Burnt Orange Nation: FanPosts

Texas-Iowa Game Preview

2009-11-23T20:36:01Z

The Horns play Iowa tonight on ESPN2. CBS Sports has a game preview. Here's another good article on Barnes and the team.

Colt McCoy Selected as 2009 O'Brien Finalist!

2009-11-23T20:28:51Z

Colt McCoy has been selected as a Finalist for the 2009 Davey O'Brien Award! McCoy joins Case Keenum of Houston and Tim Tebow of Florida. More information can be found at 2009 Davey O'Brien Finalist.

Fans may continue to show their support and help determine which quarterback will win the coveted O’Brien Award by voting as often as once daily at www.VoteOBrien.org. Fan voting will close at noon (CST) on Dec. 6. The 2009 O’Brien Winner will be announced live on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show airing Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. (CST) on ESPN and will be honored at the 33rd Annual Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner held at The Fort Worth Club on Feb. 15, 2010 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Mystery Recruit?

2009-11-23T20:15:45Z

We know Darius White and Jackson Jeffcoat were in town and some "NON-PAY" boards had posted a "Mystery Recruit" coming in as well. I always look to the BON on any such ramblings for authenticity. So far all has been mum.

All I'm seeing on the BON right now is what we already know. The Aggies are holding their swords preparing to aggravate and assault the cheerleaders in fear of the eminent invasion at Kyle Field. The only thing coming out of it's sheath so far have been wannabe yell leaders posting the traditional nonsense. The game has not sold out from Aggie fans. Could it be that another in state Burnt Orange deluge falls on an opposing venue? I can hear the chants now Slocum, Slocum, Slocum, Slocum, Slocum.

A reprieve is called for. Give me some recruting juice. The most noted guess on the mystery recruit has been in the direction of Mike Davis a current LSU commit and stud receiver. All kind of arguments arise about another receiver, but the most evident denotes the available scholarship vacated by Ross Apo. Darius White and Cobbs were in the mix when that went down, so it;s not like the staff is taking a positional scholly away to make a Davis thing happen.
That could also make the Cobbs positional decision easier if Darius comes as well as Davis. Cobbs would then seemingly go to defense.

This post from ESPN shows his performance in the state playoffs this weekend. Guess what? He was matched up against Adrian White.

Mike Davis, WR (Dallas/Skyline)
Stars: four | Scouts grade: 82
ESPNU 150 rank (position rank): 55 (10)
LSU-bound wideout Mike Davis had 263 yards receiving -- scoring on plays of 74, 71 and 57 yards -- for Skyline (Dallas) in its 41-36 victory over DeSoto (Texas), according to the Dallas Morning News.

So, I can only speculate and trust the best is yet to come.

Would Mike Davis be a good get for Mack and the team? How would you think a Darius White, Jackson Jeffcoat, Jordan Hicks, and now suspicously Mike Davis finish would fit into your wish list?

Other names mentioned as the mystery recruit have been OL Jake Mathews or LB Corey Nelson?

earl thomas vs trent hunter

2009-11-23T18:13:41Z

would love to get beergut on here. before the season beergut said hunter is the 2nd best safety in the country and that earl would be 2nd string at a&m. well now earl is a thorpe award finalist while trent hunter is nowhere to be heard from. ear has provided so many big plays this year osu,ou and cu. i want to know if beergut think hunter is still better than earl

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Aggie Week: Let's hear your favorite Aggie joke.

2009-11-23T05:42:35Z

Since the Aggies are on the menu this week, let's share your favorite Aggie themed jokes. I'll start it off.

A Longhorn walks into a bar and says to the bartender, "Hey bartender, I know a great Aggie joke. You want to hear it?" The bartender says, "Well, before you tell it I should probably tell you that I went to A&M. And you see those two big guys sitting next to you -- they were linebackers for the A&M football team. And those two guys on your other side -- they're Marines, and they used to be in the Corps of Cadets at A&M. Now, are you sure you really want to tell that Aggie joke?"
"Hell no!" the man responds. "I don't want to have to explain it five times!"

Poor, Disillusioned aggies

2009-11-23T00:55:17Z

From today's "What Bowl Game Would You Like to Go To?" post over at the I Am The 12th Man blog:

If we played in the Texas Bowl, we'd face a Navy team featuring the flexbone offense. The advantage there is that the whole "former military school playing a current military school" storyline would really appeal to the media.

I am wondering: Do the aggies understand that they are not, in fact, a military school? Do they understand that they are the only university in the country with a standing corps of cadets (snicker), but no actual affiliation with an actual branch of an actual military service?

More importantly, do they understand that they could be matched up against the national champions of the under-twenty lingerie football league in a game that kicks off at midnight on New Year's Eve from Yankee Stadium, and it wouldn't appeal to the media because Texas A & M football is crappy and irrelevant? Do they understand that, if it wasn't for Texas, the game Thursday wouldn't even be on television because who the hell wants to come to College freaking Station?

Or are they just that mind-bogglingly stupid?

(In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that I found myself banned from their little blog today, which I find funny because I haven't posted over there in a couple of weeks, and I don't recall being particularly nasty when I did post. Whatever. After Thursday, I don't have to think about aggies for a whole year.)

#2 in USA Today Coaches' Poll

2009-11-22T20:30:19Z

Link.

Ohio State and Oklahoma Uni's

2009-11-21T21:05:39Z

Have you seen the abomination that are these uniforms? They both look absolutely awful! I am incredibly surprised that two traditional football programs like these (well, not so much Oklahoma, Stoops would sell his soul for a win but Tressel does surprise me) would even think about going with a Nike marketing ploy like this that would completely change their uniforms. I know Texas has some alternate uniforms that we will be wearing as well but they are not nearly as terrible as these and they are more throwback uniforms than anything. On the same note, if you are going to drastically change your jerseys like Ohio State and Oklahoma have why wouldn't you do something honorable like South Carolina did last week. What they did with the Wounded Warrior project was one of the coolest things I have seen.

BCS Formula Question

2009-11-21T19:10:48Z

Fortunately, Texas looks to be in a strong enough position this season that the BCS formula shouldn't impact them like last season. Win and let everything take care of itself.

But, last season the difference between NC teams was minuscule and the Longhorns ended up on the short end of the BCS formula. At the time I made the assertion that because both OU and UF scheduled lower division teams that don't count in the formula (Tenn-Chatt & Citadel respectively) they had an advantage over Texas. I believe this to be true in that UT's win over UTEP (the worst non-con opponent) ends up being a net negative for their strength of schedule, while OU and UF wins over non-division opponents were a net neutral.

This week we get to see two very closely ranked teams in the same conference play it out during the same weekend and I'll be curious to see how it works out. Alabama plays FCS Tenn-Chatt while Florida plays FBS FIU. Florida's rout of FIU should hurt their S-o-S, while Alabama's destruction of Tenn-Chatt should have no impact on their S-o-S. Yes, sure, there are other factors that may make it hard to tell, like how the teams they've already played did today. And, both Bama and the Gators will now share FIU as a common opponent, as well as Florida already laid waste to their FCS opponent to start their season.

But, I will be curious nonetheless about how much playing a terrible FBS team hurts the overall BCS formula rating, while playing any FCS team doesn't do anything. And I'll always wonder if last season could have turned out better for us if we had played a FCS team instead of UTEP. As long as the BCS formula has this quirk it may make sense to schedule one FCS team a season instead of the obligatory doormat FBS team.

Whad'ya think?

The Perfect Storm of College Football

2009-11-21T08:31:50Z

*(Before you write off this post (I care little if you do or do not agree with the following), I would just like to say that while most of my comments on this site are off the cuff, bonehead knee-jerk reactions, the following is are somewhat logical observations and thoughts about this season in college football. Between PB's great "Villans" post, and continuing somewhat on my post from a few weeks ago about one of the best weekends of the year for college football, I would like to discuss why I think that this year is one of the best years I have witnessed in NCAAF (yes I do know that my above sentences are wild run-ons). *

While the majority of the media has already written this season off as "boring" or "mediocre," I would like to think of it as a year in which traditional powers have struggled, programs/teams/coaches have been exposed, and where non-bcs conferences are making pushes for re-alignment and re-tooling of the BCS system. Is it good that the natl championship game participants have been all but set in stone for 4 months ago? I dunno. But it sure funny that the media has so little to talk about this year in college football that they must posit certain questions or scenarios just so they can fill tv time or blank space on website. IE - Will TCU jump Texas? Will USC jump Boise State? Will Charlie Weis be fired? Lane Kiffin is tweeting! Is Matt Barkley the best fish QB evar? blah blah blah

However, for the Longhorn fan, this year has been better than any in recent memory (minus 2005-2006 of course). Ill give you a quick refresher as to why, IMO:

OU is down, Bob Stoops is as exposed as Jason Segel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and the OU fan base as a whole no longer has anything to look forward to.

A&M is fending off Baylor for bottom of the Big 12 south. Oh, and they havent even sold out their game vs us this year. They just released 3,000 or so tickets to the general public this week.

Texas Tech fans are accepting what they really are - a 6 to 9 win team with a Xbox offense and no D.

Texas is on its way to their 5th natl championship, Colt McCoy is a heisman contender, and UT is in the discussion for possible team of the decade if we run the table.

Also worth noting, this season has been kind to several "smaller" Texas programs:

TCU - #4 and going to the BCS

SMU - 1st bowl game since 1984.. or is it 83?

U of H - Ranked and looking good for next year

Baylor - can still make a bowl game this year if they beat Tech and the Aggies.

One of the things that I think makes this season unique and special is the demise of several overrated teams and big time programs. Say what you want, "A good USC is good for college football," or "A two loss Iowa should have a BCS nod over Boise State," etc. But at least to me, it has been great seeing Rich Rod, USC, and others going down in flames:

Virgina Tech - exposed, why do people even rank these guys?

ND - cant even win with a joke of a schedule... Navy.... Navy lol

Michigan - Rich Rod is really doing a bang up job up there

Kansas - Now I know a lot of yall are going to disagree with me on this one, but FINALLY they are getting shown to the nation what their program really is. How Mark Mangino won coach of the year a couple of years ago is baffling. They somehow weaseled their way into a BCS game a while back and beat the biggest overrated Va Tech team of the decade. Whoop-dee-doo. Look at em now. They only reason they even make it to a bowl each year is because they play in the Big 12 north, AKA the WAC. Once Nebraska, CU and Mizzou quit farting around KU will be little more than a 4-5 win team each year, feasting off more cupcakes than Mangino has hidden in fanny pack. They lost 5... uh, better make it 6 straight and their coach will get fired after this week. And they were #17 towards the beginning of the season? lol

FSU - fire Bowden already and get on with it

and on and on.

Is this just a year with no villans? Where powerhouse teams have struggled and others have risen as a result? A bunch of schools reloading? Good coaching jobs by smaller school coaches? Parity? Its up for debate. I just think that this a rare season that happens to be a perfect storm of college football. Something we havent seen in a while. However, with the Horns succeeding and other programs getting what they deserve, I couldnt be happier. As I stated at the beginning of this post, this might not have had as many star players or plays as say, last season. Yet the drama off the field, injuries, and upsets have more than made this season one for the ages. Relish the agony of other fans, celebrate the team and moments these Horns give you, if anything, take a lesson from this season that Karma really does work.

Texas vs Western Carolina Gameflow

2009-11-20T23:27:54Z

Click here for the Texas vs Western Carolina gameflow

via i45.tinypic.com

Here are the game leaders (by +/- per minute)

Johnson +1.16, +22
Wangmene +1.00, +11
Mason +0.96, +22
Brown +0.86, +18
Ward +0.84, +21
James +0.79, +23
Hamilton +0.79, +11
Bradley +0.65, +11
Balbay +0.55, +11
Williams +0.50, +2
Pittman +0.47, +8

My observations after the jump:

The top performing players for the most part were the hustle players, glue guys, defensive role players. This should tell us that our defense had a bigger impact on the game than our offense, and that doesn't come as a surprise given Barnes' comments of specifically focusing on defense in recent practices. In addition, this should also explain the amount of minutes Ward and Mason earned, along with the lack of minutes of Bradley, Hamilton, and Pittman. Specifically with Mason, while his box score looks rather empty, I think Barnes likes what he sees on the defensive end.
I really want to give props to Johnson and Wangmene. Johnson was the only player to not be a part of a 5-man unit that did not accumulate a negative +/- in the entire game. It's clear based on recent articles about him that he knows his role. Don't expect him to throw up a bunch of mid-range jumpers like we saw last year. He's going to focus on his defense, rebounding, and intangibles to help the team. I'm happy to have him for two more years. Wangmene is becoming a significant defensive force in the paint with his long arms. Had a block shot in 11 minutes and altered other shots. With these two guys and Pittman, our front court defense is probably top 10 in the nation at least. The ability to limit easy baskets in the paint alone will win us a ton of games this season.
My question is how long will this minute distribution continue? Will the younger, more offensive talent players get more playing time as the season continues even if their defense fails to improve dramatically? If the offense struggles against better competition, will Barnes be willing to go to the younger guys, or be loyal to his veteran players (reminiscent to Mack Brown's decision-making a few years ago)? You would think an influx of talent would make the game easier for Barnes, but the expectations for this season and his decision-making on minute distribution and units will be a huge challenge to deal with throughout the year.
Like PB said, we did not do a good job in utilizing Pittman (only played 17 minutes), and these numbers show he was actually the most unproductive as far as +/- per minute goes. This is personally disappointing to me considering he didn't get into foul trouble, and only had 1 turnover. Before the game I looked at Western Carolina's roster and noticed a huge size advantage for Dexter, and yet we did a poor job taking advantage of it. How much of this is on Pittman (his defense, lack of confidence from other players in getting him the ball)? How much of this is on the players around him getting the ball? Does Barnes even want to revolve the offense around Pittman? Some could argue it is not a good idea because Dexy clogging the paint could take away the skill-set of some of our other players.
I liked that we didn't have a single rotation accumulate a negative +/- in the entire second half despite the game being in blowout mode the entire half. Are you watching this, UT football?

Pat Murphy resigns

2009-11-20T22:45:54Z

I know a lot of people are going WTF, who is Pat Murphy. Pat Murphy is the long standing baseball coach at ASU. One of the big names in college baseball stepped down and there is about to be some major moment in the ranks of college coaches.

Breaking news out of Tempe, Ariz.: Pat Murphy has resigned as head coach at Arizona State. The Sun Devils have just released this statement:

Arizona State University baseball coach Pat Murphy announced his resignation today. An interim head coach will assume responsibility for the program until his replacement is selected.

“Coach Murphy has an outstanding record of success on the playing field,” said Lisa Love, university vice president for athletics. “I thank him for 16 years of hard work and service to the university and the sport.”

Pat Murphy became ASU’s head baseball coach in August 1994. During his tenure, he was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year four times, his teams took three straight Pac-10 titles and two World Series berths, and in 1998 he was named the National Coach of the Year.

Since the 2000 season, no other Pac-10 school has won as many games as ASU, both overall and conference games. Murphy has also had more players drafted by Major League Baseball since 1995 than any other coach in the nation.

ASU will immediately begin a national search for a new head baseball coach.

We’ll have much more on this major development as information becomes available.

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Oregon State coach Pat Casey, who had not yet heard the news about Murphy’s resignation and was understandably stunned. Casey is one of Murphy’s closest friends in the college coaching world, and the fact that Casey hadn’t heard this news indicates that this decision was not planned well in advance. Casey even said he spoke with Murphy on the phone "the other day" and Murphy did not say anything about a plan to resign. Reaction in the baseball industry—scouts, agents, coaches—has been shock across the board.

There are two obvious figures on the sidelines here. One is Ken Knutson, who joined ASU’s staff this summer after 17 years as the head coach at Washington. With his background as a head coach in the Pac-10, Knutson would at least make sense as an interim coach to stabilize the situation while the Sun Devils conduct a national search—which might not yield any fruits until after the season. Late November is far from an ideal time to make a big splash with a coaching hire.

Here’s another name to keep in mind: Arizona State softball coach Clint Myers. Sources familiar with the Sun Devils have speculated in the past that Love liked the idea of installing Myers as ASU’s baseball coach. Myers did have success in 10 seasons as the head baseball coach for Central Arizona JC, where he made two trips to the Junior College World Series and won a national title in 2002. He also played for the Sun Devils in the early 1970s, and his son Casey played for ASU as well. Myers played for legendary coach Bobby Winkles, coached under legendary coach Jim Brock, and his son played under Murphy, so he’s a Sun Devil through and through.

Another note: Assistant coach Andy Stankiewicz left the Sun Devils in the last week to take a job in the Mariners’ player-development department, according to multiple sources.

Link

Orakpo says TCU can't hang

2009-11-20T21:11:19Z

Switched this to a post.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/6913/orakpo-hopes-cowboys-remain-confused
On ESPN, at the end it says that Orakpo wants to make it clear that TCU can't hang with us. Good pr Rak!

It also talks a little about how he is playing well and improving. He has 7 sacks this season to go with 32 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss and a pass defended.

The sack number seems crazy to me. Usually, double digit sacks is a big deal, and maybe it still is, but it seems like there will be a lot of people doing that this year. I count 14 people with 6 or more sacks right now that could hit double digits (Dumervil and Allen are tearing it up at an unbelievable pace). Still, that is great to see for his rookie year.

It mentions that he is a canidate for rookie of the year. I'm glad he's in the discussion (and I was hoping he would win it going into the season), but I think Cushing is just playing too well for Rak or anyone else to get it.

Our other rookies:
Melton - not sure he's played
Miller - Looks like he's doing well for a rookie and getting some PT with 21 tackles, 2 sacks, and a tackle for a loss
Obongnayaaa - Yeah, I know that's wrong, but I think it's close enough. Not getting much PT.
Cosby - returning kicks and blocking like a badass
Ryan Palmer and Cedric Dockery - does anyone know if they made rosters and how they are doing?

The Weekly BON Hit Award Baylor

2009-11-20T19:36:59Z

Floyd Casey must have been buried at sunset to earn such a burnt orange visage last Saturday. This game was over at the coin toss leaving only the expectant delicacies of highlights to be teasing our BONickle palate. I don't know about you, but I have grown to expect a spectacular play on each series of downs and have been rarely left wanting. Thanks to Shaggy Bevo for the looks.

Here's the Video

Weekly BON Hit Award Baylor

Poll

Weekly BON Hit Award Baylor

2009 Horns VS 2005 Horns....are we better? Equal? Worse?

2009-11-20T17:58:32Z

It appears to me that the current Longhorns have a better defense than in 2005. It also appears (at least to me) that our offense doesn't produce as well as the 2005 Vince Young led Team did. Obviously Vince was unbelievable as QB, especially his running/scrambling and Colt is equally unbelievable in his passing accuracy.

My question is, has anybody done a statistical analysis comparing the teams through 10 games ? Not that its going to prove anything or be a predictor of future success , but it might be fun to look at the comparative stats.

Go Horns !

Poll

Are the 2009 Longhorns a better team than the 2005 team?

Vote for McCoy Saturday at Gate 25!

2009-11-20T17:01:13Z

Attention all Colt McCoy fans: The Davey O'Brien On-the-Road Campaign will have a tent set-up at the outside Gate 25 on Saturday before the KU game. Stop by and vote Colt McCoy for The O'Brien! Fans who vote at The O’Brien display will automatically be entered into the "Defend Your Pride. Vote O’Brien Sweepstakes," for a chance to win a trip for two to the 2010 O’Brien Awards Dinner at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas. The O’Brien displays will be open pre-game through kickoff.

Fans not able to cast a vote in person can register and vote at www.VoteOBrien.org. Online fan voting will close at noon CST on Nov. 22 and Finalists will be announced on Nov. 23. Finalists will be selected by The O’Brien Selection Committee, comprised of journalists, broadcasters, commentators and former winners, with the Fan Vote accounting for 5 % of the total vote.

I am glad to say I've seen the greatest team of my lifetime...

2009-11-20T06:45:50Z

As Tim Tebow and the Florida Gator's approach a level of piety, one cannot help but wonder if a journalism degree comes with Alzheimer's disease. Just four short years ago, ESPN, as well as almost every sports writer in the country, was ready to crown the USC Trojans as the greatest college football team of all-time. For those who did not get a chance to view the year long USC coronation, the Trojans ended up with two Heisman trophy winners and an entire country's love. Well, at least for a short period of time. As with the tradition of American football, even the great teams have to earn a title. Unfortunately for the USC Trojans, the year they were crowned the greatest team of all time was the same year that Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns were making their own claim on history, and for the first time in BCS history, the nation would be able to witness a game that would crown a true national champion. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this video is worth a lifetime. Enjoy...

All I Want For Christmas

2009-11-19T20:09:58Z

Listen to this podcast from Inside Texas. No purchase necessary.

The recruiting season is still alive and well with this weeks visits of Jeffcoat and Darius White. There are supposed to be some key 2011 prospects at DKR again as well.

It should be a not so "Silent Night" and a KU beatdown will bring "Joy To The (Jerry) World". But "Jingle Bells" are ringing as we ready for the prospect of this years recruiting class.

So Dear Santa,

After we win the Big XII and the MNC

Here's my recruiting Christmas list for 2010 and somethings for you to be thinking about for 2011. I have been a very, very, good boy this year trying to follow our role model QB. Sally will have plenty of homemade cookies and milk for you when you come to my house. I moved to Balcones Drive in, just in case you didn't know.

I know you've seen how naughty those guys have been at ou and USC and you aren't very happy with them, so you can just put their presents under our tree this year so you won't have to carry all that stuff around and wear out your reindeer. Don't even bother going to atm because they don't even know what to do with presents they get anyway.

Love your favorite coach,

Mack

2010

1. Jordan Hicks

2. Jackson Jeffcoat

3. Darius White

4. Return all Defensive Backfield

5. Sign all current commits

2011 Wish List

1. Herschel Sims

2. Chris Barnett

3. Miles Onyegbule

4. Desmond Jackson

5. Leroy Scott

6. Kolby Griffin

7. Sheroid Evans

8. Spencer Drango

9. Malcolm Brown

10. Trey Metoyer

11.P.L. Lindley

Has anyone seen or heard anything on other 2011 prospects you would like to add to our list? I didn' t pick Aaron Green because I have pretty much written him off as a NU commit.

David Greene gets Colt McCoy just right

2009-11-18T21:07:41Z

Greene said he admires McCoy for his ability to beat opponents with his arm and with his feet. "He has to do a lot for their offense but he always seems to be under control," he said. "He doesn't seem to have a lot of ego. He just looks like a good old country boy who enjoys playing football and winning."

This weekend Colt will set another NCAA record, one that will probably never be broken. Manning - Greene - McCoy. That's CFB royalty for ya.

I'm happy for Colt and for Horns fans that the record is going to be broken at home at the end of a stellar career. Anyone else see Colt as our OC in about 10 years?

David Greene article

Article on Texas-Western Carolina Game

2009-11-18T19:09:14Z

From The Sports Network

The O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic presents a major mismatch tonight, as the third-ranked Texas Longhorns play host to the Western Carolina Catamounts.

Western Carolina is fresh off a 65-41 romp over St. Catherine's College in Kentucky on Saturday, and that game marked the season opener for the Catamounts. They exceeded expectations by grabbing a share of the North Division title in the Southern Conference last season, and this year's group figures to be even better. Head coach Larry Hunter has the experience and talent on his roster to battle for the SoCon crown, but beating Texas on its own floor appears highly unlikely.