40 Acres Sports

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.

Shaun Rogers was selected to his 3rd Pro Bowl

The NFL Pro Bowl rosters for the AFC and NFC were announced and two Longhorns were on it. Dallas guard [tag]Leonard Davis[/tag] and Cleveland defensive tackle [tag]Shaun Rogers[/tag] have both been selected to make return trips to Hawaii. This is Rogers’ third Pro Bowl selection, his first two coming after the 2004 and 2005 seasons when he was with Detroit. Big Leonard made his first Pro Bowl last year in his first season as a Cowboy.

Congrats to a couple of big former Longhorns.

Over the last several days Texas football players [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag], [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag], and [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] have brought in several All-American honors. Orakpo in particular has brought in four such honors including a first team AP All-American award today. Check out the list of honors below:

[tag]Colt McCoy[/tag]

• Second team AP All-American
• First team Football Writers (FWAA) All-American
• First team Walter Camp All-American

[tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag]

• First team AP All-American
• First team Football Writers (FWAA) All-American
• First team Walter Camp All-American
• AFCA Coaches’ All-America

[tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag]

• Third team AP All-American

Fans knew it would be close but the final 2008 [tag]Heisman[/tag] voting came down to 151 points between the first and third place finishers. Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford ended up edging out Texas quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] to take home this season’s Heisman Trophy. The two Big 12 QBs didn’t get the most first place votes (that honor fell to third place finisher Tim Tebow) but Bradford pulled in enough place votes to “earn” the trophy.

The final voting totals for the top three are below:

Kirk Herbstreit and Co. discuss how the voting broke down right after the presentation:

It wouldn’t surprise me if both Bradford and Tebow test the NFL draft waters but if they don’t we could see these same three finalists again next December. McCoy is coming back for sure and will certainly be at the top of a very short list of Heisman favorites in 2009.

Brian Orakpo is Texas' second Nagurski winner

Texas defensive end [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] was announced last night as the winner of the Bronco Nagurski Trophy at a ceremony held in Charlotte, North Carolina. The award has been given annually since 1993 to the nation’s best defensive college football player as judged by the members of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA). Orakpo is the second Longhorn to win the award, joining 2004 winner [tag]Derrick Johnson[/tag].

• Read the university release.

Texas senior defensive end [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] was named one of four finalists today for the Lombardi Award, given annually to the nation’s top interior lineman. Orakpo has been incredible this season, racking up 26 unassisted tackles, 15 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, and nine sacks so far. The winner will be announced on December 10th in Houston.

From the press release on the award’s official site:

Laurinaitis, Maualuga, Orakpo, Smith named Rotary Lombardi Award Finalists.

Three defensive players and one offensive player – three seniors and one junior – were named today as finalists for the 39th Rotary Lombardi Award, presented by Wachovia. This year’s award dinner will be held on December 10 at the Hilton Americas Hotel in Downtown Houston. Houston Dynamo President and former Houston Oiler Oliver Luck will be the featured speaker at the event.

University of Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo is the 11th Longhorn finalist. Orakpo is a senior who battled a knee injury for the entire 2007 season but ended the year by earning Defensive MVP honors at the Holiday Bowl. The last winner from Texas was Tony Degrate in 1984.

Founded in the weeks following the 1970 death from cancer of legendary football coach Vince Lombardi, the Rotary Lombardi Award has consistently delivered upon the mission set forth by Marie Lombardi when she granted the use of her late husband’s name. Her only stipulation was that all net proceeds from the event be donated to the American Cancer Society. Millions of dollars have been raised since that time.

Texas quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] has rocketed to the top of every Heisman poll and this week garnered every single first place vote in the poll of ESPN’s experts. But he also has at least one vote from someone that matters, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow:

Tebow, who could become the first player since Ohio State’s Archie Griffin in 1975 to win consecutive Heismans, said Monday that Texas quarterback Colt McCoy is his top choice right now.

“Being smart and just looking at guys who are having a good year, he obviously is someone to look at and would probably be my top guy I’d vote for right now,” Tebow said. “He’s playing extremely well and doing a great job leading his team and handles it with a lot of class, too.”

Like every other former winner, Tebow has a vote in the poll along with 870 media members. If the season ended today, it appears that Colt would receive a ton of first place votes and run away with the award.

Source

The Rocky Mountain News’ weekly Heisman poll has been going strong for over 20 years and is one of the most accurate predictors of the winner of the award out there. In this week’s poll Texas quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] has vaulted to the top of their list. Nine out of the ten sportswriters voting put McCoy in the number one spot, giving him a comfortable lead over [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] QB Sam Bradford

Check out the top five in the Heisman Trophy poll below:

Texas quarterback is up for the ESPN All American Player of the Week award for his week five performance against [tag]Arkansas[/tag]. McCoy was 17 of 19 passing with three touchdowns while adding another 84 yards and two scores on the ground. He’s up against [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] QB Sam Bradford, Alabama’s John Parker Wilson, and Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rodgers.

Text 'VOTE' to '51234' & vote for Colt

UT’s own Colt McCoy is up nominated for AT&T and ESPN’s All American Player of the Week this week. The other three players, chosen by ESPN based on their outstanding performance, include Sam Bradford (QB, Oklahoma), Jacquizz Rodgers (RB, Oregon State), and John Parker Wilson (QB, Alabama). It’s up to fans to now vote for the winner – and after McCoy’s performance, he deserves to win!

Register to vote by texting “VOTE” to “51234” before Wednesday at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be announced at halftime of the Thursday ESPN College Football Primetime.

Anyone who votes is entered for a chance to win a trip to the 2009 BCS National Championship game in Miami. Each vote counts as one entry & there is no limit on fan voting.

Also, stay in touch with the Longhorns by texting “Horns” to 72645 – you’ll receive text alerts with game day reminders and the latest team statistics, updates and news for all 20 Longhorn sports. You’ll also be able to test your Longhorn knowledge with polls. Compete for a chance to win Longhorn football tickets!

ESPN’s college football talking head (one of the best) Kirk Herbstreit has released his annual list of best players/coaches/etc. in the country, the Herbie Awards. Just a little bit of love for the Longhorns in his awards, including calling the Longhorns his Big 12 South sleepers. Is that a backhanded compliment? And like most Texas fans, he certainly has a serious man crush on defensive coordinator [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag].

Here’s the Longhorn-related notes:

• Big 12 South Sleeper: Texas
• Defensive Ends – Sack Masters: [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag]
• Top Defenses And The Geniuses Behind Them: Muschamp
• Head Coaches-In-Waiting: Muschamp
• Favorite Restaurant: El Arroyo