40 Acres Sports

Houston Chronicle writer Joseph Duarte has posted three brief but good interviews from after Saturday’s game with Texas players. Maybe it’s because I’m not living in Austin but hearing from the players in this casual situation is a rarity. The only video we usually get is from organized press conferences so it’s nice to see them talk in a different setting.

Senior [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] discusses CU and the Big 12 schedule:

[tag]Roy Miller[/tag] talks about the difficulty in not looking past Colorado:

[tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] talks about the match-up with OU:

Source

The Texas defense hit QB Cody Hawkins often

The Texas Longhorns played their toughest opponent of the season Saturday but still dominated against the Colorado Buffaloes. The defense was downright dominant and the CU quarterback will be seeing the Texas defensive linemen and linebackers in his dreams for weeks. We’ll find out in less than a week what the Longhorns are made of.

See what everyone is saying about the game below:

Bevo Sports

• Video: Texas at Colorado highlights
• Live game blog
• All Texas/Colorado coverage

Local Media

• Texas/Colorado box score
• Texas/Colorado game quotes
• Texas/Colorado game notes
• Texas beats Colorado, looks ahead to OU
• Texas defense looks good after stuffing the Buffs
• Ogbonnaya looks like an answer at running back
• Scott’s limited results fine with UT
• Longhorn football notebook
• Takin’ Care of Business
• Becoming Brett

Colorado Media

• Longhorns roll over Buffs
• Overmatched Buffs come up far short against No. 5 Longhorns
• Longhorns crank up the “D”
• Buffs get clocked in speed trap
• CU’s defense lone bright spot vs. McCoy, Texas
• Buffs kicked while down
• Gap still large between CU, Big 12’s best
• Hawkins continues to struggle under center
• Teammates won’t put blame on Goodman

Texas media

• Unbeaten OU, UT should make Red River Rivalry hard to beat
• UT takes care of Colorado, sets up showdown with OU
• Texas defense rushing to the top
• Texas 38, Colorado 14, final thoughts
• Texas Longhorns make a statement with defense
• Chris Ogbonnaya could be the answer for Texas’ running game
• Longhorns wax Buffs
• UT drops Colorado 38-14 in Big 12 opener
• Houston Chronicle live blog

National media

• Ogbonnaya scores 2 TDs, saves another as No. 5 Texas cruises
• AP photo gallery
• Defense carries Texas to win at Colorado

Texas played their best defense in years as they knocked off their first conference opponent [tag]Colorado[/tag]. Quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] wasn’t perfect but he was darn good and senior running back [tag]Chris Ogbonnaya[/tag] had his best day as a Longhorn. Watch video highlights of the game from ESPN below:

There’s also some good but not embeddable highlights available from FSN to check out.

Follow along below with our live thoughts and analysis during tonight’s game versus [tag]Colorado[/tag] on FSN. We’ll be live right around kickoff so join us to discuss the game right around 6pm tonight. 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.

The Texas Longhorns were expected to have a down season (by their standards) but after four blowout wins the team finds itself setting ranked as one of the top five teams in the country. On FSN (and in HD) at 6:00 pm tonight the Longhorns will face their first conference opponent of the season in a 3 – 1 [tag]Colorado[/tag] team. This is the first game before a tough four-game stretch against ranked opponents but the Longhorns can’t start looking ahead or things can come crashing down very quickly.

Will the Longhorns avoid the upset? Can the defense continue to get after the opposing quarterback? Read on to see what the editors of Bevo Sports and a guest from Buffs.tv think will happen today:

Brian – The Longhorns played their best game of the season last week and I think they step it up again against Colorado. They were ranked last week but other than a win over not as good as we thought [tag]West Virginia[/tag] they haven’t been overly impressive. Texas’ special teams will be the key to avoid the upset. [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] will continue to impress and freshman running back [tag]Cody Johnson[/tag] will get his first career 100-yard game. Texas wins by the same score they do every week… Texas 52 – Colorado 10

Matt – There are a couple of things that worry me about this game. First, it is an almost night game in Boulder. The fans will be crazy (probably drunk) and it is tough to play with that thin air. Second, the last time we played Colorado we beat them 70-3 and knocked out their quarterback. I’m pretty sure Colorado is looking for a little revenge and will keep that previous game in mind. And finally, this game comes a week before the Red River Rivalry, so there is definitely a possibility that the Horns will be looking ahead. Now with all of that said, I still think Texas has too much offense for Colorado to handle. And with the improved defense I don’t see Colorado doing too much. Texas needs to jump out to a quick start to kill the hopes for the Buffaloes. If they do that they should roll. Texas 45 – Colorado 20

Mike – The Longhorns face their first big test of the year on the road at Colorado to get Big 12 play started. Colorado has a solid team, and proved they could pull an upset by beating [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] the week before last year’s Red River Shootout. Texas is on a roll and I don’t think anyone not wearing crimson and cream is going to slow the Horns down. Colorado wears black and gold. I may have started drinking the Kool-Aid on this one, but I think Texas wins and wins big. They dominate from the start and Colt McCoy keeps his Heisman hopes alive with another big game through the air and on the ground. The defense records over five sacks and two turnovers, and a running back will finally have a run over 30 yards. Texas 45 – Colorado 13

Marc from Buffs.tv – This game is going to come down to the trenches. Can the Colorado line hold off the Longhorns long enough for Hawkins down field? Can the Buffs get enough pressure on McCoy to force him into some bad decisions? If the Buffs can’t win at least one of these battles, winning the game will be very difficult. The good news is that the Buffs never give up in Boulder. This game will be decided in the fourth quarter. Texas 21 – Colorado 23

Can Colt McCoy make like VY against the Buffs?

Texas opens up Big 12 play tonight at 6pm against a good [tag]Colorado[/tag] team coming off their first loss of the season. The Buffaloes are a talented team heading in the right direction thanks to head coach Dan Hawkins and the play of his quarterback son, but the Longhorns are 13-point favorites and if they do their job they’ll win the game.

Read below for the Longhorns’ keys to beat the Colorado Buffaloes:

1. Don’t look past Colorado to next week.

Texas fans are already making plans and looking forward to next week’s huge match-up with [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] but the team can’t do the same. The Buffaloes are easily the toughest team Texas has faced and can easily pull off the upset if the Horns don’t play as well as they should.

2. Don’t give up a big kickoff return.

WR Josh Smith is Colorado’s biggest weapon, particularly on kickoff returns. Nothing kills momentum worse than giving up a backbreaking return after a touchdown. The kickoff coverage team has been solid so far but they haven’t faced a guy like Smith. Kicker [tag]Justin Tucker[/tag] needs to what he’s done all year and put his kickoffs high and in the end zone and he’ll completely neutralize Smith’s abilities.

3. Pressure quarterback Cody Hawkins.

After back-to-back weeks of seven sacks the Texas defense suddenly has one of the top pass rushes in the country. The Colorado offensive line has been decimated by injuries and [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] and company need to take advantage. The real test comes next week but this will be a good indicator of what the defensive line and linebackers can do against an offensive line that doesn’t average sub-260 pounds. Texas needs to hound Cody Hawkins and bring him down for at least three sacks tonight.

Texas vs. Colorado in the Big 12 Championship

Conference play is in full swing this weekend with many teams getting their first real test of the season. The Big 12 now has 4 teams in the Top 10, with all of them on the road. It will be interesting to see if they can all come out unscathed. If Texas and Oklahoma both win their Big 12 openers, they will face off next week in a possible #1 versus #5 match-up.

Let’s take a look at a game in each of the big conferences. Remember, I did go 3-1 last weekend against the spread.

#13 Auburn at #19 Vanderbilt (+4) – 6:00 PM EST on ESPN. Vanderbilt is definitely one of the surprises of the season. And after last week their win against Ole Miss is looking that much better. Auburn has been anemic on offense and basically riding their defense to wins. With two weeks to prepare and home field, Vanderbilt has the advantage in this one. It will probably be close, but take Vandy to win.

#7 Texas at Colorado (+13) – 7:00 PM EST on FSN. There are a couple of things that worry me about this game. First, it is an almost night game in Boulder. The fans will be crazy (probably drunk) and it is tough to play with that thin air. Second, the last time we played Colorado we beat them 70-3 and knocked out their quarterback. I’m pretty sure Colorado is looking for a little revenge and will keep that previous game in mind. And finally, this game comes a week before the Red River Rivalry, so there is definitely a possibility that the Horns will be looking ahead. Now with all of that said, I still think Texas has too much offense for Colorado to handle. And with the improved defense I don’t see Colorado doing too much. Texas needs to jump out to a quick start to kill the hopes for the Buffaloes. If they do that they should roll.

#23 Oregon at #9 USC (O/U 57) – 8:00 PM EST on ABC. Everyone wants to see how USC will respond after getting smoked by Oregon State last week. I don’t expect to see a blowout or anything against Oregon, but I do expect to see USC’s A game. Both teams can score almost at will and this will probably be the typical Pac-10 shootout. Look for each team to score in the 40s and take the over in this one.

#14 Ohio State at #18 Wisconsin (+2) – 8:00 PM EST on ABC. Hardly anyone comes out of Camp Randall with a victory, with Wisconsin winning their last 16 at home and 27 of the last 28. Ohio State has now turned over the reigns to Terrelle Pryor, and with Beanie Wells back from injury their offense is heating back up. As long as their defense can do a decent job against the Badgers, Ohio State should be able to come out with the victory. Actually on second thought this game probably shouldn’t be on the “what to watch” list since it will probably be pretty boring. Just take Ohio State and cash-in in the morning.

Cody Johnson runs against Arkansas

Saturday at 6pm on FSN the Longhorns will start Big 12 play against [tag]Colorado[/tag]. The Buffaloes are easily the Horns’ toughest opponent of the season so despite four blowout wins the team still hasn’t proven anything. Texas will lean on [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] as they do every week, but Texas will also need these five other players to step up to take care of business:

[tag]Cody Johnson[/tag]

The Texas coaches and fans thought the running game would be led by the tandem of [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] and [tag]Foswhitt Whittaker[/tag]. While Whittaker has struggled to contribute as expected because of injuries to both knees, McGee has just struggled. Enter former fullback Cody Johnson. The big man has looked like the best ball carrier on the team not named [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag]. Mack Brown has preferred big, downhill runners throughout his career, a la Natrone Means and [tag]Ricky Williams[/tag]. And even though the UT running game doesn’t appear to suit Johnson’s strengths he has excelled. If Johnson can outperform McGee again, this time in a conference game, it seems likely that the combination of Johnson and Whittaker when he is healthy will lead the running game going forward into the season.

[tag]James Kirkendoll[/tag]

Texas has to find a third receiver. The physical appearance and upside of [tag]Malcolm Williams[/tag] and [tag]Dan Buckner[/tag] led many to anoint them the leaders for the position. But through four games it is clear that McCoy does not trust these two yet for whatever reason. Colt does seem to trust Kirkendoll, who made a nice run after the catch early in last week’s blowout of [tag]Arkansas[/tag]. The loss of [tag]Blaine Irby[/tag] allows defenses to key on [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] and [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag]. If Texas wants to continue their success through the air, one of the young receivers must step up. This week is Kirkendoll’s week to solidify himself as that guy.

[tag]Blake Gideon[/tag]

There is no doubt that the true freshman from nearby Leander High School has exceeded expectations. After only being out of high school for six months, Gideon finds himself leading a young but talented secondary for the Texas Longhorns. Most 18 year’olds would be overwhelmed, but the coach’s son appears to be taking to his new position like a duck to water. Gideon hasn’t made a whole lot of huge plays, but according to defensive coordinator [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag], Gideon is lining up the defense correctly. I think Muschamp, a former college safety, sees a lot of himself in Gideon and for UT fans that is assuredly a good thing. Teams are going to try and confuse the secondary to create big plays, if Gideon can limit these by being smart and aware, the Longhorn defense could become one of college football’s best this year.

[tag]Keenan Robinson[/tag]

If nobody else is running, I’d like to nominate myself as the President of the Keenan Robinson fan club. This may be premature but Robinson has looked like a star in the making every time he is on the field, albeit in cleanup duty. He has the speed and nose for the football that Muschamp craves in his line backing unit. Overall the group of [tag]Roddrick Muckelroy[/tag], [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag], [tag]Rashad Bobino[/tag], and [tag]Jared Norton[/tag] has looked great, but Robinson gives this defense the ability to keep three linebackers on the field against three receiver sets. The other linebackers on the team struggle in space. With Robinson’s speed and ball skills, he is a prime candidate to get more time as the opposing offenses become faster. The problem is deciding whose snaps the talented freshman cuts into. The combination of Robinson and Muckelroy at linebacker with Kindle playing rush end appears to be the best combination for Texas on obvious passing downs.

[tag]Justin Tucker[/tag]

Historically, Texas has not done great on kick coverage. Don’t believe me? Watch the DVD of the first Rose Bowl Texas played in. With the talent on campus, it has appeared the Horns have struggled to find the types of players it takes to excel on special teams coverage. Kick coverage is more about willingness and want to than superior athletic ability. Kickoff specialist Justin Tucker is making this quandary obsolete. Tucker has been booming the ball, forcing touchbacks at a rate not seen on the 40 acres. It’s beginning to seam that on balls he doesn’t kick into the end zone come at the coach’s request in order to get a look at the coverage unit. Against teams like [tag]Oklahoma[/tag], [tag]Missouri[/tag], [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag], and [tag]Texas Tech[/tag] special teams could decide the game. A weapon like Tucker, and on the punt team with John Gold, gives Texas an advantage in every game.

With Big 12 play getting underway this Saturday [tag]Ryan Palmer[/tag] and the entire secondary are about to really be tested. Watch the video below (courtesy of the AAS) to see Ryan dish out a few cliches, discuss facing the top teams in the conference, [tag]Colorado[/tag], and the young defensive backs in general.

There were several of teams off last week in the conference but there was still a lot of movement in the power rankings. Losses by Colorado and Nebraska and a shaky home win by Texas A&M sent all those teams down a bit. Meanwhile Oklahoma State continues to win in impressive fashion. The Cowboys are undefeated and putting up big offensive numbers so have moved up three spots to number five. Conference play starts Saturday so things should be much clearer in next week’s rankings.

Check out this week’s Big 12 power rankings below:

1. [tag]Oklahoma[/tag]

   
   LW: 1

   The Sooners jumped to a huge first quarter lead against [tag]TCU[/tag] and then just road that through the end of the game. QB Sam Bradford threw for a ton of yards but had by far his least accurate performance of the season. More troubling for OU is the complete ineffectiveness of the running game. They tried to force the issue but manage to only rush for an abysmal 25 yards on 36 carries.

2. [tag]Missouri[/tag]

   
   LW: 2

   Bye week. The Tigers face Nebraska this weekend to open Big 12 play.

3. Texas

   
   LW: 3

   Another week and another 52 – 10 win for the Longhorns, this time over SEC rival [tag]Arkansas[/tag]. The Texas offense has been impressive all season but for the first time all season the defense was dominant. The front seven was able to sack the Razorbacks’ QBs seven times and the Horns are now top five nationally with 16 sacks on the season. Texas faces Colorado Saturday at 6pm on FSN.

4. [tag]Texas Tech[/tag]

   
   LW: 4

   Bye week. Red Raiders open Big 12 play against Kansas State.

5. [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag]

   
   LW: 8

   Okie Lite put another 50 spot on the scoreboard this past weekend against Troy. The Trojans aren’t exactly a national power but [tag]Ohio State[/tag] struggled to get past them while the Cowboys racked up 612 total yards. They host the Aggies Saturday at 7pm.

6. [tag]Kansas[/tag]

   
   LW: 7

   Bye week. KU opens conference play with a virtual bye against Iowa State.

7. [tag]Colorado[/tag]

   
   LW: 5

   Colorado didn’t show up well in a surprisingly thorough loss to [tag]Florida State[/tag]. QB and coach’s son Cody Hawkins was inaccurate and inefficient and the running game didn’t do enough to pick him up. The FSU offense wasn’t much better but thanks to terrible kick coverage was able to play with a short field on several possessions. The Buffaloes face the Longhorns Saturday.

8. [tag]Nebraska[/tag]

   
   LW: 6

   Nebraska fans may be disappointed in a home loss to [tag]Virginia Tech[/tag] but Bo Pelini’s team fought hard till the end and almost came back and won it. This week Nebraska has a tough one when they host #4 Missouri.

9. [tag]Baylor[/tag]

   
   LW: 10

   Bye week. Next up are the number one ranked Sooners.

10. [tag]Kansas State[/tag]

    
    LW: 9

    Another shaky week for the Wildcats, barely beating a 1 – 3 Louisiana-Lafayette team in Manhattan. QB Josh Freeman and the offense again looked solid but the defense looked like swiss cheese. The Ragin’ Cajuns ran all over them to the tune of 335 total rushing yards in the game. Not good. Up this week is Texas Tech.

11. [tag]Iowa State[/tag]

    
    LW: 12

    Bye week. This week the Cyclones face off against Kansas.

12. Texas A&M

    
    LW: 11

    Just how bad are the Aggies? Army wasn’t just winless but they were winless against mediocre competion, and at Kyle Field the A&M needed a fourth down stop to escape with a win. Their match-up with Oklahoma State Saturday night will be an interesting one to watch (but not actually watch because it’s embarrasingly not being televised).