40 Acres Sports

2008 Pre-Season Power Ranking from WhatIfSports. Texas falls in at number 11 behind OU and Mizzou.

Longhorns lose 3-2 to Missouri to open Big 12 tournament. Give up RBI single in the bottom of the 10th.

After seeing the first spring Big 12 power rankings from ESPN and disagreeing with their placement of the Missouri Tigers at number one, I am now proud to present the first 2008 Bevo Sports Big 12 Power Rankings. This will be a weekly feature during the season and we’ll likely post updates at the end of spring practice and again in the preseason.

1. [tag]Oklahoma[/tag]

   
   

   I’m not 100% behind Sam Bradford as a top quarterback but he’s definitely good enough to lead this team. They lost several good players early to the NFL Draft, but they’ve got talent and running back DeMarco Murray is a stud.

2. Texas

   
   

   Too many question marks to be ranked any higher this early, but early practice reports from this spring are encouraging. If the Horns’ secondary and linebackers improve and flourish under coach Will Muschamp they’ll be my conference favorite.

3. [tag]Texas Tech[/tag]

   
   

   I struggled deciding between Tech and Missouri, but I ended up placing the Red Raiders third thanks to a slightly better defense and a love for pirates and Michael Crabtree.

4. [tag]Missouri[/tag]

   
   

   I don’t trust Gary Pinkel, I think he lucked into last year’s success and was tempted to put the Tigers much lower. Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin could be poised for a huge season, but their defense leaves a lot to be desired.

5. [tag]Nebraska[/tag]

   
   

   I think the Cornhusker players will play with a new enthusiasm after being rescued from Bill Callahan’s regime. Marlon Lucky is a very talented running back and coach Bo Pelini’s return should immediately improve the defense.

6. [tag]Colorado[/tag]

   
   

   This is a team I’m really not sure about. They could go either way, either compete for the Big 12 North or completely suck. They lost a couple of good linebackers but if QB Cody Hawkins makes plays and Darrell Scott is as advertised they could compete.

7. Texas A&M

   
   

   I think this is a transition year for the Aggies and new head coach Mike Sherman. I think he’s a step up from Fran but I’m not sure he’s the longterm solution. The defense should be improved under new coordinator Joe Kines, but losing Yemi Babalola off the offensive line hurts bad.

8. [tag]Kansas State[/tag]

   
   

   I like quarterback Josh Freeman a lot but the two other guys that killed the Horns the last two years (particularly Jordy Nelson) are gone. Ian Campbell is a beast on defense.

9. [tag]Kansas[/tag]

   
   

   Welcome back to reality Kansas fans, though I still think the Fightin’ Manginos are headed in the right direction. They don’t have the same season they did in 2007 but they’re going to be a contender in the Big 12 North again soon if Mangino stays.

10. [tag]Iowa State[/tag]

    
    

    Other than a win over rival Iowa last season the Cyclones and former Texas coach Gene Chizik had a rough 2007. Chizik reportedly has things headed in the right direction and two conference wins late last year might be an indication of that.

11. [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag]

    
    

    The only coach in the Big 12 I think less of than Mizzou’s Pinkel is the Cowboys’ Mike Gundy. They’ve had more talent in previous years and not done much with it, this is a down year and they’ll finish near the bottom and Gundy won’t be back in 2009.

12. [tag]Baylor[/tag]

    
    

    I think bringing in Art Briles was a genius move by Baylor. It is going to take a couple years for him implement his scheme and bring in his type of players, but he’s got a chance to turn the Bears into a Texas Tech caliber team. They’ll suck this year.

Update: Preseason Big 12 Power Rankings are released! (8/27/2008)

CFN takes another look back at 2007 season in the Big 12. Nice capsules on all the teams.

Sadly, the Horns lost their first Big 12 series of the year. They played two very uncharacteristic games this weekend. It was almost like watching a team I’d never seen before. Jeckyll and Hyde. The team on Saturday? That was the team we’ve been watching all year long. But yesterday? Almost all of the things that went wrong on Friday night went wrong again yesterday afternoon as they lost 4-5. Coming away from the weekend, all I can hope is that the team got it out of their system.

I also hope [tag]Missouri[/tag] comes earlier in the season next year!

Two notes: [tag]Jordan Danks[/tag] jammed his shoulder and had to leave the game early on Saturday. [tag]Kyle Russell[/tag] jammed his wrist and had to leave the game early on Sunday. In the post-game interview, Coach Garrido said he didn’t think either injury was very bad (Jordan Danks actually went in as a pinch runner in Sunday’s game) and that they’d both be back for the A&M game. Here’s hoping.

I also hope they Horns manage to schedule a game for the 12th. I don’t think they need the game. But, it certainly couldn’t hurt to get a game in. I don’t know that letting the team “stew” on the Missouri series for 11 days without facing another team would be the best thing to happen right now. Too much time to second-guess, m’thinks.

Anyway, for more specifics on how things went this yesterday:

• my full report
• the Statesman’s article
• the Daily Texan’s article
• the TexasSports.com recap

Check out the Daily Texan article for a great action photo of Travis Tucker. And, note that the TexasSports.com recap has an error (it states that the Missouri’s fifth run was scored on a balk…it wasn’t).

Hopefully, I’ll have better news to report next time. Hook ’em!

Texas had a tough time of things last night as they lost the series opener to [tag]Missouri[/tag]. Missouri has proven to be a thorn in the Longhorns’ side for the last three years. Coming into the series, Mizzou had taken 6 of the last 9 games. The Tigers had also worked their way into 2nd place in the Big 12 as they came to town. So, the Horns couldn’t really afford to take things for granted.

Things started out nicely last night as Texas took the lead 4-2, helped along by two home runs by [tag]Kyle Russell[/tag]. But, the Tigers took the lead in the 6th when they put 4 on the board as the Texas bullpen showed a crack or two. The Horns rallied, though, and tied things up in the 9th. Sadly, they gave up an unearned run in the top of the 11th as Preston Clark made a very rare error on a toss back to [tag]Randy Boone[/tag] that sailed over Boone’s glove. The Missouri runner at third base made a great decision and broke for home, scoring the go-ahead run. In the bottom of the inning, with two out, Texas rallied but the tying run was thrown out at the plate. Tommy Harmon made the decision to send the runner home and said afterward that he didn’t want to end the game with the tying run stranded at third base. He was hoping Missouri would make a mistake on the play. But, Missouri didn’t make a mistake. They won the game 7-6.

The Horns bounced back today, though. In fine fashion. They got a great game out of [tag]Adrian Alaniz[/tag] who went 8.1 innings. He gave up one run on three hits while walking 2 and striking out 4. And, the bullpen did not let him down. [tag]Joseph Krebs[/tag] went in and struck out the final two batters of the game. The Horns scored 2 runs in the 4th and 3 in the 6th to cruise to victory. [tag]Preston Clark[/tag] went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and two runs scored. [tag]Chais Fuller[/tag] went 3-for-4 with a run scored and 3 runs batted in. Kyle Russell failed to hit any home runs today (“only” going 1-for-4) but that 1 hit pushed the final two runs across for the Horns.

So, the series is even. Here’s hoping the Horns finish it off tomorrow. Austin Wood is expected to get the start. He’s done well lately and seems to be improving. This should be fun.

For more details, you can check out the game reports I posted to my page. See yesterday’s game report or today’s game report.

Baylor upsets Missouri and will face off against the Longhorns tonight at 8:20pm.

I was definitely a little nervous going into this game, fearful of [tag]Missouri[/tag]’s Brad Smith and hoping Texas wasn’t looking ahead to next weeks game against the Sooners. It feels like every game we are playing for the National Championship, because if we lose one, we are probably done. Thankfully, we got past the Tigers pretty easily, even with a poor/lucky first quarter. Here is how I graded the performances:

Quarterback – Overall Grade: A
Vince definitely didn’t do anything to hurt his Heisman campaign. He threw for 236 yds, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception (it was tipped and not really Vince’s fault). Vince was also the leading rusher with 108 yds and a touchdown. Overall I would say he played very well. I hope he keeps up this effort in the Oklahoma game.

Running Backs – Overall Grade: A-
Isn’t it just amazing how much talent Texas has in the backfield. Texas’ backfield has just dominated games, and this week was no different racking up 349 yds in rushing. When you have the talent of Jamaal Charles and Selvin Young, the speed of Ramonce Taylor, and can bring in a bruiser like Melton, good things are going to happen. Can Melton even be tackled? I am not sure.

Wide Receivers – Overall Grade: B+
Not much need for wide receivers when you have the rushing game of Texas, but overall they did pretty good. Pittman continued to be Vince’s go-to guy, hauling in 4 catches for 81 yds.

Offensive Lineman – Overall Grade: B
I know the refs were against us, but I swear that everyone on the offense line got a couple penalties thrown their way. That is something that will need to be corrected before going into the OU game. We can’t have a repeat performance of 14 penalties for 135 yds.

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It’s still amazing how little respect we receive nationally. [tag]Missouri[/tag]’s Brad Smith is better than Vince Young because he racked up stats barely beating two crappy teams and losing to one pretty bad one. Ugh. Brad Smith is good (though he didn’t play that way last year), but don’t try to base an opinion purely on non-conference stats. Then somehow Virginia Tech gets more credit for beating an average Georgia Tech team at home then we do for beating a top 5 Ohio State on the road. We’re just going to have to keep making statements all season long, beat Oklahoma, and play for the national championship. Then we might get some respect.

First Quarter

• Look at the kickoff coverage, great job. Hope that wasn’t a fluke.
• Some crazy holding on the first play by Missouri.
• Nice formation. They gave Smith a great spot, his knee was down and he slid for two yards.
• I was about to complain again about the atrocious and obvious uncalled holds, but… INTERCEPTION AARON HARRIS! Smith threw the ball right to him under pressure and he almost takes it all the way back.
• Jamaal Charles gets the start after all.
• Great tough running by Charles for a three yard touchdown. He took several hits but never even really seemed to lose his balance. Love it!
• David Pino nails the extra point.

Texas 7, Mizzou 0

• Better kick than the first one and even better coverage by Erick Jackson.
• Holy crap do they not know what an $#@*$@# hold is??
• Two penalties and some big chunks of yards, the Texas defense really needs to step up and get going today. The big interception was more of a mistake by Smith and Mizzou than good defense. I do have confidence defensive coordinator Gene Chizik will get them going, hopefully this timeout will give us a chance to regroup and get going.
• It’s amazing how much difficulty the announcers are having telling African American #16 Brad Smith and white boy #10 Chase Daniel.
• Big missed sack by Michael Griffin. Could have had a loss of about 8 but instead Missouri gets 5 yards on the completion.
• Another offsides on the defensive line! We’re killing ourselves.
• The Missouri offensive lineman are flat out wrapping up our defenders and tackling them with no call being made. This is embarassing officiating. Though my favorite part is that the announcers don’t bother mentioning it.

Texas 7, Mizzou 7

• Good return by Ramonce Taylor gets the ball out to midfield.
• Already our third penalty. We’re moving the ball easily and we shoot ourselves in the foot.
• Why in the world are they reviewing this? What a waste of time.
• Good job by the defense to force them 3 and out after our own mistakes forced us to punt.
• Argh. VY’s pass is tipped and intercepted. I really wish we’d just run this thing down their throats with Charles a little bit more while it’s still close. We need the D to step up again.
• That’s a fumble! Definitely. He sets the ball on the turf before his knees are down. Yes! Great call by Chizik on the safety blitz from Michael Huff!
• Ouch that looks liked it hurt! Smith was just crumpled up by Huff, no wonder he fumbled.
• Touchdown Vince Young!! Wow, almost untouched right up the middle by Vince.
• Dear announcers, that’s called a zone read not a draw. Both teams run it a ton, might want to get a clue.

Texas 14, Mizzou 7

• This is weird, why have there been so few commercial breaks? I’m not complaining though.
• Great kickoff for a touchback. Greg The Leg Johnson has done a fantastic job on them since being inserted into the role. We might have trounced Ohio State with good kickoffs and coverage.
• That’s a pretty weak late hit call. Still really dumb play by Robert Killebrew, which is why he doesn’t get more playing time.
• Backside linebackers and DB’s are chasing down fake options going the opposite direction. Read your keys and see the lineman not getting downfield.
• Brad Smith just ran off the field dangling his right arm. Real injury or fake one? Backup Chase Daniel sure was out on the field and ready fast. Plus you’d expect them to at least huddle in a situation like that.
• Announcers sure get excited about a 3 yard run by Missouri. Then they point out the difference in total yards. Maybe if we didn’t have two 1 play drives for touchdowns of one yard and 33 yards we’d have more.
• Missed extra point by Missouri, did I mention I love David Pino?

Texas 14, Mizzou 13

• Jamaal Charles is making good gains even when there’s nothing there. I wish we’d keep giving it to him, if he gets any kind of hole he’s going to break a big one.

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