Too small and not fast enough. Putting aside the infamous dropped interception in a certain West Texas town, true freshman safety Blake Gideon came out of nowhere (or Leander, whichever you prefer) to earn a starting safety position this season. Cerebral, and the coaches son, Gideon generally covered his physical deficiencies by understanding the scheme and putting himself in a position to make plays. What Gideon isn't, though, is physically gifted enough to start at safety for Texas over the next three years. With undersized Earl Thomas lining up alongside Gideon in the secondary, the Longhorns lack the size and the ability to lay any serious wood on receivers wanting to catch the ball over the middle. In other words, the Longhorns need a Craig Loston or a Kevin Brent, both big, fast, physical safeties who escaped the Lone Star State.

Ohio State exposed Gideon's lateral quickness and explosiveness, of which he seems to possess neither. Basically, Gideon is fine reading and reacting downhill, but has absolutely no ability to change direction. The greatest attribute for a safety is range, not just in one direction but also laterally. The play against Pryor in the end zone was just an unacceptable effort. Lacking time to turn and find the ball, Gideon should have relied on Pryor's eyes to see when the ball was coming and attempt to get a hand or two up in his face. Didn't happen and Gideon looked pathetic.

Christian Scott needs to learn the scheme this offseason and overcome whatever mental obstacles have kept him off the field because the Longhorns will need him next year as a physical presence in the secondary to complement Earl Thomas. In a concession to inexperience, the defensive coaches simplified their schemes to left and right safety, instead of the usual strong and free definitions--expect that to change and for Scott to find his way onto the field.

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 The attrition continues. The Longhorn football team is a group of walking wounded. Mack Brown said Wednesday that Brian Orakpo will be a game-time decision. Chip Brown broke the story ($) that Colt McCoy spent as much time in the ice tubs as Quan Cosby did last week after leaving the Tech game with an injury. It led to McCoy hesitating to take the running lanes given to him by the Baylor defense. He also absorbed a couple big hits when blitzing defenders came free through the line. Lamarr Houston left the Baylor game after aggravating an ankle injury he has played through most of the year. Adam Ulatoski injured his elbow in the game, as well, leaving after the injury, although he remained atop the depth chart at left tackle. Chykie Brown has struggled to get back to speed, while recovering slowly from his ankle injury. Now, starting center Chris Hall injured his knee in practice this week, leaving him out of action for the Kansas game and thrusting true freshman David Snow into the starting role. After Buck Burnette's dismissal last week, that leaves tight end (if you can even call him that) Greg Smith as the backup center and the only player on the team who may need two jerseys this weekend. Talk about a team in desperate need of a bye week.

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Several follow up emails arrived in my inbox immediately after yesterday's mailbag. As always, I try to respond to everyone's email individually or on the site. I will never use anyone's full name unless you explicitly authorize me to.

Pete,

Long time no talk. I was wondering what your thoughts were on what I would call the Deon Beasley "conundrum." I have seen about enough of him getting absolutely toasted by opposing receivers--it feels like every time he sees the field.  Plus, I hear Mack gave him a "Ball Hawk" award for his alleged 4th down stop in the end zone last week, when in reality, Denario Alexander caught that ball right over Deon and basically we got lucky that his foot came down 6 cm out of bounds on the chalk. 

Why does he keep getting reps?  And now that Chykie appears to be banged up a little bit, are we gonna have to see Deon a lot or will the coaches wake up and sit him down, and just play Aaron Williams/Curtis Brown?   This worries me a little with Dez Bryant and Damien Davis coming in this week.  Davis especially I think will give him trouble with his height.  Anyways, sorry this turned into a rambling rant, but was just wondering if you had any thoughts.

--Trey L.

Thanks, Trey. I'll offer a couple points worth considering:

1. Chykie Brown should be fine to go.  Whatever nicks and bruises Chykie sustained against Missouri appear not to be lingering. From everything I can tell, he's healthy and ready to play Saturday against Oklahoma State. I'll keep an eye out for any reports indicating otherwise, but unless you know something I don't, I'd expect to see him out there working on Dez Bryant.

2. Beasley so far in 2008.  Believe me, no one has been more disappointed than I in Beasley's uninspiring first half of the season. I not only touted him as one of "My Guys" for the upcoming season but expected a performance that garnered him some all-conference publicity. With that said, I'm not sure I'd characterize his letdown quite the same way that you are: I don't so much see him out there blowing coverage assignments so much as he is--certainly relative to his teammates--not playing with the requisite aggressiveness and willingness to be physical. Honestly, seven games in I think Beasley has found that (probably more than others in the secondary) he has some serious adjusting to do to play the kind of defense Will Muschamp is employing, which is centered on managing space and tackling squarely.

3. Beasley heading forward.  Mack Brown and Will Muschamp have essentially two options: Bench him (as you suggest) or bring him along. The staff is clearly committed to the latter, and wisely so. Deon has the athletic capabilities not only to do better as a physical tackler but also, once he brings that part of his game up to snuff, provide for Texas strong cover skills to boot. Given how much nickle and dime Muschamp is playing, I suspect the coaches believe--as I do--the Texas secondary at max capacity includes Deon Beasley contributing at his top-end abilities. And if it's been disappointing that he's not there yet, I don't at all blame Mack Brown for encouraging him with an award in an effort to keep bringing him along. The defense will be better off if the coaches succeed.

Love the blog.  How, if at all, has the enclosure of the north end zone increased crowd noise or provided a greater home field advantage? Thanks.

--Ian A.

My understanding from talking to folks is that the noise capacity is increased with the new stadium additions, but there have been mixed reports as to how loud DKR has actually been throughout the year. Attendees this past Saturday told me the stadium was especially rowdy (at least while the game was close), but I'll open your question up to the readership here: What's your take on DKR's new configuration from a noise perspective?

Game day, poster-ized.

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Following up from my mid-August conversation with an equally Texas-obsessed friend in Austin, we had a long chat about Texas football. Here in Part 1: Blake Gideon’s surprising role as the secondary’s anchor… My Guys are slow out of the gates… and a reminder that Mack Brown should be focused on titles and titles alone.

SEE? I TOLD YOU SO. (SORT OF.) ((NOT REALLY.))

PB: Looking back at our earlier conversation, do you know what stands out as funny?

TS: Blake Gideon?

PB: Exactly! We both said, essentially, "I doubt he plays much this year, but, you know, I really kinda like him."

TS: Earl Thomas got all the hype, but Gideon's been the freshman godsend back there.

PB: Nothing flashy, but he clearly gets what's going on and what he's supposed to do. I can see why Muschamp went with him as a starter.

TS: I wonder if Muschamp sees some of himself in Blake.

PB: Maybe, but I'd wager Gideon's a significantly better athlete than Muschamp was when he walked on at UGA.

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Impossible to screw up. Imagine you're in charge of coordinating Vince Young's Saturday night jersey retirement at DKR. As you sit down with your staff to brainstorm the final plan, you know wiggling around and through various set-in-stone game elements is unavoidable, of course, so you decide to launch the conversation into orbit via a perfectly safe starting point: "So long as we don't have the ceremony before kickoff, this will be hard to mess up."

Naturally, the actual celebration Saturday night will be at 5:35 p.m., a half hour before kickoff. Because I'm in too good a mood to go on and on about this, I'll quietly hope that it was Vince's schedule which required the early time slot.

Can we at least make sure he's in the locker room before kickoff?

Related: The athletic department is issuing new programs for this year's games, going so far as to re-brand them the Texas Football Playbook, featuring "rosters, depth charts, standings, player features, color photographs and much more." The first cover will commemorate Vince Young and the first 30,000 through the gates Saturday will receive a free copy.

Crack for Longhorn fans. The Statesman's Alan Trubow has a feature on Will Muschamp which contains absolutely nothing you and I don't already know about him. The Muschamp feature story is always the same boilerplate; the only real difference in most of these stories is the quotes...

Which is precisely why we read them! Your Muschamp-related quotes of the day:

"I didn't think I was going to respect him," [Dolphins linebacker Zach] Thomas said. "I mean, he was about the same age as me and never had coached in the NFL. I was really surprised, because I would have run through a brick wall for him after about a week. He's got this infectious personality. He's intense, but he's also honest and sincere, and you just don't want to disappoint him."

"You see a difference in the defense," Texas quarterback Colt McCoy said. "There is an intensity there that's hard to describe, but it's there because of Muschamp."

"I didn't have as much experience as the other coaches I was going against, but I knew I could outwork everybody," Muschamp said. "I just figured that coaching was all about working hard, preparing and relating to people. That's really what this business is about: relating to your players."

I made a gentleman's wager with Orson on the radio last night that Texas would beat FAU by 21+ points. Though I remain tentative about this offense, my confidence in this Muschamp-led defense really couldn't be higher. Texas, 45-17. The defense scores one.

Pay-per-view details announced. Partner cable companies carrying Texas' season opener on pay-per-view have been announced:

A shrinking violet? The much ballyhooed--here and elsewhere--18 returning starters from Florida Atlantic's strong 2007 season is down to 13. The Palm Beach Post breaks it down, including confirmation that center Nick Paris (foot), tight end Jason Harmon (knee), and defensive end Robert St. Clair (knee) will all miss Saturday's game against the Longhorns.

As is clear from my game prediction above, I feel great about this game three days before kickoff, in part because it feels like Florida Atlantic managed to peak sometime early this month. The closer we get to game day, the worse things seem to be getting for FAU: Injuries are sidelining key players while Howard Schnellenberger's aggressive remarks to the press have shifted media attention and, remarkably, even pressure, the Owls' way.

Not good for the road team.

Mack looking for 10th season opening win over non-BCS foe. This will be Texas' 11th home opener during the Mack Brown era, during which the Longhorns have gone 9-1 to kickoff the year. The 'Horns' only season-opening loss the past decade came in 1999, when Texas played NC State, its only BCS-conference opponent. Mack Brown's nine week one victims have been Arkansas State (2007), North Texas ('06, '04, '02), Louisiana-Lafayette ('05, '00), and New Mexico State ('03, '01, '98).

Florida Atlantic joined Division 1 in 2004 and won two of their four season openers. In 2004, their inaugural Division 1 season, the Owls upset Hawaii on the road in overtime 35-28. Schnellenberger's squad then lost to a pair of BCS opponents in 2005 (Kansas) and '06 (Clemson), before winning last season's opener 27-14 over Middle Tennessee State.

Malcolm Williams hitting a wall? Both Chip Brown and Greg Carlton report that Malcolm Williams closed out camp struggling a bit, including missed blocking assignments and a few dropped balls. Greg Davis suggested the staff may have pushed Williams too hard after he started fall practices so strong. "We've seen something that really has caught our attention. But we're looking for consistency. Malcolm really started off well. We may have put too much on him early cross-training him."

I began singing Williams' praises before fall workouts even began, but his end-of-camp struggles highlight why--even for the most talented of freshmen (redshirt or otherwise)--it's an uncertain bet to expect greatness on a consistent basis. Football at this level requires both skill and repetition; few can perform at a consistently great level right from the get-go.

What's important is that the coaches let the most talented play on the field, pick up reps, and make their mistakes. On multiple occasions during his freshman and sophomore seasons Deon Beasley had his ankles broken in the ugliest of fashions, but he's ready now because of it. Malcolm Williams will need to be pushed and tested, as well, including especially when he makes mistakes.

One of my favorite columns of any kind each year was MLB columnist Joe Sheehan's "My Guys" piece, which he used to run prior to each season, highlighting a handful of players he loves to have great, high-impact seasons but who aren't receiving sufficient hype. This year, he tweaked the format to "Breakout Players," but the concept is about the same.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

Right. My Guys for 2008:

Lamarr Houston, DT - If there's a Lamarr Houston Hype Parade, I suppose I've been the guy with the funny hat, elongated wand, and whistle. I've seen others here and elsewhere start to come around, but judging by the poll in the right sidebar... I'm not exactly leading a revolution. As I keep saying during each of this summer's radio appearances, I think he's the best player on the team.

Deon Beasley, CB - I'm not exactly on an island here, but as far as I can tell, my opinion of Deon Beasley's potential this season is well ahead of most. Not only is he a shining example of proper player development - a credit to the coaches - but the end result is a player who's as mentally confident as he is physically gifted. Playing elite cornerback requires that kind of mental confidence - if you're thinking, you're finished - and if all goes well, Texas has one of the conference's best cornerbacks and the coaches get as strong a reinforcer as is imaginable that the Beasley Way is the Proper Way to develop a player. He's not the team's most gifted defensive back - just the best developed. With so much young talent in the DB Cupboard, a championship-level secondary can be had sooner rather than later.

Sam Acho, DE - Lamarr Houston? Is an NFL-caliber physical freak. Sam Acho... far less so. But it took me about three plays last season to do that thing where you sort of squint in at the TV, hit rewind, and ask yourself, "Wait, who was that?" The kid has absolutely phenomenal instincts, and if Brian Orakpo is the obvious star at end, Acho is the guy - more so than Eddie Jones, perhaps - that I look forward to seeing on the field opposite Orakpo. Especially given what Muschamp will be asking of his front four, I love what Acho brings to the table.

Malcolm Williams, WR - Though I sense more Kirkendoll and Buckner hype, I'm sticking with Williams as My Guy to be the breakthrough receiver for Texas this year. I remember 2004 well enough to be wary of expecting too much of any first-year receiver, but if there's a 2008 successor to Limas Sweed, I think it's Williams. I'm making him one of My Guys because he's a lot stronger than Sweed was in '04.

Michael Huey, G - I see absolutely no difference between Huey and Justin Blalock, a four-year starter at Texas and immediate starter for the Atlanta Falcons in the Sunday league. A product of the Kilgore football factory, Huey is an Absolutely Dependable starter waiting to happen.

Who are Your Guys heading into 2008? And more importantly.... why?

Especially at this time of year, it's nice when the content comes to you. Admittedly, I wasn't thinking about that when I jumped in this Phil Steele thread with a quick, unsubstantiated assertion that "Lamarr Houston is the best player on the team." But I'm glad I threw it in there, as it quickly led to a great topic for tonight's post.

Reader 'texasfan05' replied:

your kidding....

Right?

Lamarr Houston is a great player, and is a solid D lineman, but “best player on the team”??? I don’t think so. He’s not even the best player on the Defense. Kindle takes that slot. This should be Kindles year, I’ve watched him for 2 years now, and when he’s not hurt, everytime he’s on the field he makes a play. When we kick the ball off, me and my friends just watch Kindle because he always takes someone’s head off, whether it be the ball carrier or a blocker.

Soon thereafter, reader 'BMG' took the topic to its logical conclusion, proposing a discussion of the team's Top 10 players. A grand idea, which we'll run with for a couple of reasons. First, it'll be fun: there aren't any right answers (though maybe some wrong ones). And second, I think you'll find that if you sit down to put together a top 10, it's not so hard to see why this year is such a critical development season for the Longhorns.

TEXAS' TOP 10

In the mix: Apologies now to Jared Norton, Eddie Jones, Jordan Shipley, Ryan Palmer, and the dozen or so young kids oozing with talent who may well take this list by storm before the season's over. And to the offensive line, who I'm just not considering for this particular list. Feel free to do so in your own Top 10, but I'll save my line commentary for another post; it needs to be an integrated set of thoughts.

10. Sergio Kindle and John Chiles - I'll include these two at the back end of the list for their difference-making potential. We've seen flashes of sexy from both, but my own list weights production at least as much as raw talent, which is why I'm not in agreement with texaslonghornfan05's position. For Chiles, it was a fine true freshman debut, but (a) his action was very limited and (b) he wasn't allowed to pass (and when he was he missed).

And Kindle? I absolutely see the beast of a player texaslonghornfan05 so enjoys, but there's an enormous gulf between what we think he could become and what he's been. Even setting aside the DUI and the injuries, his production in 8 games last season wasn't anything special: 32 tackles, 4 tackles-for-loss, 0.5 sacks.

I will say this about these two, though: It might well be that no two players could do more to making 2008 a special season. A healthy, breakout season for Kindle would give Muschamp a truly great trio of linebackers to work with. And Chiles may represent Texas' best bet to give the offense an explosive dimension it's desperately going to need.

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