40 Acres Sports

We’re facing a completely different type of team today in NC State and we’ll have to play a completely different basketball game if we hope to win. The Wolfpack are going to hit open three pointers so the Texas zone has to be solid and not give them a ton of open looks. You can also assume they saw the final few minutes from the Penn game and will go to a full court press early in the game to see if they can force the Texas guards to turn the ball over.

First Half

• Kenton Paulino was supposed to be limited today because of a banged up knee, but he started the game and already nailed a 3. With Daniel Gibson’s long range shot the possession before Texas already has as many three’s as they did the entire Penn game. If we hit our open jumpers we win easily against most teams in this tourney, but we haven’t done that consistently.
• Nice to see Brad Buckman going early.
• Mike Williams in and Buckman to the bench already. Williams still isn’t exactly a force on offense, but he’s been a much more confident player the last couple of weeks and has been giving quality minutes. If he can play good defense and get rebounds he definitely will help this team.

NC State 5, Texas 8

• With 15 minutes to go Paulino nails another 3. He’s had three open looks and got good shots at all of them.
• And another 3 from Gibson! Welcome to the NCAA Tournament Mr. Gibson and Mr. Paulino!

NC State 5, Texas 16

• Does it bother anyone else how they pronounce “realtor” in the commercials for the National Association of Realtors? The way they pronounce it it rhymes with the word “four”. I guess they can say it however they want since they have a registered trademark on the word. Did they just make it up? Odd.
• Nice to see the Wolfpack having ball handling issues instead of our guys. Four turnovers by them already.

NC State 9, Texas 20

• Not only are we shooting the ball better, but we sure have a lot more energy out there today. Good defense and hustle on the glass.
• Ten minutes gone and still no full court pressure from NC State. They did just go to a half court trap though but we beat it and PJ Tucker hits the short jumper.
• Nice penetration and dish by AJ Abrams. Tucker throws down the bigdunk.

NC State 13, Texas 27

• 9 to 2 run by NC State since the timeout. Texas has to slow down of offense and get their butts back on defense quicker.
• Guards are also doing a much better job of getting into the lane and causing trouble. The difference is night and day from Friday.
• We’re getting beat for the rebounds we were getting in the first part of the half. It’s led to NC State’s run and we’re starting to turn the ball over as well. Rick Barnes should’ve called a timeout earlier in that run to slow things down.

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Couple of upsets over the last two days that should serve to remind the Horns that this is March Madness and anything can happen. I imagine Rick Barnes mentioned to the guys that #1 seed Connecticut was down twelve to #16 Albany with about ten minutes to go.

First Half

• The defense is forcing Penn to take shots they probably don’t want to. Long threes with the shot clock running down with a defender in their face.
• Three minutes in and someone finally scores. Texas is getting some good shots and is just a little rusty right now. They’ve got to start early getting the ball to LaMarcus Aldridge inside.
• Aldridge has position right under the basket and we don’t get the ball to him.

Penn 0, Texas 2

• 5 minutes in and still only 3 total points on the board. The Quakers haven’t gotten off a single decent shot.
• Just as I type that last comment, Penn nails an open 3 pointer and ties the game at 3.
• Aldridge is giving the ball up too easily. There’s not a guy on the floor that can guard him and he needs to realize it.
• How many people are at the game? I can here individual people yelling “hey” at the Penn free throw shooter. Or is it mic placement?
• AJ Abrams turns the damn ball over as usual. Protect the ball young man.

Penn 8, Texas 9

• About 11 minutes remaining in the first half and we’re letting them hang around because we’re useless on offense. It’s hard to pull away from a team if you only score 20 points per half.
• Still playing good D. I’m not sure if Penn has anybody that can really kill us from beyond the arc. We’re dominating on defense, shooting decently on offense, we’ve just got to stop turning the ball over.
• Nasty rejection by Aldridge.
• Brad Buckman has missed several shots from point blank range but keeps getting his own rebound.
• Terrible call by the official as they call Abrams for a block as he takes a forearm to the chest. He’s set and the Quaker bowls him over and they call AJ for the foul.

Penn 11, Texas 13

• Seven minutes left. Daniel Gibson just passed up an open 3 and drove and blew a layup. He had a lane to the basket but he can be afraid to pull the trigger.
• And we’re done by one. Maybe I spoke too soon about their long range shooting. Of course they’re getting more open looks lately.
• Buckman hits Texas’ first three of the game with 4 and a half left.

Penn 16, Texas 16

• 3:41 remaining. We should think about scoring some points. I think that would be useful.
• They seem to be calling random crap away from the ball on us inside. Announcers didn’t see anything either.
• 90 seconds left and we don’t have a single point from our guards.

Penn 22, Texas 22

• The announcers made it sound like Gibson undercut the Penn player on purpose. It’s kind of hard to intentionally back into a guy who you don’t see coming.

Penn 23, Texas 22

• We have about 6 seconds not to go into halftime freaking down to #15 seed Penn.
• Abrams can’t get the ball down court because of the pressure (Penn was intentionally trying to foul him but the refs didn’t notice) and we only get off a halfcourt heave. Going into halftime down 2. It’s not like Penn is playing well, we’re just handling the ball like crap and shooting even worse. We’ve had open shots and inside looks, and often had trouble even hitting rim on those looks. It’s an awfully late start, maybe it’s past our guards’ bed time.

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Let’s see how this goes. I’ll post as often as I can stand to. Horns and Trojans are about to get underway.

BIG FREAKING GAME!

Did we win the coin toss, defer, and USC chose to kick? Will we receive to start both halves? Nevermind, the official said it wrong.

First Quarter

• Great deep kick and good coverage on Reggie Bush. Great start to the game for the Horns.
• Bush stopped for a loss on the game’s first play. Now let’s do that 60+ more times.
• Texas’ defense in the backfield with great penetration on the first 3 plays.
• Holy crap! [tag]Aaron Ross[/tag] fumbled the punt. Crap crap crap. Come on defense step up. Crap.
• Reggie Bush has no class. Hand the ball to the ref instead of flicking it up in the air after a 5 yard run. Let’s hope he actually gets ejected if he punches someone again this game.
• Too bad helmet-to-helmet contact isn’t illegal in college football. Plus [tag]Cedric Griffin[/tag] hit him in the chest.
• Stupid penalty by [tag]Robert Killebrew[/tag]. He seems to get one per game, let’s hope this is it. Come on D!
• Turnover costs the Horns 7 points. Game started off fantastically and then suddenly went downhill from there.

Texas 0, USC 7

• Let’s go Vince, get fired up.
• Looks like no huddle for the offense to start things off again this week. I like it.
• Poor spot on 2nd down leads to 4th and 1. [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] elects to go for it and Horns get nowhere. Turnover on downs at midfield. All the momentum is going USC’s way now. Defense has to make a big play here and get things back going Texas’ way.
• Apparently guy in charge of the clock doesn’t realize it should stop after incomplete passes.
• Freaking Rose Bowl and national championship and the clock breaks?
• Horns go to 3 down linemen on a 3rd and long. Interesting look.
• Texas makes the stop but a face mask on Michael Huff gives USC the necessary yards for the first down.
• [tag]Drew Kelson[/tag] in the game early instead of [tag]Rashad Bobino[/tag] (I think that’s who isn’t in there.) [tag]Gene Chizik[/tag] getting more speed on the field.
• [tag]Tarell Brown[/tag] has a pick go in and out of his hands.
• Reggie Bush gets about an extra 2 yards thanks to the generous spot. These simple plays need to be reviewed as much as any others.
• Another generous spot for Matt Leinart on the 4th down QB sneak but I still think they’re short. Come on!
• Horns stop them and get the ball back. Let’s go let’s go!
• Meanwhile ABC is on commercial break #26 after like two minutes of football.
• Bad play design or something as [tag]Billy Pittman[/tag] and [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] end up next to each other on pass routes. Complete to Pittman for the first though.
• Another freaking fumble. Charles bumps into David Thomas and just drops it. Crap. Lost 5 yards. Kills the offense’s momentum.
• Bud Light commercial featuring the “daredevil” are dumb.
• Lost takes such long hiatuses that they have to have recap shows by the time they come back.
• Interesting counter play from USC. Kind of a WR and FB counter instead of a GT counter.

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Rematch with a [tag]Colorado[/tag] team that the Longhorns handled easily back in mid-October. The Buffs were flying high then but they’re reeling now after two straight losses and backing into this game. They’re certainly a good enough football team that Texas can’t overlook them and just cruise through. They need to get up early and then just pour it on.

Give it up to ABC for actually managing to show the game in high definition, of course only ABC could manage to keep that a complete secret all week long. Seems like that might be the kind of thing that a network would want people to know to draw in viewers. This will be my first ever Texas game to watch in HD, it’ll be interesting to see if I can stand not being able to rewind and watch replays that ABC doesn’t bother to show.

First Quarter

• Colorado doesn’t run the option like Texas A&M does, but they definitely watched film of that game and Oklahoma State. They come out early and run a successful toss sweep for a first down. Texas defensive ends and linebackers must do a better job against the outside run.
• I don’t know what Robert Killebrew was just doing in pass coverage. Third and ten and he lets the Colorado TE get free for the reception. It was a zone defense but he and Aaron Harris were essentially holding hands in the middle of the field while leaving the flats wide open.
• Fumble! Michael Huff makes a sure tackle and forces the CU receiver to fumble the football. Big break for Texas.
• Designed run for Vince Young early to get him involved in the rushing attack. VY breaks a tackle and goes for 18. Good to see him running and fired up.
• Look who’s freaking back! Great scramble by Vince. Several good moves and then just plows over a tackler and takes it down to the one yard line.
• Henry Melton behind the right side of the line for the one yard touchdown. Horns get on the board first.

Texas 7, Colorado 0

• Time for the defense to answer. Offense game out and got early points, now we need the defense to get a quick stop.
• Why does the 25-yard line have special coloring? Isn’t it always the 20? The refs just spotted the ball in the wrong place after a touchback because of it.
• Huff all over the place early in the game and two CU dropped passes help the Horns force a three and out.
• That’s the first time I’ve heard anyone talk about Mack Brown’s lack of a conference title as a coach with any logic. There’s not a ton of excuses for not having one in his time at Texas, but in his previous stops at Tulane and North Carolina there’s not much hope of winning one.
• Jamaal Charles looks healthy and fast. Wooo! Just took an option pitch from Vince for a big gain.
• No huddle is great, but I kind of wish we’d huddle up for a third and 3 inside the 20 yard line.
• I’d much rather have the ball in Charles’ hands than Ramonce Taylor’s on a third and short. Much better at just getting down field and picking up the necessary yards.
• I just love having Jamaal Charles in the backfield. Simple and easy arrow route out of the backfield and he catches the pass for a touchdown.

Texas 14, Colorado 0

• Just a reminder to myself before I relax too much, Texas was up 14 – 0 against A&M last week too.
• Good kickoff coverage.
• Buffaloes are holding like mad men. The CU running back just used his legs to wrap up a guy in pass protection.
• Crap, Michael Huff is hurt. Maybe an arm or shoulder?
• Holy crap are we pathetic against the option. Joel Klatt looked half-retarded on the play but he managed to drunkenly stumble for a big gain.
• Now the other safety is on the ground hurt. Michael Griffin decided to lead with his helmet instead of wrapping up and making a sound tackle and hurt himself.
• More blocking with their legs by Colorado. I guess the refs are going to allow that crap today.
• Another option but this time the Texas defense actually plays it correctly. Linebacker slow-played Klatt and forced the pitch while giving the rest of the defense time to get out there.
• Big third and 11.
• If the guy in the Citi Simplicity commercial is paying his credit card online, why does he need a paper copy of the bill to make a payment?
• Looks like they have decided to stop Colorado’s constant holding, two calls against them in a row. Aaron Ross breaks up the pass and forces a field goal try.
• Blocked field goal!! Brian Robison got his white ass up and got a solid hand on it. Ross tries to pull a Nathan Vasher and picked up a ball he shouldn’t have for the return. Not a bad return by him but there’s an illegal block and Texas is backed up to their own 6.
• Crap. Limas Sweed doesn’t make the catch on what might have been pass interference and CU intercepts the pass. Crap.

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Looks like we’re going to miss the start of the game due to the Bowling Green versus Toledo football game. It’s Tuesday, why in the world is there college football going on? There was even a game last night (Miami and Ohio), do athletes in the MAC ever go to class?

Well it looks like they’re switching to the game here in Dallas at least…

First Half

• College basketball officiating really is a freaking joke. Someone at ESPN needs to let the NCAA that the way the games are officiated makes the games almost unwatchable. There’s a stoppage for some unseen foul every 20 seconds, then you’ll see a guy hammered on the shot and no call is made. Just let them play basketball and shove the whistle up your…
• Daniel Gibson not hitting right now. I can handle some hot and cold shooting out of him, but he’s got to control the ball better than he did last night.
• If LaMarcus Aldridge can hit that jump hook consistently he’ll be tough to defend.
• Aldridge looks a lot less goofy running the floor this year. The time in the gym has helped him fill out a lot.

Texas 17, Iowa 16

• Do we need a sideline reporter at a preseason college basketball tourney? Erin Andrews definitely needs more air time, but man is her job pointless. Maybe get rid of Stuart Scott to make room for her.
• Speaking of goofy, Connor Atchley makes Jason Klotz look coordinated. Sounds like he’s going to be an excellent role player for us in coming years. Definitely looks like he still has room to grow physically.
• Hey look, more overofficiating. Is that a word? It is now. I think part of the problem is that the announcers haven’t mentioned what these calls are or who they were on.
• Why are there dinosaurs in King Kong? Were they in the original movie?
• Mike Williams in for Brad Buckman for a long time now.
• If P.J. Tucker can hit his jumper he’ll be a totally different player than he was before. Much better fit at the 3 if that’s the case.

(more …)

Last home game today for the seniors against a pretty good [tag]Kansas[/tag] Jayhawk football team. (Let’s hope it’s not Vince Young’s last game in Austin!) Obviously an important game for the Horns as they can’t afford to lose one as they persue a national title. Texas also has a chance to clinch the Big XII South simply by winning one of their last two games. We’re big favorites but there should be plenty to play for and we should come out fired up.

First Quarter

• No TV right now because OU and A&M are still going on ABC. WOAI in San Antonio is still streaming the games on the Internet even though everyone else has pulled it.
• Longhorns went 3 and out to start the game.
• A couple of early false starts by the Jayhawks gives them 2nd and 17.
• Robison gets pressure on Kansas quarterback and he gets the sack.
• Texas offense sounds a little rough right now and it appears Greg Davis is starting things off pretty conservatively. A screen pass on second and long and then a running play to Selvin Young on third and 10.
• Third down and 10 again for KU and Cedric Griffin comes up with the stop to force another punt. Not much offense for either team so far.
• Two more minutes to go in the OU/TAMU game. Sooners just converted a crucial 3rd down and 12 and should be able to run out the clock now.
• Sounded like a typical Ramonce Taylor screw up/huge play all in one, just like in the Ohio State game. Taylor fumbled the ball but it bounced back up to him and he’s able to scoop it and run for the first down.
• Touchdown Limas Sweed!! Play action fake by Vince Young who then throws a 45-yard bomb into the end zone and Sweed goes up to get it for the TD. Sweed had two big catches last week and makes a tough one to put the Longhorns up early.

Kansas 0, Texas 7

• Touchdown Robert Killebrew!! Kansas returner fumbled the kick off and Killebrew picks it up and scores!
• AHhh! They took the TD away from him. Officials said the ball was muffed which means the kicking team isn’t allowed to advance it.
• Well Killebrew is probably pissed, but the Longhorn offense is able to quickly turn his play into points. One play, hand off to Jamaal Charles for a ten yard touchdown.

Kansas 0, Texas 14

• OU finishes off the game and beats the Aggies 36 to 30. We should have TV coverage after the break.
• Radio and TV coverage missed it but it looks like kick off must have gone out of bounds. Rumor on Friday was that Greg Johnson might miss the game and Richmond McGee would have to kick off. Let’s hope we keep scoring and make it not matter.
• Good play by Larry Dibbles and Cedric Griffin to make the stop on another 3rd and long for the Jayhawks. Texas defense is starting off much better than they did against Oklahoma State or Baylor. Third straight 3 and out.
• More holding by the offensive line.
• Quan Cosby has officially arrived. My goodness has he become a player the last two or three weeks. He’s fast, catches the football well, and is a tough SOB who refuses to go down. That’s two weeks in a row that he should have been tackled and he turned it into a long TD. 65 yards on that reception and the Horns are up huge!

Kansas 0, Texas 21

• Well it’s Johnson out there to kick, guess he’s okay. Nice coverage by the Horns special teams.
• This isn’t the NFL, why is ABC taking a commercial break before after a kick off??
• Bevo XIV is still a little skinny. Is that just because he’s still pretty young? I honestly think Mark Mangino may weigh more than he does.
• Kansas looks as penalty-prone as we are. That’s not good if you don’t have the extreme talent advantage to make up for it.
• And the penalty kills KU as they have to punt again and Aaron Ross takes it back 71 yards for the touchdown. Great return, not much running side to side but he hit the seam and made people miss with quick moves. Best play on the return? Michael Huff not getting a penalty by wisely pulling back and avoiding the block in the back
• Mack Brown very fired up and happy, I love that.

Kansas 0, Texas 28

• Good kick off coverage is negated by another off sides call, but we run down there again and do a pretty good job.
• Mark Mangino was eating was having a Snickers on the sideline instead of calling a play and KU got a delay of game. I mock him because he needs help, seriously. (And he’s a bit of a blow hard.)
• Another stand by the defense, no first downs allowed yet.
• Downside of being up by 28 in the first quarter? Vince Young might not be able to rack up the stats if he only plays a half or so. Hopefully he can at least rack up about 250 passing yards and maybe add one or two more passing TD’s.

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Tonight’s game will be the first TBS televised game I’ve watched all the way through, so it will be interesting to see what kind of job they do. I don’t recognize either of the announcers but they can’t be any worse than the guys ABC trots out there every week.

First Quarter

• Good kick by Greg Johnson and an even better hit! [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag] returner had a seam and Johnson just came flying up and laid him out.
• Good first series from the defense, had a chance to get a turnover but still forced a three and out.
• Ramonce Taylor drops a wide open pass and we’ve got 4th down. If he catches that one in stride he might be able to get into the end zone with his speed.
• I don’t know what the wind is like but I’m pretty confident that David Pino won’t make too many 52 yard field goals. We should have tried to pin them back deep or go for it, but we don’t and we get the kick blocked.
• Great play design on 4th and one by Okie State for the touchdown. They rushed up to the line, looked like they were going to go for the short gain with everything they got and snuck a wide receiver out of the backfield. Dajuan Woods ran wide open down the field all by himself.

Texas 0, Okie State 7

• Great run from Vince Young on 3rd and long, 45 yards or so. He’s looked a little off again today so let’s hope this settles him down.
• Another holding penalty from David Thomas. He seems to get one of those and a false start every week. We just flat out can’t do that on first and goal. 2nd and goal from the 5 is a lot better than a tough 10 yard penalty.
• Wow, Vince air mailed that one about 10 yards over Quan Cosby’s head. Wasn’t even close. Somehow the announcers blamed it on Cosby.
• Another holding penalty. We may have the best offensive line in the country but we are the worst at holding I’ve ever seen. We seem to get caught more than any team I’ve ever seen.
• Touchdown David Thomas! Great pass from VY on 3rd and goal from the 20 yard line. Threaded it in there. Thomas needs to do more catching with those great hands of them and stop using them to hold.
• Did they just claim the holder, Matt Nordgren, falst started on the extra point? It looked like the right side of the line moved, but I’m pretty sure they said number 7. Crap, it just caused us to get the kick blocked. Way too much penetration in the middle of the line.

Texas 6, Okie State 7

• We’re playing absolutely terrible, the only way this game is remotely close is if we give it to them. We’ve got to settle down on offense.
• Decent kick and much better coverage. Of course, we were freaking offsides on the thing. How many penalties is that already? 4? 5? Ugh.
• The Cowboys are just playing with a lot more energy than we are. It sure looks like we must’ve spent all week celebrating our number one BCS ranking. Another big run and they’re inside our 10. They’re running right down our throats right now.
• Anytime they run the toss we have about 5 guys crash down inside for no reason and then they can just run untouched around the corner. We’ve got to pull our heads out.

Texas 6, Okie State 14

• Another high throw from Vince and this one’s picked off.
• And Oklahoma State immediately converts it into points. Our defense looked like they’d never seen the zone read before as OSU QB Al Pena runs untouched into the end zone. Embarassing.

Texas 6, Okie State 21

• Let’s come out and run it down their throats with Vince and Jamaal Charles.
• Big keeper from Vince. Down to the OSU 30.
• Looks like the OSU defense is forcing Charles outside and then they’re bottling him up. No seams up the middle for him yet.
• Vince has missed every throw by a mile. He hasn’t been close at all. 4th down.
• Pino converts the 45 yard field goal. More bad protection but he gets the 3 points.

Texas 9, Okie State 21

• Deep kick into the end zone by Johnson and great coverage. Cowboys will start at the 15 yard line, let’s hope we take the field position and get the ball back for our offense.

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OU is about to lose to UCLA and start their season by losing two of their first three games. Is that a good thing or bad thing for Texas? Of course we still have to actually beat them. Personally I think it’s great for recruiting, and since we beat Ohio State in the Columbus last week all we have to do is win all of our games. We don’t have to worry about respect.

Tonight against [tag]Rice[/tag] we just need to stay sharp and stay healthy. They obviously can’t really compete with us, so start off strong early and things will fall into place. We need to make sure we’re not still enjoying last week’s victory as well as get ready for what should be a solid test in two weeks at Missouri.

First Quarter

• I still don’t like the black shoes.
• Good to see us throwing to David Thomas right off the bat, Ohio State was able to tak him out of the game last week. Fantastic grab on the first play of the game.
• A lot of single back with Vince Young under center. That’s a first this season.
• Not only is Jamaal Charles quick and shifty, but he’s got amazing balance as well. Doesn’t go down easy. Great 25 yard run for a touchdown. Nice way to start off things in your first career start.
• I still love David Pino.

Texas 7, Rice 0

• Greg Johnson instead of Richmond McGee. Not too deep, but at least it wasn’t a line drive. Good coverage too. Plus a penalty.
• Tarell Brown can’t let the runner get outside of him on the option. He’s got to force it back into the middle and the linebackers.
• An even worse job by Michael Griffin on the next play. He’s staring in at the dive fake and the QB and just let everyone get outside of him.
• Griffin looks like he is slow playing it. Are we going to rely on just the corner to cover the pitch man? That’s a flawed plan. Griffin made the play that time just because he’s ten times the athlete the running back is.
• I didn’t think you were allowed to just fall into the endzone downing a punt like that. I thought you had to keep the ball and your body from touching the line.
• Henry Melton needs a nickname.
• I thought VY was going to take that one 90+ yards. Great run but it was too easy. It kind of look like we didn’t even run a play, just told Vince to roll left and run for his life.
• Seriously, the black shoes make us look like we’re jogging. They’re terrible. Charles just kind of wandered another 25 yards for the TD.

Texas 14, Rice 0

• Okay that’s enough of that, let’s see if we can throw the thing around a little. If we get up too much we’re not going to be able to throw or it’ll look like we’re running it up. And for the 50th time, we need to get Ramonce Taylor the ball!
• At least Johnson appears to be kicking the ball where he wants. Still would like to see more distance on it, but maybe there’s some wind.
• Did we know Rice runs the option? We had a man on the running back that time but we waited back and took on the blocker instead of getting in there and blowing him up.
• I don’t know why the Owls don’t just run the option until we stop it.
• Come on Vince, you’ve got to make that throw. Limas Sweed is wide open and he tries to be too perfect. When he’s that open, lead him back into the middle of the field instead of trying to make the perfect throw to his outside shoulder.
• Pretty good run by Charles considering we only had 10 men on the field.
• Two pretty poor decisions by Vince on two plays in a row. 3rd and 15, he needs to throw the ball away or find Charles and dump the ball off instead of taking a sack. Every little bit of field position could matter in a big game.
• Better showing by the defense, but that may be because they didn’t bother to try running the option even once.
• There’s the Sweed we know. Just kind of let’s the Rice DB have the ball on a catch he should’ve easily had for a first down. Of course, moron national media who don’t actually watch any games will chalk up another interception for Vince Young and begin talking trash about his throwing ability again.

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Holy cow. I hope the team and coaching staff are looser than I am, because I’m nervous as hell. They seemed pretty loose in practice this week, hopefully it carries over to a relaxed, focused, and prepared team tonight against [tag]Ohio State[/tag].

Probably won’t be posting as much as last week, I’ll be focusing all my positive energies on the game. That and I’ll probably be pacing around the house.

First Quarter

• Why isn’t ABC showing this or any other games in high definition? They’ve had plenty of absolutely crappy games on ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD.
• Someone tell Jack Arute to listen when he asks a question so he doesn’t ask something someone answered for him 3 seconds ago.
• Surprised Pino is kicking off, I’m guessing to keep it away from Ginn. Worked terribly.
• That was really close to a lateral.
• Huge three and out.
• I like the empty backfield, something we haven’t shown much of.
• Vince Young is pissed. I love it. Big time facemask, I’d be pissed too.
• Man the OSU linebackers are fugly. Looks like AJ Hawk is on human growth hormone.
• Big time run! Vince is definitely looking good running the ball. Much quicker than anyone the Buckeyes have.
• Pittman was wide open and he fell down. Damnit. Good call and pass.
• Sloppy play by VY and Selvin Young, almost turned the ball over on an option. It looks like they ruled it an incomplete pass. Kind of screwed up that opportunity. Ramonce Taylor is not the man to be throwing the jump ball to in the end zone.
• I love David Pino, 42 yard field goal is good.

Texas 3, OSU 0

• Our kickoff coverage is terrible. Angle that sucker, don’t just kick it right down the middle. Good depth though.
• Looks like Def. Coordinator didn’t show anything last week. Nice late shift by the defensive line causes a delay of game.
• Rashad Bobino needs to break down and make that tackle on the swing pass.
• Zone blitz by the Horns on 3rd and 6 forces Zwick to scramble and he ends up short. Rod Wright dropped off into the flats for coverage. I’m loving Coach Chizik.
• Aaron Ross has to catch the dang punt. Get up there and fair catch it so that it’s not bouncing all over the place and costiing us yards.
• Woooo! Love to see Jamaal Charles already in there and a wide open Billy Pittman running down the middle of the field. Nice throw and catch.
• Are we running some no huddle? Man we are treating this big game like it’s a big game and pulling out all the tricks. Note: The announcers of course didn’t notice.
• Great catch from David Thomas. Saved Vince’s butt.
• Our offensive line looks a little tired (Justin Blalock in particular just now), it’ll be interesting to see what kind of condition both teams are in.
• Jamaal Charles has skills. Little shifty sucker. I love to see the tail back screen, we don’t do that too often.
• First Henry Melton sighting. First down, we may have gotten a generous spot there.
• HOLY COW! We just threw on first and goal from the 5 yard line. Touchdown Billy Pittman. Wide open again after a play fake.

Texas 10, OSU 0

• My God, our kickoff coverage is an embarassment. We’re up now, but if we start on our ten every time and they’re starting on their fifty we may need to score 100.

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My live, random thoughts from the Texas versus [tag]Louisiana Lafayette[/tag] game. Hopefully we play a little better tonight than Oklahoma did today. (Go Horned Frogs!)

First quarter

• It’s got to be tough for these ULL kids to be playing after all they’ve been through over the past week. Lafayette didn’t really get hit by Hurricane Katrina but you know that a lot of these kids are probably originally from New Orleans and the surrounding area. Donate to the Red Cross and help out anyway you can.
• Throwbacks look good. Love the helmets and jerseys. Little weird not to have names on the back of jerseys, especially tough in the first game when I don’t know everyone’s new numbers yet. I’ll have to be checking the roster often.
• The black shoes make us look slow. Even Vince looks like he’s plodding along a little bit.
• Selvin Young looks much bigger than he did a year ago.
• The defensive front just ran over the ULL offensive line. All sorts of pressure on the QB and penetration on running plays.
• Henry Melton is a big old boy, I look forward to watching him run over some people in short yardage situations this year.
• We are in deep #@*$ at field goal kicker right now. And a long return on the ensuing kickoff. We need special teams help in a hurry.
• How does ULL have a better field goal kicker than us? At least we’ve looked a little exciting on kick returns.
• LOVE the speed option on third and short. Has to be scary to opposing defenses. Jamaal Charles needs to put the football in the outside arm.
• Great to see the two true freshmen backs (Charles and Melton) getting in there early. Touchdown for Charles on a nice easy off tackle play to the left. Looked good.
• Just noticed Larry Dibbles for the first time. Good to see the rumors about him having academic issues was just a rumor. We’ll need him this year and our depth at DT should be one of our biggest strengths.
• Speaking of depth, I just saw Thomas Marshall in there already. We must be rotating a ton of people. He’s probably the fifth string defensive tackle.
• Aaron Harris just caused his first forced fumble of the year, he’s got a long way to go to catch up to DJ’s total from last year. He’s playing really well right now, really disruptive.
• Good catch by Nathan Jones, helped VY out a little on a ball thrown behind him. With all the talk about his passing skills, he had very little help from his wide receivers last year.
• That may be first pass down field I’ve seen Ramonce Taylor catch as a receiver. That’s at least three touches he’s had already here early in the game.
• The first Quan Cosby sighting. I think the depth and talent at WR is going to be a big difference between this season and last. Lots of guys to throw to and Dave Thomas as the go to guy.

First quarter is over and Texas leads 13 – 3. Very, very good showing on offense and defense and a very shaky start on special teams. So far I like what we’re doing on offense a lot. Mixing things up, spreading the ball around. Letting Vince move around a little and throw the ball in the intermediate level.

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