Posted October 1st, 2008 by Mike
Filed under: Feature, Football

The Longhorns get conference play started this week with a road game against the Colorado Buffaloes. Texas has been on a roll, while CU enters the game after suffering their first loss of the season last week in [tag]Florida State[/tag]. Last year, Colorado shocked [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] in Boulder the week before the UT-OU showdown so Texas will have to show up to play and not look ahead to Dallas if they want to leave undefeated.

When Texas has the ball

Quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] has played as good as any other quarterback in the country. McCoy has played as good as any player in the country. Period. The guy has done everything for the Longhorns: he runs, he passes, he pooch punts, if he cleaned the locker room and prepared the food would you be shocked? Me neither. A great quarterback gives a football team a chance to win every game. McCoy is a great quarterback, and shows no signs of slowing down in the first test Texas faces this season. The offensive line has been above average. While the pass coverage has been outstanding, this group must take some of the blame for a lack of production from the backs. Colorado has given up a ton of yards in back to back games to [tag]West Virginia[/tag] and Florida State. A good day would be great for confidence heading into OU week.

The Colorado defense is simple, but good. They don’t blitz a lot, they don’t disguise coverage, they play mostly zone. Expect Texas to pass, and do it often with McCoy getting pre-snap reads on virtually every play. Texas is hopeful running back [tag]Foswhitt Whittaker[/tag] will be back this weekend. Couple the darting style of Whittaker with the emergent bruising style of [tag]Cody Johnson[/tag] and the struggling Longhorn backfield could become one of the better tandems in the nation. Take into account that both of them are freshman and it should ease the anxiety of a Longhorn fan base that is used to stars toting the rock.

The biggest concern for Texas fans should be the inability of [tag]Malcolm Williams[/tag], and to a lesser extent [tag]Dan Buckner[/tag], to become a deep threat that opposing coaches must worry about. I can not remember one deep ball thrown to either of these guys when the ball wasn’t near the goal line. [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] and [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] have been very good, but with the loss of [tag]Blaine Irby[/tag] a threat down the field needs to replace the threat in the middle to allow space for Cosby and Shipley. If the offense can’t find one, the room Shipley and Cosby have been enjoying will dry up quickly.

When Colorado has the ball

Last week we finally got to see what [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] is going to do with the Texas defense. Attack, attack, attack. The Longhorn defense was flying to the ball, and when they got their they made sure Arkansas ball carriers remembered it. Never under [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] has a defense been as fast and aggressive as the defense was this week. When the knowledge and experience that only comes with game snaps catches up with the raw talent and energy of this defense this group is going to remind a lot of people of the old Miami and Florida State defenses UT fans used to beg for. Mack Brown’s best coaching move may be hiring Will Muschamp when it is all said and done.

On offense Colorado is just a solid football team. They don’t do a lot of things great, but they don’t hurt themselves. These are the types of teams that can jump up and bite a better team. If Texas makes mistakes and lets Colorado hang around, the home crowd could put them over the top. However, these types of teams can also be overwhelmed if the better team applies pressure from the beginning. The best way to silence a crowd is to make big plays with your defense.

UT has already scored twice this year on the defensive side of the ball. Texas is ranked in the top 10 in scoring defense, and has been applying a ton of pressure the last two games. The combination of [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] and [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag] has to keep opposing quarterbacks awake at night. With those two coming off the edge, it has almost been a guarantee someone is getting to the quarterback. Add [tag]Lamarr Houston[/tag], [tag]Henry Melton[/tag], [tag]Sam Acho[/tag], and [tag]Eddie Jones[/tag], and you can see how Texas has recorded seven sacks in each of the last two games.

Muschamp biggest contribution could be the job he is doing as the linebackers coach. Last year this same group of players looked lost in many situations. The scheme seemed to have them playing on their hills, a skill the collective group lacks. The scheme brought in by Muschamp has the linebacker’s core playing downhill and loving it. And while the group of [tag]Rashad Bobino[/tag], [tag]Roddrick Muckelroy[/tag], Sergio Kindle, and [tag]Jared Norton[/tag] have been great; the next great linebacker at Texas may have had his coming out party against Arkansas in the second half. His name is [tag]Keenan Robinson[/tag]. The freshman was everywhere, and just appeared to be playing at a different speed. Muschamp loves speed. I don’t know whose snaps will be taken away, but Robinson is going to play more and more.

The secondary is coming together, and it has all hinged on the play of safety [tag]Earl Thomas[/tag]. The secondary is what it is, but if Thomas can play with his swagger, and the front seven keeps applying pressure they have a chance to improve greatly. The best friend to a secondary is a pass rush, and I expect Texas to blitz a lot from here on out. The young secondary will get beat a few times, but so far they have gotten better each week. Muschamp will make sure that continues.

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Posted September 20th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football, Live

Follow along below with our live thoughts and analysis during tonight’s game versus [tag]Rice[/tag]. 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.

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Posted September 7th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football

Quan Cosby had a career night vs. UTEP

Quan Cosby had a career night

The Texas Longhorns have moved to 2-0 on the season with a win Saturday night over the UTEP Miners. A little closer than most expected in the first half but they eventually pulled away late in the third quarter. Overall it was a good, but not great performance by the Horns.

As Texas fans we’re spoiled and were expecting more out of the offense in the second half and a better showing from the defense. Despite the final score the game didn’t go as many predicted, and the team didn’t seem nearly as sharp as in the opening week. It is important to remember that at this time last year Texas had squeaked by Arkansas State and needed a second half comeback to beat TCU.

The team is definitely not playing its best football, the young secondary and the offensive line are only going to get better with each game. However, to win two games by large margins while so many youngsters learn on the job has to be encouraging for later in the season and certainly 2009.

Read on for some additional quick thoughts on the game:

Good

  • [tag]Jared Norton[/tag] got the start. [tag]Rashad Bobino[/tag] got plenty of playing time but the fact that Norton started ahead of the senior linebacker is a sign that playing time is based on performance and not seniority.
  • Quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] was incredibly sharp again in the first half. He completed 14 of 16 passes in the first half for 187 yards and three TDs. He finished the game with 282 yards and 4 TDs. He seems to always be on the same page with his top wide receivers, [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] and [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag].
  • Speaking of Cosby, he played his best game as a Horn against the Miners. In addition to his 8 catches for 154 yards he also made a huge play by returning a UTEP missed field goal for a momentum-changing 74 yards.
  • Tight end [tag]Blaine Irby[/tag] made another appearance in the offensive gameplan. After the loss of Jermichael Finley to the NFL there was expected to be a big drop off in performance at the position but Irby has been great so far. He only had one catch but it was a nice 23-yard touchdown grab.
  • Welcome [tag]Fozzy Whittaker[/tag]. It might take a few more weeks, but it looks like we may have found our next starting running back.
  • [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] coaches angry. The defense has been far from perfect, but the effort and attitude is definitely there and that can be directly credited to Muschamp. The team hasn’t allowed a second half point yet this season.

Bad

  • [tag]Earl Thomas[/tag] needs to step it up at safety. The talent is there but he needs to improve with every game.
  • The offensive and defensive lines did not look like they were overpowering UTEP’s inferior players until the Texas depth started to wear on them. Texas should be capable of dominating the trenches from the opening snap against a team like UTEP or they could struggle against Big 12 opponents.
  • [tag]Greg Davis[/tag] showed no interest in getting the running game going. Whittaker was ripping off big chunks of yardage every time he carried the ball but despite that there wasn’t much effort to get him the football. There were only 18-20 rushing attempts before garbage time.
  • Colt McCoy was far from sharp for most of the third quarter. It may have just stood out after three nearly perfect quarters of QB play but he missed several open receivers and threw a couple of ducks into the dirt as well. His tendency to abandon the pocket too quickly also reared its head a couple of times in the second half.
  • Where is [tag]John Chiles[/tag]? He hasn’t gotten a ton of plays and when he’s in there as part of the “Q package” he appears to largely be being used as a decoy. He had no catches and only two carries for five yards. Even worse, when he got in there to replace McCoy in the fourth quarter it was purely to hand off the football and he didn’t look too excited about that.
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Posted September 6th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football, Live

Follow along below with our live thoughts and analysis during tonight’s game versus [tag]UTEP[/tag]. 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!

Update: Game is over, use the viewer below to read through the entire game or view a plain HTML version here.

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.

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Posted August 27th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football

Position Rating: C+
Starters: Rashad Bobino, Roddrick Muckelroy, Sergio Kindle
Reserves: Jared Norton, Keenan Robinson, Emmanuel Acho

Jared Norton and Roddrick MuckelroyLinebacker has been a position of much consternation for the Longhorns since Derrick Johnson left the 40 Acres. A good way to ruin a perfectly good time last season was to bring up linebacker play around a bunch of Texas fans. This year might be different as there are guys all over the depth chart that have fans excited.

Probably the player the Texas fanbase is most excited about is starting strongside linebacker [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag]. Fans have been awaiting his arrival since the moment he committed to the Horns back in 2005. Injuries have slowed down his career so far but now as a junior he may be ready to explode on the scene. Backing him up is [tag]Keenan Robinson[/tag], a redshirt freshman who coaches are incredibly high on.

At middle linebacker [tag]Rashad Bobino[/tag] is entering his fourth year starting for the Horns. Bobino isn’t the biggest or most athletic guy but he’s smart and plays well in space. Despite Bobino’s experience he’s being pushed hard by his backup, sophomore [tag]Jared Norton[/tag]. Officially listed as a co-starter, Norton is the prototypical middle linebacker who had to lighten up to be able to run with the many spread offenses in the Big 12. Norton will knock your block off and may play more than Bobino against certain teams and in certain situations.

Starting on the weakside is [tag]Roddrick Muckelroy[/tag]. Muckelroy was a starter back in his redshirt freshman season and has finally earned his spot back late last season in the Holiday Bowl. He moves well but also isn’t afraid to knock your lights out. His athletic potential had Texas fans screaming that he should be in there all last season. Behind Muckelroy is true freshman [tag]Emmanuel Acho[/tag]. Some questioned his recruitment but Sam’s little bro definitely is making the jump from TAPPS to the big leagues look easy.

If I was grading purely on potential this group would be much higher. Bobino is the only player we truly know what he’s capable of, but the talent is most definitely there and if Muck and Kindle come on like they should this unit could actually be a team strength by midseason. This has been a position of weakness for years and a big improvement here would solidify the Horns against both the run and the pass.

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Posted August 26th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Depth Chart, Football

Football season is so close you can smell it. Less than a week from now the Longhorns will finally take the field for the 2008 season against FAU and today [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] and Co. released the first official depth chart of the year. We wouldn’t be true Texas fans if the first thing we did wasn’t overanalyze and complain about it, so of course we’ve done that below:

General Thoughts
  • Lots of OR‘s all over the place like every year. Harder to complain this year because there’s a ton of youngsters on at least one side of the conjunctions.
  • Looks like there will also be a lot of situational players as well. There are several places where players (e.g., [tag]Aaron Lewis[/tag]) are listed as co-starters with very different complementary players.
  • Lots of youth in general, including several true freshmen. There may be some games this year where you’re yelling at the television set because of the mistakes but 2008 and 2009 should be exciting.
Offense
  • No [tag]Malcolm Williams[/tag] anywhere at wide receiver. Not in the top 3 at either flanker or split end. True freshman [tag]Dan Buckner[/tag] right behind [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] is encouraging but overall no Williams seems like bigger story. Let’s hope the light comes on.
  • Former tackle [tag]Greg Smith[/tag] has been back at the position for less than two weeks but he’s already listed ahead of [tag]Peter Ullman[/tag] as the blocking tight end.
  • [tag]Michael Huey[/tag] vs. [tag]Cedric Dockery[/tag] vs. [tag]Charlie Tanner[/tag] at guard. Everyone has been raving about Huey throughout fall camp but most believed he’d be cutting into Tanner’s reps not Dockery’s. The general opinion (and we all know that’s never wrong) is that Dockery is the better of the returning guards but Huey is listed behind him. Is there a strategic reason the coaches believe Huey should stay at right guard?
  • The 12 names and 5 OR‘s confuse me at running back. What exactly is going on there?

(more …)

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Posted June 25th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football

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:

Real Name Name Year Position Rating
[tag]Buck Burnette[/tag] C #66 Soph(RS) C 78
C #60 Fresh C 72
 
[tag]Deon Beasley[/tag] CB #7 Junior CB 85
[tag]Ryan Palmer[/tag] CB #13 Senior(RS) CB 84
[tag]Curtis Brown[/tag] CB #3 Soph CB 83
[tag]Aaron Williams[/tag] CB #26 Fresh CB 80
[tag]Chykie Brown[/tag] CB #8 Soph(RS) CB 80
[tag]Earl Thomas[/tag] CB #12 Fresh(RS) CB 78
[tag]DJ Monroe[/tag] CB #27 Fresh CB 76
 
[tag]Roy Miller[/tag] DT #99 Senior DT 90
[tag]Jarvis Humphrey[/tag] DT #96 Fresh DT 80
[tag]Brian Ellis[/tag] DT #90 Soph(RS) DT 78
[tag]Ben Alexander[/tag] DT #92 Junior DT 76
[tag]Kheeston Randall[/tag] DT #88 Fresh DT 76
 
[tag]Chris Ogbonnayya[/tag] FB #3 Senior(RS) FB 93
[tag]Cody Johnson[/tag] FB #31 Fresh(RS) FB 72
 
[tag]Ben Wells[/tag] FS #5 Fresh(RS) FS 84
[tag]Christian Scott[/tag] FS #6 Fresh(RS) FS 77
[tag]Blake Gideon[/tag] FS #21 Fresh FS 77
 
[tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] HB #2 Soph(RS) HB 85
[tag]DeSean Hales[/tag] HB #30 Fresh HB 80
[tag]Antwan Cobb[/tag] HB #24 Soph(RS) HB 79
[tag]Fozzy Whittaker[/tag] HB #22 Fresh(RS) HB 78
[tag]Jeremy Hills[/tag] HB #32 Fresh HB 76
[tag]Tre Newton[/tag] HB #23 Fresh HB 73
 
[tag]Hunter Lawrence[/tag] K #15 Junior K 82
[tag]Justin Tucker[/tag] K #9 Fresh K 69
 
[tag]Lamarr Houston[/tag] LE #33 Junior LE 91
[tag]Aaron Lewis[/tag] LE #95 Senior LE 85
[tag]Henry Melton[/tag] LE #37 Senior LE 80
 
[tag]Charlie Tanner[/tag] LG #52 Junior(RS) LG 86
[tag]Tray Allen[/tag] LG #70 Soph LG 82
[tag]Chris Hall[/tag] LG #71 Junior(RS) LG 81
[tag]Aundre McGaskey[/tag] LG #76 Fresh(RS) LG 74
 
[tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag] LOLB #2 Junior LOLB 85
LOLB #16 Fresh LOLB 80
LOLB #57 Fresh LOLB 76
 
[tag]David Snow[/tag] LT #78 Fresh LT 78
[tag]Britt Mitchell[/tag] LT #72 Soph(RS) LT 78
 
[tag]Rashad Bobino[/tag] MLB #44 Senior(RS) MLB 90
[tag]Jared Norton[/tag] MLB #11 Junior MLB 85
 
[tag]Trevor Gerland[/tag] P #17 Junior(RS) P 83
 
[tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] QB #12 Junior(RS) QB 89
[tag]Sherrod Harris[/tag] QB #17 Soph(RS) QB 81
[tag]John Chiles[/tag] QB #7 Soph QB 79
 
[tag]Eddie Jones[/tag] RE #32 Soph(RS) RE 92
[tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] RE #98 Senior(RS) RE 90
[tag]Russell Carter[/tag] RE #97 Fresh(RS) RE 77
 
[tag]Cedric Dockery[/tag] RG #55 Senior(RS) RG 89
[tag]Michael Huey[/tag] RG #63 Soph RG 81
 
[tag]Roddrick Muckelroy[/tag] ROLB #38 Junior(RS) ROLB 87
[tag]Keenan Robinson[/tag] ROLB #53 Fresh(RS) ROLB 82
ROLB #4 Fresh ROLB 75
 
[tag]Adam Ulatoski[/tag] RT #74 Junior(RS) RT 85
[tag]Mark Buchanan[/tag] RT #54 Fresh RT 74
 
[tag]Ishie Oduegwu[/tag] SS #19 Junior(RS) SS 88
[tag]Nolan Brewster[/tag] SS #36 Fresh SS 79
 
[tag]Peter Ullman[/tag] TE #86 Senior(RS) TE 81
[tag]Ahmard Howard[/tag] TE #13 Fresh(RS) TE 74
[tag]Blaine Irby[/tag] TE #19 Soph TE 73
 
[tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] WR #6 Senior WR 89
[tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] WR #8 Senior(RS) WR 84
[tag]Montre Webber[/tag] WR #14 Soph(RS) WR 83
[tag]Dan Buckner[/tag] WR #4 Fresh WR 79
[tag]Malcolm Williams[/tag] WR #9 Fresh(RS) WR 78
[tag]DJ Grant[/tag] WR #80 Fresh WR 75
[tag]Antoine Hicks[/tag] WR #81 Fresh WR 75
[tag]James Kirkendoll[/tag] WR #87 Soph WR 74
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Posted December 27th, 2007 by Brian
Filed under: Bowls, Football, Live

I’ll be posting periodic updates, comments, and vulgarity as the game goes on. It’s kickoff time and I’m as fired up as I’ve been since early on in the season. Let’s see how the Horns respond to a little adversity.

First Quarter
  • 2 seconds in to the game and it’s clear Brent Musberger didn’t do any preparation. Brutally mispronounces [tag]Chris Ogbonnaya[/tag]’s name and then calls [tag]Lamarr Houston[/tag] the name of some random walk on. Houston takes the very short pooch kick off and the Horns start the game off with the ball out at the 50.
  • Looked like a bad read by [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] on the zone read. Picks up close to 10 yards though and the Horns have a 3rd and 3. Big play as the team really needs to get going early.
  • 3rd and short run that the line did a terrible job blocking on but [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] breaks it for a 15 yard game.
  • [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] is right. Charles was hit out of bounds down low and that should have been a penalty.
  • Bad awareness by [tag]Nate Jones[/tag]. He was wide open but let himself drift out of the back of the end zone. Announcers have good comment though about how the design of the end zone in the stadium could be confusing.
  • [tag]Greg Davis[/tag] is a gosh damn genius!!!!!!! WoooOoo! Touchdown [tag]Derek Lokey[/tag] for the touchdown!!! That a boy! Bill Belichick would be proud.
Arizona State 0, Texas 7
  • The team really looks fired up. Let’s hope that results in some inspired play, and no let down once that energy wears off.
  • [tag]Jared Norton[/tag], [tag]Roddrick Muckelroy[/tag], and [tag]Scott Derry[/tag] are the starters at linebacker. That might shut some Internet coaches up (for a few minutes.)
  • And Norton is already hurt. Damnit.
  • Defensive package on 3rd and long includes only 3 down lineman, [tag]Drew Kelson[/tag] and [tag]Deon Beasley[/tag] in there as extra pass defenders. Nice new look.
  • Designed QB draw play. I don’t mind McCoy scrambling (in fact he’s been darn good at it this season) but not sure we should be calling too many first quarter QB runs in the huddle.
  • As Musberger talks about [tag]Chris Hall[/tag] I just noticed that freshman [tag]Kyle Hix[/tag] is getting the start at right tackle and they’ve moved [tag]Adam Ulatoski[/tag] to the left side.
  • [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] on the reverse pass. Not really anybody open and Cosby does the smart thing and just throws it away. Or maybe it twas just a terrible throw. The play wasn’t blocked well and the receivers were all covered as well.
  • [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag] in there on this series. Norton back in there as well.
  • Fumble! Maybe. They called it a fumble on the field at least as corner [tag]Brandon Foster[/tag] appears to rip the ball out as the ASU running back falls to the ground. Looks like he had it out before his knee was down and doesn’t look like there’s 100% evidence of the contrary. Replay confirms, Texas ball!
  • Hot damn! Hey there [tag]John Chiles[/tag], I vaguely remember you buddy. The young dual threat QB is in there and on the first play Charles takes the zone read hand off close to 50 yards. On the very Next play Chiles keeps it on the same play off the left end for the touchdown! (Psst… where has this been all year?)
Arizona State 0, Texas 14

  • In case you hadn’t noticed, yes I’m about 5 minutes behind live on the DVR. I’ll be caught up after one or two commercial breaks.
  • Wonder what the wind situation is like. [tag]Hunter Lawrence[/tag]’s kickoffs have all been pretty short.
  • Has Roger Clemens hired investigator to “discredit Brian McNamee” or two prove that he didn’t take steroids? Those are two very different things.
  • Not only did senior [tag]Robert Killebrew[/tag] not get the start at linebacker but I haven’t seen him in on defense at all yet tonight. Two series in a row where it’s nothing but the young guys and Derry is off the field as well.
  • [tag]Erick Jackson[/tag] got really burned on a deep pass but gets back just in time because of the underthrown ball (and maybe a little early) and the ball is tipped up and safety [tag]Marcus Griffin[/tag] has the ball come right to him for the interception.
  • I like the fair catch trash talk by the ASU punt returner. “Did you see the way I waved my arm and caught the ball. You can’t handle this!”
  • Killebrew, Derry, and [tag]Rashad Bobino[/tag] in there for this series.
  • Can Musberger get anyone’s name right? It’s Dick Tomey, not Toomey. Dufus.
  • Finally. McCoy scrambles and throws deep on the run and get its to his open receiver Cosby for a huge 55 yard gain. That a boy Colt.
  • And Charles runs tough and right through the Sun Devils’ defense for the 15-yard TD run. Heck of a run and refusal to get tackled by one guy. The Horns are now up 3 scores and it’s still the first quarter. Come on guys keep this up, don’t let an ASU score or anything swing this momentum.
Arizona State 0, Texas 21
  • Veteran linebackers in for second series in a row. [tag]Henry Melton[/tag] getting some early playing time at defensive end.
  • Bobino shaken up. Now both middle linebackers have needed to be helped up by the medical staff but both were able to walk off on their own power.
  • We’re bring multiple linebackers on every play and if we don’t start getting to Carpenter a step quicker we could be in trouble.

(more …)

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Posted December 9th, 2007 by Brian
Filed under: Football

Greg Davis, Colt McCoy, Jamaal Charles, and Ken RuckerThe Texas Longhorns held their annual football banquet Friday night (photos) where they honored team members for their accomplishments on and off the field. Though fans and recruits do attend, the event is definitely a night for the players to look back on the season and to honor the careers of the outgoing seniors.

Quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] and running back [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] were deservedly named the team MVPs. McCoy didn’t have as good of a season as he did his freshman year but he definitely is the player that made this team go (when it went anywhere). Charles was also named Darrell K. Royal Most Valuable Offensive Player while the Mike Campbell Most Valuable Defensive Players were [tag]Brandon Foster[/tag] and [tag]Marcus Griffin[/tag].

In a team vote [tag]Dallas Griffin[/tag], [tag]Tony Hills[/tag], and [tag]Derek Lokey[/tag] were honored with the D. Harold Byrd Leadership Award. Also, in a shocking development quarterback McCoy was given the Outstanding Quarterback Award.

In a move that infuriated Internet Coaching and Motivational Experts [tag]Rashad Bobino[/tag], [tag]Scott Derry[/tag], and [tag]Robert Killebrew[/tag] shared the honor of being the team’s Outstanding Linebackers. I’m not sure what else you can really do though as no linebacker really deserved the honor and it would be pretty embarrassing to not hand out an award for the position.

A list of all the award winners is after the jump.

(more …)

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Posted October 20th, 2007 by Brian
Filed under: Football, Live

Nothing gets me more fired up than watching Ducks Unlimited TV before a big Longhorn game. Do you think Versus would show a show about hunting and killing ducks if Oregon was playing instead of Texas and [tag]Baylor[/tag]? That might be a little awkward.

If you’re not one of the many Texas fans who made the trip to Waco you’ll have to surf through about 1,000 channels before you’ll find Versus and you’re probably only getting it if you have satellite or digital cable. Versus is on channel 603 on DirecTV, channel 151 on Dish Network, and on 470 if you’ve got Time Warner digital cable in Austin.

Here we go…

First Quarter
  • I like the straight zone run play with [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] than the zone read or the counter. Gives Jamaal a chance to hit the hole fast and get going north/south quicker.
  • I like that a professional football announcer doesn’t know the difference between the zone read and a counter. Not even run out of the shotgun is a zone read.
  • Three attempts towards [tag]Jermichael Finley[/tag] already. One good completion, one ball he should have caught, and one that he and [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] had a miscommunication on.
  • And another pass towards Finley. Texas attempts a fake field goal after he goes out wide and uncovered but [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] can’t get the play off quickly enough and then can’t get the ball out to him before the defense adjusted. Versus missed the whole play because we were zoomed in on kicker Ryan Bailey’s helmet.
  • [tag]Erick Jackson[/tag] has been serviceable at safety this season but he is absolutely awful at adjusting to the ball in the air. He was there in coverage on a terrible Baylor pass but couldn’t make a play on the ball. Looked similar to the unnecessary pass interference penalty he picked up last week.
  • Baylor offensive lineman Dan Gay IV commits a holding penalty. How unfortunate is that last name? Especially with the IV after it. You can essentially put any noun after that and hilarity will ensue.
  • I’m surprised how empty Floyd Casey Stadium is. Enough Texas fans normally make that trip to fill up the place a little better.
  • Second time already that I thought the Baylor defensive back got there early on pass coverage. [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] doesn’t drop many passes, it looked like he got bumped early.
  • Great punt but Jackson can’t down it before it bounces into the end zone. The only good thing to come out of the Kansas State game is punter Justin Moore.
  • Versus really likes to use the camera angle from the roof of the press box. The damn thing is so high i can’t tell anybody’s number.
  • [tag]John Chiles[/tag] and the second team offense is in there for this series. I actually like the timing of this one better than last week. The first team offense didn’t have much momentum so it’s not really going to disrupt them.
  • Chiles has to be more careful with the football. First downs are important but not as important as holding onto the football. Don’t stretch the ball out in traffic on your own 40 yard line.
  • Smithson Valley sucks!
  • Big run by [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] up the middle. 18 yards on the carry is probably the second teamers biggest gain against first team defenses. I think as Chiles gains more experience running the zone read the whole offense opens up. Right now he looks a little like he’s keeping and handing off randomly and not doing a great job reading the defensive end. That’s a tough read and you can only really learn in live game situations.
  • Set your feet before you throw John.
  • [tag]Ryan Bailey[/tag] nails the 46-yard field goal into the wind. Right down the middle.
Texas 3, Baylor 0
  • How sad is Baylor that the announcers are talking about their defense getting a victory by holding the second team defense to only a field goal?
  • Not sure if this is their first series or not, but the young group of linebackers are in there now for Texas.
  • What did they rule that play on the field? I thought I saw an official pointing that he was down before the fumble. Looks to me like the ball is coming loose a little before the Baylor running back hits the ground.
  • Not sure how they ruled he was down after reviewing that play. Looked pretty clear from one angle that the ball was loose before his butt hit the ground.

(more …)

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