Thanks to upsets losses by USC, [tag]Georgia[/tag], and [tag]Florida[/tag] the Longhorns have vaulted into the top five of both the AP and USA Today Coaches polls. [tag]Alabama[/tag] flew past the Horns after their win over the UGA but the easy win over [tag]Arkansas[/tag] was enough to move Texas up to spots to the number five ranking. Texas is relatively comfortably ahead of [tag]Penn State[/tag] in both polls, but rankings this week don’t matter much as Texas will prove itself over the next three weeks when they face [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] and [tag]Missouri[/tag] in consecutive games.
Check out this week’s rankings or view the top 10s below:
| AP Top 25 | USA Today Poll | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma (43) 4-0 1,599 | Oklahoma (57) 4-0 1,520 | |
| 2 | Alabama (21) 5-0 1,565 | LSU (1) 4-0 1,399 | |
| 3 | LSU 4-0 1,466 | Missouri 4-0 1,398 | |
| 4 | Missouri (1) 4-0 1,453 | Alabama (2) 5-0 1,350 | |
| 5 | Texas 4-0 1,362 | Texas (1) 4-0 1,310 | |
| 6 | Penn State 5-0 1,252 | Penn State 5-0 1,146 | |
| 7 | Texas Tech 4-0 1,105 | Brigham Young 4-0 1,054 | |
| 8 | Brigham Young 4-0 1,098 | Texas Tech 4-0 1,047 | |
| 9 | USC 2-1 1,087 | USC 2-1 990 | |
| 10 | South Florida 5-0 1,035 | Georgia 4-1 888 |
Senior fullback [tag]Luke Tiemann[/tag] is done for the year after tearing the ACL in his left knee during the Texas win over [tag]Arkansas[/tag]. Despite scholarship offers from other Division 1A schools, the young man out of Pflugerville decided to walk on at Texas. Tiemann started games at fullback during both his sophomore and junior seasons while also spending time at defensive end and contributing on special teams. His efforts earned him a scholarship before the beginning of this season.
Read the official university release below:
Longhorn senior fullback Luke Tiemann sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in his left knee in Texas’ 52-10 victory over Arkansas on Saturday, and will require season-ending surgery, UT Head Athletic Trainer for Football Kenny Boyd confirmed Sunday.
“It’s really disappointing that this injury is cutting my senior year short,” Tiemann said. “Being a part of this team has meant so much to me, and although I can’t help the team on the field, I’ll still be right here with my teammates cheering them on and helping any way I can while I’m rehabbing and finishing school.”
Tiemann is a fifth-year fullback who has also played defensive end and contributed on special teams during his 34-game career. He began his career as a walk-on and earned a scholarship in August 2008 after making the switch to fullback midway through 2006. He had played in all four games in 2008.
In 2007, Tiemann saw action in 11 games, including one start, at fullback and on special teams. He played in all 13 games at fullback and on special teams in 2006 and also saw limited action on defense at linebacker. The Pflugerville native is a 2007 first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection and a six-time member of UT’s Athletics Director’s Honor Roll.
“Luke is one of our great senior leaders,” said head coach Mack Brown. “He got a standing ovation when we presented him his scholarship in August, and he has, and will continue to have, a great impact on this team. He is as tough as they come, and has contributed so much from the full back position and on special teams. On top of that, he is an outstanding student. His presence on the field will be missed and someone will have to step up to fill his void.”
Get well soon Luke! Hook ’em!
Eddie Jones, Sam Acho, and Aaron Lewis
The Longhorns played their most complete game of the season in Saturday’s 52 – 10 thrashing of former SWC foe [tag]Arkansas[/tag]. The offense was sharp from the very first snap of the game and the defense dominated their SEC opponent. The victory was one of the most lopsided in the series’ long and storied history.
See what the dying print media and the rest of the World Wide Web said about the game below:
Bevo Sports
Local Media
- Texas dominates Arkansas 52-10
- McCoy moving up in Heisman race
- Stopping the run was key part of UT victory
- Texas defense shines in win over Arkansas
- Horns Crush the Hogs
- Running Game – With McCoy – Is Just Fine
- Any way you look at it, Texas was just better
- Hogs’ defense can’t steer Longhorns off field
- Texas flood: No. 7 Longhorns dismantle Razorbacks in Austin
- Longhorns harass Razorbacks QB
- Starting at end: Henry Melton
- Centering that which is off center
- Video: From the film room – Arkansas
- Game quotes
- Game notes
- Photo gallery
Texas media
- Defense overwhelms Petrino and Arkansas
- Texas QB McCoy makes case for Heisman
- Confident Texas crushes Arkansas, 52-10
- UT finding defensive identity
- Longhorns’ defense taking care of business
- Texas Longhorns can’t start celebrating just yet
National media
Texas blew out [tag]Arkansas[/tag] 52-10 Saturday thanks to big plays, near perfection from [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag], and an impressive defensive showing. It was great to see the Texas defensive front seven really get after the quarterback, something that will need to continue in conference play in order to protect the young secondary.
Watch highlights from the game below:
Somehow the video quality from these highlights almost looks better than the live game did in standard definition on ABC yesterday. Hopefully the Horns have played their last SD game of the season now that they’re playing real opponents.
Mack Brown and Bill Murray
Comedian Bill Murray is in Austin for the Fantastic Fest film festival and stopped by to visit the Texas football facilities. He wanted to see DKR – Texas Memorial Stadium and was able to get a tour of that, Mack Brown’s office, and met briefly with Mack and a few players. Mack kissed babies, gave Murray a Texas jersey with his name on the back, and in general did his thing all in a brief 90 second meeting.
MB-TF.com was able to sit down for a quick interview with Murray and has also posted some photos as well. Read a few of the questions below:
Are you a big fan of college football in general: I am. It’s more fun. I’m from Illinois, but I really adored when Texas beat Southern Cal, because I thought that was good for the world. I thought that was great. I root more of the Illinois teams, because that’s where I’m from. But I’d like to see Illinois and Texas face off, because they both wear a variant of the orange. The burnt orange versus the orange from the Illini would be sort of like a Darwinian kind of war about which species of the orange would survive.
Are you planning on coming to the game: Well, I might. I’m getting caught up in the excitement. I’ve got an orange shirt now.
Do you see [Austin] as diverse and artistic as its reputation: I can see that. The fellow who was giving us a ride around town has a sticker on his computer that says, ‘Keep Austin Weird.’ I guess that’s a popular sentiment. But there seems like there are a lot of ‘individuals’ here. It seems more relaxed than maybe the impression a lot of people have of Texas. It’s very relaxed and I like the way the city lays out. I like the look of the buildings. Obviously there are new buildings going up, but I like the older buildings. I did see the Paggi House, which is being redone on the inside, but the few neighborhoods we’ve driven through, I like the way they felt. It seems like it would be a very pleasant place to live.
Follow along below with our live thoughts and analysis during today’s game versus [tag]Arkansas[/tag]. 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.
President Nixon declares the Horns national champs
The Longhorns face off against (formerly?) hated rival [tag]Arkansas[/tag] today at 2:30pm on ABC. Some current UT students weren’t even born yet when the Razorbacks left the old SWC but this rivalry still holds some heat and could keep today’s game closer than expected.
Will the Longhorns finally get their running game going? Can the defense get started before the second quarter starts? Read on to see what the editors of Bevo Sports think will happen today:
Brian – These aren’t your daddy’s Razorbacks. After changing coaches Arkansas is in a rebuilding year and the Longhorns are poised to take advantage today. New Texas coaches [tag]Major Applewhite[/tag] and [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] will make sure the Horns match Arky’s energy and this one will be a blowout. The running game won’t be perfect but [tag]Cody Johnson[/tag] will have his coming out party and top the century mark for the game. As a team the Horns will rush for over 250 yards and win easily. Texas 56 – Arkansas 21
Mike – [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] will continue to play at a Heisman level in a beat down game that should have happened two weeks ago. The last time Arkansas came to town they left with a shocking victory, but the Razorbacks don’t have super freak Matt Jones under center. The secondary will continue to give up big plays, but the players and the staff has shown the ability to make big game adjustments. Anything can happen (USC vs. Oregon State), but I don’t see this staff letting this team come out flat. The running game finally gets it going and the front seven dominates again as the Longhorns roll. Texas 41 – Arkansas 20
Matt – Man this match-up looked like a lot more fun when it was originally scheduled for Sept 13. This is a storied rivalry, but this won’t be much of a game. The Texas defense will be tested through the air, but they should be able to keep things under control with some Casey Dick mistakes. I don’t see Texas overlooking this game after what happened to USC. Colt and the offense will continue to roll and should win by a big margin. Texas 55 – Arkansas 19
Butch Hadnot runs against the Piggies
Read below for the Longhorns’ keys to beat the Arkansas Razorbacks:
1. Match their intensity/hatred.
The Texas/Arkansas rivalry isn’t what it used to be back in the days of the Southwest Conference, but the hatred for the Longhorns in Fayettenam hasn’t waned. On the field the Horns can’t let the Razorbacks ride that energy to a quick start. The talent Mack Brown will be putting on the field Saturday easily overmatches that of new Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino, if the Horns come out and score early they should be able to pull away and win easily.
2. Keep an eye on RB Michael Smith.
5-foot-7 junior running back is leading the Razorbacks in rushing and is also on of Casey Dick’s top receiving options. He’s averaging nearly 125 yards per game on the ground and has also chipped in 10 catches for 90 yards. The Horns have problems in the secondary so they need to be able to bottle up Smith and make Arkansas one-dimensional. [tag]Roddrick Muckelroy[/tag] needs to introduce himself Mr. Smith early and often.
3. Get one of the Texas running backs rolling.
The top two rushers for the Longhorns against [tag]Rice[/tag] were the starting and backup quarterbacks. [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] is leading the team with 194 rushing yards through three games and while he needs to keep running he’ll need one of his running backs to step up behind him. Speedy [tag]Foswhitt Whittaker[/tag] is likely out for the game so it’ll be up to [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] and big [tag]Cody Johnson[/tag] to provide ground support. Alabama ran all over the Razorbacks last week (328 yards rushing) and the Horns need to do the same, even if it takes 30 carries from Johnson to get there.
Mack and McConaughey
Let’s see what is going on this Saturday. Remember, I did go 3-1 last weekend against the spread.
Arkansas at #7 Texas (-27) – 3:30 PM EST on ABC. When these two teams were first scheduled to meet, both were sitting at 2-0. Now things look a bit different with Texas coasting to victory against Rice and Arkansas getting blown out at home against Alabama. The Texas Longhorns are huge favorites for the 4th straight week, and deservedly so. Texas is averaging 48.7 points per game (6th in nation) and should easily score in the 50’s again at home against a weak Arkansas defense. The only potential for trouble is the Arkansas passing game against the young Texas secondary. Lucky Casey Dick is prone to making some mistakes. This one should be another easy cover with the Longhorns winning by 35.
#24 TCU at #2 Oklahoma (-18) – 7:00 PM EST on FCSA. With USC losing, Oklahoma now has the opportunity to make a statement to becoming the #1 team in the nation. There is no way Oklahoma overlooks this game since TCU has managed to beat them in Norman twice in a row. So far this season Oklahoma is destroying teams by an average margin of 35.3 points per game and this Saturday will be no different. TCU’s defense has been impressive, but I doubt they have ever seen an offense like they will face this weekend. This might be the easiest cover of the weekend with Oklahoma winning by 30+.
#8 Alabama at #3 Georgia (-7) – 7:45 PM EST on ESPN. Probably the game to watch this weekend. Alabama looks like they are going to be a legit SEC contender and Georgia is still trying to prove they belong at the top. Georgia will be wearing the cool black uniforms trying their best to look like a high school football team. If you like tough, physical football, this game is for you. Both teams boast impressive running games and stout defenses. This game will probably be one of those typical 14-10 SEC games. But in this one I think Alabama comes out the winner with their running game and offensive line. So take Alabama money-line on this one.
#22 Illinois at #12 Penn St (-16) – 8:00 PM EST on ABC. I don’t normally care about or watch Big 10 match-ups, but I am interested in seeing how Penn St looks against Illinois. Penn St is scoring 52.7 points per game, and probably won’t be stopped Saturday. Take them to cover. Here is something to think about. Penn St demolished Oregon St. Oregon St dominated USC. USC killed Ohio St. I still haven’t figured out what that means about Ohio St and the Big 10, but on first thought I would lean towards the Pac-10 and Big 10 sucking.
Sam Acho hates quarterbacks
[tag]John Chiles[/tag]
The Texas staff stressed getting the best 11 players out on the field this year regardless of class or position. Chiles is clearly one of those players even if he is not the best quarterback on the team. Chiles offers the big play ability that UT severely needs for this offense to be as dynamic as it can be. Offensive coordinator [tag]Greg Davis[/tag] must find ways to get the former blue chip recruit involved, be it in the running game or in the passing game as a quarterback or as a receiver.
[tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag]
This could be McGee’s last week to show the coaches he is worthy of important carries in important games. So far the sophomore has done nothing to warrant a starting job and is not only getting pushed by injured [tag]Foswhitt Whittaker[/tag], but by bruiser [tag]Cody Johnson[/tag]. With Texas wanting big plays out of the running game, expect to see fewer and fewer carries for McGee unless he comes out and impresses this weekend against a SEC defense in Arkansas.
[tag]Peter Ullman[/tag]
Losing [tag]Blaine Irby[/tag] for the season is a huge blow for Texas’ offense. Irby allowed the Longhorn offense to lineup in four receiver sets without changing personnel. While Ullman will never scare opposing defenses in the passing game, he will be an upgrade in the running game and if he can add a few catches in the flats or in the shallow middle of the field Texas’ offense will continue to succeed. If the former Round Rock Dragon cannot offer any threat to opposing defenses UT may have to look at a different position for a player to contribute at the tight end position.
[tag]Sam Acho[/tag]
The coaches have been impressed with Acho since fall camp began. In reserve duty behind star [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] Acho has played well. If he continues to outplay [tag]Henry Melton[/tag] (who isn’t playing poorly) and backup [tag]Eddie Jones[/tag], the staff may have to look at getting Orakpo, [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag], and Acho on the field at the same time. Texas wants pressure on the quarterback, and through the first three games Acho has shown more ability to do that on a consistent basis than any other defensive lineman not named Brian Orakpo. If it continues some upperclassmen are going to find themselves standing next to [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] more than they’d like.
[tag]Chykie Brown[/tag]
It is no secret that the weak link on the defense; and the team for that matter is in the Texas secondary. Going into the season most onlookers expected [tag]Deon Beasley[/tag] to start next to [tag]Ryan Palmer[/tag], but through the first three games it has been sophomore Chykie Brown. Brown had his struggles tackling in the first game, with every other member of the secondary, but has made good strides in the last two ball games. Texas plays a lot of five defensive back sets with Beasley playing in the slot. Opposing defenses will continue to test Brown until he shows he can make plays. A good game heading into conference play will go a long way in building confidence for the ultra talented corner.
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