3. Tiger Stadium
Death Valley on a Saturday night has probably the best gameday atmosphere of any college venue in the country. The fans are widely considered the loudest and most passionate, probably due to the fact that they have been drinking and partying all day. And if you ask most college football coaches, this is one of the last places that they would ever want to play a road game.
Built in 1924, the stadium has expanded to an impressive 92,400 seating capacity. In terms of population, that makes Tiger Stadium the sixth largest city in Louisiana on gamedays.
An interesting fact: In a game against Auburn in 1988, when quarterback Tommy Hodson completed a game winning touchdown pass, the subsequent crowd roar registered as an actual earth quake on the LSU seismographs.
Check back soon for our #2 favorite college football stadium.
College football’s best stadiums
Position Rating: B+
Starter: Brian Orakpo, Henry Melton
Reserves: Eddie Jones, Sam Acho, Russell Carter, Aaron Lewis
Even after moving two of the position’s best players inside to defensive tackle, defensive end is still one of the team’s greatest strengths heading into the season. There’s a possible dominant pass rusher in [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] and on the other side there’s an interesting battle brewing for the power end. The talent and depth at the position may be the strongest of any position on the team.
Orakpo has all the tools to be a disruptive force off the edge. He had a solid 9 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks despite only appearing in nine games and not being 100% last season due to a knee injury in the season opener. After an impressive Holiday Bowl performance (4.5 tackles behind the line and 2 sacks) Texas fans are hoping for the same thing for an entire healthy season.
At the power end former running back [tag]Henry Melton[/tag] is currently expected to be the starter but is being pushed by young and extremely talented players behind him. At 6-foot-3 and 265 pounds, if he can play hard every down Melton could play himself into a lot of NFL money this season. If he stumbles there’s a lot of talent ready to step up behind him.
Sophomore [tag]Eddie Jones[/tag] is a former five-star recruit and will split time with Melton to start the year. Jones is the future at the position and I expect him to get a larger and larger share of the snaps as the season progresses regardless of how well Melton performs. Behind Orakpo is exciting sophomore [tag]Sam Acho[/tag]. He didn’t play a ton last year but he showed incredible flashes of ability and a knack at getting after the quarterback during his true freshman season.
Overall defensive end should be a position well stocked with talent for the next several years. This season there’s talent and depth and if guys fulfill their promise it will make a huge difference to the entire defense. If the line can put pressure on the quarterback everyone else’s job gets a lot easier.
Update: Official depth chart for FAU is out and [tag]Aaron Lewis[/tag] is listed as a co-starter with Melton so I’ve added him to the list of reserves.
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Posted August 11th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Feature, Recruiting
Rick Barnes is blazing the 2009 recruiting trail and is a player or the possible leader for several top national recruits. Two players rumored to be leaning to playing for the Horns are small forward [tag]Jordan Hamilton[/tag] and guard [tag]Avery Bradley[/tag].
Both players are incredible five-star prospects and they showed everybody why against FMP-Serbia this weekend. The 6-foot-7 Hamilton uses his quickhands to poke the ball use and then after leading the break dishes back to the 6-foot-3 Bradley for the facial on the Serbian player. Check out the video below:
Both guys look incredible and are reportedly Texas’ to lose. If Barnes can pull them both in they’ll team with recent commit [tag]Shawn Williams[/tag] to possibly make a deep tourney run in 2009-2010. I’m excited already.
(via)
Position Rating: B
Starter: Colt McCoy
Reserves: John Chiles, Sherrod Harris
The quarterback position is one of the strongest in the Big 12 and despite throwing 18 interceptions last season Texas starting quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] is in the top tier in the conference. With an improved offensive line and another season of experience under his belt the 2008 season should be a good one for McCoy. Simply cutting down on his turnovers will be huge but I’m expecting even bigger things this season.
Behind McCoy there are two huge question marks which bring down the position’s overall grade. The general consensus is that true sophomore [tag]John Chiles[/tag] is the number two with junior [tag]Sherrod Harris[/tag] slotted behind him. Chiles spent all of last season as the team’s backup quarterback but saw little time at the position and had few opportunities to use his arm. He didn’t throw the ball well in the Orange/White spring scrimmage possibly leaving the door open for Harris to take over as the primary backup.
One interesting scenario that could play out is that Chiles is 2a and Harris is 2b. Chiles might actually see more time on the field this season as a receiver and running quarterback in special packages, but if (God forbid) McCoy were to go down with an injury Harris would take over as the every down QB. Either way Texas fans should be rooting hard for a healthy season for McCoy.
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Posted July 26th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football, Recruiting
Former Longhorn and US Army All-American [tag]Jerrell Wilkerson[/tag] will attend the University of the Incarnate Word on a football scholarship. The Division II school in Wilkerson’s hometown of San Antonio will not begin it’s first football season until 2009 but he will be practicing with the team and attending school starting this fall. He’ll be the biggest name on the team.
Wilkerson was a running back/wide receiver recruit that excited Texas fans because of his speed, shiftiness, and electric highlight videos. Fans couldn’t wait to see what the undersized back could do with a football in his hands for the Horns. He is San Antonio’s all-time leading rusher with 7,249 rushing yards and 110 touchdowns at Clark High School.
At Texas Wilkerson was redshirting during his freshman season but left school and the team abruptly just weeks before the national championship game. He left the team not over playing time but in order to take care of his responsibilities as a man. He was forced to return home to San Antonio to work to support his newborn son financially.
Jerrell had things in his life he had to get in order. Now after three years away from the field he’s getting a second chance at football and an education. I hope he enjoys the opportunity he’s getting to play football but if he uses it to get a college degree he’s going to be a better man for it. We’ll be keeping an eye out for him and rooting for him both on and off the field. Good luck.
Posted July 13th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football, Recruiting
Texas 2009 commit [tag]Chris Whaley[/tag] is one of the top recruits in the state and top running backs in the country. With 4.5 speed at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds (and still growing), Whaley possesses a rare combination of speed and power for a high school back. He’ll be a great complement to the speed backs (Vondrell McGee and Fozzy Whittaker) when he first gets on campus and could be Texas’ next big time running back.
Check out his highlights below:
Chris Whaley Highlights from YouTube.com
Can’t wait till he gets onto the Forty Acres.
Posted July 1st, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Draft, Feature
The 2008 NBA Draft was only a few days ago but ESPN is already all over 2009. Draft expert Chad Ford has posted his top 100 draft prospects for 2009 and Texas forward [tag]Damion James[/tag] comes in at number 24.
Here are Ford’s thoughts on James:
James has a lot of fans among NBA scouts. They love his grittiness and how he’s improved his game over the past two seasons. He’s a potential late first-round pick in 2009.
Positives:
- Super-tough, physical forward
- Long arms, NBA body
- Good athlete with some explosive leaping ability
- Good offensive rebounder
- Dramatically improved perimeter game
- Some range on his long ball
Negatives:
- A tweener?
- Undersized to play his natural position at the 4
- Still needs polish on the offensive end
- Needs to improve ballhandling
Similarities: James Posey
Hard to argue with any of those statements, positive or negative. My expectations for Damion this season are incredibly high. He improved his outside shot and his overall game a great deal between his freshman and sophomore seasons and if he continues to improve he will shoot up lists like these. The Longhorns have had players drafted in the lottery in each of the last three NBA drafts and if he improves his ballhandling James will make it four.
Posted June 26th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Draft, Feature
Texas point guard [tag]DJ Augustin[/tag] has been selected with the 9th pick in the first round by Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats. A couple picks higher than most mock drafts had DJ going so congrats to him on being selected and the big contract that’s going to be coming his way.
Charlotte was not expected to select a point guard, they currently have PG Raymond Felton starting who they drafted just three years ago in the top five picks. There were some rumors before the draft that the Portland Trailblazers were looking to move up to take Augustin and now there’s already rumors that the Bobcats took this pick with the intention of turning it around to complete a trade. Maybe Charlotte has a deal with Portland set up? That be great news for Texas fans for sure.
Congrats DJ and good luck with your NBA career. We’ll be watching and rooting for you.
Update: The Blazers just took Kansas guard Brandon Rush at #13. Rush is 100% a shooting guard, a position the Blazers already have the outstanding young Brandon Roy. Maybe send Rush to Charlotte for Augustin? Probably just wishful thinking.
Update 2: I was right about the Blazers picking Rush to trade him for a point guard, but it was with Indiana at #11 and not Charlotte. Charlotte is reportedly shopping Raymond Felton.
Posted June 25th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Draft, Feature
TJ Ford was traded for Jermaine ONeal
ESPN is reporting that the Pacers and the Raptors have agreed to a deal that would send O’Neal to Toronto in exchange for Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and the 17th pick in the draft. Due to Ford’s contract the deal cannot be officially completed until July 9th. Players will also have to pass physicals, not necessarily a given considering TJ’s history of neck problems.
A possible O’Neal/Ford swap has been in the news since Monday. Toronto had two excellent point guards and TJ has been rumored to be on the trading block for the last several weeks. The Pacers have been pursuing a point guard and wanted to get rid of O’Neal so the needs of the two teams match up well.
After being in Milwaukee and Toronto, Indiana still isn’t a marquee market but he’ll have a chance to get a fresh start in a place where he’ll be the sure #1 guy. Good luck to TJ with his new team.
Posted June 16th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Draft, Feature
After testing the NBA draft waters Longhorns guard [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag] has made the decision to return to Texas for his senior season. AJ made the announcement at a press conference today, the last day he could withdraw his name and retain his eligibility.
He had a few workouts with NBA teams but was not invited to the league’s pre-draft camp and it was clear he would not be drafted. Returning to Texas will allow AJ to get his degree while also improving his chances of playing professional basketball. He’s not going to be the team’s starting point guard but he’ll likely have more ball handling responsibilities and at least a chance to prove he’s more than just a spot up shooter.
Watch video of an excerpt from AJ’s press conference and comments from Kevin Durant and [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] below:
Welcome back AJ.
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