40 Acres Sports

Former second string quarterback John Chiles made the switch to wide receiver today.

Football season never really ends in the state of Texas, but the start of spring drills is one of the biggest days for every die hard fan. The team hits the field for their first practice tomorrow and several big pieces of news came out today. Injuries and a huge position switch have Longhorn fans buzzing.

The biggest and most surprising news is that second string quarterback [tag]John Chiles[/tag] went to the Texas coaches today and requested he be moved to wide receiver. This is a move many Internet coaches fans have been calling for for over a year, but not one expected to happen before he gave it at least one more shot during spring practices. Despite struggles, the Texas coaching staff felt Chiles was good enough to be the team’s clear number two quarterback but if he was going to have an NFL future it is clearly as a wide receiver. His position change leaves the Longhorns with only two scholarship players at QB and likely means incoming freshman [tag]Garrett Gilbert[/tag] will not be redshirting for the 2009 season.

It was also announced that 9 players would be missing spring practices due to injury. Sadly, safety [tag]ishie Oduegwu[/tag] has been forced to give up football after several serious injuries and surgeries. He made several starts as a sophomore and missed all of last season with a shoulder injury. Oduegwu, a former academic All-Big 12 selection, is on set to graduate on schedule with a Youth & Community Studies major.

Redshirt freshman defensive tackle [tag]Jarvis Humphrey[/tag] will also miss practices with what appears to be a serious kidney ailment. Team trainers said “that Humphrey’s condition would be watched.” Defensive tackle is one of the team’s greatest depth concerns, but with this news a young man’s health definitely takes primary concern.

The other players that will miss spring drills are P [tag]Trevor Gerland[/tag], TE [tag]Blaine Irby[/tag], DE [tag]Dominique Jones[/tag], DE [tag]Eddie Jones[/tag], WR [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag], DB [tag]Kenny Vaccaro[/tag], and Alex Zumberge.

Related Links

• MBTF – Chiles to move to wide receiver
• 9 Longhorns to miss spring drills

The Longhorns just got their 2009 recruits to sign on the dotted line earlier this month, but the coaching staff has already convinced 12 new high school blue chippers to come on board for 2010. Lufkin defensive back [tag]Carrington Byndom[/tag] is the latest commit in what is already shaping up to be another top class of recruits.

The second [tag]Junior Day[/tag] of the year is this weekend and it should be another big haul for Horns. Check out the full list of 2010 commits and stay tuned to @40acressports on Twitter for breaking news on all UT sports.

Connor Rowe slides back into the newly FieldTurfed first base during the season opener.

With [tag]Augie Garrido[/tag] watching from home the 2009 Texas Longhorn baseball team got the season going on the right foot sweeping four games against Illinois-Chicago. This year’s version of Texas baseball looked to be a throwback to the 2002-2005 Longhorns. Texas won 6-1 Friday, took the double header Saturday 3-1 and 10-1 (in seven innings), and 1-0 on Sunday.

Texas’ pitching staff showed off all weekend combining for a 0.79 ERA and striking out 24. Texas has four capable starters in [tag]Chance Ruffin[/tag], [tag]Taylor Jungmann[/tag], [tag]Cole Green[/tag], and [tag]Brandon Workman[/tag]. All four of them went at least six innings and none of them gave up more than one run. And the best part is all of them are not yet draft eligible.

It wasn’t just the starters that were on display in the opening series. Newly appointed closer senior [tag]Austin Wood[/tag] was nearly perfect in his two appearances, both of which were for two innings to finish off games. Wood gave up only one hit and walked one batter.

Defensively the Longhorns were stellar. For the weekend Texas committed one error. Last year’s ball club struggled defensively all last season. Garrido teams usually defend well and this year’s team looks to fit the mold early. The new surface provides truer bounces and speed so look for the defense to be much improved, especially in the infield.

Offensively Texas did enough. The Longhorns won’t have the pop they did with [tag]Kyle Russell[/tag] in the lineup, but Texas will make contact and stay on the base paths. The Longhorns only registered six extra base hits in the series, but did a good job of getting runners on with one and two outs and using the sacrifice bunt to produce runs. Some fans might not like it, but it works. And it will work even better on the new and slow motion playing surface.

Overall it was just one weekend, and in baseball fortunes can change quickly, but Garrido has shown his recipe for success in the past: pitching, defense, sacrifice bunts. This team showed all three this weekend in the sweep over a pretty good ball club. Mentally Texas has been lacking after the run early in the decade. Changing that mentality will decide if this team has a trip to Omaha in their future.

What a difference a week makes? Last week at this time the fans on the 40 Acres were left scratching their heads wondering out loud if their Texas Longhorns were really going to end up in the NIT.

One week later on the back of [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag] scoring ability and the inability of player of the year candidate Blake Griffin to take a hit the Longhorns are right back in the thick of things after a win over [tag]Oklahoma[/tag]. The team now holds wins over Oklahoma, [tag]UCLA[/tag], [tag]Villanova[/tag], and [tag]Wisconsin[/tag]. Out of their eight losses only the [tag]Arkansas[/tag] and [tag]Kansas State[/tag] losses can be considered bad.

The style of play Texas uses makes every game a dog fight. The style is a double edged sword. Every game being close makes teams vulnerable to lesser teams who are hot down the stretch of a ball game, i.e. Kansas State. The style also keeps a team in a game they probably shouldn’t be in, i.e. Oklahoma.

Texas’ back yard mentality stifled the Sooners in the first half while Griffin dealt with foul trouble and a glass chin. The Longhorns made a run to push out the lead, but anyone who has watched this team play all season knew Oklahoma would make a run. In fact, the Sooners made two double digit to zero runs in the second half as the Longhorns struggled to score when Abrams was being guarded and forwards [tag]Damion James[/tag] and [tag]Gary Johnson[/tag] struggled with their mid-range game.

Texas has been prone to long dry spells offensively all year because of inconsistent point guard play. The major bright spot, besides the win itself, on Saturday night has to be the emergence of [tag]Dogus Balbay[/tag] as the true starting point guard.

The move makes this team the same as last year’s with the trade at the one guard Balbay for [tag]DJ Augustin[/tag]. While the trade is nowhere near even, it does allow [tag]Justin Mason[/tag] to stay on the floor and concentrate on defense and clean ups instead of running the show and more importantly it puts James back at power forward where he can slash to the bucket and be a monster on offensive rebounds.

Balbay has the ability to penetrate the lane and either finish with his underrated athleticism or find a shooter in the corner. Abrams can shoot from anywhere at any time, but the other Texas shooters like James, Mason and [tag]Connor Atchley[/tag] enjoy success when they catch and shoot. The ease in which their shot came off of drive and kick plays has been missing all season. When Abrams was the point guard the offensive relied on isolation and pick and rolls, when Mason was the point guard he had the ability to get to the bucket but only to get himself points, but now that Balbay is the man at the point the whole Texas offense has opened up.

Another positive that came from beating the Sooners was the play of [tag]Dexter Pittman[/tag]. The big guy dominated the paint even when Griffin was still healthy and fresh. He also made the key rebound and bucket of the game following an Abrams miss with less than 15 seconds left in the second half.

Saying Atchley is struggling on par with our economy. And just like the guys in Washington it looks like head coach [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] is at a loss on what to do. Barnes has started him, brought him off the bench, played him inside, and even tried playing him at the small forward for stretches. Atchley played decent against Oklahoma but he is not the threat he once was. There was a time some were calling him the best pro prospect on the roster this year. Not anymore.

Pittman received the start because of the matchup with Griffin, but after his strong play with Griffin out of the game don’t be surprised to see Atchley coming off the bench for the rest of the season. If Pittman does get the start it will mean Atchley would be the second big man to come off the bench after Gary Johnson. Right now Johnson and Pittman do more for this team, and while I’m sure it is hard for Barnes to sit a senior who has given so much for the program Barnes still has to do what is best for the program. At this time that may be taking away significant minutes from Atchley.

While the win has many guaranteeing a tournament berth for the Longhorns, Texas still has work left to do. They have three winnable games against [tag]Texas Tech[/tag], [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag], and [tag]Baylor[/tag] before finishing up in [tag]Kansas[/tag] against the Jayhawks before the Big 12 Tournament.

If Texas can go three of four in that time they’d finish at 10-6 in conference. That gets Texas in no matter what happens in the tournament because believe it or not the nation respects the Longhorn basketball program more than the fans and students do.

The Longhorns big win over the Sooners mirrored their 2008-09 basketball season, with huge swings between good play followed by long stretches of mediocrity and frustration. Fortunately, Saturday night senior guard [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag] took his teammates on his back during the second half with 16 straight points and the Horns were able to pull out a very important win over their biggest rival.

Next up for Abrams and the Horns is another important conference match-up against [tag]Texas Tech[/tag] Wednesday.

For the first time in the [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] era the University of Texas basketball team is in real danger of not making the NCAA tournament. This could be the most any of the major three programs (football, basketball, baseball) has struggled in the regular season since their respective coaches arrived on the Forty Acres.

Rick Barnes is an amazing coach, but sometimes the players just aren’t there. For the 2009 UT basketball team that player is [tag]DJ Augustin[/tag]. Last year Augustin was recognized as the best point guard in the nation. He decided to leave after his sophomore year for the NBA, a move that has worked out for everybody but the Longhorns.

Texas has been spoiled in the backcourt in recent memory. The stellar play started with [tag]TJ Ford[/tag], next came [tag]Daniel Gibson[/tag], and then Augustin. Right now they’re stuck with Justin Mason who can’t score, [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag] who can’t dribble or pass, and [tag]Dogus Balbay[/tag] who can’t shoot and struggles with consistency.

Every key member from last year’s Elite 8 team returned besides Augustin. Last year at this time Texas was playing for a number one seed and the talk around town was of national championships. This year the Longhorns are coming off four losses in their last six games, none to a top 10 team, and the talk is centered around if the team will even get to be a part of March Madness.

There is still talk of national championships on campus, but the sport is football.

Texas went through something similar following their Final Four berth when the then sophomore Ford decided to skip his last two years of college for the NBA. Barnes had his whole team coming back then too, but the group led by Brandon Mouton, Royal Ivey, and James Thomas at least made it to the tourney. On the message boards, at the water cooler, and on the couch most fans are looking for someone to blame. Has Barnes forgotten how to coach? Did the players regress that much? Who kidnapped [tag]Connor Atchley[/tag]?

The answers aren’t that simple. Or maybe they are. We’ve all heard the expression, “It isn’t the X’s and O’s it’s the Jane’s and the Joe’s.” The 2009 version of Texas basketball has proved the old saying to be right.

The Longhorn offense is set up for a player to dominate the ball and create for teammates who are coming off screens. Texas has the players to come off the screens but they don’t have the guy to get them the ball at the right time in the right spot. On top of that Barnes likes to have a guard who can shoot and score off the dribble. Texas has guards who can shoot and they have guards who can score off the dribble, but they don’t have any who can do both. This allows defenses to play a box and one, trailing Abrams, and making other people beat them.

So far Texas hasn’t done it enough. It is hard to imagine this same team beating UCLA and Villanova, but they did. And that fact leaves some hope, but with [tag]Kansas[/tag] and [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] still on the schedule it looks like a .500 finish may be in sight. With the Big 12 in a perceived down year, that just won’t cut it.

It is looking more and more likely that the Longhorn fate will be decided in the Big 12 tournament. And this year it has nothing to do with seeding. It will have to do with the bubble. A word Texas hasn’t had to worry about in a decade.

The good news is the cavalry is coming. Texas has a top three recruiting class coming in and they all can score. Just another reason to wish for next fall to get here.

Texas legend [tag]Noble Doss[/tag] passed away Sunday night at the age of 88. Doss, who played for the Longhorns from 1939 through 1941, still holds two school interception records including his career mark of 17 which [tag]Nathan Vasher[/tag] tied in 2003. Bill Little has a nice write-up on Doss and watch a fantastic tribute to the man from ESPN/ABC Sports below:

Texas announced they were going away from natural grass earlier this month and this week we learned officially that next season Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium will be FieldTurf. The modern artificial turf is more durable and reportedly results in fewer injuries, combine that with the embarrassing state of the field last Thanksgiving and this is not a surprising decision.

AAS writer Kirk Bohls has a good article up on the history of FieldTurf and Texas’ decision to move to it.

In what will probably be his last season for a while that he’s not in the NBA All-Star Game, Texas Ex [tag]Kevin Durant[/tag] absolutely dominated last night’s NBA Rookie Challenge. Durant led the Sophomores from behind late with a record 46 points on 17-for-25 shooting and was named the game’s MVP. He put on quite a show and scored from all over the court including 4-8 from three-point land and multiple highlight reel dunks.

Durant’s MVP award gives the Longhorns back-to-back winners after [tag]Daniel Gibson[/tag], now of the Cleveland Cavaliers, won it by scoring 33 points last year.

Highlights from the game are posted below:

Durant has improved every month this season and he is on an absolutely torrid pace during the month of February, averaging 30.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Durant’s regular season PPG average of 25.5 are good enough to be in the top 5 in the NBA, but somehow he’s not in Sunday’s All-Star Game. His performance last night should service to anybody who has somehow missed the kid become one of the league’s best.

If you’re a Texas fan or just a basketball fan and you’re not paying attention to what KD’s been doing this year you’re missing a show.

The Longhorns didn’t finish off the 2009 recruiting class with the bang some fans were hoping for, but the class is still one of the top in the nation. Rivals.com ranks Texas as fifth overall class overall, but is with [tag]Florida[/tag] and USC for best average rating per prospect. Check out a brief video feature on the entire top ten below: