Follow along live with 40 Acres Sports on Twitter and below for our thoughts and analysis during today’s Texas game versus [tag]Central Florida[/tag] on FSN. We’ll be live right around kickoff so join us to discuss the game bright and early at 11:00am Saturday.
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!
WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Oklahoma State.
Pregame WTH Poke Fans?! Wow, the biggest crowd in [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag] football history. You packed it in on Halloween night. You recorded 58,516 fans?! You did renovate the stadium with Boone Pickens money, didn’t you?
1st Qt. (5:56) WTH Burks?! Referee Greg Burks and his staff got a few calls wrong at the beginning of the game. The calls did benefit the Longhorns, but the personal foul call on OSU Lucien Antoine for hitting UT [tag]Dan Buckner[/tag] going across the middle was a good hard play. I wish the NCAA would get rid of the helmet to helmet hit when it does not involve the quarterback. The officials also missed it (1:19 – 2nd Qt.) when UT [tag]James Kirkendoll[/tag] was stripped of the ball when they assumed his momentum was stopped but never blew the whistle. Glad that the Horns blasted the Pokes on Halloween like a blue armadillo to make sure that these calls were not an issue.
1st Quarter (3:37) WTH PVC Man?! Oklahoma State degrades one of their own by having him hold a large PVC pipe flash card stand. A player, #23, for the Pokes holds an elaborate flip card that shows a heart, a number and an image on it for the OSU offensive package. The Poke player is auditioning for holding the leader board for the next round at the Masters.
1st Quarter (1:44) WTH Hubert?! Come on Hubert Anyiam from Oklahoma State. You had a gift touchdown pass that was perfectly placed to you by Zac Robinson on 4th down. (14:25 – 2nd Qt.) Then you got the ball ripped out by UT [tag]Sam Acho[/tag] which led to the first touchdown for the Horns. Oh yeah, great job ABC for cutting away and missing most of the play.
2nd Qt. & 3rd Qt. WTH Goonies?! The Longhorn defense played an incredible game especially the secondary which returned two interceptions for the touchdowns ([tag]Curtis Brown[/tag] – 2nd Qt. & [tag]Earl Thomas[/tag] – 3rd Qt.). But you need to slow down with all the nicknames. [tag]Lamarr Houston[/tag] comes up with the defensive nickname the Goonies because they like to goon it up with the opposing offense (Like that one). This week [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag] comes up with the name “Texas Swagger” to get the team motivated to close the deal against the Cowboys. Coach [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] got into the act early in the year with giving out T-shirts with the logo .0128 which is the margin that they lost to OU for the Big XII championship. I guess I do not care what ploy is implemented as long as the Horns win.
3rd Quarter (10:27) WTH Case?! [tag]Case McCoy[/tag] is standing next to the lovely Rachel Glandorf (Colt’s girlfriend) and proceeds to spit on the floor right next to her. I guess the upcoming UT commit at quarterback is affecting his better judgment.
Next up for the Longhorn’s is a trip home to face Central Florida at DKR Memorial at 11am November 7th.
Follow along live with 40 Acres Sports on Twitter and below for our thoughts and analysis during today’s game versus [tag]UTEP[/tag] on FSN. We’ll be live right around kickoff so join us to discuss the game right around 2:30pm this afternoon.
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!
Follow along live with 40 Acres Sports on Twitter and below for our thoughts and analysis during tonight’s game versus [tag]Texas Tech[/tag] on ABC. We’ll be live right around kickoff so join us to discuss the game right around 7pm 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.
Texas coach Mack Brown talks about the [tag]Wyoming[/tag] game and looks towards this week’s [tag]Texas Tech[/tag] match-up:
Brief highlights of yesterday’s Texas win over [tag]Wyoming[/tag] from Versus:
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Follow along below or with @40AcresSports on Twitter for live updates on the Texas vs. Wyoming game tonight at 2:30pm…
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Refs just blew whistle and called delay of game with 2 seconds left on play clock. Mack is flabbergasted. #ut
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Great effort and block by Tray Allen as Chiles takes screen pass to the house. Touchdown horns!! Nice block by M Williams too. #ut
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Wyoming defense looks exhausted. Tre Newton takes it right up middle got 14 yd touchdown. Newton looks good. #ut 34 wyo 10
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Colt breaks tackles, rolls left and finds Buckner alone. Buckner breaks tackles, gets block from Newton and scores!! #ut
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Apparently MWC officials have no idea what holding is. Opposite if big 12 refs who never call it. #ut
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96 seconds into 2nd half Longhorns strike on McCoy option keeper. Whew. Don’t take foot off gas Horns. #ut 20 wyo 10
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DJ Monroe takes short 2nd half kickoff back to wyo 40. Great start. Saw 2 #UT players high five, hope refs don’t flag them. 😉
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Think the Wyo coach’s necklace looks like it’s made of gumballs and popcorn. #ut (2nd half bout to start.)
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RT @ChipBrownOB: UT held Wyo w/out a single f1st down in 2nd quarter. Defense playing lights out. All 10 Wyo points traced to sp teams.
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RT @mikefinger: Colt McCoy’s halftime numbers: 17-of-29, 166 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. If no one was watching, it actually looks respectable. #UT
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RT @stevehabel: At half, TX has 237 yards to WYO’s 99, thanks to big final drive for TD. UT has 11 FD to 6 for WYO (none in 2nd qtr) #ut
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Surprised by wyo taking a knee despite getting ball after OOB kickoff. Halftime. Let’s see how horns regroup. #ut 13 wyo 10
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KIRKENDOLL!!! Fantastic run after catch on crossing route and jukes/stumbles into endzone for TD. #ut 13 wyo 10
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Holding call gives Wyoming 7 points as #ut has punt block breakdown and cowboys take it into endzone.
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More bad officiating. It’s not a hold just because lineman’s hands are on defenders back. Costs #ut 1st down
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Fantastic defense by Randall and huge open field tackle by K Robinson stop wyo on 3rd and 3. #ut ball with 2:40 left.
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@KEYE_Sports #UT is fine. They’ll win thanks to overwhelming D. (knock on wood.) but it’s not overreaction to say they’re playing awful.
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Dan Buckner with fantastic block but Colt McCoy looking very 2007. Not good. Interception Wyoming. #ut
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Horns get down to 3 but false start by Snow and then series of stumbles forces them to settle for fiejd goal. #ut 6 wyo 3
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Another clueless flag by MWC refs. Call illegal forward pass when Colt was behind line of scrimmage. #ut
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RT @chrismaka: That upside-down Horns sign is actually the official international hand sign for “I AM A COMPLETE DOUCHE BAG”
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Surprised by wyo decision to punt with 4th and 5 on #ut 45 yard line. Horns will take ball inside their 10.
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Kindle has gotten several shots in on Wyo qb but he’s doing good job getting rid of ball. #ut DBs giving lots of cushion.
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Colt not looking his normal accurate self. Leaving a lot of passes way high. #ut has to punt. Tucker with nice lefty soccer pooch punt.
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Wyo DBs off the LOS and bailing at snap. Colt having to hit underneath checkdowns. Might need to test deep middle. #ut.
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Not sure that was 15 yd roughing but #ut will take it. Wyo hits punter and gives horns free first down.
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Horns front 4 getting great pressure if Wyo just drops back to pass. More trouble when they zone play action and move pocket. #ut
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After moving downfield easily Horns forced to settle for 32 yd field goal from Lawrence. #ut 3 wyo 0
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Dont forget: Follow along with today’s #UT vs Wyoming game live here on twitter and at http://bit.ly/10exfb
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RT @suzhalliburton: For those keeping score, #ut brought 74 players. Mack brown told us they normally take 80 on non-conf road games
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RT @bobcatbaseball: Snow?! Rain is already blowing my mind. RT @kbohls: About to rain in dallas. Hearing chance of snow in wyoming. #ut
Follow along below or with @40AcresSports on Twitter for live updates on the Texas vs. Louisiana-Monroe game tonight at 6pm…
Maybe for the first time since 2005, the University of Texas has a legit shot at a national championship heading into the season. Sure last year was special, but at this time in 2008 the Longhorn fan base was not thinking championship rings.
It is all different one year later. In this two part series we look at the five things we know and the five things we don’t about this year’s team.
1. Colt McCoy is a bad ass.
There is no way around it. If McCoy leads this team to the national championship, and maybe picks up a Heisman trophy along the way, he will go down as the best, and most loved, quarterback in the history of the program.
McCoy has done everything a coach could want from a leader. And all reports have him playing at an elite level after a dedicated summer. Vince Young rallied Texas’ last national championship team with summer 7-on-7, McCoy did the same. Now it is time to prove it on the field. And there is little doubt that will happen as long as Colt stays healthy.
2. McCoy has targets to throw the ball to.
Sure, Quan Cosby is gone, but Malcolm Williams, James Kirkendoll and Brandon Collins may be better than the “Big 3” of Roy Williams, Sloan Thomas and BJ Johnson. And we haven’t even mentioned Jordan Shipley.
Kirkendoll is going off this year. He will replace Cosby as the safety valve on third down situations when Shipley is demanding double teams. Williams showed his big play ability against Missouri and Texas Tech last year. The knock on the sophomore is his consistency, but when the lights come on, he has done nothing but impress. He looks the part on the field, and defensive coordinators have to account for his speed on the outside. Cosby was great, but he didn’t demand a safety to play over the top. Williams can force defenses to keep a man deep to protect against the fly pattern. That will open more holes for the running game, and open up more room for Shipley,
3. Texas will pressure the quarterback.
Apparently, Will Muschamp has taken off the gloves. In year two under the feisty defensive coordinator all bets are off. Muschamp has his players flying around the ball and blitzing on every down. Gone is Brian Orakpo, but Sergio Kindle is now a defensive end/linebacker/freak of nature. Add an underrated Sam Acho, a seemingly healthy Eddie Jones and an emerging superstar in true freshman Alex Okafor and talent on the edge is not a problem.
Also, Texas has linebackers and secondary personnel to blitz. Emmanuel Acho, Keenan Robinson and Jared Norton have received rave reviews for the blitzing ability. And last year, we saw the ability of Earl Thomas and Aaron Williams coming off the edge.
4. The secondary has transformed from the biggest question mark in 2008 to the strength of the defense in 2009.
The combination of Thomas, Williams, Chykie Brown, Curtis Brown, Deon Beasley, Blake Gideon and Christian Scott is almost laughable. For the first time in the Mack Brown era, a defensive unit has a chance to be dominating. Sure, Texas has had dominate players, and even dominate units, but with Muschamp leading the way, the Longhorns may field their best defense sine the 1980’s.
Texas has all but abandoned the 4-3 as its base defense. Texas runs the nickel because of the offenses in the Big 12. Thomas’ ability in coverage allows Muschamp to bring in Scott to play safety when Thomas lines up against the slot. The depth at cornerback allows Muschamp to bring in Brown or Beasley to keep Thomas at safety if the defense needs more speed on the field.
Bottom line – this group is nasty, fast and experienced. Muschamp can do whatever he wants with the front seven, I mean six, because he knows he has a safety net in the back. Not good for the rest of the conference.
5. Texas will have the advantage on special teams in virtually every game.
I know, I know, it is just special teams and that isn’t as sexy of a topic as scoring touchdowns or creating snot bubbles. But the third aspect of football should not be overlooked. Where would the program have gone if Dusty Mangum misses the field goal against Michigan in the first Rose Bowl? Do we win a championship the next year? Who knows? Do we beat OU last year if Shipley doesn’t take a kick to the house?
Texas has two reliable field goal kickers, a two legged punter and return guys growing out of their ears. Add to that the most prolific punt block team in the last decade and opponents have no time to relax.
At least one game a year comes down to special teams play. In 2009, that is to Texas’ advantage.
Tell your family you love them and you’ll see them in January; Texas Longhorns football season is finally here. [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] and the rest of his Longhorn teammates took to the practice field early this morning to officially kickoff the 2009 season.
The team split into to two groups allowing the coaches more time with the younger players only in the afternoon. Coach [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] is a big fan of the split practices, “It was fun to watch the young guys live a dream of playing at Texas in their first practice tonight. I love the split practices. Everyone gets more reps and we’re only out there for an hour an 15 min. Got a great look at young ones tonight.” The team will do another split practice Monday before coming together as a full squad.
Check out photos and more links from the Horns’ first day of practice: