40 Acres Sports

Brian Orakpo will be an 82 rated defensive end for the Redskins in Madden 10.

Roger Goodell and [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] were still on stage at last weekend’s [tag]NFL Draft[/tag] and EA Sports already had Orakpo’s Madden NFL 10 Washington Redskins player card ready. The EA experts love his speed and power and rated him as an 82 overall. Both in real life and in the game, Rak is going to have a chance to contribute and flourish early on as a rookie playing next to Albert Haynesworth.

Related Links

• First round player cards
• Rookie Rating Superlatives

The Statesman’s Suzanne Halliburton just reported that [tag]Minnesota[/tag] head coach Tim Brewster has announced an upcoming home and home match-up between the Gophers and the Longhorns. No dates specified yet.

I think this is the perfect out of conference game for Texas. Minnesota is a BCS conference opponent that will help the strength of schedule but is also a team Texas should beat 90% of the time. Of course, any opponent is better than the Arkansas States of the world.

Update: Halliburton’s UT sources say talk of series with Minnesota is “premature.” The first opening in the schedule is 2011.

Chris Ogbonnaya scores against the Sooners.

Sometimes, I love ESPN Classic. Usually when they replay college football during the “dog days” of the season (May-July) that keeps my ever-present desire for college football that much sharper. One such occasion occurred last week, as ESPNC replayed the Texas/OU 2008 game in all its glory, unless you’re a Sooner. So, with pen and paper in hand, I decided to cue up my DVR and record some observations in hindsight (i.e. when I’m not shot gunning Modello’s and cursing whatever evil demon Bob Stoops sold his soul to). Enjoy!

1. Our offensive line got whipped in the first half.

Colt was running for his life in the 1st half, and our passing game was relegated to quick passes out of necessity. I forgot how badly we got worked in this area early on. The three first half sacks really could have been six were Colt not so mobile.

2. The Ryan Reynolds myth.

I have officially had enough of this crap; YOU know what I’m talking about, cause we’ve all heard this excuse since about five minutes after the final gun in the RRS. We only began to move the ball once Oklahoma’s leader Ryan Reynolds left the game with a knee injury, and IF he stays healthy it would have been a different story. If you need a refresher, just read this OU stooge or check the game recap at Red Dirt Kings.

Funny thing about it… Reynolds wasn’t even on the preseason All Big-12 team; after he tears his ACL every Sooner fan will tell you he’s the best MLB in the country. Let’s look at some hard data:

For the game, in which he lasted about 2 1/2 quarters, Reynolds registered 3 tackles. What’s more, two of them game on his first series (he stuck [tag]Chris Ogbonnaya[/tag] for no gain, and then limited him to a 3 yard run). So, for those of you math majors, in the remaining 2 quarters he played (which translates to five series) he made ONE TACKLE!! Why the drop off in production? Simple once we went to the 4 WR formations, Reynolds became obsolete. He’s your typical OU linebacker, he plays the run aggressively and rushes the passer, but if you get him in coverage he is vulnerable. Three separate times in the first half, [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] either shook him loose or made him miss badly on a tackle. It was a totally mismatch, and St. Reynolds became Donnie from The Big Lebowski…totally out of his element. The longer he would have stayed in the game, the worse he would have looked.

So, why did we start to move the ball better in the second half? Because their defensive line wore down, giving Colt more time to find holes in the zone defense Oklahoma was playing. Reynolds being in there would have lead to him having to cover someone down the field, and we’ve seen that movie (go cue up [tag]Jermichael Finley[/tag] career highlight video, I swear half the plays are against Oklahoma. Where he was covered by… drumroll please… Ryan Reynolds).

One more thing, Reynolds’ replacement Brandon Crow, who OU fans blame solely for the loss to us, registered five tackles in barely over a quarter of action. That’s right, Reynolds’s replacement logged almost twice as many tackles than he did. So, that’s it, Ryan Reynolds is good not great and his injury didn’t hurt OU all that much. The next time snotty dirt burglar fans try to use his injury as an excuse, drop the hammer of knowledge on them.

3. Our “calls”

You know, cause between the refs screwing them AND losing the greatest linebacker every to step put on a pair of shoulder pads, what chance did OU have to win the game? This might be beating a dead horse, but I decided to look into this for the record. There were three main calls that drew criticism: the two roughing the passer calls and the “fumbled” interception in the end zone that was ruled an incomplete pass.

• The first roughing the passer call was a BAD call that went in our favor, no question about it. This call bailed us out of a 3rd and 14 and probably resulted in a “free” 3 points for us. No excuses.
• The second RTP penalty was correct. It wasn’t malicious, but Colt was a good four steps out of bound when Travis Lewis shoves him in the back and jerks his jersey. It looked to be one of those “I’ll hit you late, but not hard enough to get a flag” shenanigans that OU seems to specialize in. Keep your hands to yourself Mr. Lewis!
• The dropped interception…I don’t even know what to say. It’s like trying to explain to a grownup why water is wet; you don’t even know how to begin because the point is so blatantly obvious that any explanation feels asinine. Anyway, here goes… IF a player catches the ball, maintains possession, but when he hits the ground the ball gets jarred loose, IT IS NOT A CATCH!! Invariably there is always some moron who chimes in (usually very know-it-allish) “The ground can’t cause a fumble!” No, it can’t, but it damn sure can cause an incompletion. Learn it, live it, love it.

4. OU’s tomfoolery

Before I can get into this, I think everyone out there that supports the Burnt Orange can agree that Oklahoma cheats worse than a meth-addicted three card Monte dealer. However, that seems to be a common theme in ANY heated rivalry; the Haggys and Red Faders swear that the refs give us every call. The difference is, in this case it is totally true (see Big Red Auto Imports and any game film of an Oklahoma). But instead of making random claims, I decided to game to the game film:

• 1st drive of the game (that didn’t take long, did it?), [tag]Lamarr Houston[/tag] beats Duke Robinson off the ball and has a beeline to sack Bradford. Robinson grabs Houston’s jersey and spins him (blatant holding) and Bradford has time to let the play develop and hit the running back for a 34-yard gain. There is no way that WASN’T holding! So instead of a third and long (if Houston makes the sack) or 2nd and 20 (if the refs could have found their flags), OU had a 1st down in Texas territory.
• In the second quarter, 2nd and 19, Oklahoma runs that jailbreak screen and Manual Johnson is a good yard past the line of scrimmage when he catches the ball. That would have been okay, except for the three OU linemen downfield. Instead of a 2nd and 24, they get 3rd and 6.
• In the third quarter, same situation that I just described, only this time Johnson is a good two yards past the line of scrimmage when he catches the ball. Instead of 3rd and 15, they score a touchdown.

That’s three infractions calls that OU got away with, all which lead to touchdowns. And don’t even get me started on Loadholt; he grabbed Orakpo so often I think he wanted to date him. Don’t be shy Phil, tell him how you feel!

• In the sake of fairness, there were a couple of plays I thought OU got away with something turned out to be legit. A few of their jailbreak screens WERE behind the line of scrimmage (nullifying the illegal man downfield) and the first touchdown where I thought Manual Johnson never broke the plane (he clearly did).
• You want proof of the Big 12 media bias for the Sooners? Trent Williams, the All-Big 12 first team and winner of the lineman of the year award, was absolutely destroyed by [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag]. Sergio beat him for a sack, two QB pressures and drew a holding penalty against Williams. DeMarcco Murray, who was a repeat selection on the All-Big 12 team first team, did absolutely nothing against us, gaining seven yards on six carries. And the Big 12 coach of the year Bob Stoops? He spent the entire second half taking turns looking confused, and then constipated.

In closing, now that I have watched this game for the third time, this was Oklahoma’s best shot. Seriously. DeMarcco Murray was healthy (for all the good he did), Oklahoma busted out their maddeningly effective jailbreak screen for this game (which we had no time to prepare for, as opposed to Florida) and they converted all their opportunities inside the red zone. For all the smoke being blown about how OU was a different team at the end of the season, with all due respect, so were we. Our freshman safeties had grown up, the young receivers had emerged and our defense was playing lights out (allowing 16 points combined it its last 2 regular season games). We could have played them again and the result would have been the same.

God, I can’t wait for October 17th!

Not a huge surprise after they drafted Knowshon Moreno in the first round of this weekend’s draft, but the Denver Broncos have released former Texas running back [tag]Selvin Young[/tag] today.

From the AP:

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos’ crowded backfield has become a bit clearer with the release of third-year tailback Selvin Young.

The Broncos released Young on Thursday.

They used the 12th overall pick in last weekend’s draft to take Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno, and will have a half-dozen tailbacks competing for playing time.

The Broncos also have holdovers Peyton Hillis and Ryan Torian and free agents J.J. Arrington, Correll Buckhalter and LaMont Jordan.

Young played in 23 games, making 13 starts in two seasons in Denver. He ran 201 times for 1,032 yards and two touchdowns and caught 38 passes for 247 yards.

Young was beset by back and groin injuries last season and was one of seven Broncos tailbacks who ended up on injured reserve.

Selvin is young enough and good enough to make another NFL squad (Texans maybe?) but he’s missed a lot of time due to injury and CBS Denver is reporting that he was released due to a failed team physical. Hopefully his injury situation doesn’t scare teams off and he’s picked up quickly.

After what had to be one of the most difficult weekends of his life Texas wide receiver [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] has found a new home and signed a rookie free agent deal with the Cincinnati Bengals. Estimated by most draft experts to be a 5th or 6th round draft pick Cosby went completely unselected in the 2009 NFL Draft and also was forced to sit uncomfortable next to the great Bill Cosby wearing a football helmet.

Though he was assuredly disappointed with not being selected, as a free agent he was able to pick the team and contract that was the best situation for him. With TJ Houshmandzadeh gone and Chad Johnson disgruntled as always, Quan has a good chance to make the team and contribute. Cosby chose the Bengals over offers from Detroit, Seattle, Houston, San Diego, Indianapolis, Minnesota and St. Louis.

Texas right guard [tag]Cedric Dockery[/tag] also has reportedly signed a free agent deal with the New Orleans Saints.

We will have updates on [tag]Ryan Palmer[/tag] and the other undrafted Horns when they happen. Also follow @40AcresSports on Twitter for breaking Texas sports news.

Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach has been very vocal lately that he thinks his quarterback Graham Harrell isn’t getting a fair shake from the media or NFL scouts. He stood up for Harrell at Heisman time and is now upset that his QB went undrafted this weekend. In the process of defending Harrell he took a hilarious shot at former Aggie and future Cowboy backup Stephen McGee: “I’m happy for Stephen McGee,” Mike Leach said. “The Dallas Cowboys like him more than his coaches at A&M did.”

Ouch.

Cowboys fans should be excited they’re getting a quarterback who couldn’t even start for his college team, just like Dallas legend Quincy Carter. Plus, he’s a jerk:

McGee actually isn’t terrible and was done in by horrible coaching and mediocre teammates at A&M, maybe he’ll have better success with a poorly run NFL franchise. Dennis Franchione tried to make into an option QB for no reason and then current head coach Mike Sherman decided the team’s future was more important than McGee’s. With good coaching, McGee has the talent to become a decent backup in the league, hopefully he gets an attitude adjustment as well.

Source (Note: Watching Aggies and Tech fans argue on the Internet is hilarious.)

Follow along below with our live thoughts and analysis during today’s second day of the NFL Draft that will take place starting at 9:00am on ESPN and the NFL Network. You can catch our live thoughts by tuning into this page and you can also participate in the conversation.

We’ll also be embedding Twitter posts from @40AcresSports and with the hashtag #UTdraft right in with the other notes. Feel free to leave comments and questions using the live tool, but not all comments will be published. Read below for more notes on comments and how the live blog will work. Hook ’em!

Notes: Comments on the article itself will be turned off till after the game. The Writer can view all comments sent to them but only they can publish your comments for everyone to see. The “autoscroll” feature ensures you’re always shown the newest content without having to refresh or scroll your screen. Subtle sound effects alert you to new content as the writer publishes it. You can turn these features on or off by using the controls at the bottom of the Live Blog.

Follow along below with our live thoughts and analysis during today’s NFL Draft that will take place starting at 3:00pm on ESPN and the NFL Network. You can catch our live thoughts by tuning into this page and you can also participate in the conversation.

We’ll also be embedding Twitter posts from @40AcresSports and with the hashtag #UTdraft right in with the other notes. Feel free to leave comments and questions using the live tool, but not all comments will be published. Read below for more notes on comments and how the live blog will work. Hook ’em!

Notes: Comments on the article itself will be turned off till after the game. The Writer can view all comments sent to them but only they can publish your comments for everyone to see. The “autoscroll” feature ensures you’re always shown the newest content without having to refresh or scroll your screen. Subtle sound effects alert you to new content as the writer publishes it. You can turn these features on or off by using the controls at the bottom of the Live Blog.

Check out our projections for how this weekend’s NFL Draft will shake out below along with the picks of some of the league’s draft experts. We’ll be providing live updates on the draft and the Longhorns players who might be selected here on the site and in 140 characters or less on our Twitter account.

Here are the picks for the 2009 40 Acres Mock Draft:

In the show's last season, Quan was replaced by the precocious Raven-Symoné

Texas wide receiver [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] isn’t expected to be a first or second round pick in this weekend’s NFL Draft, but he might still be getting a lot of attention during ESPN’s coverage. Quan will be watching the draft coverage with the great Bill Cosby and ESPN will have their cameras in the room. Quan and Bill are not related but met and struck up a relationship earlier this year after the [tag]Fiesta Bowl[/tag].

The story from the Dallas Morning News is below:

It seems that UT wide receiver Quan Cosby will be watching the NFL draft with comedian Bill Cosby this weekend in suburban New York where Cosby (Bill) will be performing. And ESPN’s cameras will be there to capture the moments.

According to ESPN,the unrelated Cosbys struck up a friendship after Bill watched Quan play in the Fiesta Bowl. Bill’s people contacted Quan’s people and a relationship was begun. Quan introduced Bill when the comedian performed not too long ago in Austin. If Quan is drafted, it is expected to be on the second day of festivities, Sunday. If Quan is drafted when Bill is on stage, Bill promises to stop his show and bring Quan on stage.

I’m surprised ESPN even got the joke considering how ESPN/ABC’s announcers called him Quan Crosby half the time, but maybe now that they think Quan and Bill are related they’ll get his name right more often.