40 Acres Sports

Chris Ogbonnaya had 133 total yards.

The number one ranked Longhorns had an impressive win in front of a national audience last Saturday when they beat the Missouri Tigers 56-31. The game wasn’t even as close as the final scored would indicate as Texas jumped on Missouri early, taking a 35-3 lead into halftime. Some of the usual suspects and some new faces came up big in a night that could turn out to be the highlight of the 2008 season. Here is the big board:

1. Colt McCoy - Could anyone else be on top of the board? The Heisman front runner turned in his best performance of the season Saturday night. Colt went 29 of 32 (92%) for 337 yards and two touchdowns. He also added two touchdowns on the ground. McCoy is playing better than anyone in the country and seems to break a UT passing record every single time he steps on the field.
2. Sergio Kindle - No Texas defender put up huge stats this weekend, but Kindle was everywhere all night. His athleticism is second to none as he showed on one play chasing down a Missouri reverse after being blocked. The linebacker/defensive end ended the night with five tackles and one of UT’s two sacks of Chase Daniel.
3. Chris Ogbonnaya - Ogbonnaya has come out of nowhere to become the unquestioned go to back in Texas’ backfield. For the first few games of the season Texas fans and their staff were searching for a guy to break out. It was Chris “O” all along. The former wide receiver led the team in rushing, gaining 68 yards on 13 carries including two touchdown runs. The senior’s main strength may be what he does when receiving out of the backfield where he added another 68 yards on six catches. McCoy is driving this team, but the emergence of Ogbonnaya has been the best thing that has happened to this offense so far this season.
4. Brian Orakpo - His stats will not impress you: only one tackle. But how he changes a game can not be measured by a box score. O-Sackpo as his teammates are calling him forced Chase Daniel to move around all night. He forced Daniel into Kindle’s arms for one sack and caused the hurried throw by Daniel in the end zone that led to Ryan Palmer’s interception. Orakpo has been unblock able all year, and will be on everyone’s All American team as this year finishes.
5. Brandon Collins - Yes, Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby had more catches but the emergence of Collins as a third receiver was huge for this team. He made a huge catch early in the game to get the offense going and continued to make plays in the slot throughout the night. Collins finished with six catches for 76 yards clearly becoming the best option not named Shipley or Cosby for McCoy in the passing game. As important as it was in this game, the impact of Collins’ night will have an effect on how defenses have to prepare for this offense moving forward.
6. Blake Gideon - This guy impresses more and more with each game. Watching the true freshman on TV does not due him justice. Gideon makes all the calls for the secondary, frequently barking out calls or make hand gestures right before the snap because he saw something that needed to be changed. He is a sure tackler that isn’t afraid of contact as he proved when putting a lick on tight end Chase Coffman early in the game. The combination of Gideon and fellow freshman Earl Thomas has improved significantly to the point that the safeties are becoming a strength of this team instead of a liability.
7. Charlie Tanner - The big guys on the offensive line need some love. Tanner went out early in the season and the so called experts (message board coaches) thought that the injury could be a good thing for the line because it would allow higher rated Michael Huey to get more game time. The fact is that this unit struggled with Tanner not in the lineup and the proof is that now Huey and David Snow take senior Cedric Dockery’s snaps when they come into the ball game and not Tanner’s.
8. Jordan Shipley - The chemistry between Shipley and McCoy is unfair at this point. Shipley has become essentially the tight end for this football team and frankly the offense is more explosive because of it. Shipley ended the night with another touchdown (he has scored at least one in every game) on eight catches for 89 yards. Missouri showed Shipley respect by not kicking to him at all on the evening.
9. Roddrick Muckelroy - “Muck” probably deserves to be higher on the list because he led the team in tackles once again accounting for 11 total on the night. Missouri’s offense got away from the run early because of the score but Muckelroy was still able to make an impact. The junior linebacker doesn’t make the “wow” plays that Kindle and Orakpo do but there is no doubt that Roddrick is the best and most complete linebacker on the team. He has struggled with injuries in his career but has stayed healthy and come into his own this season.
10. Ryan Palmer - There was concern coming into the game that the senior cornerback wasn’t going to be able to play because of the hamstring he injured in the Oklahoma game. Palmer played and made a big impact on the night, recording Texas’ lone turnover on an interception and almost making another pick early in the game that would have been returned for a touchdown if the not so sure handed corner would have held on. Palmer may not have the physical gifts that some of the younger defensive backs on the roster have, but he plays hard and with an attitude that I think is beginning to rub off on guys like Chykie Brown and Earl Thomas.
11. Quan Cosby - McCoy is going to get a lot of credit for the passing attack, and rightfully so, but Cosby and Shipley have played at another level this whole year. Cosby finished the night with seven catches for 74 yards. Cosby plays harder than anybody on the team and just appears to max out his ability on every snap of every game. He contributes in the return game on punts and kicks and has become one of Texas’ better blocking receivers. With Shipley moving inside, Cosby has become UT’s go to outside receiver and he has yet to disappoint.

Position Rating: B
Starters: Adam Ulatoski, Charlie Tanner, Chris Hall, Cedric Dockery, Kyle Hix
Reserves: Tray Allen, David Snow, Buck Burnette, Michael Huey, Britt Mitchell

The Texas offensive line struggled through the 2007 season due to injuries and inexperience. Injuries to important senior players forced young guys to step in and play before they were ready. Those struggles last year should however prepare the group for 2008, as every starter has significant playing experience and nine of the top 10 guys have seen previous playing time.

Adam Ulatoski and Kyle Hix are entrenched as the starting tackles. Ulatoski is the most experienced player on the line but will be moving from the right side to the left to protect QB Colt McCoy’s blindside. Various serious and nagging injuries have prevented him from becoming the dominant tackle Texas fans thought he would be, but he’s still only a junior and he’s finally healthy so this could be a big year for Ulatoski. On the other side, Hix played in every game last year as a true freshman and started at right tackle in the Holiday Bowl. He was a top recruit in the state and expectations are high for him for this season and his career. Tray Allen and Britt Mitchell will be the primary backups at tackle.

The guard positions aren’t as set in stone. The current starters are Charlie Tanner and Cedric Dockery but there is also a lot of noise about sophomore Michael “Baby” Huey. Tanner and Dockery were the starters for most of 2007 and each is a consistently solid performer. Dockery once looked like he’d follow his brother Derrick to the NFL but missed significant time with a serious knee injury in 2006 and is hopefully finally at full strength now. The three players will likely all see good amount of playing time early on as the coaches see if Huey can unseat one of the veterans. True freshman David Snow is the fourth guard on the depth chart and looks to have a bright future.

Chris Hall looks to have finally found a permanent home. After spending time at all five positions on the line last year as a sophomore he’ll anchor the line this year as the starting center. His intelligence and experience at every position should let him excel as the quarterback of the offensive line. Talented backup Buck Burnette needs to be ready in case Hall is required to shuffle around again this season.

They may not get the pub other positions do, but the offensive line is the most important piece of any good football team. After a rough 2007 season the line should be a strength in 2008. If they stay healthy it’ll mean more time for McCoy to pass and more holes for the running backs to run through, which in turn means a more consistent offense.

Related Links

• Quarterbacks preview
• Running backs preview
• Wide Receivers preview
• Tight ends preview
• Defensive tackles preview
• Defensive ends preview
• Linebackers preview
• Cornerbacks 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?

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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 Texas Longhorns held their annual football banquet Friday night (photos) where they honored team members for their accomplishments on and off the field. Though fans and recruits do attend, the event is definitely a night for the players to look back on the season and to honor the careers of the outgoing seniors.

Quarterback Colt McCoy and running back Jamaal Charles were deservedly named the team MVPs. McCoy didn’t have as good of a season as he did his freshman year but he definitely is the player that made this team go (when it went anywhere). Charles was also named Darrell K. Royal Most Valuable Offensive Player while the Mike Campbell Most Valuable Defensive Players were Brandon Foster and Marcus Griffin.

In a team vote Dallas Griffin, Tony Hills, and Derek Lokey were honored with the D. Harold Byrd Leadership Award. Also, in a shocking development quarterback McCoy was given the Outstanding Quarterback Award.

In a move that infuriated Internet Coaching and Motivational Experts Rashad Bobino, Scott Derry, and Robert Killebrew shared the honor of being the team’s Outstanding Linebackers. I’m not sure what else you can really do though as no linebacker really deserved the honor and it would be pretty embarrassing to not hand out an award for the position.

A list of all the award winners is after the jump.

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