offense will continue to roll and should win by a big margin. Texas 55 – Arkansas 19

Saturday afternoon Texas will face [tag]Arkansas[/tag] in a game rescheduled by Hurricane Ike. The 7th ranked Longhorns are 3-0 but will be facing their first BCS conference opponent of the season in the 2-1 Razorbacks. They barely won their first two games against bad competition and got blown out by Alabama, but that doesn’t mean they’ll roll over for the Horns.

Read below for the Longhorns’ keys to beat the Arkansas Razorbacks:

1. Match their intensity/hatred.

The Texas/Arkansas rivalry isn’t what it used to be back in the days of the Southwest Conference, but the hatred for the Longhorns in Fayettenam hasn’t waned. On the field the Horns can’t let the Razorbacks ride that energy to a quick start. The talent Mack Brown will be putting on the field Saturday easily overmatches that of new Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino, if the Horns come out and score early they should be able to pull away and win easily.

2. Keep an eye on RB Michael Smith.

5-foot-7 junior running back is leading the Razorbacks in rushing and is also on of Casey Dick’s top receiving options. He’s averaging nearly 125 yards per game on the ground and has also chipped in 10 catches for 90 yards. The Horns have problems in the secondary so they need to be able to bottle up Smith and make Arkansas one-dimensional. [tag]Roddrick Muckelroy[/tag] needs to introduce himself Mr. Smith early and often.

3. Get one of the Texas running backs rolling.

The top two rushers for the Longhorns against [tag]Rice[/tag] were the starting and backup quarterbacks. [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] is leading the team with 194 rushing yards through three games and while he needs to keep running he’ll need one of his running backs to step up behind him. Speedy [tag]Foswhitt Whittaker[/tag] is likely out for the game so it’ll be up to [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] and big [tag]Cody Johnson[/tag] to provide ground support. Alabama ran all over the Razorbacks last week (328 yards rushing) and the Horns need to do the same, even if it takes 30 carries from Johnson to get there.

Two separate grand juries Thursday ruled there was not enough evidence against former Longhorn and former Chicago Bears running back [tag]Cedric Benson[/tag] to proceed to trial. All charges against Benson stemming from his two alcohol-related arrests early this summer have now been dropped. Travis County Attorney David Escamilla told the Austin American-Statesman that both cases had weaknesses. “The boating while intoxicating case lacked a field-sobriety test,” Escamilla said. “The second one, in the video on the DWI, he appeared very good on the video.”

Benson has not commented today but Sam Bassett, Benson’s Austin-based attorney did speak to several media outlets. “I hope that this situation reminds us all that not every person who is arrested for a crime is guilty,” Bassett said. “This means that there was a finding by the grand juries that there was no probable cause to believe that Cedric Benson was guilty of a crime.”

Now that his legal matters are behind him Cedric will continue to try to get back into the NFL. He has worked out for several teams over the last several weeks but with two sets of criminal charges hanging over him NFL GMs were appropriately cautious. He hasn’t lived up to his billing so far, but he’ll get his second chance somewhere to make the most of his career and more importantly his life.

Billion dollar bailouts and fighting in Washington, DC got you down? Retirement savings so low you’ll have to work until you’re 80? Don’t worry, [tag]Chance Mock[/tag] has a plan for you. “The Mock Plan” from Triton Financial will somehow in some unclear way help you thrive in uncertain times. Watch below:

I’m not sure what, if anything, he’s selling. For all I know “The Mock Plan” involves stuffing money under the mattress or making it rain with Pacman Jones. I do however love watching that last minute TD pass from Chance to [tag]Roy Williams[/tag] against Tech… so where do I send my check? (via)

No movement at the top but the teams in the bottom half of the rankings are starting to drop games. Last weekend Kansas State, Baylor, Texas A&M, and Iowa State all had losses. The most impressive team last week may have been the Colorado Buffaloes, who if they keep the running game going might be able lay claim to be the best team not named Missouri in the Big 12 North.

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

1. [tag]Oklahoma[/tag]

   
   LW: 1

   Off week before facing number 24 [tag]TCU[/tag] this weekend.

2. [tag]Missouri[/tag]

   
   LW: 2

   Tigers made a lot of mistakes and let lowly Buffalo hang in there for a long time. Chase Daniel’s career day eventually allowed them to pull away in the second half. The Tigers are off this week in prep for Big 12 play.

3. Texas

   
   LW: 3

   The Horns clobbered an overmatched [tag]Rice[/tag] squad with another near perfect performance from [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag]. The defense wasn’t great but may have turned a corner when they put up an epic goalline stand. This week Texas hosts former SWC rival [tag]Arkansas[/tag] in their last non-conference outing.

4. [tag]Texas Tech[/tag]

   
   LW: 4

   The Red Raiders put on a good ol’ thumping of Division 1AA UMass. They have off this week but their real season will finally begin when they stop playing Pop Warner teams and start playing Big 12 foes.

5. [tag]Colorado[/tag]

   
   LW: 5

   Impressive overall performance for the Buffs on national television against top 25 ranked West Virginia. He might not get the pub his fellow freshman running back does but the miniature Rodney Stewart looked lightning quick while rushing for 166 yards. Next up is another tough one against Florida State.

6. [tag]Nebraska[/tag]

   
   LW: 7

   Bye week for Nebraska before they face Virgina Tech this Saturday.

7. [tag]Kansas[/tag]

   
   LW: 8

   Not exactly impressive but the win over Sam Houston State was never in doubt either. Former car detailer and OU quarterback Rhett Bomar threw for 340 yds but was also picked off three times. Kansas is off this week.

8. [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag]

   
   LW: 9

   Oklahoma State was off last week. This week they get Troy State.

9. [tag]Kansas State[/tag]

   
   LW: 6

   First real opponent of the season and Kansas State didn’t look good against a Louisville team that isn’t of the caliber of recent years. It was only a nine point loss but the Wildcats never stood a chance. Up this week is Louisiana-Lafayette.

10. [tag]Baylor[/tag]

    
    LW: 11

    UConn isn’t some chump team and the Bears played them very tough on the road. Losses like this would be wins at home and might lead to future wins from freshman QB Robert Griffin. Baylor has an off weekend to prepare to attempt a huge upset of OU on October 4th.

11. Texas A&M

    
    LW: 12

    Aggies got blown out of the water by the Miami Hurricanes and it could have been much worse. If they had wanted to the Hurricanes could have ran off tackle every play for 300 yards and never attempted a pass. This week they host Army.

12. [tag]Iowa State[/tag]

    
    LW: 10

    I thought head coach Gene Chizik might have turned things in the right direction in Ames but maybe not. Iowa State has now lost 13 straight road games and unless they beat Baylor in a few weeks they might not win one away from home this season either. The Cyclones have a much needed bye this Saturday.

Great week for Duane Akina’s former proteges in the NFL as Tarell Brown, Michael Griffin, and Nathan Vasher all had interceptions in week three. Ricky Williams also had his best performance of the year as he and backfield mate Ronnie Brown ran all over the New England Patriots. Meanwhile wide receiver Limas Sweed is still waiting to see the field for the first time as a pro out in Pittsburgh. Read on to see how the rest of the Longhorns in the NFL performed last week:

[tag]Tarell Brown[/tag] – Two tackles and an interception in the loss to the Chargers.

[tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] – Seven carries for 38 yards rushing plus three catches for 24 yards. Jamaal also had his first NFL kickoff return for 21 yards.

[tag]Phil Dawson[/tag] – 1/1 on field goals and on extra points.

[tag]Jermichael Finley[/tag] – Finally saw the field for the Packers against the Cowboys but had no catches. He got in on special teams and managed to pick up an unsportsmanlike penalty in a brush with Martellus Bennett.

[tag]Cedric Griffin[/tag] – Two tackles against Carolina.

[tag]Michael Griffin[/tag] – Big game against the Texans with two interceptions. Also added two tackles.

[tag]Ahmard Hall[/tag] – One carry for one yard.

[tag]Casey Hampton[/tag] – No stats against Philly. Will miss the next game against Baltimore with an injured groin.

[tag]Michael Huff[/tag] – Three tackles, two of them solos, against Buffalo.

[tag]Quentin Jammer[/tag] – Recovered a fumble and returned it 23 yards, broke up two passes, and added three tackles in the Chargers blowout of the Fightin’ Brett Favres.

[tag]Derrick Johnson[/tag] – One tackle in what may be one of 16 losses this season for the Chiefs.

[tag]Cory Redding[/tag] – Two solo tackles for the lowly Lions against the 48ers.

[tag]Shaun Rogers[/tag] – Had a solid game against Baltimore posting four tackles.

[tag]Aaron Ross[/tag] – Five solo tackles, including one behind the line of scrimmage.

[tag]Bo Scaife[/tag] – Three catches for 26 yards including a touchdown.

[tag]Limas Sweed[/tag] – Still no playing time.

[tag]David Thomas[/tag] – One catch for four yards in what will hopefully be one of many losses for the Patriots.

[tag]Nathan Vasher[/tag] – Good performance for Nate versus Tampa Bay. Three passes defended including an interception, with four solo tackles added on.

[tag]Ricky Williams[/tag] – Great game for Ricky and his counterpart Ronnie Brown as the Dolphins went back to the college game to get a little offensive firepower. He had 16 carries for 98 yards (6.1 average) and two catches for 21 more yards.

[tag]Roy Williams[/tag] – Two catches for 18 yards in a loss to San Francisco. Roy has to be frustrated and already looking forward to 2009 somewhere other than Detroit.

[tag]Selvin Young[/tag] – Very efficient game against New Orleans with 11 carries for 65 yards.

Former Texas defensive tackle [tag]Frank Okam[/tag] got his first action of the season this Sunday against the Titans. He only logged one tackle but he played well and held up pretty well in the middle of the Texans’ defensive line. Houston sports radio personality Lance Zierlein had the following to say on Okam:

I was relatively happy with the play of NT Frank Okam. He held up at the point of attack better than Travis Johnson has this season and I expect him to start getting more snaps as the season progresses.

As we’ve always said with Frank it’s all about motor and effort. Hopefully a taste of success will motivate him and he can continue to get more and more playing time. After an 0-2 start, the Texans could certainly use him.

It was immediately obvious after watching the first replay of Blaine Irby’s gruesome knee injury but it is now official that the sophomore tight end will miss the remainder of the 2008 season. According to a press release from the university Sunday evening Blaine suffered a dislocated right knee and will undergo season ending surgery. He’ll be able to seek a medical redshirt and should have a full three years of eligibility remaining when he (hopefully) returns to the field in 2009.

Read the full press release including quotes from Irby and [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] below:

Longhorn sophomore starting tight end Blaine Irby sustained a dislocated right knee in Texas’ 52-10 victory over [tag]Rice[/tag] on Saturday, will undergo surgery and is out for the rest of the season, UT Head Athletic Trainer for Football Kenny Boyd confirmed on Monday.

“It’s going to be a long journey, and I just have to take it one step at a time,” Irby said. “I know the tight end spot and the offense won’t lose a beat because Peter (Ullman) and Greg (Smith) are there to lead the way. I’m going to be there too, helping out Coach Chambers. I’ll be there as a coach and a teammate and ready to help anybody in any way that they need me. Coach Brown told me that I could use a medical redshirt since this happened so early in the season, which would give me three more years, but that’s down the road. Right now, I just need to focus on being patient, taking it one day at a time, getting healthy and coming back stronger than ever.”

The 6-3, 235-pound Irby started all three games and had 10 catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns on the year. He led the Horns with seven catches for 62 yards and a TD in their 52-10 season-opening victory over Florida Atlantic. Irby also posted nine knockdown blocks in that game. He had a 23-yard catch at UTEP and registered two catches for 10 yards before sustaining the knee injury against Rice. He played in 11 games and registered two catches for 29 yards as a true freshman in 2007.

“We have a great history of tight ends and Blaine was quickly developing into the type of player to follow in those footsteps,” said head coach Mack Brown. “He was getting better every week and making a big impact in our offense. Blaine was very productive for us at a key time since we lost Jermichael (Finley) early to the NFL. As much as we’ll miss him this season, thank goodness he’ll get a redshirt year and have three seasons left when he gets back.”

In addition to Finley leaving school early, Texas also lost sophomore [tag]Josh Marshall[/tag] during preseason drills. He sustained a left scapula injury and remains out indefinitely. Senior [tag]Peter Ullman[/tag] and sophomore [tag]Greg Smith[/tag] both have played this season and will compete for the starting tight end job.

Redshirt freshman Ahmard Howard will move up the depth chart and compete for action after playing primarily on special teams this season. Fellow redshirt freshman [tag]Ian Harris[/tag], who sustained a neck sprain in August, is expected to be cleared to return to practice soon. Offensive tackle [tag]Britt Mitchell[/tag] has been playing tight end in short-yardage and goal-line situations as well.

We wish Blaine good health and determination through his rehab and can’t wait to see him back catching passes again as soon as possible.

There’s no embeddable highlights from FSN (watch that here) but I did find two good clips on YouTube from yesterday evening’s game against [tag]Rice[/tag]. I’m not sure what it would take to get TV networks to figure out this whole Internet thing and make high quality video available after the games are over but some bootleg highlights will have to do for now.

Watch Colt McCoy’s bulldozing first quarter touchdown run:

Watch the full five minute video of Texas’ 11 play goalline stand:

For nearly a minute the Rice Owls led the Texas Longhorns on the scoreboard Saturday evening, but eventually the world righted itself and the Horns scored 31 straight points. Other than two fumbles the offense was near perfect against the Owls and after a shaky start the defense was nearly as good. Texas dominated the final three quarters (particularly the second half) and the final score ended up Rice 10, Texas 52.

See what the media said about the game below:

Local Media

• Texas rolls over Rice 52-10
• Texas defense gets job done
• Shipley has great game for Texas against Rice
• Rice’s rout: Tragedy, or comedy of errors?
• Notebook: Rice led, for a moment
• Texas vs. Rice photos
• Horns Go Up Top to Bury Rice
• McCoy Eclipses Applewhite’s Mark in Win
• McCoy’s record TDs help UT cruise
• Texas enjoys rite of passage, beats Rice 52-10
• Rice vs. Texas: Onward…
• Making a stand
• Greg Davis and Will Muschamp discuss Rice
• Rice game quotes
• Rice game notes
• Rice photo gallery

Texas media

• McCoy, Texas romp past Rice
• UT’s grand stand denies Rice
• McCoy sets Texas record in blowout against Rice
• McCoy sets UT passing TD record in win over Rice

National media

• In Focus: Colt McCoy vs. Rice
• McCoy breaks career TD pass mark in Longhorns’ triumph over Owls
• Texas vs. Rice box score