Posted October 4th, 2010 by Ross
Filed under: Feature, Football

Ugh.

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Sooners.

WTH?! articles are supposed to be funny or poignant moments in the game. These days almost every mention is for the lack of focus this Longhorn team has shown. The Horns are out of the Top 25 for the first time in over 10 years. As the season progresses please refer back to my “prediction article” to feel a little bit better.

Start of Game (15:00) WTH Sooner Nation?! While signing the national anthem, before the stirring last stanza of this patriotic song, you replace it with “Home of the Sooners.” Isn’t Sooner a description of a cheater than crosses ahead of everyone else to squat on some land? Hey OU fans, I do not think our national anthem needs to be changed.

1st Quarter (14:24) WTH Keenan?! I know that you need to come jacked up to play this game but come on Keenan Robinson you do not need to hit an OU lineman in the back. Stupid is as Stupid does.

1st Quarter (12:23) WTH Oucho?! Sam Acho ridiculous hold/tackle of Demarco Murray was a brain dead move that helped OU continue their drive for an opening touchdown. Stupid is as Stupid does.

1st Quarter (3:46) WTH Monroe?! What an electrifying play by DJ Monroe who covered 60 yards for the first touchdown for the Horns. That run was probably faster than anyone since Doak Walker. Sad part was that DJ had only 3 more touches to finish with 68 yards (UT’s leading rusher?!).

2nd Quarter (7:19) WTH Coaches?! The coaching staff gets into the mental midget category with a substitution penalty on an OU extra point. It did not hurt the Horns, but it just shows how little discipline this team has.

3rd Quarter (8:10) WTH Jones 1?! The first real momentum turner was when Eddie Jones recovers a Landry Jones fumble only to have it called back because Eddie lined up offside. Stupid is as Stupid does.

4th Quarter (13:45) WTH Jeffcoat?! Another great defensive stand is wasted when Jackson Jeffcoat decides to retaliate with a cheap shot on an OU player to extend a drive that is capped by a brilliant tight rope walk down the sidelines by Demarco Murray. Stupid is as….you get the idea.

v4th Quarter (1:35) WTH Jones 2?! Landry Jones almost gives the Longhorns the game with his butter finger routine with a fumble that lands out of bounds on the 6 yard line. Unfortunately, the final blow was Aaron Williams dropping the OU punt that sealed the game for the Sooners.

Next up for the Longhorn’s are the Huskers in Lincoln at 2:30 pm on October 16th.

Thanks for following my WTH articles throughout the season. I appreciate the opportunity to rant about the greatest University sports program in the country. You can continue to follow comments on all of UT sports on twitter at 40AcresSports or follow me at Horns1991. HOOK EM!!

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Posted August 27th, 2010 by Jack
Filed under: Football

With the departure of Mike Leach from Texas Tech and the addition of Neal Brown to run Tuberville’s offense, things have changed on offense out in Lubbock.  Some folks think a spread is a spread is a spread, but the differences between the Prairie Pirate’s Air Raid and Brown’s NASCAR is striking.  The best example I can think of is driving a car versus racing in one.  (Side note:  Neal Brown is 30 and his predecessor at Tech was 27, ECU’s Lincoln Riley.  Thought that was interesting.)

First off, they have a common ancestor but are run completely differently.  I think 10 years after OU won the national title using a hybrid version left behind by Mike Leach and refined by Fat Mark, the original idea has evolved so much that it’s now a package for some teams.  The irony is the best example of the Raid in 2010 being a play package probably is OU.  They’ve changed things up quite a bit over the years to cater to talents like Adrian Peterson but can still effectively no huddle an opponent in a snap if they decide to.   If you really want to get into it – look at Case Keenum and Kevin Sumlin’s offense at Houston.  They’ve taken the best parts of the OU hybrid (with an Jenkins-era run n’ shoot receiver at OC), mixed in motion from a bunch of 4.3 40 wideouts jet sweeping and sluggoing you to death, and snap the ball every play when the whistle blows.

Mike Leach’s ideal vision was calling six plays repeatedly out of forty different formations and dreaming of going a full season without running the ball.  Huge line splits and calling “mesh” six straight times allowed Tech to go downfield 62 yards in 1:28 to knock off #1 UT a couple of seasons ago.  Leach’s style and attitude toward his offense fits his personality.  He’d see if a play worked, regardless of coverage, and put a check next to it.  Then he would try another one, and check or cross it off.  Then he’d set off with his improved game plan and try to extend the offense’s number of snaps over a game.  They did run a little more hurry up if the clock didn’t stop but it wasn’t a true hurry up no huddle spread.  He wasn’t going to adjust to beat you – he was more into finding something that worked and then dare a defense to try and shut it down.

Brown’s version is going to look much more like the Houston version than the one seen the past few years in Lubbock.  Every skill position player has a wristband and every play is called from the sideline.  They try and snap the ball within five seconds of the whistle. They’ll run less sets with more plays and try to catch you out of position.  Leach likes shallow crossing routes and spacing the field – Brown likes to burn out corners and runs his guys all over the place.  They’ll run the ball, too – I don’t think Tech has the personnel yet to do it effectively, but can you imagine a no huddle run-first offense?  If it’s clicking and the OL is dominating the front seven on D, damn right Brown will do it.  Troy ran the ball 49 times against MTSU and 45 against UNT, both wins with over 250 yards of rushing offense.

This was a quote from Chris at Smart Football when I asked him to characterize the two: “The Troy offense is a nice contrast: instead of trying to get in the right play, with the right route, and the right concept on each down and constantly getting completions, the theory is more like what Gus Malzahn does at Auburn: come at the opponent fast and furious, use your plays (which are good plays), and force them into mistakes. Leach’s is more probing: find your weaknesses, get in a good play, and keep making you pay.”

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Follow along live with 40 Acres Sports on Twitter and below for beat by beat coverage of the two big recruits making their commitments today. We’ll have breaking news and our thoughts during today’s [tag]Jackson Jeffcoat[/tag] and [tag]Jordan Hicks[/tag] press conferences. Things start early with Jeffcoat’s announcement from Plano West High School at 10am. We’ll be live here and on Twitter so join us to discuss the next Longhorn greats.

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!

(Live threads from Jeffcoat & Hicks commits after the jump.)

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Posted January 27th, 2010 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football, Recruiting

Friday is going to be a busy day for fans of the Texas Longhorns.

According to Dallas sports reporter Mike Doocy, 5-star defensive end [tag]Jackson Jeffcoat[/tag] will announce his choice live on Dallas’ Fox affiliate live on Friday. Linebacker [tag]Jordan Hicks[/tag] will also make his decision known that day.

Jackson is the son of former Dallas Cowboy Jim Jeffcoat, who is currently a coach at the University of Houston. Texas, Oklahoma, and Houston are Jeffcoat’s three finalist with most believing. Jeffcoat will be choosing between the Sooners and the Longhorns. The Jeffcoat family has, as expected, handled the entire process very professionally. No press conferences, rumors, or other BS. They have followed their plan and thoughtfully considered all their options.

Jackson has his dad at Houston and his twin sister is headed to OU, but still Texas reportedly has remained at or near the top of his list. Longhorn fans have to feel good about their chances. Despite family pulling him towards his other finalists, the Horns are rumored to be the young man’s favorite.

Update: According to Orangebloods.com, Jeffcoat will make the announcement from his high school gym at 10am Friday. (Jan. 28. 12:32pm)

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Posted November 14th, 2009 by Jeff
Filed under: Feature, Football

There was a poll posted recently on Orangebloods.com asking. “Who do you want to win the OU vs. A&M game?”

Based on the early results I saw when I responded, it seems that an overwhelming majority of UT fans want A&M to win. There were various reasons stated for voting this way. Some said because A&M already is down and we need OU to be down as well. Some expressed their hate of OU is stronger than their hate of A&M. Some dismissed A&M as any competition to Texas and thus it didn’t matter if they won or lost, but it was important for OU to lose because they are Texas’ bigger rival.

To all of this I say balderdash, garbage, nonsense, poppycock, baloney and malarkey!

Maybe it is a Dallas vs. Houston situation, but living in Houston I don’t know any OU fans. When OU beats Texas I don’t wait for the idiot fans to post the score in their cubicle or send out their Christmas card with a picture of the scoreboard. It doesn’t happen in my world. BUT, when A&M wins the Aggie roaches come out of the woodwork.

I can hear it now, “but A&M sucks, they aren’t our biggest rival”. Wrong!

We have two equally big rivals in my opinion. But Texas has a bigger advantage when A&M is down than when OU is down. Let me explain.

In the last 30 years, OU has had 24 winning seasons while A&M has had 23 winning seasons. UT’s record against OU is 15-15, against A&M it is 14-16. Since Mack Brown arrived UT is 5-6 with OU and 8-3 with A&M. You can see that OU is at least UT’s equal on the field and it hasn’t prevented Texas from having an unprecedented amount of success in recent years. Texas loses recruits to OU every year, but still gets the lion’s share of recruiting riches. This would be different if A&M wasn’t currently so bad. UT doesn’t go head to head with A&M in many recruiting battles because A&M isn’t in the mindset of most top flight Texas blue chips. If A&M hired a top flight coach, or decided to return to their rogue program past, times could get tougher.

Tech is Tech, hell, it is in LUBBOCK! They are never going to be a consistent threat to UT recruiting dominance. Baylor, yeah right, [tag]TCU[/tag], nope, [tag]Houston[/tag], no way, but A&M could be a pain in UT’s backside. I remember the Sherrill and early Slocum years of recruiting dominance in this state. Whether by cheating or not, it happened. It killed Texas football for a decade. The talent differential was amazing when the teams lined up the week of Thanksgiving. Those days can’t be allowed to return!

A&M needs to stay terrible!! It is close enough to Houston and East Texas and the talent pool that exists there to make some large waves if they turn their ship around. Talent wins out over everything else most of the time. We have the talent. We have to make sure that we continue to get that talent. This involves keeping A&M down and not an option for top recruits.

You should root for another 77-0 on Saturday.

And if you need another reason to want A&M to lose, just think about all the Aggie a-holes you know and how much pain they will be in when they finish 6-6 and play in the Texas Bowl.

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As was rumored last week, [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] quarterback Sam Bradford announced today through a university release that he would be having season-ending shoulder surgery. If the surgery goes as planned Bradford intends to leave OU and enter the 2010 NFL Draft.

Link: Bradford finally announces surgery plans

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Posted October 24th, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Football

SI.com is predicting the second half of the 2009 season and they don’t foresee good things for the Texas Longhorns. Only one out of six of their experts thinks the Horns will end up in the BCS title game and even worse that would mean some awful “no win” matchups in the Fiesta Bowl. Texas better keep winning, because a bowl game against [tag]Boise State[/tag], [tag]Cincinnati[/tag], or [tag]TCU[/tag] does not sound fun.

Link: SI.com’s 2009 midseason Crystal Ball

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Posted October 20th, 2009 by Ross
Filed under: Feature, Football

WTH?! (What the Heck?) moments are attempts to find the memorable and the off-beat perspective on Longhorns sports. Here are some interesting moments from the Texas’ game against the Sooners.

Pregame WTH Sooners?! What a sight to see when the Sooner band enters the playing field to a record crowd of 96,009 fans and an upside down Longhorn plastered right on the ass of a sequined OU baton twirler. Is it just me or did the OU band roll out the Oklahoma state flag a few years ago just to copy us? Nothing stirs up the emotions of the OU crowd like a powder blue flag with a twig and a peace pipe on it.

1st Quarter WTH Sooner Bench?! I know that we have Matthew McConaughey roaming our sidelines, but can you really be proud OU fans when you see Jim Ross on the bench. Yeah… that Jim Ross from the WWE with his signature black cowboy hat. You always want a fan on the sidelines that is remembered for wrestling match quotes like “that damn jezebel” or “this is a slobberknocker.”

1st Quarter (11:55) WTH McCoy?! I begin to see a trend developing with [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag]. Another first quarter turnover (fumble on the OU 31) by Colt that now has festered into three straight games. The great thing about Colt is his resilience to put mistakes behind him and press on. His toughness and running ability that many Longhorn fans would like to see more helped Texas throughout the game.

1st Quarter WTH Davis?! I need to give some credit to [tag]Greg Davis[/tag] on adding a key wrinkle to the play book. The misdirection plays to open the game with a rush draw by Fozzy Whitaker helped put the Sooners back on their heels. One complaint is that the addition of TE [tag]Greg Smith[/tag] to the game plan to thwart the oncoming OU rush was a reactionary measure when inserting the larger WR [tag]Dan Buckner[/tag] would be dictating the offense scheme to OU.

1st Quarter (11:55) WTH A. Williams?! I know everybody is aware of Aaron William’s first career sack on QB Sam Bradford that might have ended Bradford’s career at OU. The play that you may not have noticed was the touchdown saving tackle earlier of Demarco Murray which OU had to settle for a field goal. We all saw the whiff on WR Ryan Broyles which let the Sooners record their only touchdown of the day. The best way to make up for that was the fourth quarter “Stretch Armstrong” (1976 gel filled action figure by Kenner) interception of Landry Jones’ pass that he was trying to throw away.

2nd Quarter (4:52) WTH is a Muff?! Was there possession established by OU Dominique Franks or did UT [tag]Deon Beasley[/tag] dislodge the ball? Did Malcolm Williams fumble the ball at the one yard line or did he fumble it through the end zone for a touchback? I have never seen one play with so many interpretations. The rule needs to be changed next year so that a muff can be returned. I believe the refs got the call right.

2nd Half WTH Fozzy & Cody?! I saw great progress by running backs Fozzy Whittaker and [tag]Cody Johnson[/tag] with the workmanlike attitude of the Longhorn offense line in the second half to run for a total of 142 yards against the Sooners.

Whole Game WTH Horns Defense?! You cannot say enough good things about this unit. They continued to fight when the UT offense was sputtering most of the game. One of the main stats that Coach Blood looks for is creating turnovers (3 fumbles and 2 interceptions). Texas defense held Oklahoma to the lowest rushing yards total (minus 16 yards) ever in a Red River Rivalry game. Defensive MVP was [tag]Earl Thomas[/tag].

Next up for the Longhorn football team is a visit to Columbia to take on Missouri at 7pm on October 24th.

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Posted October 17th, 2009 by Brian
Filed under: Feature, Football

Sergio Kindle intends to (re)introduce himself early and often to Sam Bradford Saturday.

Sergio Kindle intends to (re)introduce himself early and often to Sam Bradford Saturday.

The game Texas and [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] fans have been looking forward to and stressing about for 364 days is finally upon us. Saturday morning the two Big 12 powerhouses will face off in a game that has lost a little luster with the Sooners dropping two early games, but the rivalry always makes this the biggest game of the year. If Texas wins the path to a possible national title shot gets a little clearer, do the editors of 40 Acres Sports think it’ll happen? Find out below:

Brian After last year’s offensive shoot out (45-35!!!!) this year’s game should be a battle of two strong defenses. Texas’ secondary was just a bunch of pups last season but this year they’ve been one of the team’s biggest strengths. Those guys will be helped out against OU quarterback Sam Bradford by a surprising defensive line including end [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag]. OU’s offensive line is a weak spot so expect Mr. Kindle to be in Bradford’s head and in his face all game long. The Horns will also get a big momentum boost or score from either the defense or [tag]DJ Monroe[/tag] and the return game. Texas 27, Oklahoma 13

Matt Bottom-line, this game will be close. Texas’ defense has looked strong this year in my opinion, but they have not faced the type of athletes that Oklahoma will be putting on the field. OU’s running back duo is about as good as it gets, and after watching Sam Bradford play last week I am convinced that is shoulder is not bothering him at all. For the Horns, someone needs to step up big at running back. Last year it was Ogbonnaya. Who will it be this year? Expect Jordan Shipley to make a big play at wide receiver/punt returner, just like he has done all year and did last year in the Red River Rivalry. Texas 33, Oklahoma 27

Ross I compared every position between the Longhorns and the Sooners. The Sooners can boast a better running attack and a better defensive front four (QB play I felt was even). Which should lead me to a Horns win. One looming issue is the caliber of opponents that both teams have faced leading up to this game. OU has played a much tougher schedule and has not survived the trip. The Horns are still trying to put it all together (ie. UTEP game). I am concerned with Colt McCoy’s penchant for an early miscue (fumble or interception) and we all know that the turnover battle is a huge factor with this game. My prediction for the game is that it will be a close one. Texas 24, Oklahoma 23

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ESPN’s college football expert Todd McShay breaks down last year’s Texas 45 – 35 victory over [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] and the adjustments offensive coordinator Greg Davis made to win the game. Watch:

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