Texas blew out [tag]Arkansas[/tag] 52-10 Saturday thanks to big plays, near perfection from [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag], and an impressive defensive showing. It was great to see the Texas defensive front seven really get after the quarterback, something that will need to continue in conference play in order to protect the young secondary.
Watch highlights from the game below:
Somehow the video quality from these highlights almost looks better than the live game did in standard definition on ABC yesterday. Hopefully the Horns have played their last SD game of the season now that they’re playing real opponents.
Texas vs. Arkansas 1969
When Texas has the ball
Not enough can be said about Colt McCoy’s play this season. Without him, Texas is no better than the sixth best team in the conference. With him, the Longhorns have a chance to win every game on their schedule, even OU and Missouri. Great quarterbacks have the ability to cover up the weaknesses on their team while exploiting the weaknesses of the opponent. So far Colt has been almost perfect, throwing for 11 touchdowns and leading the team in rushing. Expect no different this week against a young Arkansas defense.
Texas’ running game has problems. The offensive line has been solid, but the backs have struggled. When your quarterback is not named [tag]Vince Young[/tag], he shouldn’t be your team’s best running threat. Starting running back [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag] has struggled against lackluster competition. Backup running back Foswhitt Whittaker has been sidelined with injuries to both knees. The best two running backs have been versatile [tag]Chris Ogbonnaya[/tag] and bruiser [tag]Cody Johnson[/tag]. The deficiencies running the ball have been masked by the play of McCoy and the fact that all of the games have been blowouts. As the competition gets better, one would think McCoy’s success will not come as easy. The major question for this offense will be to figure out where to get yards on the ground when they need them.
UT’s offense suffered a huge blow when [tag]Blaine Irby[/tag] went down with a dislocated knee. Texas’ tight ends will now be counted on for blocking more so than in the passing game. Expect Texas to use more four to five receiver sets in obvious passing downs. If the offense struggles do not be surprised to see Ogbonnaya get some snaps at tight end because of his experience at wide receiver. [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] and [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] have performed at an all conference level, but the team still needs a go to third receiver, preferably one that can get deep.
The Arkansas defense has struggled giving up 33.3 per game.
When Arkansas has the ball
The good news is Texas is only allowing 11 points a game, and only [tag]Rice[/tag] has scored in the second half. Each opponent has thrown the ball with success against the Longhorn secondary, and the tests should only get tougher from here on out. Texas ranks ninth in the Big 12 in Pass Defense Efficiency, allowing opposing quarterbacks to attain a 112 passing rating. Arkansas’ Casey Dick is averaging over 300 yards per game through the air. The tackling has improved in the secondary, but the group is still giving up too much easy yardage and allowing too many third down conversions. Safeties [tag]Earl Thomas[/tag] and [tag]Blake Gideon[/tag] must continue to improve each week if the defense has any chance of helping the offense win a conference title.
The best way to help out the inexperienced secondary is to apply pressure. Texas recorded seven sacks against Rice, many of them coming in the second half. This proves that the defensive line can wear out an offense. In today’s age of quick passing sacks have lost some value, but applying pressure on a quarterback to change the timing of the routes as well as disrupting footwork is still key. Defensive coordinator [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] keeps a stat on number of pressures the team has, so far they are up to 45 through three games.
The run defense has been great, which could be a result of the offensive philosophy that UT’s opponents have used. Texas has a good rotation along their front seven. The line backing core this year has performed better than any group under [tag]Mack Brown[/tag]. Muschamp is becoming a cult hero in Austin, and his desire and work ethic has directly influenced this group.
If Texas wants to get better, and they do, the defense needs to start creating more turnovers. Opposing offenses are giving the secondary too many chances to have only recorded one interception. Texas’ defense has been great in the red-zone giving way to the assumption that they are playing a bend but don’t break type of defense, but truly the lack of execution and talent has provided opportunities for stops. Does anyone believe this defense could stop the Big 12 powers 11 times within the 10 yard line?
Texas should once again be tested, but this is another week where the result isn’t truly in question. Texas’ goals are to be more consistent and allow less big plays while making a few more of their own.
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!
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.
Comments now open.
Texas heads into this week’s game against [tag]Rice[/tag] off an unexpected bye week thanks to Hurricane Ike. Going into this game, the emphasis will not necessarily be on winning (that should come from just showing up), the emphasis will be on setting a tone for the upcoming Big 12 season.
When Texas has the ball
Through the first two games, one thing has become unmistakably obvious: this is Colt McCoy’s football team. This year’s Longhorns will go as far as he takes them, and so far that seems to be a good thing. After a sophomore slump that saw McCoy’s interceptions jump up significantly from his freshman year, McCoy has started off his junior year in spectacular fashion, including only throwing one interception.
On top of his improved passing game, McCoy is also leading the Horns in rushing. He is the only Longhorn to have over 100 yards on the season. This needs to change, and luckily for UT the Rice Owls are just what the doctor ordered for the Texas running game in the past few years.
New running backs coach [tag]Major Applewhite[/tag] has stressed ball security and pass blocking over explosive plays in the running game, but if Texas wants to get to their yearly goals of playing for the Big 12 championship and reaching a BCS game both need to happen. Texas ranks 23rd in the nation in pass offense, but sixth in the Big 12. The good teams in conference will be able to put up points, and with the youth in Texas’ secondary, UT’s offense must find a way to control the ball and shorten the game. This offense will not be able to score with the likes of [tag]Missouri[/tag] and [tag]Oklahoma[/tag]. In games like this weekend’s versus Rice, the running game needs to start asserting itself.
Texas’ offensive line should be able to physically dominate the smaller Rice defense. Expect the line to come out and quiet the naysayers after being out rushed by [tag]UTEP[/tag].
The receiving corps has been solid with [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] and [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] being the go to guys. Against Rice look for Texas to try and get [tag]Malcolm Williams[/tag] and [tag]Dan Buckner[/tag] deep, these two flankers need confidence heading into the upcoming schedule. So far, the biggest surprise has been the play of tight end [tag]Blaine Irby[/tag] who has scored in the first two games.
When Rice has the ball
Another week, another spread offense for Texas’ young secondary to deal with. The preseason schedule has worked out perfectly in terms of giving this group practice seeing the types of offense they will in the Big 12. The talent will obviously be a step up once conference games begin, but don’t be surprised if the Owl offense presents a challenge for the defense. Quarterback Chase Clement and wide receiver Jarrett Dillard are no slouches, especially Dillard who could be the best player to come out of Rice in recent memory.
Texas ranks 98th in the nation against the pass so look for defensive coordinator [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] to start bringing more pressure as the season wears on. In a game like this one where the outcome isn’t in much question UT may play close to the vest on offense and defense, but if Rice has success early look for [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag] to be unleashed. Texas has worked on a “Buck” package with Kindle coming off the edge. This should become more and more a staple of this defense.
Rice offers no real threat to Texas on the ground. The linebacker corps has played as good as it ever has under [tag]Mack Brown[/tag]. Texas’ emphasis moving forward in the season is to create more turnovers and to create more pressure. With offenses running the way they do now, sacks are not as easy to come by. Muschamp keeps track of pressures and hits on the quarterbacks each week. He would like the number to continue to go up.
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.
Comments now open.
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.
Position Rating: B-
Starters: Quan Cosby, Jordan Shipley
Reserves: Malcolm Williams, Brandon Collins, James Kirkendoll
The top two guys at wide receiver are as solid as they come but beyond seniors [tag]Quan Cosby[/tag] and [tag]Jordan Shipley[/tag] there’s a big drop-off. The Longhorns will be relying on a group on unproven young players whenever the team goes to a three wide receiver set. There’s talent in that second group but none of the youngsters has stepped up and pulled away from the pack during preseason practice.
After a four year pit stop in minor league baseball Cosby has fulfilled much of the promise he had coming out of high school. He’s been a steady performer in his time at Texas and caught 60 passes for 680 yards during the 2007 season. He’s a surehanded receiver quarterback Colt McCoy and Texas fans can count on to haul in anything near him on an important third down.
As most fans know, Shipley’s biggest issue has been staying healthy. After being injured in both 2004 and 2005, he missed three games last year as well but caught 27 passes for 5 TDs. He is more a downfield threat than Cosby but can still be counted on to actually catch the football.
Cosby and Shipley are both proven commodities but neither stands over six feet tall. The Horns need big [tag]Malcolm Williams[/tag] to step up to play one of the outside spots so Cosby can move inside. Williams has all the tools but as is expected from a redshirt freshman has been inconsistent in practice. If he’s not ready sophomores [tag]James Kirkendoll[/tag] and [tag]Brandon Collins[/tag] have impressed as slot guys.
Greg Davis will also be hoping to give this group a little boost by inserting quarterback [tag]John Chiles[/tag] out wide as part of the “Q Package.†Another lightning quick slot guy Chiles will give the Horns an extra playmaker wherever he is on the field.
Overall the position has a lot of promise but a lot of question marks. If just one of the young wide receivers step up to provide a third option then the passing offense is going to be in much better shape. Cross your fingers that Williams or [tag]Dan Buckner[/tag] becomes a stud quickly.
Related Links
Posted August 21st, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football, Quick Hits
Horns need receiver to step up behind Cosby and Shipley. Malcolm Williams could be a stud.
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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