40 Acres Sports

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

Honestly, I am not all that surprised at this move, it is just unfortunate that it comes at a time where we have some uncertainty with the health of our quarterback.

Nothing is official yet, but Coach Mack Brown has confirmed that they are aware of [tag]Jevan Snead[/tag]’s plans, and will not make an official announcement until after the bowl game. What does this mean for his availability in the bowl game? No one knows, and Texas still hasn’t been picked for a bowl game.

Snead currently has yet to decide where he will continue his college career, though it is said he is looking at TCU, Houston, and Louisville. People I have talked to say TCU is currently at the top of the list.

If [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] cannot go for the bowl game, it gets pretty dicey on who will replace him. Do you throw away the red-shirt of [tag]Sherrod Harris[/tag]? Do you put 3rd stringer Matt McCoy into the mix? Or do you just play a full option offense and put receiver [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] at the helm? I don’t know the answer, but they all sure sound like scary choices.

Maybe we need to just make a quick phone call down to Florida and see if Brantley wants to get his career started early. Ha.

Source

First off, it was one of the hottest games that I have ever been to. The temperature was around 100 degrees and there was basically no breeze what-so-ever. As far as the game went, Texas obviously dominated a weaker [tag]North Texas[/tag] team, but I came away a little under-impressed with Texas’ performance. The offensive unit didn’t seem to have much of a spark, and there were really no plays that had any sort of wow factor. With that said, here is how I graded the performances:

Quarterback – Overall Grade: A-

[tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] started the game off quickly with a 60 yard touchdown pass to Limas Sweed on the third play of the game. Colt threw for two more touchdowns, added one on the ground, and threw for 178 yards. Overall I was impressed with Colt’s calmness on the field. He didn’t seem nervous at all and most of his throws were on the money (although a few of passes seemed to float on him a little). [tag] Jevan Snead[/tag] didn’t seem to be as relaxed as McCoy, but he still made some decent throws. And a few of his incompletions were definitely the receivers’ fault.

Running Backs – Overall Grade: A

There really should be an asterisk next to this grade, as the defense for North Texas was so weak it was hard to get a good feel for just how good the Texas’ backs were running. But with that said, the running backs looked good. [tag]Selvin Young[/tag] looks like a new man out there, showing off his regained speed. Young scored one touchdown on the ground and added another one receiving (did he embarrass that defender or what?). [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] ran for 77 yards and a score, but for some reason I was expecting a little more flash from him. I kept waiting for him to break one for a 50 yard gain. Colt actually had the longest running play of the day with a 27 yard scamper he almost broke for a touchdown.

Receivers – Overall Grade: C

I was pretty disappointed with the performance of the receivers, aside from [tag]Limas Sweed[/tag] that is. Sweed definitely did his part, going for a career best 111 yards and added 2 scores. Other than Sweed however, there were way too many dropped passes. Hardy dropped a couple I can remember and even Pittman dropped a pretty easy pass. Snead’s interception was also the result of a pass that was tipped off of Jordan Shipley’s hands. I expect this was all just nerves, but I hope they all get over it because this can’t happen against Ohio State.

(more …)

List includes Jevan Snead and Sergio Kindle.

I’ll update this post from time to time today with any news on National Signing Day including who has sent in their letter of intent and any other rumors going around. Most of the guys should be signed by around noon and then we’ll just be waiting around for Jonas Mouton’s decision this evening.

Morgan shocks Aggies and Seminoles

4-star linebacker Michael Morgan was expected to choose between Florida State and Texas A&M last night and surprised everyone when he announced he’d be headed to USC next fall. While the Trojans were in his final three, most experts believed he was headed to FSU or possibly to the Aggies if he decided he wanted to stay closer to home.

The announcement sent the Aggie fans into meltdown mode. He was a critical recruit and one they had been very confident about landing for a while. The Aggies had a down year on the field this season and it’s been reflected in their lack of success in recruiting, Morgan would have been a very nice addition to an otherwise average class.

Latest on Mouton

Seems like most experts are predicting Jonas Mouton will pick Michigan tonight when he announces his decision on Fox Sports West. There’s still people predicting Texas or USC and Mouton has kept things pretty close to the vest, so these are all just guesses and gut feelings. I think in the end Texas just got in too late to have a chance to completely win him over.

Signed letters of intent as of 9 a.m.

According to Geoff Ketchum over at Orangebloods.com, 19 players have already signed their letter of intent to play for the Horns as of about 9 a.m. The following players have been confirmed by the Orangebloods staff:

• [tag]Ben Alexander[/tag]
• [tag]Chykie Brown[/tag]
• [tag]Buck Burnette[/tag]
• [tag]Antwan Cobb[/tag]
• [tag]Dustin Earnest[/tag]
• [tag]Brian Ellis[/tag]
• [tag]Sherrod Harris[/tag]
• [tag]Robert Joseph[/tag]
• [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag]
• [tag]Hunter Lawrence[/tag]
• [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag]
• [tag]Steven Moore[/tag]
• [tag]Jared Norton[/tag]
• [tag]Phillip Payne[/tag]
• [tag]Jevan Snead[/tag]
• [tag]Greg Smith[/tag]
• [tag]Roy Watts[/tag]
• [tag]JMarcus Webb[/tag]
• [tag]Montre Webber[/tag]

Steve Moore was the first one in this morning at around 7:30 and there’s been a steady flow since. I’m glad to see Ben Alexander‘s name already on the list as I had a slightly bad feeling about him. He’s out of state and several schools from the ACC and SEC have still been recruiting him since he committed back in June.

All letters of intent are in (11 a.m.)

The last six of the 25 man class are signed and Orangebloods has confirmation on them. Add the following names to the Class of 2006:

• [tag]Deon Beasley[/tag]
• [tag]James Henry[/tag]
• [tag]Lamarr Houston[/tag]
• [tag]Eddie Jones[/tag]
• [tag]Josh Marshall[/tag]
• [tag]Britt Mitchell[/tag]

Now just waiting on Mouton…

Mouton to Michigan (4 p.m.)

His press conference isn’t for several more hours but it appears Jonas Mouton has already made his decision. Lloyd Carr’s official press release on the Wolverines’ signees confirms that Mouton has signed his letter of intent and makes tonight’s press conference just a formality.

That wraps up things for the Longhorns today as everybody we knew about is already in and no one new is really left out there. We’ll have an overview of the entire class soon as well as a position-by-position breakdown of next year including the new guys in the coming days/weeks.

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Vince Young has scheduled a press conference for 3pm today and will announce he is headed for the NFL. Young will reportedly sign with Steve McNair’s agent Bus Cook.

Obviously disappointing news for Longhorn fans but probably the best decision for Vince. His stock is about as high as anyone’s could get right now and he’s probably got a chance for some endorsements coming off his legendary Rose Bowl performance. Also, the hometown Houston Texans are drafting number one overall and his mentor McNair’s Tennessee Titans are sitting at number three. I think things are setting up for him to head to the Titans and spend a year or two learning under McNair (who is unsigned but looks close to completing a deal) while he finishes up his career.

Young’s departure would leave the Horns unbelievably thin and inexperienced at the quarterback position for next season. Redshirt freshman Colt McCoy would be the only scholarship QB on campus right now and he’s never taken a snap. Fortunately, blue chip recruit Jevan Snead will also be on campus this Spring and will have a chance to go through practices with the team. Snead performed very well in yesterday’s US Army All-American Bowl and will compete for the starting job. We’ll have a complete look at the Longhorn depth chart for 2006 sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Again, tough news if true but we wish him the best and will immediately become fans of whatever team he ends up with.

Update

It’s official, good luck Vince.

Update 2

Just to clear something up, I didn’t mention Sherrod Harris, the other QB recruit coming in, because unlike Snead he won’t be here in the Spring and I think that puts him well behind McCoy and Snead. He definitely has the skills and smarts to make an impact at Texas but he’s more of a project and might not be able to compete for the position immediately.