40 Acres Sports

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

None of Texas’ wins against [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag] the last few years have come easily and that isn’t likely to change today. This team showed last week it could come back from a big deficit and win, but hopefully they don’t have to keep doing that. I wouldn’t mind jumping out to an early 17-point lead like last year, that might be the only way I’m not a nervous wreck this afternoon.

Here are three keys to a Texas victory against the Cowboys:

1. Find a way to run the football

Oklahoma State isn’t a terrible football team but they’re not a good one either. This is a team that’s giving up an average of nearly 26 points per game and gave up 41 in an early season loss to Troy. The Longhorns won against Nebraska because they suddenly rediscovered the zone read, against the Cowboys they’ll have to try that and a bunch more because they can’t win if they can’t run the ball. [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] showed what he can do when he’s feeling it, let’s hope he can stay on a roll, find a few holes, and make some more big plays this week.

2. Beat the blitz

Texas got lucky last week. The Cornhuskers blitzed often and with tons of success against the Longhorns for the first three quarters. Quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] didn’t have time to think let alone throw and that resulted in one of the worst performances in his career. Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy is 40 years old and claims his team won’t blitz like Nebraska did but I don’t buy it, they’d be stupid not to. McCoy and the Texas offense have to threaten the defense deep in order to open on the quick hot routes they’ll need to hit to beat the blitz. Of course if Charles rushes for nearly 300 yards again that would be nice as well.

3. Have a linebacker lead the team in tackles

The bad news: Sergio Kindle is out this week. The good news: the coaching staff appears to be noticing that the young, athletic linebackers can make more plays that the veteran group. Last week the team’s top three tacklers were all linebackers (when is the last time that happened?) and the defense needs to be led again by it’s linebackers against OSU and their option attack. If Marcus Griffin or another member of the Texas secondary is the game’s leading tackler that probably means OSU running back Dantrell Savage had a big day and the Horns are headed home to Austin as losers.

Prediction: Texas 35, Oklahoma State 31

Longhorns hoping for two strong halves against Okie Lite. I might not survive a first half like the last few years.

One day after claiming no new injuries, Texas training staff announces Sergio Kindle is out for Oklahoma State game. Crap.

No new injuries for the Horns after Nebraska game. Roy Miller and Sergio Kindle are fortunately both healthy for OSU.

The Longhorns finally looked like a complete and dangerous basketball team for the first time since the win over Texas Tech. All five starters scored in double figures and the Texas defense locked down Oklahoma State, holding the Cowboys to 38% shooting and forcing 16 turnovers. OSU star forward Mario Boggan chipped in 16 points but only grabbed three rebounds and had none on the offensive end.

Star of the game for Texas was the much maligned A.J. Abrams who finally snapped out of his shooting slump with 17 points and even added some solid work on defense. Abrams’ shot was falling and he did a much better job of getting open for his shots and not settling for mid-range jumpers on the move. After struggling to get involved in the first half, Kevin Durant did his usual thing in the second half and finished with a game high 21 points and 12 boards. D.J. Augustin was a little rough at the start of the game and turned the ball over carelessly a few times but settled in and contributed 19 points and 8 assists. Augustin’s 3-pointer from the state of Texas emblem at half court to beat the shot clock was the play of game.

Check out highlights from the game below:

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The Longhorns and Cowboys faced off last night in one of the best college basketball games of the season. Three overtimes, last second heroics, amazing Hail Mary shots, and more in the great atmosphere of Gallagher-Iba Arena. ESPN has really been hyping the game (and Kevin Durant) on all their shows last night and today.

If you missed it (shame on you), check out the highlights from College GameNight below:

Don’t you just love ESPN’s behind-the-old-guy’s-head camera angle? Really makes you feel like you’re there at the arena.

If you were busy watching American Idol, ESPN has deemed the game an “Instant Classic” and will be re-airing it Thursday on ESPN Classic at 4 p.m. Set your TiVo’s.

Man, that sure was a tough way for the game to end last night. In TRIPLE OVERTIME, to lose by a prayer that Mario Boggan sloppily threw up was disappointing. Texas played tough all game and Kevin Durant showed why he is the best player in the land. And just in case you were curious, Boggan was shooting an impressive 16% from the 3-point line all season.

It was interesting to see Rick Barnes smiling so much after the game. It sure looks like he is having fun out there doesn’t it? Although, I guess I would be too if I had someone with the talent of Kevin Durant on my team.

And on another note, this Conner Atchley guy is starting to get on my nerves. Yeah he hit that big three in overtime, but that lay-up he blew was horrendous and some of the defense he plays is mind-boggling bad. What’s the deal?

Denver Broncos cornerback and former Oklahoma State Cowboy Darrent Williams was killed early New Year’s morning in a drive-by shooting. Williams had an excellent career at [tag]Oklahoma State[/tag] and had two solid season in Denver on defense and as punt returner. Williams was a Texas kid who attended O.D. Wyatt High School in Fort Worth.

A little after 2 a.m., a white Hummer limousine was sprayed with bullets from a vehicle that pulled up along its side, said Sonny Jackson, spokesperson for the Denver Police Department.

Three people in the limousine were hit and were taken to area hospitals, where one man was pronounced dead, Jackson said. The other man and woman who were shot were not identified.

Pretty shocking news but if you’ve been following professional sports lately you knew something like this would be coming soon. I don’t know the particulars and it’s possible Williams did absolutely nothing to provoke the shooting, but professional athletes such as the Bears’ Tank Johnson and the Pacers’ Stephen Jackson keep ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The leagues really need to do more to educated their players about the dangers of being a ludicrously rich and famous person out in the middle of the night. And they need to do more to discipline the guys who have such a knack for finding trouble. Incidents such as this are only going to get more common and more violent.

Our thoughts go out to Williams’ family and friends as they begin the new year with some very tough news.

Texas blows out Oklahoma State on national TV to run their winning streak to nine games. Team is really rolling since Daniel Gibson moved away from the point and has been able to focus on scoring. He’s been lights out from 3 lately and Kenton Paulino and AJ Abrams have been more than able handling the ball. And the 2-3 zone defense has been downight Syracusian. If we’re playing like this in March will be able to make a run.

Be sure to check out the highlights for PJ Tucker’s alley oop dunk, pretty sick.

The Horns take on the Sooners in Norman Saturday at 8 p.m. on ESPN 2.