40 Acres Sports

The second Longhorn selected of the day, cornerback [tag]Aaron Ross[/tag] was drafted 20th overall by the New York Giants.

I was hoping Ross would fall a couple more spots to the Cowboys but the Giants are a good fit for him as well. The team needed more talent and depth. Ross should be able to contribute in the secondary immediately and could be the starter opposite Sam Madison by the time the season starts. He also should be able to contribute to the Giants as a punt returner as well.

The Dallas Morning News’ Rick Gosselin has been one of the more accurate draft prognosticators of the last few years and he’s posted his final mock draft this morning. His draft is definitely a bit different than most I’ve seen this week (Amobi Okoye is at 23 but I haven’t seen him below 10 in a while). He’s got two Longhorns in the first round, including cornerback Aaron Ross heading to the Dallas Cowboys at 22.

Here’s how Gosselin thinks of the Longhorns he has going in the first two rounds:

Round 1

22. Dallas – [tag]Aaron Ross[/tag]
The Cowboys need depth at cornerback, and Ross gives it to them. He won the Thorpe Award as college football’s top defensive back in 2006. The Cowboys also need help on special teams, finishing 21st in the NFL in punt returns. Ross has an 11.8-yard career punt return average with three touchdowns.

32. Indianapolis – [tag]Michael Griffin[/tag]
The Colts lost starting cornerbacks Jason David and Nick Harper in free agency. Griffin would allow the Colts to move starting safety Marlon Jackson back to his true cornerback position. Colts coach Tony Dungy likes DBs who hit – and Griffin leaves Texas with 364 career tackles.

Round 2

55. Seattle – [tag]Justin Blalock[/tag]
The Seahawks made a mistake when they allowed Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson to leave in free agency in 2006. A year later, they are still trying to fix it. Blalock started 51 games at tackle for Texas, but the Seahawks project him at guard because of his height (6-3).

ESPN NFL Draft expert Todd McShay doesn’t just predict the first round, or even the second round, he’s got a full seven-round mock draft up and available for ESPN Insiders. McShay has a lot of love for former Longhorns, with cornerback Aaron Ross and safety Mike Griffin going in the first round. Guard Justin Blalock and defensive end Tim Crowder then go in the early second round in his prediction.

Those aren’t the only Horns he’s high on, here’s how all the Longhorns faired in McShay’s draft:

Round 1

24. New England – [tag]Aaron Ross[/tag]
The Patriots never act as if they’re handcuffed by needs during draft weekend, but the Asante Samuel situation should increase their interest in this year’s cornerback crop. Ross lacks ideal man-to-man cover skills, but he has the size, instincts and playmaking ability to emerge as a difference-maker in the type of zone-heavy defensive scheme the Patriots run. Ross also can help in the return game, which adds to his value.

26. Philadelphia – [tag]Michael Griffin[/tag]
Although the Eagles certainly could use depth at several different positions, it’s hard to find a glaring weakness at any starting spot on their depth chart. One thing is certain: Philly will not be handcuffed by positions of need in this year’s draft. With that in mind, Griffin is a good value because he brings experience and versatility to the table after notching 250 tackles in his last two seasons at Texas.

Round 2

39. Atlanta – [tag]Justin Blalock[/tag]
42. San Francisco – [tag]Tim Crowder[/tag]

Round 3

92. Buffalo – [tag]Tarell Brown[/tag]

Round 4

106. Minnesota – [tag]Brian Robison[/tag]

Round 7

251. Jacksonville – [tag]Ramonce Taylor[/tag]

The NFL Draft is flooded with talented college tandems, including three pairs of Longhorns.

Former Horns impress scouts at the Texas pro day. Longhorns could have four guys taken in first two rounds.

Really odd story but he sounds like he’s okay.

Colt McCoy & Aaron Ross are players of the year.

Ross had two INT’s and the big lateral returned for a TD against OU.

Let’s see how this goes. I’ll post as often as I can stand to. Horns and Trojans are about to get underway.

BIG FREAKING GAME!

Did we win the coin toss, defer, and USC chose to kick? Will we receive to start both halves? Nevermind, the official said it wrong.

First Quarter

• Great deep kick and good coverage on Reggie Bush. Great start to the game for the Horns.
• Bush stopped for a loss on the game’s first play. Now let’s do that 60+ more times.
• Texas’ defense in the backfield with great penetration on the first 3 plays.
• Holy crap! [tag]Aaron Ross[/tag] fumbled the punt. Crap crap crap. Come on defense step up. Crap.
• Reggie Bush has no class. Hand the ball to the ref instead of flicking it up in the air after a 5 yard run. Let’s hope he actually gets ejected if he punches someone again this game.
• Too bad helmet-to-helmet contact isn’t illegal in college football. Plus [tag]Cedric Griffin[/tag] hit him in the chest.
• Stupid penalty by [tag]Robert Killebrew[/tag]. He seems to get one per game, let’s hope this is it. Come on D!
• Turnover costs the Horns 7 points. Game started off fantastically and then suddenly went downhill from there.

Texas 0, USC 7

• Let’s go Vince, get fired up.
• Looks like no huddle for the offense to start things off again this week. I like it.
• Poor spot on 2nd down leads to 4th and 1. [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] elects to go for it and Horns get nowhere. Turnover on downs at midfield. All the momentum is going USC’s way now. Defense has to make a big play here and get things back going Texas’ way.
• Apparently guy in charge of the clock doesn’t realize it should stop after incomplete passes.
• Freaking Rose Bowl and national championship and the clock breaks?
• Horns go to 3 down linemen on a 3rd and long. Interesting look.
• Texas makes the stop but a face mask on Michael Huff gives USC the necessary yards for the first down.
• [tag]Drew Kelson[/tag] in the game early instead of [tag]Rashad Bobino[/tag] (I think that’s who isn’t in there.) [tag]Gene Chizik[/tag] getting more speed on the field.
• [tag]Tarell Brown[/tag] has a pick go in and out of his hands.
• Reggie Bush gets about an extra 2 yards thanks to the generous spot. These simple plays need to be reviewed as much as any others.
• Another generous spot for Matt Leinart on the 4th down QB sneak but I still think they’re short. Come on!
• Horns stop them and get the ball back. Let’s go let’s go!
• Meanwhile ABC is on commercial break #26 after like two minutes of football.
• Bad play design or something as [tag]Billy Pittman[/tag] and [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] end up next to each other on pass routes. Complete to Pittman for the first though.
• Another freaking fumble. Charles bumps into David Thomas and just drops it. Crap. Lost 5 yards. Kills the offense’s momentum.
• Bud Light commercial featuring the “daredevil” are dumb.
• Lost takes such long hiatuses that they have to have recap shows by the time they come back.
• Interesting counter play from USC. Kind of a WR and FB counter instead of a GT counter.

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In a nutshell, Texas had their way with Louisiana Lafayette, which is indicated by the 60-3 score. Texas did pretty much anything they wanted to on offense, including rushing for 418 yards. The defense was also stout, and you could tell right from the start that Louisiana Lafayette was going to have trouble doing anything. I guess the only real down spot is Saturday’s game is the special teams, who missed 3 extra points! Now let’s move on to a position-by-position look at how the Longhorns graded out on Saturday.

Quarterback – Overall Grade: A

After [tag]Vince Young[/tag]’s 5 touchdown performance in the Rose Bowl, there is no surprise that he entered this season as one of the top contenders for the Heisman Trophy. With all of that pressure, I was interested to see how he would perform. I think it is safe to say that Young did not disappoint. Young finished the game with an efficient 13-17 for 173 yards. He looked to be very comfortable throwing the ball and you could tell he has gained a lot of confindence this past off-season. [tag]Matt Nordgren[/tag] played for most of the second half but did not attempt a single pass attempt. He did scramble a few times, showing off an interesting technique of gaining more yards when going out of bounds.

Running Backs – Overall Grade: A+

Texas appears to have a full stable of speedy and powerful tailbacks to compliment quarterback Vince Young this year. Freshman running backs [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] and [tag]Henry Melton[/tag] had a huge impact on the game, with Charles running for 135 yards and 1 score and Melton running for 65 yards and 2 scores. I swear it looked like Melton couldn’t be tackled. A bigger and quicker [tag]Selvin Young[/tag] added 65 yards and speedster [tag]Ramonce Taylor[/tag] also added 65 yards. With a total of 418 yards, I would say things are definitely looking good for the Texas running game.

Receivers / Tight Ends – Overall Grade: B

[tag]David Thomas[/tag] was up to his usual self, making big plays and scored 2 touchdowns on 3 catches. With his 2 touchdowns, David Thomas moved into fifth place all-time at Texas for a tight end with his 51th career reception. Senior [tag]Brian Carter[/tag] also help out by setting a career high with three receptions against the Ragin’ Cajuns for 65 yards, matching his previous career total of three receptions in only the first half. [tag]Nate Jones[/tag], [tag]Limas Sweed[/tag], and [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] also performed well, with Nate Jones scoring his first career touchdown. It was nice to see some consistency in this group and I look forward to seeing them improve this year.

Offensive Line – Overall Grade: A+

Considering that Selvin Young, Jamaal Charles, Henry Melton, Ramonce Taylor and Vince Young averaged 9.5 yards per carry, I would say that the offensive line did pretty well on Saturday. [tag]Justin Blalock[/tag] (fellow Plano East grad) led the offensive line who just totally dominated Louisana Lafayette. Hopefully they keep the same aggressiveness next Saturday against OSU.

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