On the second-team defense not allowing a score at the end: "That was something that we really tried to emphasize this year as opposed to last year. Last year there were a lot of times where we tried to sub and get a lot of guys some playing time, and we let a lot of scores go in. We told those guys there is a certain standard that we have at The University of Texas on defense, and we do not want to let people into the end zone late in the game, and I thought our players did a great job of making that stop there late."

Discuss.

The more film I watch of Texas third-year sophomore S Earl Thomas, the more impressed I am with his combination of skills. Outside of Tennessee's Eric Berry, there is not a safety in the country who wears more hats for his defense than Thomas.

The first thing that jumps out is that Thomas lines up all over the field. He can shadow wide receivers in the slot, and Thomas made a nice interception against Missouri after lining up over the slot, turning with the receiver out of his break and adjusting well to the ball. He also shows tremendous range when playing the deep middle in zone coverage, and he shows rare closing burst for a college player both when the ball is in the air and when tracking down ball carriers. He simply makes plays and is always around the ball.

The one knock on Thomas is that he is a bit undersized at 5-foot-11, 198 pounds, but he has time to fill out his frame and get stronger over the next couple of years, be it at Texas or in the NFL. Whether Thomas enters the draft in 2010 or 2011 -- or even 2012 -- he has the look of an early-to-mid first-round pick.

Should Thomas leave school following this season, the overall safety class would become very strong. Berry ranks as the No. 1 overall player on the board, and while USC's Taylor Mays remains in the top half of the first round, Thomas could become legitimate competition for the No. 2 spot in the safety class. With LSU's Chad Jones rising into the early-second-round area and South Florida's Nate Allen showing the physical tools of a second-rounder, we could see five safeties come off the board in the top 50 picks in 2010.

What's the deal with Colt's thumb? Should we be worried or is it just the excuse of the week?

OU WR Ryan Broyles To Start - Joe Schad ESPN

Stoops says Fracture was slight misdiagnosed

I find myself looking forward to the retirement of the best coach we’ve had in a long, long while solely so that I don’t have to watch Davis preside over a steaming, rancid excuse for an offensive gameplan again.

henley said:
October 10th, 2009 at 8:48 pm

Funny quote from Barking Carnival with some truth to it, IMO

Colorado at West Virginia | Open Thread

Epic matchup between the 'Buffs and Mountaineers.

Game is already in the 2nd quarter, all tied up at 7.

Anyone up for this? If not, atleast I just didn't clog up the Fanposts.

Dr. Joseph Guillotine was a man of mercy, but he did not actually invent the machine created for swift, efficient, and "painless" decapitations in the name of revolutionary justice. He merely suggested it. Its actual engineers were anonymous men working at the direction of mad revolutionaries who did not sleep, so deep was their thirst for blood and victory. In other words: Sergio Kindle, doing precisely what Will Muschamp was telling him to do for la Republique

Even to this day, I consider myself a learner. I'm always trying to learn new things and I feel like there is always going to be room for improvement. And that's been my mentality ever since I got here. I learned from Vince. I learned from Coach [Greg] Davis every day. One of the things I've always tried to do is practice every day like it's a game. And that means mentally, physically, I'm ready to go.

I said to Vince, "Talk to me. Tell me what you're seeing. And if I don't understand what you're saying, then I'll go back in the playbook or I'll ask Coach Davis. I just want to know terms and what coverages you're seeing. Just talk to me." I learned so much as Vince went through [watching film]. So I did the same thing with [freshman QB Garrett] Gilbert this summer. I would teach him everything I knew going through film. What's great is when I'm talking through it, I'm also reminding myself while I'm teaching him.

Strange thing for a Fanshot, but I just wanted to comment on how nice a guy Chris Hall is. I made it down to Fan Day, and he went out of his way to talk to us and make us feel welcome. A great ambassador for the team. It made my day. Kudos to Chris.

Last December, Jan McCoy traveled to New York to see her grandson honored at the Heisman weekend. She got to the outdoor set of the "Today" show on the following Monday early enough to be on the rope line. When one of the guests, actor Tom Cruise, worked the crowd, she introduced herself to him as Colt McCoy's grandmother. Cruise lit up.

"I love your grandson!" Cruise said. You should be proud. He's a great player and a great kid."