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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 Arkansas 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 Colt McCoy 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.

John Chiles 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. Vondrell McGee got the majority of the carries with Mack Brown 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 Cody Johnson 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 Jeremy Hills 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 Major Applewhite 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.” Jordan Shipley looks like he is the new safety net for Colt now that we know Blaine Irby 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 Quan Cosby added one more. The one nice thing about a blowout win is we get to see some young players get some action. Sophmores James Kirkendoll and Brandon Collins 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 Casey Dick, 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. Earl Thomas actually made some plays, and Blake Gideon’s name was called for some other than getting beat. It looks like Will Muschamp might actually be getting through to these guys.

Aaron Williams 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 Brian Orakpo 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. Bobby Petrino 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 Colorado team who is looking for revenge after their 70-3 loss in the 2005 Big 12 Championship game.

Texas blew out Arkansas 52-10 Saturday thanks to big plays, near perfection from Colt McCoy, 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.

Position Rating: B-
Starters: Deon Beasley, Ryan Palmer
Reserves: Chykie Brown, Curtis Brown, Aaron Williams

If you’ve watched the last few NFL drafts you know the Longhorns have had a lot of talented cornerbacks in recent years, but if you watched games or looked at stats you’ll notice the Texas pass defense has been awful since the 2005 championship season. This year the position is as talented as ever, but hopefully with new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp it will translate to fewer big plays and fewer points on the scoreboard.

The two starting corners both saw significant playing time last season. Senior Ryan Palmer is by far the most experienced player in the Texas secondary. Palmer started every game last year and led the team in pass break-ups while also recording 80 tackles. He is a little undersized but makes up for it with speed and confidence. Palmer might not be the playmaker some of the younger guys are but coaches will be looking to him to provide consistency and leadership in the young defensive backfield.

At the other corner is Deon Beasley. 2008 will be his first as a starter but the junior saw significant snaps last year as the team’s nickelback and in a couple of spot starts. He picked off three passes last year and with more time on the field this season should create even more turnovers for the Texas D. Lean and athletic Beasley has already shown flashes that he could be the team’s next great corner.

The guys behind the top two should also see a lot of the field as the defense should play a lot of nickel against the many spread offenses they’ll face this season. Sophomores Chykie Brown and Curtis Brown (no relation) are both gifted players that stand over six feet tall. Chykie has performed so well in spring and fall practices that on the first depth chart of the year he was actually listed as a co-starter with Beasley.

Behind them is true freshman Aaron Williams who has come in and immediately impressed. Currently listed as the fifth corner there was buzz in the last two weeks that his incredible talent already had him passing some of the more experienced players ahead of him. Look out for him as the season goes on to get more and more playing time.

Cornerback is full of speed and talented depth, but that has been true before and hasn’t resulted in good defense. There are more playmakers in the group than in recent seasons and if the front seven can pressure the quarterback we could see a lot more turnovers created this year. With the big time passing offenses in the Big 12 this group will be tested early and often, but an improved performance will mean a vastly improved defense. We’ll find out soon what Palmer, Beasley, and company are capable of.

Related Links

• Quarterbacks preview
• Running backs preview
• Wide Receivers preview
• Tight ends preview
• Offensive line preview
• Defensive tackles preview
• Defensive ends preview
• Linebackers preview
• Safeties preview

Football season is so close you can smell it. Less than a week from now the Longhorns will finally take the field for the 2008 season against FAU and today Mack Brown and Co. released the first official depth chart of the year. We wouldn’t be true Texas fans if the first thing we did wasn’t overanalyze and complain about it, so of course we’ve done that below:

General Thoughts

• Lots of OR’s all over the place like every year. Harder to complain this year because there’s a ton of youngsters on at least one side of the conjunctions.
• Looks like there will also be a lot of situational players as well. There are several places where players (e.g., Aaron Lewis) are listed as co-starters with very different complementary players.
• Lots of youth in general, including several true freshmen. There may be some games this year where you’re yelling at the television set because of the mistakes but 2008 and 2009 should be exciting.

Offense

• No Malcolm Williams anywhere at wide receiver. Not in the top 3 at either flanker or split end. True freshman Dan Buckner right behind Quan Cosby is encouraging but overall no Williams seems like bigger story. Let’s hope the light comes on.
• Former tackle Greg Smith has been back at the position for less than two weeks but he’s already listed ahead of Peter Ullman as the blocking tight end.
• Michael Huey vs. Cedric Dockery vs. Charlie Tanner at guard. Everyone has been raving about Huey throughout fall camp but most believed he’d be cutting into Tanner’s reps not Dockery’s. The general opinion (and we all know that’s never wrong) is that Dockery is the better of the returning guards but Huey is listed behind him. Is there a strategic reason the coaches believe Huey should stay at right guard?
• The 12 names and 5 OR’s confuse me at running back. What exactly is going on there?

(more …)

Update: Bevo Sports is giving away NCAA Football 09, enter to win!

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:

Downloads

• Texas player ratings
• Full top 25 player ratings

The big one got away today (under suspicious circumstances) but the 2008 Texas recruiting class is still a good one. Mack Brown and the Horns signed 20 young athletes to letters of intent, nine of which are already on campus for the spring semester.

The class is headlined by defensive backs Aaron Williams and DJ Monroe, who along with safety Nolan Brewster, should anchor the Texas defensive backfield for the next four or five years. On the offensive side WR/RB DeSean Hales is electric with the football in his hands and wide receiver Dan Buckner is huge and will catch anything thrown in his general direction.

Here’s the full list of signees:

Name	Position	Rating	Hometown
Emmanuel Acho	LB		Dallas
Nolan Brewster	DB		Denver, CO
Mark Buchanan	OL		Austin
Dan Buckner	WR		Allen
Brock Fitzhenry	RB		Giddings
Blake Gideon	DB		Leander
DJ Grant	WR		Austin
DeSean Hales	RB		Klein
Antoine Hicks	ATH		Mansfield
Jeremy Hills	RB		Alief
Jarvis Humphrey	DT		Cedar Hill
Dravannti Johnson	LB		Nederland
DJ Monroe	DB		Angleton
Tre Newton	RB		Southlake
Luke Poehlmann	OL		Brenham
Kheeston Randall	DT		Beaumont
Ryan Roberson	RB		Brenham
David Snow	OL		Gilmer
Justin Tucker	K		Austin
Aaron Williams	DB		Round Rock

Congratulations to the newest Texas Longhorns!

5A Texas Football.com has released their awards for the 2007 season and several future Longhorns have made their list. Just like last year, Leander safety Blake Gideon is receiving state accolades and 5A Texas Football.com has named him their Defensive MVP. The kid may not be highly rated recruit but he just makes plays and he’s been one of the best players in the state’s highest classification the last two years.

Here’s the rest of the future Horns who made their list:

The US Army All-American Bowl is most fans first chance to see the top high school recruits for themselves. Texas fans can see several Longhorn commitments take the field for the West squad as well as take their first look at 5-star stud running back Darrell Scott, who reportedly may now favor the Horns. Tune in now (12 pm Central) to NBC to catch the game.

Here are the Texas commits and targets to watch for:

Name	Number	Position	Commit?	Ranking
Nolan Brewster	24	Safety	Yes
Dan Buckner	4	Wide receiver	Yes
Dravannti Johnson	44	Linebacker	Yes
DJ Monroe	25	Defensive back	Yes
Rahim Moore	15	Safety	No
Darrell Scott	2	Running back	No
David Snow	76	Guard	Yes
Justin Tucker	23	Kicker	Yes
Aaron Williams	7	Cornerback	Yes

I’ll post some relevant updates and thoughts below:

First Quarter

• Nice looking punt by Justin Tucker. He’s been recruited as a placekicker but it certainly wouldn’t hurt if he could help out as a punter as well.
• DJ Monroe makes a good break on the football and knocks the pass up in the air for Nolan Brewster to pick it off. A third Texas commit, Dravannti Johnson, was also right there after the play was over. Impressive play by Monroe.
• Fantastic catch by Dan Buckner taking advantage of his size to go up high and grab the ball over a shorter corner. Definitely something I think we’ll see a lot of during his Longhorn career.

Second Quarter

• Good coverage by corner Aaron Williams but he gets beat deep. Williams has reportedly been very impressive this week and may be on the verge of getting a fifth star. He’s got good size but his speed (despite being listed with a 4.4 forty time) may mean he ends up at safety.
• It’s pretty clear where the Terrelle Pryor/Vince Young comparisons come from. The kid is big and natural and makes things look easy. Vince became Vince because of his intangibles and the improvements he made while in school, if Pryor can do the same he’ll be special.
• Monroe doesn’t look afraid of contact. Came flying up on screen and made a solid tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
• Another play by DJ Monroe. Good high punt by Tucker and Monroe gets down the field quickly as one of the gunners and covers up the ball after the East returned muffed it.
• Good tackle by Williams. I love to see secondary guys who can actually tackle.

Third Quarter

• I haven’t noticed Darrell Scott much. I don’t think he’s been in on a ton of snaps.
• Safety Rahim Moore, who is committed to UCLA but is still being recruited by Texas, just made a big hit on a pass breakup then popped up and gave the double hook ‘em. Don’t know what our chances are but new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp won’t hurt.

Just like last year the 2008 recruiting season is just a few weeks old and the Longhorns have already bagged nine of the top recruits in the state.

The headliners of the group are possible 5-star wide receiver Dan Buckner out of Allen and offensive lineman David Snow from Gilmer. Buckner is big (6-foot-5) and fast (4.5 forty), he could be the next number 4 out at wide receiver for the Horns. Some have Buckner rated as the top receiver in the country.

I’m also excited about Justin Tucker, a kicker out of Austin Westlake. Tucker is the nation’s top rated kicker and the Horns didn’t let this one get out of their own backyard (see Mason Crosby). Tucker will be a redshirt freshman when Hunter Lawrence is a senior, meaning we’re actually stacking the roster and won’t have to rely on a true freshman walk-on kicker for once.

2008 Commits

• LB Emmanuel Acho - Dallas
• OL Mark Buchanan - Austin
• WR Dan Buckner - Allen
• ATH Brock Fitzhenry - Giddings
• RB Jeremy Hills - Alief
• DB DJ Monroe - Angleton
• RB Ryan Roberson - Brenham
• OL David Snow - Gilmer
• K Justin Tucker - Austin
• DB Aaron Williams - Round Rock

Update: Added Emmanuel Acho to the list as his commitment became official this morning. The 6-foot-2 linebacker out of Dallas St. Mark’s is of course 2007 signee Sam Acho’s little brother. Check out some great video highlights of Emmanuel.