Last year’s win over [tag]UTEP[/tag] was great and all, but the best part of last year’s Longhorn game against the Miners wasn’t the win it was a Miner player getting hit in the nuts with a practice deep snap. Watch and enjoy:
That’ll never stop being funny. I can’t wait until Mike Judge’s vision of the future comes true.
I can empathize with Taylor Potts – Sergio Kindle’s bone-jarring sack just won’t go away. From countless SportsCenter highlight reels to the blogosphere to a record-setting four appearances in my inbox, Kindle’s hit has been everywhere during the past week. And why not? He absolutely obliterated [tag]Texas Tech[/tag] QB Taylor Potts and may have killed any shot that Marlon Winn had at becoming an NFL offensive lineman (the only right tackle who’s ever had to feel worse about a blown assignment is the guy who decided to play matador with Lawrence Taylor instead of protecting Joe Theismann). As a Texas Ex who made my way back to the 40 Acres for the showdown, I couldn’t have been happier.
From the moment ABC replayed the sack and Brent Musberger was rendered speechless, discussion has focused on the legality of Kindle’s hit. Did he make first contact with Potts’ helmet or chest? In perhaps the only well-reasoned analysis of Kindle’s hit on Potts, SI FanNation writer Andy Staples proves that the Texas defensive end was in the clear. “He [Kindle] planted his face into the ball, which Potts had clutched to his chest. Then Kindle did what any good tackler is taught to do. He exploded from the knees up and drove his body through the ballcarrier. This explosion caused the crown of his helmet to rise into Potts’ helmet.”
Exactly. Case closed. But it shouldn’t be.
You see, Kindle’s hit was technically legal, but the real problem and the larger issue is the rule itself. Under NCAA rules, if a helmet-to-helmet hit occurs, the player at fault can be suspended and his team penalized. On the surface, this rule makes a lot of sense – its goal is to protect players plain and simple. The consequences, however, could be far-reaching.
When players slow down to think about exactly which part of their body initiates contact with another player, their pace of play drops dramatically (i.e., Bad Roy Williams performance after the creation of an NFL rule banning horse collar tackling – he’s been rendered utterly ineffective). In many cases, players become timid and hesitant and are in far greater physical danger than before. Most coaches will tell you that chances of an injury are greatly reduced when players are moving at full-speed – most blown knees occur when a player is standing still or running slowly, which is when the foot has had time to plant.
Watch Kindle’s hit again. As he comes around Winn, he’s moving at full speed. Had he slowed down to make certain that he didn’t hit Potts’ helmet, he most likely would have dropped his helmet even further. He then would have struck Potts with the very top of his helmet or tried to bend his head back, almost ensuring a neck injury.
I’m not naïve. I’ve played and/or watched football for more than two decades, and I know full well that it is a dangerous sport that demands scrutiny and regulation to ensure the safety of the men who play the game. However, a worrisome trend has developed in recent years, starting in the NFL and trickling down to the NCAA, of over-regulating on-field player movement to the point of causing more harm than good. Instead of adding more rules during the next offseason, perhaps the Rules Committee should rethink some current ones.
Watch the hit below, just for fun:
Posted September 25th, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Recruiting
Texas coach Rick Barnes has brought in some of the best players in the entire nation over the last decade and The Sporting News noticed. He has been named recruiter of the decade for bringing guys like TJ Ford, Kevin Durant, and Avery Bradley to Austin.
Posted September 25th, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Recruiting
Very interesting article on how star guard Avery Bradley ended up as a Longhorn. Crazy to hear how he went from good to elite in such a short time, and how a few years in Arlington watching TJ Ford tear it up at Texas helped him end up in Austin.
Bad news on the injury front. As was rumored over the weekend, Texas linebacker [tag]Jared Norton[/tag] needs season-ending surgery on his shoulder and is done for the year. Read the official university release below:
After further evaluation of the right shoulder injury that Longhorn senior linebacker Jared Norton sustained in UT’s season-opening victory over ULM, it was determined that he will need to have season ending surgery, Texas Head Athletic Trainer for Football Kenny Boyd said on Monday.
Norton, who registered six tackles against ULM, will apply for a medical redshirt year in hopes of returning for the 2010 season. The 6-foot-3, 237-pounder has played in 38 career games, starting nine, and posted 128 tackles, 4.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss.
He started seven of 13 games and had 54 tackles, 2.5 sacks and four TFL last year and played in 12 games, starting one, with 53 tackles, two sacks and four TFL as a sophomore in 2007. As a true freshman in 2006, Norton played in 12 games and registered 15 stops and one TFL.
“It’s disappointing not being out there with my teammates especially with this being my senior year,” Norton said. “I’ve been through this process before, so I know how to deal with it.
“I’m just going to work hard rehabbing and focus on my schoolwork and getting my degree. Hopefully, the rehab will go well and I can come back next year and help lead the team to another
successful season.”
Good luck to Jared in his recovery.
Watch this hilarious video of ESPN’s Chris Fowler, Jesse Palmer and Craig James having an absolute blast mocking a [tag]Clemson[/tag] fan who is taking a loss a little too seriously:
(via Awful Announcing)
Here’s a brief description of the first installment of the “WTH?” on UT sports. WTH? (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. This first edition covers some of the most interesting moments from Texas’ game against [tag]Texas Tech[/tag].
1st Quarter (7:02) – Texas Tech punt coverage team has the first WTH? when a short punt of 38 yards by Tech’s Donnie Carona ends up in the hands of an oncoming [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] who makes every TT player turn and trail Shipley for a 46 yard touchdown. WTH Raiders?!
1st Quarter (7:00) – Two seconds later Bevo asks WTH? when Jordan decides to jump over the reins that supposedly holds on to this two thousand pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal… thank you Godzillatron moment. No Texas football player has ever ventured so close to one of the most revered mascots since the Tyler Rose. WTH Shipley?
2nd Quarter (3:30) – [tag]Justin Tucker[/tag], UT punter, asks “WTH?” when he fist pounds the television/time clock referee (this is the guy that has the orange gloves and wanders aimlessly out to the middle of the field). Why the heck are you interacting with him? 28 seconds later he precedes to girlie punt the ball 19 yards to the Raiders 30 yard line out-of-bounds. WTH Tucker?!
4th Quarter (11:59) – WTH were the referees thinking? The entire 101,297 DKR crowd was wondering aloud, with a few cuss words, what ref Tom Walker and his crew was smoking when an incomplete pass to Texas Tech’s Alex Torres was turned into a personal foul, late hit on [tag]Roddrick Muckelroy[/tag]. And then they threw in a roughing the passer call to cover their asses. On top of that WTH?, the very next play, which was a 2 yard loss for Tech, the same refs missed a blatant jersey hold by the Tech offense in front of everyone. WTH Walker?!
4th Quarter (11:49) – WTH should be defined as “Where the heck is my helmet?” when QB Taylor Potts had his head handed to him by the most ferocious sack by [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag]. Play of the night!! WTH Sergio?!
4th Quarter (3:40) – “WTH?” is what the entire Texas Tech and Texas fan base said when Mike Leach decided to call a rushing play over right tackle that netted only five yards in the middle of the field. TT down by 10 points. WTH Leach?!
Final Score: Texas 34, Texas Tech 24
Next up the University of Texas at El Paso at 2:30pm at DKR – See you there!
According to the Austin American-Statesman’s Kirk Bohls, Texas and 2006 Rose Bowl loser USC are working on a possible home-and-home series in the relatively distant future. Nothing is remotely close to final, but the two schools are looking at setting up a pair of incredible marquee matchups for 2019 and 2020.
From Bohls’ blog:
Texas and Southern California are in the midst of serious talks about a future home-and-home series, possibly in 2019-2020, but nothing is close to being finalized, and it could still fall apart. Kudos to both football programs for taking such a risk and trying to put together what would be the Game of the Year for two straight seasons.
“USC is talking to a lot of schools – including Texas – about future football scheduling,” USC spokesman Tim Tessalone e-mailed back to the American-Statesman on Monday. “Nothing has been decided or finalized.”
A Texas spokesman also confirmed the two sides are talking but have nothing to announce yet. Rumors that Texas is also negotiating a series with Alabama are untrue, but the Longhorns are looking at other name schools.
Got your 2019 season tickets yet? The Horns are going to be must-see TV for the next 10+ years.
Quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] and the two Texas coordinators comment on the Big 12 opening win against [tag]Texas Tech[/tag]. Watch the video below:
Texas coach [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] discusses the team’s slow start against [tag]Texas Tech[/tag], being a work in progress, and the important of defense for a team’s consistency. Watch:
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