40 Acres Sports

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas game against the Baylor Bears.

1st Quarter (14:43) WTH Lighting?! Mack Brown needed a quick start to avoid most of the 101,353 fans turning on him and the team. Well, Daje Johnson took care of that with an electrifying 84 yard touchdown run on the FIRST play of the game.

1st Quarter (2:42) WTH Williams?! The Big XII leading receiver took the defense to task especially on a simple stop and go for an 80 yard touchdown to give the Bears their first lead of the game. Manny Diaz does this count as an explosive play?

1st Quarter (0:00) WTH Students?! Well, if you ever wondered where the student section is at DKR, you found out before the 2nd quarter. All the students broke out black Livestrong shirts to support the 15th anniversary of the organization. It’s interesting the salute with all that is swirling around Lance.

2nd Quarter (6:18) WTH 50 Shades?! Could not pass up the chance to report on the first touchdown of the season for one Johnathan Gray. He put a move on safety Sam Hall that left the defenders clothes on the ground. At this point in the game, BU Coach Phil Bennett and Manny Diaz were getting ready to work on their resume at halftime.

3rd Quarter (12:55) WTH Okafor?! Alex Okafor called out the defense to play tougher after last week’s game. He needed to be called out for a crucial offside on fourth down that would have ended the Baylor touchdown drive.

3rd Quarter (6:31) WTH Black Swan?! The highlight of the night on the Godzillatron and the television broadcast was a shot of Natalie Portman. Wonder why she was there… who cares!

3rd Quarter (5:56) WTH Sooners?! OU fans in the stands wearing a Beat Texas shirt. Looks like these two guys forgot that the Red River Rivalry was last week in Dallas. Longhorn fans are still trying to forget.

3rd Quarter (2:17) WTH Mad Hatter?! Art Briles threw his ball cap so high in the air in disgust over the late Texas timeout on fourth down that WR Tevin Reese had plenty of time to make the fair catch signal when he caught his hat.

4th Quarter (2:34) WTH Mulligan?! The head referee announced to the crowd that Texas would get a “Do Over” to match up with the substitutions that Baylor was implementing. Mack Brown hopes next time a “King’s X” will be called when he needs to surrender.

Next up for the Longhorns is a trip to Kansas to play the Jayhawks on October 27th.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at @40AcresSports or follow me at @Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

You will not see the normal WTH article this week from the Red River Rivalry because there was nothing good to report. After being annihilated for the second straight year from your biggest rival, it’s a reminder of where the program stands.

The players and coaches talk about needing to get to work. Mack Brown said that I know what is wrong and I am the man to fix it. Unfortunately, we have been down this road before and the culture is not in place for this to be fixed. Sure the Horns can rally from this huge let down and win a couple of more games but the underlying problem is still there.

The problem is the culture that has been established on the 40 acres. Fans enjoy hearing how recruit after recruit say that they love the family atmosphere that Mack Brown delivers. Many coaches say that you have to de-recruit the player when you get the kid on campus. The UT staff may want to rethink how they de-recruit a player. A high school kid feels like he has already made it when he sees the facilities, the opportunities playing in front of so many people, and the fact that they are on television all the time not to mention that the LHN is there to record their every move. It is very hard for a head coach to legislate the discipline when times are tough while the team sees the head coach as more of a father figure. The last time Coach Brown, who is 61 years old, unloaded on his team and the staff, he had his first losing season and lost most of his coaches.

When Texas has won conference titles, the leadership has come from the players (McCoy & Young) themselves. Florida, Oklahoma and Alabama take their direction from their head coach. You will get a Tebow and a Bradford that will step up and take a lead role, but you know that Urban Meyer and Bob Stoops have their finger prints on their teams. Players and coaches take the identity of their head coach. Right now the identity Mack Brown exudes is an exhausted, questioning and apologetic leader.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at @40AcresSports or follow me at @Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

In addition to the beatdown on the scoreboard, Texas left the Red River Rivalry this weekend badly battered and bruised. The official injury report is out and its not pretty:

Junior DE Jackson Jeffcoat sustained a right pectoral muscle rupture in the Oklahoma game, will undergo surgery and is out for the season, Texas’ Head Athletic Trainer for Football Kenny Boyd said on Sunday. It is not the same pectoral muscle Jeffcoat injured in 2011. He had surgery to repair his left pectoral muscle last January and has fully recovered from that injury.

Sophomore QB David Ash sustained a left wrist injury versus the Sooners. His injury occurred during a direct helmet blow to his wrist that resulted in swelling, but initial x-rays show no fracture. He will continue to be evaluated during the week but has not been ruled out for the Baylor game.

Junior DT Brandon Moore (neck sprain) and junior OT Donald Hawkins (left ankle) will be evaluated during the week to determine their availability for the Baylor game, Boyd added. Hawkins sprained his ankle in the first half of the Oklahoma game, and the medical staff did not clear him to return.

Could this weekend have gone any worse? Ugh.

What little respect I had for Bob Stoops goes right out the window at about the 0:45 mark of this University of Oklahoma rap video:

I particularly liked the fingerless gloves and letterman’s jacket with the sleeves cut off. Classy. There’s also an extra rare non-awful YouTube comment that I needed to share: “Just in case anyone was wondering just? how white OU is.” Haha. It’s also funny how scared and embarrassed the girl that they’re trying to convince to go to OU looks the entire video.

I’m so glad Texas hasn’t yet had one of these videos pop up anywhere.

Awesome news for the relatively distant future as the Longhorns and Buckeyes have agreed to play a home and home series in 2022 and 2023. Here’s the details from MBTF:

Two of the most storied programs in college football history will meet again as The University of Texas and The Ohio State University have agreed to a future home and home series. The Buckeyes are slated to travel to Austin on Sept. 17, 2022 while the Longhorns will head to Columbus on Sept. 16, 2023. Texas and Ohio State last met at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in 2009.

The two schools with a combined 243 years of college football history and 1,693 all-time victories didn’t meet on the football field until 2005, but the Longhorns and Buckeyes have played three times since. No. 2 Texas knocked off No. 4 Ohio State, 25-22, in Columbus en route to the 2005 BCS National Championship. The No. 1 Buckeyes returned the favor, claiming a 24-7 win over the No. 2 Longhorns in Austin on its way to a BCS National Championship game berth in 2006. No. 3 Texas met No. 10 Ohio State in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl following the 2008 season. The Longhorns came from behind to win that one, 24-21, on a Colt McCoy to Quan Cosby 26-yard TD strike with 16 seconds remaining.

It’s a long way off but nice to see the Longhorns continuing to strengthen their out of conference scheduling. There’s at least one really nice opponent on the schedule per year including series with Cal, Notre Dame, and USC.

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas game against the Mountaineers.

Pre-Game WTH Fans?! Wow. A record crowd of 101,851 fans were amped up for this contest. Fans were comparing the electricity in the stadium to when Cougar High came to Austin in 1990. Great job by the fans!

1st Quarter (15:00) WTH JY?! Vince Young was in person and on the giant video board to let the fans know that the “Eyes of Texas are Upon You.” Even his son Jordan got in on the act by getting caught on the video board pointing at the screen saying that’s my daddy.

1st Quarter (9:09) WTH Special Teams?! The kickoff coverage team gave the UT fans heart attacks when Tavon Austin touched the ball. It’s pretty bad when the stat sheet says kickoff of 64 yards and the return is 67 yards. Squib quicks were the order of the day after this long return.

1st Quarter (2:05) WTH Akina?! WVU was setting up for a fourth down play when Coach Akina did not think his secondary was set so he called a costly timeout. Costly? Because the Horns defense stepped up and held the offense on downs. Instead the Mountaineers went on to score on the very next play and subsequently succeed on every fourth down play the rest of the night.

2nd Quarter (15:00) WTH Southwest?! We can understand the need to promote oneself by setting up a stupid human trick by making fans throw a football into an inflatable receptacle. The problem is when you have the inflatables highlighted in Mountaineer school colors which are blue and gold. Bad omen.

2nd Quarter (10:01) WTH Dallas?! The Godzillatron feels it necessary to take us behind the scenes of certain players and cheerleaders because the fans clamor so much to be interrupted with this nonsense. One such interruption was to let us know that a pom squad member felt she looked like the villain from Monsters Inc.

2nd Quarter (7:37) WTH Alex the Great?! Alex Okafor was named Big XII defensive player of the week for his game changing plays. One of those moments was when he stripped Geno Smith and Jackson Jeffcoat recovered the fumble in the end zone to tie up the game.

2nd Quarter (4:51) WTH Dana?! No one can hold a candle to WVU Coach Dana Holgorsen when he throws a fit. Geno Smith was sacked by Desmond Jackson, one of four sacks for the UT defense, which eventually led to a Mountaineers field goal. Dana was so upset that he threw his headset down numerous times to let everyone on the sidelines know his disgust.

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WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas game against the Cowboys.

Pre-Game (15:00) WTH Weapons?! Where was the ATF when you needed them? Pistol Pete was shooting off guns, there were more frat paddles in the stands than the entire UT Greek system, and most of the 56,709 were wearing orange hunting gear. I bet Boone Pickens was even packing heat.

1st Quarter (14:21) WTH Randle?! The Big XII leading rusher took the second play of the game to the house for OSU. Joseph Randle racked up 199 yards and two touchdowns to gouge the Longhorns defense.

1st Quarter (8:51) WTH Parable?! Much is asked to whom much is given. With the lack of experience at the LB position, safety Kenny Vaccaro is asked to do a lot. He made up for his missed tackle on Randle by picking off QB J.W. Walsh for the only takeaway for the Horns defense.

1st Quarter (2:00) WTH Thud?! When a RB fumbles the ball a lot, coaches make the player carry a football to class. Coach Akina needs to have the secondary carry a four foot teddy bear to class to teach them how to wrap up. Adrian Phillip’s shoulder shot on an OSU receiver lead to another Cowboy score.

1st Quarter (1:47) WTH Monroe?! The career leading kickoff returner for the Horns was crowned on this play. D.J. Monroe flew down the field for an electric 100 yard TD return to give the Horns the lead until the fourth quarter. Monroe averaged 8 yards a carry on 3 touches. Get him the ball more?!

2nd Quarter (6:10) WTH Dos XX?! The most interesting man in the world was on the Horns sidelines. The goofy signage that is used to relay in plays was evident when the beer character was shown.

3rd Quarter (6:09) WTH #8?! Get ready for the #8 jersey to be one of the top 5 jerseys sold of all time on the 40 Acres. Jaxon Shipley led all receivers with 82 yards and 3 touchdowns for a spectacular night.

4th Quarter (5:48) WTH Video Ref?! Understand the overturned call to benefit the Cowboys back in the third quarter that resulted in a receiving TD. You cannot be serious that one of the Oklahoma State players did not touch the ball on the kickoff which allowed the Cowboys to start at the 35 yard line. Not enough evidence to turn the call over… you say. Hold that thought for the end of the game.

4th Quarter (2:34) WTH Red Zone?! With the type of offenses that are in the Big XII, field goals over touchdowns are a win for the defense. The much maligned Longhorn defense held the Cowboys on three different times in the red zone to come away with only a field goal. This fourth quarter stop allowed the Horns offense the comfort in knowing that all they needed was a field goal to win. Yikes!!

4th Quarter (1:30) WTH Ice Man?! A frozen rope was thrown by David Ash to tight end D.J. Grant on fourth down to keep the drive alive. He would continue his excellent night with a 32 yard pass to Magic Davis that set up the game winning TD run. David completed 30 of 37 passes for 304 yards and three touchdowns. This year he has completed 78% of his passes and has only thrown one interception. Dare we say a star has been born?

Next up for the Longhorns is a trip home to play West Virginia in Austin on October 6th.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at @40AcresSports or follow me at @Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

Now that we are at the quarter point of the football season, coaches are trying to find just the right words to get their team motivated and to explain the season so far to the media and fans. One such coach that has left his legacy on the 40 acres is well known for his quotes and phrases. Darrell K Royal is a living legend around these parts. Some may have negative thoughts about him as depicted by the book “Meat on the Hoof.” Others may remember him as the shy Oklahoma boy that later took young men to the heights of college football while at the University.

Let’s take a look at some of his insights that coaches could still use today.

“All the white meat is gone. There’s nothin’ but necks on the platter.”

“Dance with the one that brung ya”

“Will Rogers never met Barry Switzer”

“Football doesn’t build character. It eliminates the weak ones.”

“Breaks balance out. The sun don’t shine on the same ol’ dog’s rear end every day.”

“You never lose a game if the opponent doesn’t score.”

“If worms carried pistols. Birds wouldn’t eat ’em.”

“Three things can happen when you pass and two of ’em are bad.”

“I don’t know if Earl’s in a class by himself, but it sure don’t take long to call roll.”

“He runs faster than small town gossip.”

“He’s not very fast, but maybe Elizabeth Taylor can’t sing.”

“Don’t matter what they throw at us. Only angry people win football games.”

“Winning coaches must treat mistakes like copperheads in the bedclothes – avoid them with all the energy you can muster.”

“That guy is a big ol’ cuss…look at him rumblin’ down the field… looks like a grizzly bear haulin’ a walnut.”

“A head coach is guided by this main objective: dig, claw, wheedle, and coax that fanatical effort out of the players. You want them to play every Saturday as if they were planting the flag on Iwo Jima.”

“The tail should never wag the dog, but as long as football is in its proper place on the campus, then it’s good. I want to be remembered as a winning coach, but I also want to be remembered as an honest and ethical coach.”

It will be a sad day when we lose Coach Royal, but we know that God will have a great college coach and an even better story teller.

Texas wide receiver Marquise Goodwin had a huge game running and catching the football on Saturday against Ole Miss, but his busy week started with a visit to the White House with his fellow Olympians om Thursday. Even better Marquise had the good sense to video his interaction with President Obama and get the commander-in-chief to flash the hook ’em horns as well. Check it out:

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Rebels.

Pre-Game (15:00) WTH Hotty Toddy?! Wonder if Kenny Vaccaro liked this loud cheer? “Hotty Toddy, Gosh Almighty, Who The Hell Are We, Hey! Flim Flam, Bim Bam. Ole Miss By Damn!” Some of the 61,797 fans threw their toddy’s from the stands at the Longhorn players.

1st Quarter (9:41) WTH Edmond?! The first of three interceptions that the Horns collected as this INT went for a TD for LB Steve Edmond. Not too many other bright spots for the defense this game.

2nd Quarter (13:35) WTH Semper Fi?! The always Faithful Marquise Goodwin can be relied upon to make the big play. Marquise took a jet sweep 69 yards to the delight of a Marine in the end zone.

Halftime WTH Chicken?! If you’re going to be a “streaker” you need to be more committed like the hog (bacon). A man wearing boxers ran right to the middle of the SEC logo and mooned the crowd before getting tackled by the popo. Guess this fan doesn’t like the SEC either.

3rd Quarter (10:39) WTH Starving?! The feed WR Donte Moncrief t-shirts in the stands were spot on. Seven catches for 144 yards with a 75 yard touchdown when this Rebel out dueled Carrington Byndom.

3rd Quarter (2:30) WTH Short Arm?! David Ash said “I think I mastered the underthrow.” His 46 yard shot put gave Mike Davis the chance to make a play on the ball for a TD that helped the Horns reach half a hundred. Wonder if this is the new version of the back shoulder throw that is done in the NFL.

3rd Quarter (:00) WTH Color Blind?! ESPN announcer Mark Jones said that nothing matches with burnt orange as the quarter ended. Mark forgot that everything goes good with that color when the Longhorns put up over 676 yards which ties for the second best yardage total all time.

4th Quarter (11:27) WTH Karate Kid?! A career game for David Ash while wearing his signature Ralph Macchio headband. He threw for 326 yards and four touchdowns which included the last TD throw to Marquise Goodwin for 55 yards and the final tally 66-31.

Next up for the Longhorns is a bye week before going to play the Cowboys in Stillwater on September 29th.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at @40AcresSports or follow me at @Horns1991. HOOK EM!!