40 Acres Sports

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.

College coaches are not allowed by NCAA rules to talk about potential recruits or commits until National Signing Day. With signatures from all 20 commits this morning, Texas head coach [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] finally has a chance to talk about each of the future Longhorns and breaks down each one on film. Mack sits down in front of reporters and talks to reporters for nearly 30 minutes and it is definitely worth your time to sit down and watch.

Watch Mack talking about the class and discussing each of the recruits below:

Many thanks to Statesman.com for again providing embeddable video of Mack’s press conferences.

Garrett Gilbert and Paden Kelley sign their Letters of Intent (Image: Statesman.com)

Wednesday is [tag]National Signing Day[/tag] and we’ll have frequent updates throughout the day on the 40 Acres. This is the first day high school senior recruits can sign a binding letter of intent to play college football. The Longhorns have 20 commits in the 2009 class with 8 already on campus and 12 expected to send in their LOI tomorrow. We’ll have updates when those letters come in as well as the important news on the two remaining targets, linebacker Jarvis Jones and corner Dre Kirkpatrick.

Follow @40AcresSports on Twitter (after the jump) and keep track of other #signingday news as well.

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It’s barely March but it looks like [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] is close to wrapping up his 2009 recruiting class already. After starting out strong with Garrett Gilbert and six other commits at the team’s first junior day, the Horns have since added eight more of the state’s top football players to bring the total tally up to fifteen.

Two of the biggest commits were at linebacker, where Irving’s Tariq Allen and Grand Prairie’s Patrick Nkwopara made their pledge to play for defensive coordinator [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag]’s defense. Both players were top targets of the Texas defensive coaching staff and appear to fit their mold perfectly for a linebacker, speed guys who aren’t afraid to knock your head off. If you’re a Rivals subscriber, watch Allen’s videos and you’ll be very excited about our future middle linebacker.

The team also got help in the defensive backfield by picking up commits from cornerbacks Eryon Barnett from Euless and Kenny Vaccaro out of Brownwood. Vaccaro is one of the state’s most heavily recruited DB’s and held offers from the likes of Florida, Oklahoma, and Stanford when chose the Longhorns. Barnett was a virtual unknown before committing to the Horns but Texas offered quickly and he certainly passes the eyeball test so he looks like a player who will shoot up the rankings once the scouting services get film of him.

Texas also did an excellent job filling needs from the top in-state options. Defensive end and tight end were both positions the Horns needed to fill holes at in this class. At defensive end the two big fish are still out there, Alex Okafor and five-star Devon Kennard, but the Horns added two very capable prospects in Dominique Jones and Kyle Kriegel. The tight end commits look like the two best in the state in Trey Graham and Barrett Matthews. I’m particularly excited about Matthews, whose versatility, athleticism, and toughness allow him to play an H-back role or maybe even end up on defense. It doesn’t hurt that he plays for Galena Park North Shore, a school that has now put out three top Division I tight ends in a row.

The fifteen current commits are listed below:

Name	Position	Rating*	LSR**	Hometown
Tariq Allen	LB		65	Irving
Thomas Ashcraft	OL		13	Cedar Hill
Eryon Barnett	DB		NR	Euless
Marcus Davis	DB		15	League City
Garrett Gilbert	QB		2	Austin
Trey Graham	TE		NR	Waco
Dominique Jones	DE		NR	Kilgore
Paden Kelley	OL		31	Austin
Kyle Kriegel	DE		64	Elysian Fields
Barrett Matthews	TE		59	Galena Park
Patrick Nkwopara	LB		NR	Grand Prairie
Garrett Porter	OL		30	Odessa
Greg Timmons	WR		10	Aldine
Kenny Vaccaro	DB		53	Brownwood
Chris Whaley	RB		8	Madisonville

*Note: Most of the star ratings are just estimates based on the video I’ve seen of the recruits and Orangebloods.com’s state rankings.

**Note: LSR is Geoff Ketchum’s Lone Star Recruiting Top 100. The numbers represent the player’s ranking as of 2/13/2008.