40 Acres Sports

I knew they were a bunch of cheaters. I think he should miss the game against us.

Supposedly coaches at other schools had tried to raid affected teams and recruit their players.

Fantastic Bill Little commentary on the OSU game.

Our Thoughts

Brian – How bout them Texas Longhorns? I can’t move them up above USC, but I think because of a down year in the Big XII they have a better chance of finishing the season undefeated. I think a Texas – Louisville matchup in the Rose Bowl is a strong possibility. Another week of upsets means another week of big drops and jumps in my top 25. Notre Dame moves all the way up to #13 this week from #25, though I still have my doubts. With the way Pitt lost to Ohio on Friday and how completely terrible Michigan looked Saturday I still just don’t know if they’re for real. We’ll definitely know more next week.

Matt – What a great weekend of college football. With Texas winning the Game of the Year at Ohio State, I am moving Texas into the #1 spot. Vince Young showed what a special player he really is, never giving up and leading Texas to the comeback victory. The ASU vs LSU game was incredible as well. I think LSU showed a lot of heart and I am keeping them in the Top 5.

The Notre Dame vs Michigan game was also interesting, but it is hard to tell if Michigan isn’t the team everyone expected them to be or if Notre Dame really is that good. With that in mind, I am reluctantly moving previously unranked Notre Dame to #13, and will have no trouble dropping them down a bit with any sign up weakness.

Related Links

• Last week’s rankings

In what is probably the biggest game of the year, Texas finally proved that they can win the big game. They went into [tag]Ohio State[/tag], didn’t really play their best game, and still found a way to pull out the win. The path is now set to the Rose Bowl, lets just hope we can beat OU.

Quarterback – Overall Grade: A-

Vince really scared me in this game. I know he is good, and I know he knows he is good, but can he please tuck the ball when he is about to get tackled? With that and his two picks, I really wanted to move him to a B+, but since he made that incredible touchdown pass, I had to give him a A-. Man was it nice to see him pass for 270 yards though.

Running Backs – Overall Grade: B-

The running game was really not there this game. But it is hard to tell if it was just playing against the best linebackers in the nation, or the running backs took a step backward. We are definitely going to need more production out of the running game though, because I don’t want to have to rely on Vince’s arm all season. Also, it looks like Jamaal Charles will be starting this week against Rice.

Receivers / Tight End – Overall Grade: A

Wow, the receivers came through huge in this game. Pittman was definitely the go to guy in this game, with 5 catches for 130 yards. And I don’t really need to comment much on that awesome catch by Sweed to win the game. Overall, just a great performance.

Offensive Line – Overall Grade: B-

Again, I think their performance was probably more of a result of how good the Ohio State defense is. They opened some decent holes every once in a while, but it is hard to block those linebackers.

(more …)

The defense deserves a lot of credit in this game, they came up big time and time again.

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.

(more …)

Our first exclusive gallery has been uploaded of Longhorns running back commitment Derke (pronounced Derek) Robinson. Robinson is a 4 star running back from Lewisville Hebron and I had the chance to head down the road to watch him play.

His team handled The Colony Cougars pretty easily that night through the air and with Robinson hobbled a little (looked like an ankle issue) he was given the ball sparingly. He looked great on the chances he did get but finished the night with 67 yards on only 7 carries.

View the gallery.

The “Fantastic Four” in Texas’ backfield.

Akim Millington and Brandon Keith keep quitting and are now gone for good. Bomar gets MIP.