40 Acres Sports

The last scrimmage/practice of the spring is about to get underway on Fox Sports Southwest. The Orange-White Game is most fans’ first look at a lot of players and it’s always interesting to see who is playing where. We won’t see much (if any) new scheme or plays, but it’s football and gosh darnit I like it. The most important thing in this type of event is always that nobody gets seriously injured.

I’ll be posting my live thoughts and opinions below.

First Quarter

Nice to see we tackled more this spring, much more so that we did more full contact drills than in a scrimmage like this.

Here’s the spring roster off the official site. Definitely going to be needed today.

[tag]Tray Allen[/tag] gets the start today at left tackle with [tag]Adam Ulatoski[/tag] out.

I thought [tag]Brandon Collins[/tag] had dropped that pass but on the replay cornerback [tag]Deon Beasley[/tag] made a nice diving play to break it up. Collins probably needs to use his body better though to prevent the defender from being able to do that so easily.

I don’t know about that interference penalty on Beasley. [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] threw a nice pass but put it over [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag]’s wrong shoulder. He had the position and Colt should have been able to put it in a more catchable position.

Not a good job on the [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] reverse by [tag]Henry Melton[/tag]. As the backside defensive end his responsibilities are RCC (reverse, counter, or cutback) and while he held his spot for a moment he started to pursue too quickly. Not a good job by the corner/safety over there either, the moment they saw Shipley going back the other way they should have been screaming at the top of their lungs.

[tag]Ishie Oduegwu[/tag] is in street clothes on the sideline, I didn’t realize he was hurt. I assume that’s why true freshman [tag]Blake Gideon[/tag] got the start at safety for Team Tradition. Okay that’s the last time I’ll mention these lame team names.

[tag]John Chiles[/tag] and [tag]Fozzy Whittaker[/tag] screwed up the hand-off on their first play of the day. Zone read and Chiles tried to change his mind and keep it but they put in on the turf.

On his first pass attempt Chiles makes a decent throw to Collins but he looked like he was tripled covered. The pocket was still holding so I think John could have waited another tick, bought himself some time, and looked for a more open receiver.

Nice run by [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] ended with him delivering a blow to [tag]Earl Thomas[/tag]. Good play though by Thomas to hold on despite the big hit and make the tackle.

I hope we’re not planning on playing freshman kicker [tag]Justin Tucker[/tag]. We’ve already got [tag]Ryan Bailey[/tag] and [tag]Hunter Lawrence[/tag] and I want one of them to win the kicking job this year so we can afford to redshirt Tucker.

[tag]Russell Carter[/tag] sure looks like a football player. Big old sucker. Nice play by him bringing down Whitaker.

(more …)

The big one got away today (under suspicious circumstances) but the 2008 Texas recruiting class is still a good one. Mack Brown and the Horns signed 20 young athletes to letters of intent, nine of which are already on campus for the spring semester.

The class is headlined by defensive backs Aaron Williams and DJ Monroe, who along with safety Nolan Brewster, should anchor the Texas defensive backfield for the next four or five years. On the offensive side WR/RB DeSean Hales is electric with the football in his hands and wide receiver Dan Buckner is huge and will catch anything thrown in his general direction.

Here’s the full list of signees:

Name	Position	Rating	Hometown
[tag]Emmanuel Acho[/tag]	LB		Dallas
[tag]Nolan Brewster[/tag]	DB		Denver, CO
[tag]Mark Buchanan[/tag]	OL		Austin
[tag]Dan Buckner[/tag]	WR		Allen
[tag]Brock Fitzhenry[/tag]	RB		Giddings
[tag]Blake Gideon[/tag]	DB		Leander
[tag]DJ Grant[/tag]	WR		Austin
[tag]DeSean Hales[/tag]	RB		Klein
[tag]Antoine Hicks[/tag]	ATH		Mansfield
[tag]Jeremy Hills[/tag]	RB		Alief
[tag]Jarvis Humphrey[/tag]	DT		Cedar Hill
[tag]Dravannti Johnson[/tag]	LB		Nederland
[tag]DJ Monroe[/tag]	DB		Angleton
[tag]Tre Newton[/tag]	RB		Southlake
[tag]Luke Poehlmann[/tag]	OL		Brenham
[tag]Kheeston Randall[/tag]	DT		Beaumont
[tag]Ryan Roberson[/tag]	RB		Brenham
[tag]David Snow[/tag]	OL		Gilmer
[tag]Justin Tucker[/tag]	K		Austin
[tag]Aaron Williams[/tag]	DB		Round Rock

Congratulations to the newest Texas Longhorns!

5A Texas Football.com has released their awards for the 2007 season and several future Longhorns have made their list. Just like last year, Leander safety [tag]Blake Gideon[/tag] is receiving state accolades and 5A Texas Football.com has named him their Defensive MVP. The kid may not be highly rated recruit but he just makes plays and he’s been one of the best players in the state’s highest classification the last two years.

Here’s the rest of the future Horns who made their list:

Statesman profile on Blake Gideon. Kid isn’t highly rated but I think he’s got everything you look for in a safety.