40 Acres Sports

Even after a rough sophomore season, Texas quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] is getting a little preseason love from the national media. USA Today has McCoy as their number one sleeper QB poised for a possible Heisman Trophy run. Not entirely out of left field, after all McCoy was a legit Heisman contender before his injury in 2006. Anytime Jimmy Clausen makes a list like this you know the guys making it are reaching for some true sleepers.

Read their thoughts on why McCoy has a shot at the Heisman below:

This guy was on everybody’s list after his freshman season in 2006. Now he seems to have fallen out of favor after Texas had a subpar (by their standards) year and McCoy threw 18 interceptions. He also threw for 22 TDs and 3,303 yards. He’s not a Vince Young threat as a runner but he did rush for 492 yards and 4 TDs last year. If the Longhorns are a national contender than this guy is going to get some votes. Playing in the Big 12 will certainly have him in the spotlight.

Maybe my ColtForHeisman.com site will experience a rebirth now. Sweet.

• Source

ESPN has up a great write up from Ivan Maisel on the talented crop of Big 12 quarterbacks as well as a poll to rank them.

Maisel thinks Texas signal caller [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] is the fourth best QB in the conference behind Chase Daniel, Graham Harrell, and Sam Bradford. I can’t argue with the top two but I think Kansas’ Todd Reesing and McCoy could be in the top 3 but Bradford deserves consideration as well.

Currently in the fan vote Daniel is leading with McCoy at number 5. If you don’t like the list go vote in their SportsNation poll and order them yourself.

Position Rating: B
Starter: Colt McCoy
Reserves: John Chiles, Sherrod Harris

The quarterback position is one of the strongest in the Big 12 and despite throwing 18 interceptions last season Texas starting quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] is in the top tier in the conference. With an improved offensive line and another season of experience under his belt the 2008 season should be a good one for McCoy. Simply cutting down on his turnovers will be huge but I’m expecting even bigger things this season.

Behind McCoy there are two huge question marks which bring down the position’s overall grade. The general consensus is that true sophomore [tag]John Chiles[/tag] is the number two with junior [tag]Sherrod Harris[/tag] slotted behind him. Chiles spent all of last season as the team’s backup quarterback but saw little time at the position and had few opportunities to use his arm. He didn’t throw the ball well in the Orange/White spring scrimmage possibly leaving the door open for Harris to take over as the primary backup.

One interesting scenario that could play out is that Chiles is 2a and Harris is 2b. Chiles might actually see more time on the field this season as a receiver and running quarterback in special packages, but if (God forbid) McCoy were to go down with an injury Harris would take over as the every down QB. Either way Texas fans should be rooting hard for a healthy season for McCoy.

Related Links

• Running backs preview
• Wide Receivers preview
• Tight ends preview
• Offensive line preview
• Defensive tackles preview
• Defensive ends preview
• Linebackers preview
• Cornerbacks preview
• Safeties preview

Five-star future Texas quarterback [tag]Garrett Gilbert[/tag] received another honor last week when he was named as one of the invitees to the prestigious Elite 11 quarterback camp. The invite-only camp is the top quarterback instructional camp in the country and only the best of the best attend. Previous Elite 11 QB’s include Vince Young, Matt Leinart, and JaMarcus Russell. Our own [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] will be one of the counselors this year along with other top college players.

Here’s the writeup on Gilbert from the ESPN story:

A record-setting Texan with tremendous pocket-passing ability and deceptive athleticism. He emerged as a rising junior when he threw for 2,859 yards and 30 touchdowns and impressed on the Nike Camp and EA SPORTS Elite 11 regional tour. He’s showed not only great skill but also intangibles and toughness last fall, leading his team to a state title despite suffering a shoulder early in the season that required surgery in the off-season. Despite not even turning 17 yet, is a confident, versatile and productive performer who set Texas state records last fall and should only get better as he matures. Son of former NFL quarterback Gale Gilbert. Committed to Texas way back in February over Texas A&M, Nebraska and a host of others.

In his latest blog entry ESPN’s Bruce Feldman shows some love to the Big 12 and Texas quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag]. Feldman is ranking his top quarterback conferences for the 2008 season and puts the Big 12 conference at the top.

Feldman loves the conference’s depth at the position and believes four QB’s have a legitimate shot to win the Heisman Trophy, including McCoy. It is surprising (and sad) to see the Pac-10 and ACC so far down in the rankings. The Pac-10 will bounce back quickly (especially if USC would share some of their QB talent) but I’m not sure what it will take for the ACC to rebound.

Check out his conference quarterback rankings below:

1. Big 12: This is a clear top choice thanks to a lot of heady leaders who make smart decisions and have proven to be very accurate with the ball. The league has four guys with legit Heisman hopes in Chase Daniel, Sam Bradford, Graham Harrell and Colt McCoy. A fifth, Todd Reesing of Kansas, is as tough and as sharp as they come, although I expect KU to backslide some this year. Behind those five is plenty more talent that probably could merit all-conference consideration in any other league save for the SEC. In fact, 10 of the league’s top 11 passers return. Depth-wise, this is better than it’s ever been for the Big 12.
2. Big Ten
3. SEC
4. Big East
5. MAC
6. Pac-10
7. WAC
8. ACC
9. MWC
10. C-USA
11. Sun Belt

A crossroads season for Horns QBs past and present. Simms, Young, Snead, and McCoy all face important seasons.

Update: Download named rosters for NCAA Football 10. (7/23/2009)

NCAA Football 09 is less than a month away, the demo is up on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network, and player ratings are starting to make their way on to the Internet. EA Sports released the team top 25 and player ratings for all those teams.

I went through the list and put the players’ real names in where possible. I had trouble with a lot of the true freshmen in the game so if you know who any of the blank names are or if I made any mistakes please let me know in the comments. It really looks like EA did a poor job this year on the roster and depth chart. Hopefully it’s a little more accurate when the game is released.

You can download Excel files of the player ratings at the bottom of this post or check out the overall ratings for the Texas team below:

Downloads

• Texas player ratings
• Full top 25 player ratings

Wichita Falls is sad. Colt McCoy being in town is a big story for the local news. Good kid.

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 …)

It featured one of the wildest and weirdest plays in recent memory, but the 2007 [tag]Holiday Bowl[/tag] ended up being an easier Texas win than anyone expected. The Horns came out fired up and got up on the [tag]Arizona State[/tag] early before finishing with a 52-34 victory.

Here’s how the team did with my keys for the game:

1. Pressure Rudy Carpenter.

The Longhorns not only pressured Carpenter but they eventually knocked him out of the game. Carpenter was rattled early and did not perform well when the Horns were able to hurry him. The team finished the night with four sacks but more importantly was in the quarterback’s face all game long. Defensive coordinator [tag]Duane Akina[/tag] brought blitzes from every direction and every position. Defensive end [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] had a heck of a game (two sacks, tons of pressure) was named the game’s defensive MVP. Verdict: Passed.

2. Don’t turn the ball over.

[tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] didn’t throw any interceptions but did put the ball on the turf with alarming frequency. McCoy fumbled the football four times, but only lost a critical one on a boneheaded play at the end of the first half that could have cost Texas dearly. He also botched two snaps and was bailed out big time (after a great long scramble) when Jermichael Finley fell on his fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. The Horns didn’t protect the football very well but they only turned it over once, so… Verdict: Passed.

3. Don’t forget about the run game.

I don’t think the coaches gave the ball enough to [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] early in the game, but as the game wore on he ended up getting more than his share of touches. Thanks to the big second half lead Charles finished the game with 27 carries and 161 yards. Colt McCoy did what he’s been doing this season, finding a way to make big plays with his feet. The team also went to freshman quarterback [tag]John Chiles[/tag] early to spark the offense and he carried the ran the ball very successfully. Overall the team ran the ball 54 times for a whopping 300 yards in the game. Verdict: Passed.