40 Acres Sports

Article on Chris’ basketball travels now that he’s in Berlin.

Sounds like a good kid making the best out of a tough situation.

Complaining about an obvious signal anyone on TV would notice?

It explains the penalties but it’s still not much of an excuse.

The final score against [tag]Rice[/tag] wasn’t close and the game was over by halftime, but picking guys as players of the game was surprisingly difficult. There were solid performances from multiple guys on both sides of the ball and most of the big guys only played about a half. As for the play of the game, with several big gainers in a game that got out of hand quickly I chose a play that could end up being a signal of what the offense is capable of.

Players of the Game

Offense – [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] even with only eight carries put up the biggest game Saturday, 110 yards with an average of a whopping 13.6 yards per carry and a TD is a hell of a day. He even ripped off the team’s longest run of the year with a carry of 46 yards. The team had three runs of over 35 yards, hopefully the big plays continue against some stiffer competition.

Defense – [tag]Tim Crowder[/tag] edges out a surprising Scott Derry. Crowder finished with seven solo tackles (eight total), seven tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble, and he recovered a fumble for his first career touchdown. You can’t ask for a much better day out of defensive lineman. He was in the Rice backfield on seemingly every play and was a big reason the Owls finished the game with -12 yards rushing. He’s been a consistent force all season.

Play of the Game

The most important play against Rice wasn’t the most explosive play of the day and didn’t result in points, but does tells us a lot about the future of this offense this season. Here’s this week’s play of the game:

On the play [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] hits freshman tight end [tag]Jermichael Finley[/tag] for a 22-yard completion on the first pass attempt of the game. McCoy makes a good read and throw to Finley who is running a 15-yard out. McCoy drops the pass in nicely and Finley makes a leaping grab on a ball a little behind him. It was the first completion to a tight end of the season and something I hope to see a lot more of. It’s important that the young quarterbacks have solid tight ends to rely on. Hopefully this isn’t the last time this season we see these two hook up.

Normally, I would be one of the last people on the planet to stick up for OU, but what happened to them on Saturday should go down as some of the worst calls in the history of college football. And not only was it just one call, there were 3 horrible calls in the span of 1 minute, and two of them were held up by instant replay!

1. On the onside kick, an Oregon player clearly touches the ball before it crosses the 10 yard line.
2. Oklahoma recovers the onside kick when the ball squirts out of the pile.
3. Two plays later an OU defensive lineman tipped a pass, but an OU defensive back was still somehow called for pass interference.

The first two were reviewed by instant replay, and what was their decision? Oregon ball. Seriously, I have no idea what these refs could be thinking. And unlike OU’s game against Texas Tech last year, OU really got screwed on this one.

Read more to check out video evidence.

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After the loss last week, here’s a few things to be watching for today.

Westlake star offensive lineman and future Longhorn [tag]Matt Nader[/tag] collapsed tonight during the Chapparal’s game at A&M Consolidated. His mother performed CPR and emergency medical personnel used a defibrillator when they did not detect a pulse. Matt is currently in a College Station hospital but is now alert and talking. Our thoughts are with Matt and his family.

More details over at the NCAA FanHouse.

Update: It looks like Matt Nader has been forced to give up football due to a heart condition. Thankfully his doctors say he will lead a normal life. Also, it looks like Matt will still have the opportunity to get an education at UT, as coach [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] has a policy of standing by a scholarship agreement, even if a player can no longer play.

NES ROM of Tecmo Super Bowl featuring current NFL rosters. Very cool.

I’m not sure it’s true here, but just because you lose to #1 doesn’t mean you’re not #2.