Colt running for a first down
Man the Texas Longhorns sure seem to like the score 52-10, now beating 3 of the 4 teams they have played this season by that same exact margin. Let’s just hope we don’t see the other side of that score this year.
Again the Longhorns looked impressive against [tag]Arkansas[/tag] dominating the Razorbacks in every aspect of the game. Going into the game I was actually a little worried, but after seeing Casey Dick throw up floating lobs into the secondary, my fears were quickly dissipated.
My favorite stat of the game? Texas rushed for 208 yards on the ground while Arkansas managed only 11 yards. Talk about a butt-kicking.
Let’s see how each position fared in the game:
Quarterback – Overall Grade: A+
Another almost near perfect performance for [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] as he continues prove he can hurt you through the air as well as on the ground. Colt finished with only two incomplete passes going 17 of 19 for 185 yards and 3 touchdowns. Colt also added 84 yards on only 9 carriers and 2 touchdowns. I don’t really like to think about the Heisman so early in the season, but he is definitely making a case to at least be mentioned in the talks.
[tag]John Chiles[/tag] got plenty of action Saturday since the game was basically over in the first quarter. By now we all know that he can run, but I would like to start seeing him try to become more of a pass first style quarterback. Why not try to develop his passing skills during the game when we are up by 40?
Running Backs – Overall Grade: B
I wasn’t really all that impressed with that impressed with the Texas running game. [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] got the majority of the carries with [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] obviously still trying out the position, but he only managed to average 3.0 yards per carry with a long run of 9 yards. That kind of production against a weak team like Arkansas just doesn’t cut it. Luckily [tag]Cody Johnson[/tag] had a pretty decent game averaging 4.8 yards per carry and ended up with 1 touchdown. Right now it looks like Cody Johnson is the best back we have, and as long as he can keep is conditioning up we should be ok.
The one major blemish on the day for the running backs was when [tag]Jeremy Hills[/tag] showed absolutely no hustle late in the game on a John Chiles fumble, which ended up getting returned by Arkansas for their only touchdown of the game. You can’t totally blame that on Hills, but if you are seeing limited action you need to hustle on every play. I’m pretty sure [tag]Major Applewhite[/tag] had a few words for Hills on that one.
Wide Receivers – Overall Grade: B+
It’s really hard to give grades when you beat a team as easily as Texas did on Saturday. The receivers played pretty good all around, but everything seemed so easy it’s hard to say they were “great.” [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] looks like he is the new safety net for Colt now that we know [tag]Blaine Irby[/tag] is done for the season. They said it a few times on the telecast, but it really does look like Colt and Shipley are just out there relaxing and playing a game of catch in the backyard. Shipley ended up with 2 touchdowns and [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] added one more. The one nice thing about a blowout win is we get to see some young players get some action. Sophmores [tag]James Kirkendoll[/tag] and [tag]Brandon Collins[/tag] both look to be solid receivers.
Defense – Overall Grade: A
I believe this is the defense’s first A of the season and it is well deserved. The front seven had constant pressure on [tag]Casey Dick[/tag], and knocked him around so much that I actually almost started to feel bad for him. And for the first time this season I actually started to notice some of the secondary in a positive way. [tag]Earl Thomas[/tag] actually made some plays, and [tag]Blake Gideon[/tag]’s name was called for some other than getting beat. It looks like [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] might actually be getting through to these guys.
[tag]Aaron Williams[/tag] returned an interception 81 yards for a touchdown in the 4th quarter on an absolutely horrible pass by the Arkansas backup quarterback. The front seven added 7 sacks with [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] leading the way with 2 for 17 yards in losses. Hopefully we can keep this up.
Overall Grade: A
That was about as dominating a performance as you can have. [tag]Bobby Petrino[/tag] has to be a little embarrssed with the way he made his debut in this storied rivalry. Texas now gets to start Big 12 play against a [tag]Colorado[/tag] team who is looking for revenge after their 70-3 loss in the 2005 Big 12 Championship game.
Sam Acho hates quarterbacks
[tag]John Chiles[/tag]
The Texas staff stressed getting the best 11 players out on the field this year regardless of class or position. Chiles is clearly one of those players even if he is not the best quarterback on the team. Chiles offers the big play ability that UT severely needs for this offense to be as dynamic as it can be. Offensive coordinator [tag]Greg Davis[/tag] must find ways to get the former blue chip recruit involved, be it in the running game or in the passing game as a quarterback or as a receiver.
[tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag]
This could be McGee’s last week to show the coaches he is worthy of important carries in important games. So far the sophomore has done nothing to warrant a starting job and is not only getting pushed by injured [tag]Foswhitt Whittaker[/tag], but by bruiser [tag]Cody Johnson[/tag]. With Texas wanting big plays out of the running game, expect to see fewer and fewer carries for McGee unless he comes out and impresses this weekend against a SEC defense in Arkansas.
[tag]Peter Ullman[/tag]
Losing [tag]Blaine Irby[/tag] for the season is a huge blow for Texas’ offense. Irby allowed the Longhorn offense to lineup in four receiver sets without changing personnel. While Ullman will never scare opposing defenses in the passing game, he will be an upgrade in the running game and if he can add a few catches in the flats or in the shallow middle of the field Texas’ offense will continue to succeed. If the former Round Rock Dragon cannot offer any threat to opposing defenses UT may have to look at a different position for a player to contribute at the tight end position.
[tag]Sam Acho[/tag]
The coaches have been impressed with Acho since fall camp began. In reserve duty behind star [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] Acho has played well. If he continues to outplay [tag]Henry Melton[/tag] (who isn’t playing poorly) and backup [tag]Eddie Jones[/tag], the staff may have to look at getting Orakpo, [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag], and Acho on the field at the same time. Texas wants pressure on the quarterback, and through the first three games Acho has shown more ability to do that on a consistent basis than any other defensive lineman not named Brian Orakpo. If it continues some upperclassmen are going to find themselves standing next to [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] more than they’d like.
[tag]Chykie Brown[/tag]
It is no secret that the weak link on the defense; and the team for that matter is in the Texas secondary. Going into the season most onlookers expected [tag]Deon Beasley[/tag] to start next to [tag]Ryan Palmer[/tag], but through the first three games it has been sophomore Chykie Brown. Brown had his struggles tackling in the first game, with every other member of the secondary, but has made good strides in the last two ball games. Texas plays a lot of five defensive back sets with Beasley playing in the slot. Opposing defenses will continue to test Brown until he shows he can make plays. A good game heading into conference play will go a long way in building confidence for the ultra talented corner.
Colt runs over the Rice defenders
Now let’s see how each position fared:
Quarterback – Overall Grade: A+
Finally [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] gets that A+. Colt had all of his talents on display. He threw with great accuracy, controlled the game, and ran with speed and power. Colt threw for 329 yards on 19/23 passing and 4 touchdowns, and added 83 yards and a touchdown on the ground. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must see the highlight of Colt’s touchdown where he ran over two defenders before stepping into the end-zone. You don’t often see that from a quarterback. And if all of that wasn’t enough, Colt also became the new career touchdown pass leader with 62, breaking the previous mark of 60 set by Major Applewhite. All in days work for Colt.
Since the game was a blowout, [tag]John Chiles[/tag] got some decent action rushing for an impressive 72 yards on 10 carries, including a 25 yard run in the 4th quarter for a touchdown. Chiles was only called on to throw the ball once, which he completed for 12 yards.
Running Backs – Overall Grade: B+
[tag]Cody Johnson[/tag] seems to have emerged as the goto back for the Texas Longhorns. We all know Johnson has the power to run up the middle, but against Rice he also showed he has some serious speed on the outside. Johnson ended up with 67 yards on 15 carriers and 1 touchdown. [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] also got a few carriers, but turned out to be not all that effective. [tag]Chris Ogbonnaya[/tag] continues to impress catching passes out of the backfield, breaking one for a 46 yard touchdown in the 3rd quarter.
Receivers – Overall Grade: B+
[tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] had the best game of his career, racking up 155 yards on 5 catches and 2 touchdowns. On Shipley’s second touchdown of the second quarter, he was so wide open there wasn’t a defender within 15 yards. [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] was the consistent player he always is, catching 7 passes for 90 yards and a score, the only issue being the fumble near the end-zone which ended up as a touchback for Rice. Those types of mistakes can’t happen during Big 12 play. Losing Irby for the season is big, but hopefully Ullman and/or Smith can step-up continue to be a safety valve for Colt.
Defense – Overall Grade: B
Allowing 301 passing yards is obvious cause for worry with our young secondary. We still have a few games left before we hit the meat of our schedule, so hopefully that will be enough time for [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] to work his magic. Thankfully the Texas front seven is looking strong. They recorded seven sacks and dominated the line of scrimmage. [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag] ran around like a mad-man disrupting many a play, and [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] proved why he is one of the better defensive ends in the nation recording 2 sacks for 29 yards lost and 1 forced fumble. If the young secondary can improve by the beginning of October, Texas will have a very formidable defense.
The highlight of the day for the defense had to be the goal-line stand from the 2 yard line. Texas endured 11 plays and 2 pass interference calls, ending with a interception in the end-zone. Not often you see something like that.
Overall Grade: A-
Colt looks like he is on a mission and has this offense on a roll that cannot be stopped. The defense continues to look a little shaky, but luckily right now the greatness of the offense is outweighing the weakness of the defense. I actually feel pretty good right now about how things are progressing.
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!
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Comments now open.
Quan Cosby kneels after scoring a touchdown
Now let’s see how each position fared.
Quarterback – Overall Grade: A-
[tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] had another outstanding game, throwing for 282 yards and 4 touchdowns. Colt’s one interception came in the 3rd quarter when wide receiver Dan Buckner was not able to get off the line against the smaller cornerback. I can’t really blame Colt on that one. Colt spread the ball around well, completing passes to 7 different receivers. I really like the confidence Colt is playing with so far this year and it doesn’t look he will be slowing down anytime soon.
Backup quarterback [tag]John Chiles[/tag] did make a brief appearance in the game, but did not attempt any passes. He did run twice for a measly 5 yards. He was a total non-factor. [tag]Greg Davis[/tag] needs to get him more involved.
Running Backs – Overall Grade: B+
The highlight of the running back group is the emergence of a possible future star, [tag]Fozzy Whittaker[/tag]. Fozzy missed the first game with a knee injury but showed no signs of that against UTEP. Fozzy showed off his great lateral speed and ability to get around the corner in a hurry. He is the perfect compliment to the downhill slasher, [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag]. Fozzy ended up with 72 yards on 12 carries for an impressive 6.0 yards per rush average. Vondrell ended up with only 6 carriers and 18 yards. He better watch out, the way Fozzy ran Saturday, he better improve his production if he wants to see more action on the field.
Receivers – Overall Grade: A-
If you remember last week I was a little disappointed with [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag]’s performance. Well you can throw all of that away, because this week he had the game of his life against UTEP. Quan caught 8 passes for 154 yards, including one where he completely burned the cornerback for an easy touchdown. Tight end [tag]Blaine Irby[/tag] found the end zone again with a nice leaping touchdown up the middle in the second quarter. [tag]Dan Buckner[/tag] also scored a nice touchdown off of a Colt scramble, but his inability to get a push off of a much smaller corner ended up with Colt’s only interception. Dan has the size, he just needs to learn to be more physical around the goal line. [tag]Chris Ogbonnaya[/tag] continued to show he is always a threat coming out of the backfield and is definitely a nice luxury to have on 3rd downs.
Defense – Overall Grade: C+
So how do you give up only 13 points and still get a C+? By letting a team move the ball on you the whole game. Well ok, maybe not the whole game, but at times UTEP moved the ball down the field with ease. Texas allowed 3 drives over 65 yards, 4 field goal attempts, and 1 touchdown. The young secondary again looked average at best. [tag]Earl Thomas[/tag] is supposed to be the one all of the coaches were impressed with in practice. Well somehow he needs to figure out to translate his success in practice to the field.
The defensive played a decent game, but only started to dominate late in the game when they had finally worn out the UTEP offensive line. [tag]Brian Orakpo[/tag] did end up with 2 sacks, but with their size and speed they should have dominated the whole game. Linebacker [tag]Roddrick Muckelroy[/tag] had a ridiculous game, racking up 14 tackles and returning a fumble 26 yards for a touchdown. Overall the linebackers played pretty decent.
Special Teams – Overall Grade: B+
Quan Cosby had an impressive game at the wide receiver position, but he also made an outstanding play on special teams. Quan caught a missed field goal right on the edge of the endzone and alertly returned the ball all the way to the UTEP 35 yard line. Texas scored easily and basically put away the game right there. The kick-offs were much improved from last week, but that is probably due to the high altitude in El Paso. We’ll see how that goes next week.
Overall – Overall Grade: B+
I give Texas the same rating as last week. Not too great, not too bad. They definitely need to sure up some things in the secondary, but luckily there is some time for them to improve. And besides, right now Colt is on fire and the offense is rolling, so let’s save the worrying for a few more weeks.
Quan Cosby had a career night
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.
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!
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UTEP QB Trevor Vittatoe
Las Vegas has the Horns as 26.5 point favorites, but read on below to see how we see tonight’s game shaking out:
Matt – I think last week [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] proved to a lot of people that he is going to be a different player this year. He ran with purpose and threw with amazing accuracy. Colt and the Longhorns offense rolled over FAU and racked up 52 points pretty easily. They will probably score at least that much this week and it might be just as easy. UTEP’s defense is not what you would call impressive, and their offense isn’t much better. I will be interested in seeing how the young safeties respond this week after struggling a little in their first game. This one shouldn’t be close.
Texas 55 – UTEP 16
Brian – This looked like a tougher game before UTEP got blown out by Buffalo last week. The Miners might not be that bad and were simply been looking ahead to this week’s game, but the Longhorns should still crush them. I fear the late start means Texas comes out of the gate a little slowly but things should be rolling by the start of the second quarter. [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] and [tag]John Chiles[/tag] both have huge games tonight on the ground as the Horns gash them with their running game.
Texas 45 – UTEP 17
Colt McCoy looks to pass against FAU
Now let’s look at how each position fared.
Quarterback – Overall Grade: A
If there were any doubts about how [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] would perform this year, he quickly put the naysayers to bed by completing his first 13 passes and 19 out of his first 20. And if that wasn’t enough he tacked on 100 yards rushing, joining [tag]Vince Young[/tag] as only the second player in school history with 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in the same game. One of the best things about Colt’s running was he didn’t have that chicken-with-his-head-cutoff style he seemed to have perfected last year, but that he actually ran with a purpose. And luckily for us, he was even able to survive two very late cheap shots from the FAU linebackers on the sideline.
[tag]John Chiles[/tag] also got into the action as both QB and in the new “Q package” on offense. The Q package didn’t necessarily contribute to any big plays, but having Chiles out there with Colt at the same time definitely made the defense think a little extra. Hopefully will get to see this a little more throughout the season. Chiles also threw for his first touchdown, 29 yards down the middle to WR James Kirkendoll.
Running Backs – Overall Grade: B+
The running backs didn’t do anything to get me too excited, but [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag], [tag]Chris Ogbonnaya[/tag], and [tag]Cody Johnson[/tag] all had solid games. All three scored touchdowns, and Ogbonnaya even caught 4 passes for 35 yards and a touchdown.
I must say I am a big fan of McGee and I think he has a lot of potential to be a great running back this year. He showed that he isn’t afraid to run up the middle, and also has the speed on the outside. McGee finished with 63 yards and 1 touchdown. Even though they split a lot of time at the running back position, I expect to see a few 100 yard games out of McGee this season.
Receivers – Overall Grade: B
It’s easy to have a good game as a wide receiver when the quarterback is on fire. Tight end [tag]Blaine Irby[/tag] had a stand-out game catching 7 passes for 62 yards and a touchdown. Irby seemed to be Colt’s safety valve throughout the game. [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] put in a solid performance, including a nice touchdown catch in the back of the end zone. I do hope to see some more production out of [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] in the next game. Cosby never really seemed to be a factor, and dropped a catchable ball from McCoy after a nice scramble.
Defense – Overall Grade: B-
It’s hard to give the defense a B- when they only allowed 10 points, but the secondary looked somewhat shaky throughout the game. Our young safeties struggled as expected, as redshirt freshman [tag]Earl Thomas[/tag] got beat on several big plays. At least he helped to make up for it with a blocked punt. The front seven was actually pretty strong. Even though the defense did not record a sack, they were constantly putting pressure on FAU QB Rusty Smith and forcing him to make some hurried decisions. Muschamp definitely has some work to do with this defense, but one good sign is it looks like they responded well after giving up to early red zone drives.
Special Teams – Overall Grade: B-
Starting the game off by kicking it out-of-bounds is not something I wanted to see. I am not sure why we always struggle with the kick-off, but it is something they eventually need to correct. Quan Cosby was returning some punts, which is pretty scary considering he is one of our main receivers. Not sure we can handle an injury to Cosby at this point. Earl Thomas’ blocked punt was nice, and I think having Akina back focused on special teams will be a good thing this year.
Overall – Overall Grade: B+
Like I said, overall I was pretty impressed with the performance. The offense executed well and Colt looks like he is back on track. There are still some things we need to sure up on defense, but they are young and have a lot of potential to be very good.
[tag]Florida Atlantic[/tag] isn’t a national power but they’re not the typical Texas first game opponent either. Sun Belt champs and a bowl winner last year under coach Howard Schnellenberger, FAU is certainly capable of giving the Horns a scare if they don’t bother showing up.
The last thing Texas coaches and fans want is a repeat of the Arkansas State game a year ago. Here’s three things the Longhorns need to do to make sure the big upset doesn’t happen:
1. How will the young safeties react under fire?
The five safeties listed as co-starters for the Horns are all freshmen and two of them have been in class less than a week. Meanwhile FAU quarterback Rusty Smith led the Owls to a bowl game last year with his strong play in the latter part of the season including a 336 yard, 5 touchdown performance against Memphis in their bowl game. If the safeties (and the entire secondary) can limit mental mistakes and the resulting big plays the Longhorns should be able to stave off the upset.
2. Use John Chiles and the Q Package.
We saw [tag]Greg Davis[/tag] use [tag]John Chiles[/tag] in a few unique situations last season but mostly as a decoy or a traditional quarterback. The full “Q Package” installed this offseason reportedly has Chiles all over the field including quarterback, receiver, and running back. It’s important for the success of the offense to have someone step up as a big play guy and if Chiles is that guy it needs to start early. Hopefully not only will Chiles line up in multiple spots but we’ll get to see him throw, catch, and run a little from all over the field.
3. Get the running game started early.
Last year with Jamaal Charles the Texas offense still waited till late October before getting a consistent running game going, if they want to have a chance at a Big 12 South title this year they’ll have to get rolling a lot sooner than that. It’s going to be a running back by committee approach this year with sophomore [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] leading the way. Against FAU Davis needs to get McGee 15 carries before halftime and see what he can do.
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