40 Acres Sports

Video of player introductions of the 2012 Texas seniors before the game against TCU. Nice getting to hear from each of the players’ parents.

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas game against the Baylor Bears.

QB David Ash had a solid performance for the Longhorns against Baylor.

1st Quarter (14:43) WTH Lighting?! Mack Brown needed a quick start to avoid most of the 101,353 fans turning on him and the team. Well, Daje Johnson took care of that with an electrifying 84 yard touchdown run on the FIRST play of the game.

1st Quarter (2:42) WTH Williams?! The Big XII leading receiver took the defense to task especially on a simple stop and go for an 80 yard touchdown to give the Bears their first lead of the game. Manny Diaz does this count as an explosive play?

1st Quarter (0:00) WTH Students?! Well, if you ever wondered where the student section is at DKR, you found out before the 2nd quarter. All the students broke out black Livestrong shirts to support the 15th anniversary of the organization. It’s interesting the salute with all that is swirling around Lance.

2nd Quarter (6:18) WTH 50 Shades?! Could not pass up the chance to report on the first touchdown of the season for one Johnathan Gray. He put a move on safety Sam Hall that left the defenders clothes on the ground. At this point in the game, BU Coach Phil Bennett and Manny Diaz were getting ready to work on their resume at halftime.

3rd Quarter (12:55) WTH Okafor?! Alex Okafor called out the defense to play tougher after last week’s game. He needed to be called out for a crucial offside on fourth down that would have ended the Baylor touchdown drive.

3rd Quarter (6:31) WTH Black Swan?! The highlight of the night on the Godzillatron and the television broadcast was a shot of Natalie Portman. Wonder why she was there… who cares!

3rd Quarter (5:56) WTH Sooners?! OU fans in the stands wearing a Beat Texas shirt. Looks like these two guys forgot that the Red River Rivalry was last week in Dallas. Longhorn fans are still trying to forget.

3rd Quarter (2:17) WTH Mad Hatter?! Art Briles threw his ball cap so high in the air in disgust over the late Texas timeout on fourth down that WR Tevin Reese had plenty of time to make the fair catch signal when he caught his hat.

4th Quarter (2:34) WTH Mulligan?! The head referee announced to the crowd that Texas would get a “Do Over” to match up with the substitutions that Baylor was implementing. Mack Brown hopes next time a “King’s X” will be called when he needs to surrender.

Next up for the Longhorns is a trip to Kansas to play the Jayhawks on October 27th.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at @40AcresSports or follow me at @Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas game against the Mountaineers.

Texas and Carrington Byndom couldn't make the big 4th down or red zone plays. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Pre-Game WTH Fans?! Wow. A record crowd of 101,851 fans were amped up for this contest. Fans were comparing the electricity in the stadium to when Cougar High came to Austin in 1990. Great job by the fans!

1st Quarter (15:00) WTH JY?! Vince Young was in person and on the giant video board to let the fans know that the “Eyes of Texas are Upon You.” Even his son Jordan got in on the act by getting caught on the video board pointing at the screen saying that’s my daddy.

1st Quarter (9:09) WTH Special Teams?! The kickoff coverage team gave the UT fans heart attacks when Tavon Austin touched the ball. It’s pretty bad when the stat sheet says kickoff of 64 yards and the return is 67 yards. Squib quicks were the order of the day after this long return.

1st Quarter (2:05) WTH Akina?! WVU was setting up for a fourth down play when Coach Akina did not think his secondary was set so he called a costly timeout. Costly? Because the Horns defense stepped up and held the offense on downs. Instead the Mountaineers went on to score on the very next play and subsequently succeed on every fourth down play the rest of the night.

2nd Quarter (15:00) WTH Southwest?! We can understand the need to promote oneself by setting up a stupid human trick by making fans throw a football into an inflatable receptacle. The problem is when you have the inflatables highlighted in Mountaineer school colors which are blue and gold. Bad omen.

2nd Quarter (10:01) WTH Dallas?! The Godzillatron feels it necessary to take us behind the scenes of certain players and cheerleaders because the fans clamor so much to be interrupted with this nonsense. One such interruption was to let us know that a pom squad member felt she looked like the villain from Monsters Inc.

2nd Quarter (7:37) WTH Alex the Great?! Alex Okafor was named Big XII defensive player of the week for his game changing plays. One of those moments was when he stripped Geno Smith and Jackson Jeffcoat recovered the fumble in the end zone to tie up the game.

2nd Quarter (4:51) WTH Dana?! No one can hold a candle to WVU Coach Dana Holgorsen when he throws a fit. Geno Smith was sacked by Desmond Jackson, one of four sacks for the UT defense, which eventually led to a Mountaineers field goal. Dana was so upset that he threw his headset down numerous times to let everyone on the sidelines know his disgust.

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WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Bears.

Special Shout Out to Colt McCoy for having his number retired. Thanks #12 for 45 great wins!

1st Quarter (12:11) WTH Karate Kid?! Let’s not worry about the karate kick that Sam Acho delivered on QB Robert Griffin. The sack, fumble recovery and all out effort all game long proved to the 100,452 in attendance who is the defensive leader.

1st Quarter (9:23) WTH Matthews?! This play sums up the entire season for the Horns receivers. The right play was called but the concentration was not there. TE Barrett Matthews stone hands had a sure touchdown bounce off of them. On a positive note Garrett Gilbert played his best game of the year!

2nd Quarter (14:06) WTH Brown RD1?! The punt returners have been dismal. Thank God for the officials bailing out Curtis Brown trying to catch a punt inside his 10 yard line. Still cannot believe that the officials gave the Horns the ball on the twenty after all of that mess. Please make a change…

2nd Quarter (8:51) WTH Williams?! I hope the Longhorn receivers watched the excellent catch by Baylor’s Terrance Williams. The officials had to review it because they did not believe it. Now that is how you catch a bad pass! Great effort!

2nd Quarter (8:04) WTH Butter Fingers?! Both Alex Okafor and Keenan Robinson failed to recover a crucial fumble by Baylor. Both were trying hard to make a play but this team needs positive results.

2nd Quarter (:43) WTH Coach Blood?! Coach Muschamp calling a blitz on 3rd & 10 against the Bears when you have held them in check for most of the game? The play exposed Blake Gideon’s lack of tackling and the Bears had the first TD of the game which covered 59 yards.

3rd Quarter (10:05) WTH Defense?! Great job by Christian Scott for intercepting the ball and returning it to the Baylor 40 yard line. Too bad your defensive teammates were too eager to add two huge penalties to put the Horns back at their own 15 yard line.

3rd Quarter (1:18) WTH Briles?! I love the cool customer that is Baylor Coach Art Briles when he called two timeouts in a row to make sure he had the right 4th down call. Bears started the 4th quarter with the go ahead touchdown and all the momentum on their side.

4th Quarter (2:34) WTH Brown RD2?! Curtis Brown needs to be relieved of his punt return duties not because of his lack of skill. He was trying to make something happen when there was nothing to be had. His fumbled was recovered by Jordan Hicks but the subsequent unsportsmanlike penalty by Curtis put the Horns in a huge hole.

Next up for the Longhorn’s are the Wildcats of Kansas State in the “Little Apple” on November 6th.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at 40AcresSports or follow me at Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

Defensive tackle Derek Johnson is a big dude. Can he play as good as he looks? (Image: MBTF)

After nearly two whole months without Texas football, Friday was finally the first day of Spring practice. No tidbits yet (practices are closed to the public) but the official site does have a short video to watch and a nice photo gallery as well.

Follow along live with 40 Acres Sports on Twitter and below for our thoughts and analysis during today’s game versus [tag]UTEP[/tag] on FSN. We’ll be live right around kickoff so join us to discuss the game right around 2:30pm this afternoon.

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!

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Redshirt freshman [tag]DJ Monroe[/tag] may have had the most impressive and important debut Saturday night but nine true freshmen including quarterback [tag]Garrett Gilbert[/tag] burned their redshirts against Louisiana-Monroe. Here are notes on the nine youngsters who played:

• [tag]Eryon Barnett[/tag] – Played on defense late in the game.
• [tag]Marcus Davis[/tag] – Played on defense late in the game.
• [tag]Garrett Gilbert[/tag] – Came into the game to a standing ovation in the 4th quarter. Played one drive and led the backups to a nice touchdown drive. Looked poised in the pocket and moved well, completing 4 of 5 passes for 46 yards. Finished things off with a nice 12-yard TD run that showed he can do things on the ground as well.
• [tag]Marquise Goodwin[/tag] – Fast! The track start became a football scholarship player the moment he stepped on the field on a kickoff return. During Gilbert’s drive Goodwin showed that he can also do things as a receiver. Caught 3 passes for 39 yards, including a short hitch route that he took 29 yards and was a shoelace away from using his speed to take it to the house.
• [tag]Calvin Howell[/tag] – Played on defense relatively early. Got a lot of bad TV exposure as he committed two 15-yard penalties with a facemask and late QB hit. Finished with 1 assisted tackle.
• [tag]Barrett Matthews[/tag] – Played some special teams and was in at tight end on Gilbert’s scoring drive.
• [tag]Alex Okafor[/tag] – Played early and often on the defensive line. Okafor was one of the most active and impressive players on the Horns’ defense regardless of classification. Had 4 total tackles including 2 huge tackles for loss on a goal line stand.
• [tag]Kenny Vaccaro[/tag] – The first true freshman to play as he took field on game’s opening kickoff. Very active and looks like he’ll be key member of kick coverage teams all year. Tied for team lead in tackles with 6 including 4 solos.
• [tag]Mason Walters[/tag] – Came in and played on the line with Gilbert and the second team offense.

Follow along below or with @40AcresSports on Twitter for live updates on the Texas vs. Louisiana-Monroe game tonight at 6pm…

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It’s been a long, dry seven months since the Texas Longhorns last took the field to play some college football. The drought ends today as the team kicks off against [tag]Louisiana-Monroe[/tag] at 6pm to open the 2009 season. The Horns are 42-point favorites in the game, how do the editors of 40 Acres Sports think the burnt orange will fair in the season opener?

Mike – This is a special season for the Texas Longhorns. In years past, this is the type of game the Longhorns coast through, but not 2009. The team has too many leaders on the field, and on the sideline, to not go out there and crush an over matched Louisiana-Monroe team. I think [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] establishes himself as a potential 1300 yard back, [tag]Malcolm Williams[/tag] becomes a legit big play threat and [tag]Alex Okafor[/tag] becomes everybody’s favorite young Longhorn. Texas 63 – Louisiana-Monroe 10

Matt – To me this is the perfect type of game to start the year. Everyone will get plenty of playing time and get a good warm-up before their big match-up in a couple weeks against Tech. My big question mark this year is Vondrell McGee. I have always been a huge supporter, but he has yet to really deliver up to his expectations. I am also excited to see how this defense has matured with another offseason with Muschamp. This one will cover the 42 point spread in the first half. Texas 59 – Louisiana-Monroe 7

Brian – The Longhorns lost a few weapons on both sides of the ball pregame, but that won’t change the outcome of this one. The Texas coaches have the team ready and believing this step on the way to a national title and the players are going to come out and dominate to start the season. I expect a heavy dose of the running game (hopefully forcing the running game works better than last year) and defensive coordinator is going to at least partially unleash The Predator, aka [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag], on an overmatched ULM offense. Find a rhythm, get up big, and stay healthy. Texas 56 – Louisiana-Monroe 3

Predictions from Twitterverse

• texascmj5: Colt 220ps yds 2TD – 75 rush yds 1 TD – McGee 125 yards rush w 1TD score 42-10 – don’t care if I’m right want the W!
• jmanishere: 55-10
• jfoster640: 42-12 Hook’em!
• stars_gal: Texas over ULM, of course, 31 – 14…and the Horns never trail. 🙂 #UT
• Texas_Alum2432: Texas 56, la 3
• marshallboone: 50-0 #UT!

The annual Herbie Awards list was released on ESPN this week and four Texas Longhorns garner honors from the ESPN college football expert. Every year Kirk Herbstreit names his top players in several traditional and also some not so traditional categories. It’s always a fun read and Herbstreit really knows his stuff and doesn’t just pick the same 5 most hyped guys as the rest of the media would.

Here’s where the four Longhorns made his lists:

• [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag]: #6 Top Wide Receiver
• [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag]: #2 Dual Threat Quarterback
• [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag]: #4 Best Defensive Ends
• [tag]Alex Okafor[/tag]: #8 Top True Freshmen

I think all four guys are definitely deserving and no glaring Longhorn-related omissions. There’s definitely a few player that I think will earn their way onto this list (namely [tag]Earl Thomas[/tag] and [tag]Aaron Williams[/tag]) but there is still much to prove on the field for those guys.

Go check out the full list.