SB Nation - John Chiles

Under The Hood: Nebraska vs Texas Statistical Comparison

Jon Johnston — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:39:22 -0000

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Most of the talk will center around Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley. Husker fans need to know the name Sergio Kindle, though, as he's a disruptive force on defense.

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One piece of advice - don't bother defending Nebraska's offense to anyone. You don't need to - people aren't expecting us to win so that pressure is on Texas. In fact, just consider our offense a zero, and then make the case for why we won't need an offensive touchdown to beat them.

Next question is - can you make that case? Answer = you can if you're delusional and that describes my relationship with Nebraska football. Most of the predictions I see from Texas people (reasonable Texas people, is that an oxymoron? Just asking...) are in the 20-point range.

Let's figure that Texas scores 21 points. Obviously we'll need 21 to match or better. If you give us a big play on special teams, blocked punt or kick, there's one-third. Our defense should be capable of a big play, say a Ndamukong Suh interception return (or Matt O'Hanlon, I'm not picky) for a touchdown (where he runs over Colt McCoy like a rag doll), there's another third.

Can our offense score seven points against Texas?

Statistics include national and conference rankings in parentheses.

Offensive Statistics

	Nebraska	Texas
Rush YPG	147.42 (64/6)	163.92 (47/5)
Rush YPC	4.12 (69/6)	4.40 (50/3)
Rush TDS	18 (61/7)	27 (8/1)

Pass YPG	187.3 (93/9)	287.7 (13/3)
Pass YPA	7.0 (67/8)	7.5 (43/2)
Pass TDS	15 (75/10)	27 (10/3)
Pass Efficiency	128.95 (62/8)	148.5 (15/1)

Total Offense	334.8 (93/11)	451.6 (11/3)
Scoring Offense	25.6 (72/8)	43.0 (3/1)

- Move along, there's nothing to see on the left side here.

- On the right side, it's interesting to note that Texas is eighth in the nation with rushing TDs. In fact, it's somewhat shocking with all the negativity about their run game. 14 of their 27 rushing TDs came against their non-conference opponents, leaving 13 for eight Big 12 games. That sounds better, doesn't it?

- 10 of Texas 27 passing TDs came against non-conference opponents.

- Texas longest rush of the season was that 65-yard run last week against the Aggies. McCoy had another long rush of 43 against the Aggies as well. Against Big 12 opponents, they've had only six rushing plays over 20 yards.

- Texas looks like they've gotten their running game together, largely because they've found a productive back. Running out of time, I'll expound on this later, hopefully this afternoon.

- The Longhorns longest pass of the season was an 88-yard pass against Central Florida from McCoy to Jordan Shipley (surprise, surprise). The pair hooked up for a 78-yarder against UL-Monroe. The longest against a Big 12 opponent was McCoy-Malcolm Wiliams for 68 yards. Against conference opponents, they've had 12 passes longer than 20 yards. Of those, only two were to Shipley. Four went to Williams, two to James Kirkendoll, and one to John Chiles.

Defensive Statistics

	Nebraska	Texas
Rush YPG	101.08 (14/5)	61.75 (1/1)
Rush YPC	2.98 (12/5)	1.99 (1/1)
Rush TDS	6 (5/2)	5 (2/1)

Pass YPG	189.5 (17/2)	201.4 (39/3)
Pass YPA	5.4 (7/2)	5.6 (9/3)
Pass TDS	7 (3/1)	14 (34/4)

Total Defense	290.6 (11/3)	263.2 (5/1)
Scoring Defense	11.1 (3/1)	15.4 (9/3)

- Oklahoma's defense is comparable to the Longhorns, so we've played a defense of this caliber before.

- We gave up three touchdown passes to Colorado, yet remain first in the nation in defending touchdown passes. It'd have been nice to have kept that number lower and remain in the "that's incredible" category (maybe we're still there, I'll look at that stuff after the season is over), but this is one key area between both these teams.

- The longest pass and run plays by our opponents both came in the Virginia Tech game, with a 46-yard by Ryan Williams and the disappointing 81-yard pass by Tyrod Taylor that helped them when the game.

- The 1.99 yard per carry given up by Texas defense is astounding. They've given up only six plays of over 20 yards all season. If that sounds awesome, the Blackshirts aren't far behind with eight. In passing plays of over 25 yards, Texas has given up 13, while Nebraska has given up 18.

The Details

	Nebraska	Texas
3rd Down Conversions (Pctg)	39.52 (59/6)	47.70 (13/2)
Red Zone Conversions (Score %)	80 (71/8)	92.86 (9/1)

Turnover Margin	+4 (39/5)	+12 (8/1)
Sacks	33 (12/5)	36 (5/3)
Tackles for Loss	74 (38/7)	103 (2/1)
Sacks Allowed	18 (40/5)	22 (61/6)
Punting (Avg)	41.98 (38/4)	38.94 (87/9)
Punt Returns	10.95 (37/5)	13.45 (14/2)
Kickoffs (Avg)	68.32 (1/1)	63.47 (34/5)
Kickoff Returns	23 (38/5)	28.31 (3/1)
Penalties (Yds/G)	64.6 (100/7)	57.9 (81/3)

- I hate to say this, but it continues to bug me. Remove the eight turnovers from the Iowa State game (as if you could) and Nebraska's turnover margin would be one of the best in the nation. There. Done with that.

- Texas kickoff return man D.J. Monroe is ranked third nationally with a 35.79 yard average. He's scored two touchdowns, both against non-conference opponents, where his kickoff return average is 52 yard per return. Against Big 12 opponents, it's 26.78. Niles Paul is ranked 43rd, with a 25.36 average. Good news, though as Paul has gotten better. Against the Big 12, his average is slightly higher at 26.83 yards per return.

- We will need to pick up some third downs (Captain Obvious). We were 1-for-14 against Oklahoma, but kept them out of the end zone because they had a freshman quarterback. Colt McCoy - no freshman. Against Kansas and Kansas State, we were 7-for-16, and then digressed at Colorado where we went 3-for-10 (and played like crap). I don't know what you're thinking of as a solution, but I'm thinking of Rex Burkhead and Brandon Kinnie.

- I double-checked the penalty stat on Texas. Hey, perhaps we will pick up some holding calls this weekend.

The Opponents

Total Offense Rank	Nebraska Opponent	Total Defense Rank	Total Offense Rank	Texas	Total Defense Rank
21	Florida Atlantic	113	51	UL-Monroe	47
90	Arkansas State	49	112	@Wyoming	83
56	@Virginia Tech	13	7	Texas Tech	48
72	UL-Lafayette	95	23	UTEP	111
33	@Missouri	55	104	Colorado	59
7	Texas Tech	48	29	Oklahoma	7
75	Iowa State	100	33	Missouri	55
86	@Baylor	96	62	Oklahoma State	32
29	Oklahoma	7	84	Central Florida	45
25	Kansas	74	86	Baylor	96
83	Kansas State	38	25	Kansas	74
104	Colorado	59	6	Texas A&M	107
56.75	Average	62.25	51.83	Average	63.67

- Both sides averages are nearly equal, which is expected when you play a lot of common opponents. I wasn't going to include this chart this time, but I really wanted to know about how their non-conference opponents, mostly because I could then do a little more smack talking.

- Funny that Texas A&M's defense is so horrible.

Afternoon Brewsky Sees Progress Along the Offensive Line

GhostofBigRoy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:33:49 -0000

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Simplified running game makes progress. Cody Johnson may have had only the second 100-yard rushing game of his career, but the big story coming out of the victory over Baylor was the job of the offensive line. Before going into that, let's get one thing out of the way -- Baylor is not a good team at stopping the run. They rank 89th in the country at stopping the run; UConn gained 235 yards against them and Iowa State had 240, while even Kent State averaged well over six yards a carry against the Bears. So yeah, they're not any good.

However, several things were heartening about the running game, starting with Johnson. Though he doesn't always hit the hole as hard as he could and keep his legs driving on contact, Johnson did make his normal yards after contact and did avoid dancing around in the backfield. On a day the coaches wanted to give him 15-20 carries, Johnson responded with 109 yards on his 19 attempts, without ever looking like he tired as the game went on. Losing 20 pounds and getting into the best condition of his time at Texas has really helped him

More impressive, however, was the work of the offensive line. Even against much weaker units like the Colorado defensive line, the unit struggled, but the big guys in the trenches for Texas had one of their best performances of the season, generally avoiding the individual meltdowns that have characterized nearly every other game this year. Greg Davis attributed the improved execution to focusing on specific plays during practice last week:

We said these are the runs that we're going to focus on - weak side zone play, the counter play, the one back power and they really came out and did a good job. Across the board I thought Adam Ulatoski, Charlie Tanner, Chris Hall, Michael Huey and Kyle Hix along with Greg Smith at tight end really came up big and gave Cody and Tre' some great creases to get the ball into the secondary.

While the zone and the counter have been staples for some time, the most interesting play they worked on was the power, a downhill, man-blocking running play extremely popular in the NFL and college football. Without going through and charting every single running play, from what I recall the Longhorns ran the power mostly out of the jet tempo and from under center, although I do remember one instance of a guard pulling on a gun run that might have been the power. The consistent execution was impressive and giving the offensive line a chance to drive blocks is a breath of fresh air -- there's something beautiful about seeing the line of scrimmage moved down the football field. There's also a strong chance that it helps their overall aggressiveness by giving them a chance to fire off the ball.

Besides the execution, the effectiveness of the jet tempo was also a major positive from the game, as the production from those plays had decreased drastically throughout the season. Since FSN managed to catch only brief parts of most of those plays, it's hard to say exactly what worked so well, but breaking tendency at times in recent weeks surely helped. Davis said this week that there are only a handful of passing plays they can run since they have so little time to call the play before getting the snap off and that group of plays changes every week, but as long as they can bootleg and throw enough screens to keep the defense from selling out on the run, the jet tempo may continue to be effective, particularly as a way to add some drive blocking to the Texas offense.

Defense failed to finish. One of the first things that Will Muschamp mentioned after the game was that the second- and third-team players who gave up the two late touchdowns to Baylor did a disservice to their teammates by not finishing the game well. For young players, every repetition is important on the field, regardless of the score. In fact, since they are trying to earn more playing time, they should approach those plays with every bit of the intensity of the starters. Unfortunately, the end of the game was characterized by sloppy tackling and some missed assignments. Muschamp talks about having a lunchpail, hard-hat mentality throughout the entire game and the back ups played reasonably well, but didn't finish in the same way that they did against UCF, when they rose up to keep the Knights out of the end zone late.

The back ups who came into the game owe it to their teammates to finish games well because the final score reflects on the starters as much as it does on the back ups. For a team trying to stastically rank as the best defense in the country, the two touchdowns scored count against the starters in terms of perception, as most of the members in the national media won't realize that Baylor didn't score until late in the game. In recent weeks there has been more talk about the strength of the Texas defense, but it still lags behind Florida and Alabama in national perception and 47-0 looks a lot better than 47-14.

It's also disappointing because those players are only an injury or two away from having to contribute. Since there aren't many games left in the season, that's less of a concern right now than it would have been early in the season, but the fact remains that Ben Wells is a couple nicks away from having to play meaningful snaps in the secondary and he clearly isn't ready, despite the fact that he's one of the hardest hitters on the team. The defensive tackle position is even a bigger concern, as Tevin Mims and Tyrell Higgins aren't ready and they are probably only one injury away from having to take some snaps with Calvin Howell still sidielined after his concussion.

The bottom line is that the coaching staff expects all the players to play to a standard for 60 minutes every Saturday and the defense didn't do that. The coaching staff expects players to finish the game and they didn't do that. Is it unrealistic to expect that the back ups for Texas can stop the first team for Baylor? Given the fact that Texas recruited very few of those players, the answer is no.

Tracking: playmaking defense. The Acho brothers. Talk about a feel-good story -- it's just hard to overappreciate what those two smart, articulate, and mature young men bring to the Texas football program. Blessed wtih immense physical skills, it's their understanding of the mental part of the game that sets them apart. Matched against a wide receiver on Saturday, Emmanuel recognized the route, jumped it, and intercepted the first pass of his collegiate career. Earlier in the game, matched against Kendall Wright, probably the single most talented player on the Baylor team after Robert Griffin, Acho ran stride for stride with him across the middle of the field and forced an incompletion. Given his high level of play this season, his missed tackle on Baylor's last touchdown was a huge surprise. As for Sam, he continues to play with an incredible motor, hustling downfield to make the stop on a pass play and coming from his defensive tackle position to force the fumble on the speed option Baylor tried to run on third and long late in the first half. More so than almost any other players on the defense, the Acho brothers have had the awareness to strip the ball free.

Then there's Aaron Williams. The kid is so good he has to pray for opposing quarterbacks to test him. After Baylor marched down the field on their first drive, Williams demonstrated why he has had so few balls thrown his way. With Muschamp bringing max blitzes on second and third down, Baylor anticipated the blitz and called a blitz beater on the first play and a man beater on the second. On the first, Williams broke up the slant in the end zone and on the second, ran stride for stride on the corner route before showing his athleticism by leaping to make a touchdown-saving interception. Later, Williams broke up another pass on the only other time Nick Florence tried to test him. I love me some Aaron Williams and he proved on Saturday why no one wants to throw at him.

As great of a story as the Acho brothers are, the story of perseverance by Eddie Jones is almost as unique and inspiring. Sidelined with ankle and shoulder injuries throughout most of his first two seasons, there were rumors late in the summer that he might never step on the football field for Texas. Given his injury history, that didn't seem like a stretch. Well, Jones is back and is finally fulfilling his five-star promise. In the fourth quarter against Baylor, Jones saw the offensive tackle in front of him attempt a weak chop block and read the flare pass into the flat, stepping in front of it and showing off his speed by taking the interception 60 yards for the touchdown -- Jones is good enough to start at defensive end for any other team in the country.

Since Texas is intercepting just about every possible pass now, the only area for improvement is forcing more fumbles. The Acho brothers are stripping the ball well, but other players just aren't quite taking the techniques that they work on in practice and transferring them to the game. One play stands out in particular -- on Chykie Brown's cornerback blitz, he had a free shot at the unsecured football, but never attempted to strip it as he brought Florence down, leading Duane Akina to yell for him to strip the football from the sidelines. There aren't many areas in which the defense can improve, but forcing more fumbles is one of them.

Tracking: special teams. Welcome to the block party, Kenny Vaccaro. The biggest question on special teams after Curtis Brown picked up his block against Missouri was who would become the next player to join the block party. Vaccaro was one of the names I threw out there and he made it happen against Baylor, partially deflecting a punt to set up a short field for the Longhorns and take a 28-0 lead. Not only that, but his work on special teams continues to be excellent, as he made another tackle inside the 20. An unsung hero on the kickoff coverage team is fullback Aaron Smith, a walk on who has done more to deserve a scholarship than several players who have a free ride at Texas and is consistently around the football on kickoff coverage after greatly helping the unit last season when he got on the field.

The kickoff return game was not particularly impressive, as DJ Monroe had a 27-yard return in what will be last effort there for some time, while Malcolm Williams was only able to get 16 yards on his return. The coaches need to go back and look at the return game this week in an attempt to figure out what is keeping Texas from breaking the same type of long returns they enjoyed early in the season. Jordan Shipley, on the other hand, had his best day returning punts since the Colorado game, taking one back 25 yards and another 11-yard return. With Monroe's suspension, he will once again return kickoffs.

Hunter Lawrence continued his campaign for the Lou Groza Award with his clutch field goal before the half, though it could hurt him that he hasn't had to win any games late. Of course, his performance against Oklahoma was the difference between the Texas victory and a devastating loss, so that will definitely help his candidacy. With the wind at his back, Justin Tucker kicked two balls into the end zone for touchbacks against Baylor and he also made a tackle at the end of a 35-yard Baylor return. The punting game was not as impressive, though, as Tucker continues to struggle killing kicks inside the 10 yardline and John Gold, in his first early appearance in some time, kicked a ball well into the end zone with an opportunity to give Baylor a long field. In the end, it makes more sense to use Gold with a long field where he can use his big leg to boom punts than to have him try to punt it inside the 10, a skill at which Tucker's rugby punt should be much more successful.

Randomness. As always, done bullet style:

Kenny Vaccaro can lay the wood, as he knocked 200-pound Baylor receiver Ernest Smith back about 10 yards on a fourth quarter hit, earning himself the weekly Hard Hat Award in the process. With the depth in front of him, he may not get a lot of time at safety next season unless Earl Thomas leaves or he can beat out Nolan Brewster, but Vaccaro will contribute significantly before his Texas career is over.
Marcus Davis can lay the wood as well and looks like an extremely sure and physical tackler. He's probably not as far along as a freshman as Aaron Williams was last season, but it's hard to tell because Davis hasn't had to play as Williams did -- but even in limited action, it looks like Davis has the chance to be the next great nickel back at Texas.
After coming under fire last season for his hands, EBS hadn't dropped any passes this year. Until Saturday, that is. On the second possession of the game, Smith dropped a third-down pass that would have gone for a third down and extended the drive. Instead, the Longhorns went three and out. Then, on the last possession of the first half, he had a ball go through his hands and was lucky that it deflected to a waiting James Kirkendoll for an important gain to set up Hunter Lawrence's 41-yard field goal. It wasn't exactly a Peter Ullman volleyball set, but it was the worst performance in the passing game for EBS this season and it sets him back in his efforts to lose his nickname. With the two dropped passes, he now needs to score two touchdowns or have a 30-yard reception (up from one touchdown or a 25-yard reception) to rid himself of the EBS label. The good news is that he continues to be a major factor in the resurgence of the running game, so he is a very good Extra Blocking Surface.
Um, where was Malcolm Williams? The big receiver barely saw the field against Baylor, mostly in favor of John Chiles, who played early and often and failed to get out of bounds on the drive before the end of the first half, costing Texas a shot at the end zone and then dropped a third-down catch that would have given Texas a first down midway through the third quarter. The coaches are clearly working hard to give Chiles every possible chance, but the fact remains that Williams gives Texas the better chance to break a big play in a possible national championship game and needs the repetitions more than Chiles.
Dan Buckner saw him action at split end and just doesn't look explosive enough for the position -- he's probably going to remain at flex tight end until he improves his burst off the ball and after the catch. However, he still has the best hands on the team, as evidenced on his 22-yard snag on the first possession to convert a 2nd and 17 and his one-handed catch to convert a 3rd and 6 in the second quarter.
Kheeston Randall and Ben Alexander continue to play exceptionally well on the interior of line, as well as Lamarr Houston, who is close to becoming the same type of disruptive force that Roy Miller was last year. He doesn't quite have the same pure strength, but he's probably quicker. On the third-down play that set up the fourth-down stop of Nick Florence on the quarterback sneak, Houston engaged the Baylor offensive lineman, then threw him down to set up in the hole to stop the running back. Ridiculous. I mean, he literally just threw the guy to the ground. As good as Sergio Kindle has been this year, especially in stopping the run, Texas will probably miss Houston more because he won't be as easy to replace.
The Texas linebackers gave a look at what a post-Muckelroy future will look like, performing admirably in the game, paritcularly Dustin Earnest, who is now contributing at a level most probably thought wasn't possible after his first two mediocre years in the program. His fourth-down stop of Florence was particularly critical in the game.

Morning Coffee Loves Malcolm Williams

GhostofBigRoy — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:00:10 -0000

by Harry Cabluck - AP

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Running game suffers biggest struggles since Colorado. Not only was it clear that Central Florida was the best team at stopping the run the Longhorns will face until a potential appearance in the national championship game, but the Knights also loaded up to the stop the run, daring the Longhorns to throw the football. So throw the football they did, to the tune of 470 yards by Colt McCoy. The concern, however, is that Texas didn't run the ball successfully after three straight games coming close to or exceeding the 60% success rate the coaches want to achieve. Against Central Florida, Texas rushed for 67 yards on 25 carries, with a success rate of only 50%.

There are certainly a lot of reasons for the lack of success. Much like the Colorado game, the coaches were relatively stubborn about using the basic running plays -- the counter and zone plays with some zone read sprinkled in, while eschewing the Monroe Series after the first play from scrimmage and choosing not to run the actual misdirection counter play and the draw play debuted on the first play against Oklahoma. Though Cody Johnson scored his first touchdown on an inside zone play, all of his other attempts on the play were stopped by the Knights -- it just doesn't make that much sense to have such a big back running laterally down the line of scrimmage. The easy adjustment here is to run the same plays from under center, where Johnson would have the ability to come downhill more on the plays and square his shoulders to the line of scrimmage, though that is, of course, unlikely. In the two times the coaches used the jet tempo package, however, the Longhorns did use play action both times, so they did break tendency there. Congratulations, GD!

The coaches also have to be careful with their substitution patterns when they bring Johnson into the game. As Greg Davis effectively moved between 11 personnel and 10 personnel while alternating Johnson and Whittaker at the running back position, Johnson coming into the game often meant a running play and he's just not good enough in the passing game to establish much of a threat, despite his 14-yard gain late in the game in which he broke several tackles and then moved the pile at the end. Improvement in the passing game and picking up the blitz should be major points of emphasis for Johnson in bowl practices.

It looks like Johnson will get the start against Baylor after Fozzy Whittaker came out with the ones against UCF, with Brown speculating that he may get 20 carries. The question is how those 20 carries come about. The I formation look hasn't been particularly successful this season and it just doesn't make a ton of sense to only have two receivers on the field if Antwan Cobb isn't going to split out at all as a receiver -- recall that there was some speculation in fall camp that he would earn the role of third-down back.

The fact of the matter is that the current scheme doesn't suit Johnson particularly well and if the coaching staff is really intent on giving him more carries, they have to figure out what plays consistently work. With the success of the jumbo package, which debuted some actual runs behind the left side of the line for the first time this year, and the possibility of bootlegs and some play-action passing, that might have to be more of an option on any short-yardage situations like 3rd and 3 or even 4 in the middle of the field.

Another adjustment in the receiving corps. Aren't there ways to get Marquise Goodwin the ball on the move? The freshman speedster had three catches on Saturday, all three of which got him the ball standing still, where he had no chance to use his speed or even avoid tacklers. The first came on an obvious screen pass out of a bunch formation with Shipley and Buckner that quickly got blown up because there were too many players in a small area. No idea what Davis was thinking on that play -- it had virtually zero chance of success.

The Longhorns have not run any slip screens for him that give him more momentum on the catch and also did not appear to run any slants, crossing routes, or deep routes other than clear-out go routes out of the empty set for Goodwin. The crossing route in particular may be intriguing given his ability to run away from virtually any defender -- neither Jordan Shipley nor James Kirkendoll have that kind of speed. It will be extremely disappointing if the coaches aren't more creative and/or assertive in getting Goodwin the ball so he can be effective -- after debuting Goodwin on the jet sweep against Oklahoma State, he did not receive a carry against UCF.

Perhaps the coaches essentially sabotaged Goodwin's ability to produce in order to have an excuse to re-insert Kirkendoll as the starter. The blocking effort from the local product has been much more better since his demotion, so that's great. He's also done a better job of making opponents miss in space to turn short passes into nice gains.

Mack Brown offered a pretty lame excuse for Kirkendoll's struggles after the Wyoming game:

I thought we probably worked James too much in preseason. Receivers run all the time in this heat. Jordan (Shipley) came out and didn't spend as much time out there. I'm not sure that James didn't hit a wall after Wyoming. He just got tired a little bit. We just need to get him some rest and shake it up a little bit. He played great on Saturday. He was one of the great performers during the ball game with his blocking. Our downfield blocking with our receivers was as good Saturday as we've had. We feel like now when Marquise (Goodwin) and John (Chiles) hit a little wall we can give them a little break. I think James is ready now with Malcolm (Williams) to make the stretch run here.

It's a lame excuse because Kirkendoll hasn't even gotten that much rest, as he and Chiles have both played heavily in the three games of their demotion, enough to pretty much call them de-facto starters with Williams and Goodwin. The demotion resulted in better effort from both players, but the questions about their ability to create separation still linger. After all, that was the main reason they lost their jobs in the first place.

The good news is that Malcolm Williams continues to play well. Though he did fail to attack the ball on the post route that should have gone for a touchdown, McCoy did underthrow the ball slightly and the defender did make a nice play to knock the ball loose. In the last two games, though, Williams has not had the type of out-and-out drop that he did against Missouri, catching the ball away from his body well on every play but the one mentioned above. After that play, McCoy went right back to him on a stop route and Williams used a ridiculous big brother-like stiff arm to make it past the first defender before nearly breaking another tackle on his way to 16 yards. It's that type of physical dominance and speed that gives Williams so much potential.

Jordan Shipley. It's difficult to put words to the type of performance that Shipley had against the completely overmatched UCF secondary. About the only thing that is easy to say is that the 53-yard catch he had late in the second quarter would have gone for a 93-yard touchdown had McCoy hit him in the stride after Shipley left a defender trailing and flailing on a double move.

It's probably the proper time, now that Shipley is the all-time single game receiving yards leader in the history of the program, to reflect once again on just how far he's come. After leg injuries kept him out of his first two seasons, Brown advised him that maybe his football career just wasn't going to happen. Though he may not have the pure speed he did in high school, Shipley never stopped working and, in fact, admittedly may have worked too hard coming back from his first injury, leading to some of the hamstring issues he experienced. Tell the guy to take a day off and he would probably look at you like you're crazy.

The bottom line is that Shipley will go down as one of the best receivers, perhaps the best, in the history of Texas football. A tireless worker and true student of his craft, "The Roommate" never seems to run a sloppy route or drop a football and is not only an incredible representative of his university and football program, but tops it all off with a heaping dose of genuine humility.

It's hard to imagine that Shipley will finally end his college career in January, but the good news is that if his younger brother really can run routes as well as his older brother and really does have the hands to match, as all reports indicate, he will have an extremely successful career as well. Let's just hope he doesn't have to endure so many injuries first.

Tracking: special teams play. Headng into the game, it seemed unlikely that the Longhorns would find much success in the return game, given their top-10 national rankings in both covering kicks and punts. Add in the fact that Texas wasn't likely to get many opportunities to return kicks and it seemed that the normal advantage Texas holds in special teams would mostly be negated. It turns out that was mostly the case. On the opening kickoff of the second half, the Texas wedge got blown up, limiting DJ Monroe to a 17-yard return. In the punting game, Texas had a little more success, as Shipley had an 11-yard return and picked up three on another -- his 14 yards nearly matched the 17 Central Florida had given up all season.

However, Shipley was only able to return two of eight kicks and the Central Florida punter, normally one of the worst in the country, managed to average 42.5 yards per kick, including a 70 yarder, and pinned Texas inside the twenty on four different occasions -- on the day, he was probably the best offensive weapon for the Knights, consistently flipping field position.

In the Texas kicking game, Justin Tucker, perhaps finally unleashed to put the ball in the end zone, had touchbacks on each of his last two kicks, while the coverage units played well with the exception of a 27-yard return. Antwan Cobb was the star, making tackles on consecutive kicks, while Aaron Smith also had a nice day in coverage.

On the negative side, Hunter Lawrence had his first bad miss of the season, missing well left on a 44-yard attempt. Certainly one miss isn't enough to cause concern, but it does ruin his otherwise perfect season (his other two misses came on a block and the 52 yarder that hit the cross bar against UTEP) in a week that saw him named a semi-finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given to the best place kicker in the country.

The other major negative was a shanked punt off the foot of Justin Tuckern, raising further concerns about the rugby-style of punting Mack Brown has adopted at the exclusion of John Gold. No doubt it will be something the coaching staff revisits this week. The Longhorns also did not come close to blocking any punts either, though it did not appear that the coaches really sent them after the quarterback, for unexplained reasons.

Overall, Brown sounded disappointed in the special teams as a whole after bragging about them so much over the last several weeks. Of the three phases, the special teams have the most room for improvement going up to Waco.

Behind the numbers. Some notes on the Central Florida game and the season to date. Also here.

EBS not only caught his fifth pass of the season, but also had six knockdown blocks in the game to earn the Boss Hawg Award.
The defense had nine quarterback pressures, 13 hits on the quarterback, and seven sacks, the latter number representing the highest total this season.
The defense gave up only 151 yards on 57 plays (2.6 yards per play), despite giving up 75 yards on the final drive, which came against mostly second-string players. UCF gained only 76 yards on 38 rushes -- 2.0 yards per carry. On the other nine drives by the Knights, it took them 43 plays to gain 76 yards, only 1.8 yards per play.
Over the last six games, the Texas defense has given up 1.092 yards on 360 plays -- 3.0 yards per play. During that time, opponents have scored 58 points (9.7 per game) on nine scoring drives (six touchdowns, three field goals). That means that Texas has allowed scores on only 12% of 75 opponent possessions during that span.
Texas leads the country in total defense (230 yards per game) and rushing defense (55 yards per game), while ranking in the top 10 in pass efficiency defense (94.61 rating/5th), tackles for loss (8.2 pg/6th), turnover margin (+1.0/7th) and scoring defense (12.4 ppg/8th).
Opponents have scored more than 14 points only twice this season. In the last six games, no opponent has scored more than 14.
The Central Florida game marked the fourth time this season the Longhorns have held their opponent to under 200 yards of total offense and the seventh time Texas has held their opponent to less than 100 yards rushing.
The Longhorns also lead the country in scoring differential, having scored 369 points and given up 112. On average, then, Texas outscores their opponents by 28.6 points per game.
After struggling against Oklahoma, McCoy has returned to his 2008 form: Over the last three games, McCoy has completed 75-of-94 passes (79.8%) for 910 yards (303.3 ypg) and six TDs (2 INT) -- a 177.9 pass efficiency rating. Excluding sacks, he's also rushed for 93 yards on 23 carries (4.0 ypc). He's led the Longhorns to scores on 15 (12 TDs/3 FGs) of 25 drives (60%) in those game.
In the 117 years of Texas football, 43 of the 66 500-yard peformances by a Longhorn offense have come under Mack Brown.

Central Florida Depth Chart

GhostofBigRoy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:52:05 -0000

OFFENSE
Position	No.	Player	\|	No.	Player	\|	No.	Player
Flanker (Z)	8	Jordan Shipley	\|	11	James Kirkendoll		6	DeSean Hales
Sub B	84	Marquise Goodwin	\|	7	John Chiles
Tight End (Y)	83	Greg Smith	\|	13	Ahmard Howard	\|	89	Barrett Matthews
	Flex TE: Dan Buckner
Right Tackle	64	Kyle Hix	\|	72	Britt Mitchell
Right Guard	63	Michael Huey	\|	56	Tray Allen	\|	54	Mark Buchanan
Center	71	Chris Hall	\|	78	David Snow	\|	75	Steve Moore
Left Guard	52	Charlie Tanner	\|	56	Tray Allen
Left Tackle	74	Adam Ulatoski	\|	77	Luke Poehlmann
Split End (X)	9	Malcolm Williams	\|	4	Dan Buckner
Tailback	31	Cody Johnson	OR	28	Fozzy Whitaker	\| OR	2 23	Vondrell McGee Tre' Newton
	Specialty Back: D.J. Monroe
Fullback	24	Antwann Cobb	\|	31	Cody Johnson
	Short Yardage: Lamarr Houston
Quarterback	12	Colt McCoy	\|	3	Garrett Gilbert	\|	17	Sherrod Harris
Place-Kicker	15	Hunter Lawrence	\|	39	Ryan Bailey	\|	19	Justin Tucker

DEFENSE
Position	No.	Player	\|	No.	Player	\|	No.	Player
Buck	2	Sergio Kindle	\|	80	Alex Okafor
Tackle (Nose)	91	Kheeston RAndall	OR	92	Ben Alexander
Tackle	33	Lamarr Houston	\|	96	Calvin Howell	OR	93	Tyrell Higgins
End	81	Sam Acho	\|	32	Eddie Jones	\|	95	Tevin Mims
Strongside LB	18	Emmanuel Acho	\|	1	Keenan Robinson
Middle LB	38	Roddrick Muckelroy	\|	42	Dustin Earnest
Weakside LB	1	Keenan Robinson	\|	18	Emmannuel Acho
Right CB	3	Curtis Brown	OR	8	Chykie Brown
Right Safety	21	Blake Gideon	\|	27	Nolan Brewster	\|	5	Ben Wells
Left Safety	12	Earl Thomas	\|	27	Nolan Brewster
Left CB	4	Aaron Williams	OR	3	Curtis Brown
Nickel	12	Earl Thomas	\|	7	Deon Beasley	\|	4	Aaron Williams
Punter	19	Justin Tucker	\|	47	John Gold	\|	17	Trevor Gerland

SPECIAL TEAMS
Punt Returns	8	Jordan Shipley	\|	12	Earl Thomas	\|	3	Curtis Brown
Kickoff Returns	26 9	D.J. Monroe Malcolm Williams	\| \|	6 84	Jordan Shipley Marquise Goodwin		4	Aaron Williams
Kickoffs	19	Justin Tucker	\|	15	Hunter Lawrence
Holder	8	Jordan Shipley	\|	17	Sherrod Harris
Deep Snapper (PAT/FG)	83	Greg Smith	\|	72	Britt Mitchell
Deep Snapper (Punts)	58	William Harvey	\|	48	Alex Zumberge

Some brief analysis after the jump...

The big news here is obviously that Cody Johnson is now listed as the co-starter at running back, but in front of Fozzy Whittaker. It's hard to say if the coaching staff is upset with Whittaker, who missed open holes twice against Oklahoma State while bouncing his runs outside and also went out of bounds without contact again, a bad habit that was particularly damaging against Oklahoma, when Whittaker left 10-15 yards on the field. More likely, it's a result of Mack Brown's infatuation with larger backs and Johnson's tough running the last several games. He's still not a great fit in the scheme, but he does look quick and is a better blocker both on quarterback draws and in blitz pick up. It's also possible that he could see time as the lead blocker in the Monroe Series, where he could be much more effective than Whittaker.

Besides that, not a whole lot else worth parsing, although the coaches continue to list Shipley at flanker even though he has been playing in the slot almost exclusively since the Colorado game. Marquise Goodwin is now the starter in the slot in front of John Chiles. Malcolm Williams is also listed as the starter on kickoff returns with D.J. Monroe.

Notice that Curtis Brown is listed in front of Chykie Brown in their co-starter relationsihp, no surprise as Curtis has significantly outplayed Chykie for most of the season.

Anatomy of Momentum: Drive Before the Half Against OSU

GhostofBigRoy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:41:21 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

Browse more photos »

The Context

Good offenses and good teams generally respond after the opponent scores a touchdown. That was the task Colt McCoy and the offense faced after Oklahoma State cut into the early Texas lead after Beau Johnson scored on a one-yard touchdown plunge to make it 17-7. Good offenses also operate well in the two-minute drill -- the Longhorns got the ball with 2:16 left on the clock. The game plan for Greg Davis was clearly to spread the field to take advantage of the Oklahoma State secondary, where Davis felt he had match ups favoring Texas -- that game plan meshed well with the two-minute drill Texas had to run with so little time left on the clock, though a switch to 11 personnel would ultimately help the drive find the end zone.

The other thing that good teams do is score before halftime. A score just before the half against Wyoming helped the Longhorns establish momentum heading into halftime and, when combined with Mack Brown's philosophy of deferring to the second half, scoring before halftime can give Texas two chances to score without the opponent being able to touch the football.

The Longhorns would not be able to start with a short field, however, as Oklahoma State kicker Quinn Sharp put the ball went into the end zone for a touchback. Texas would have to drive 80 yards for a momentum-swinging touchdown. Texas begins the drive with two timeouts.

The Plays

1st and 10 Texas 20

Texas, as they did throughout much of the first half, comes out in an empty set, with Dan Buckner in the flex, James Kirkendoll and Fozzy Whittaker split to the bottom of the screen, and Jordan Shipley and John Chiles split to the top:

OSU has three down linemen, with the Sam linebacker showing blitz and two deep safeties. Notice that James Kirkendoll is uncovered in the slot to the bottom of the screen.

Key Shot

Instead of blitzing the Sam backer, OSU brings the Mike and Will backers, causing a problem in the Texas protection scheme that leaves the strongside defensive end unblocked and headed for McCoy. The hot receiver on the play is Kirkendoll, but McCoy throws behind him incomplete -- probably just as well since a complete pass would have gained little yardage and kept the clock running, draining precious seconds.

2nd and 10 Texas 20

Texas stays with the same personnel group, while Oklahoma State stays with two safeties deep, but walks a defender up on Kirkendoll in the slot this time. Notice that Bill Young also dials up press coverage against Jordan Shipley.

Key Shot

Once again, McCoy looks short to Kirkendoll on a hitch and he breaks a tackle before being stood up by Andre Sexton. It's the most controversial play of the game and one that could have swung the momentum of the game considerably -- as Sexton drives Kirkendoll backwards, stopping his forward progress, he rips the ball out of his hands, seemingly giving Oklahoma State the ball inside the Texas 20 yardline.

A touchdown cuts the Texas lead to 17-14 just before the half. Instead, the referees, correctly in my opinion, rule that Kirkendoll's forward progress was stopped and Texas keeps the ball. Oklahoma State calls a timeout, ostensibly to either challenge the play or force the booth to look at it, but the play cannot be reviewed.

3rd and 6 Texas 24

Same personnel for Texas, except the strong side of the field is now at the top of the screen. OSU has two safeties deep and is not in press coverage against Shipley this time. OSU rushes the linebacker in the middle of the field.

Key Shot

Flushed from the pocket by a twisting OSU linemen, McCoy throws on the run, finding Chiles wide open down the sideline -- Chiles either ran a stop route or broke off his route. Either way, it's the biggest catch of his Texas career for the former quarterback, who gains 16 yards and keeps the drive alive.

1st and 10 Texas 40

Texas keeps the same personnel on the field. Notice that OSU is once again pressing Shipley at the line of scrimmage, with two safeties deep and three down linemen.

Key Shot

Two seconds into the play, seeing no one open downfield, McCoy bails from the pocket and breaks a tackle to pick up two yards. Texas calls a timeout to stop the clock, leaving them with one remaining in the half.

2nd and 8 Texas 42

Texas changes their personnel grouping for the first time on the drive, bringing in EBS and keeping Whittaker in the backfield. Malcolm Williams comes in at split end, while Marquise Goodwin takes over the flanker position. Notice that OSU keeps two deep safeties, while walking the nickel back up close to the line of scrimmage over Shipley.

Key Shot

Since McCoy got a little antsy in the pocket on the last play, Davis calls for max protection, keeping both EBS and Whittaker in to block.

Kyle Hix gets beat on the right side of the line, but McCoy still has a perfect pocket to deliver the football downfield. Given that only three receivers are in the route, McCoy probably knows that Shipley will create enough separation on his out route to be able to deliver the football. Shipley gets the necessary separation and McCoy throws a strike for a 16-yard gain. The OSU safety on that side of the field got so much depth on the snap that he never even got close to Shipley on the play -- it's understandable that OSU didn't want to give up the big play, but the deep coverage should have been close enough to at least make it a smaller window for McCoy to throw into.

1st and 10 Oklahoma State 42

Texas stays with the same personnel, while OSU keeps two safeties deep and three down linemen -- the same look they have shown throughout the drive. Notice that the Mike and Will linebackers are showing blitz.

Key Shot

The linebackers both drop into coverage and EBS and Whittaker both release as a result.

However, none of the receivers gain enough separation for McCoy to deliver a pass, so he heads out of the pocket and towards the sideline, getting out of bounds after picking up two yards, preserving the final Texas timeout.

2nd and 8 Oklahoma State 40

Texas stays in 11 personnel, while Oklahoma State blitzes both the Mike and the Will backers.

Key Shot

With six men on the line of scrimmage to pick up five defenders, the Longhorns pick up the blitz and allow McCoy time to throw downfield to Shipley, who beats Perrish Cox in one-on-one coverage -- the safety deep on that side of the field comes up the first-down marker and stops.

Shipley is open, but McCoy overthrows the pass by several feet -- another replay shows that Shipley cut farther inside than McCoy anticipated, leaving the pass thrown too long. Had McCoy and Shipley been on the same page, the play would have gone for a touchdown.

3rd and 8 Oklahoma State 40

Texas substitutes for the 3rd and long play, taking out EBS and bringing in Dan Buckner to play the flex tight end position, while inserting Chiles at flanker. As usual, Oklahoma State has two deep safeties and three down linemen.

Key Shot

Oklahoma State drops back in man coverage and although no Texas receivers can gain separation, since the defensive backs arent facing McCoy, after he eludes a defensive lineman, he has open field once he leaves the pocket:

McCoy picks up 19 yards on the play and slides down at the 21, avoiding a hit -- McCoy has done much better at avoiding unnecessary hits this season.

1st and 10 Oklahoma State 21

The clock starts after placement of the ball and McCoy gets to the line of scrimmage quickly and spikes the ball to stop the clock.

2nd and 10 Oklahoma State 21

Texas lines up in 11 personnel, with Chiles at split end and Williams at flanker. OSU has three linebackers on the field and three down linemen, with the nickel back lined up well inside of Shipley and a safety over the top.

Key Shot

Oklahoma State blitzes the nickel back and the Sam backer. The line picks up the blitzers well, but Michael Huey and Chris Hall don't communicate well, as Hall picks up the Sam backer and Huey helps out Hix on the defensive end, leaving the defensive tackle free to come through, with only Whittaker standing between him and the quarterback. The tackle sheds Whittaker quickly and forces McCoy to throw the ball away, but picks up a personal foul pentalty for hitting McCoy in the helmet after he released the football:

1st and 10 Oklahoma State 11

Texas keeps the same personnel on the field, while Oklahoma State rushes four and drops back in man-to-man coverage.

Key Shot

The play is designed to go to Shipley on a double move -- a curl and go -- but Malcolm Williams breaks open running the back of the end zone and McCoy finds him as the pocket begins to collapse.

It's not an easy catch for Williams, who had to fully extend while making sure that he got his foot down, but McCoy helped by throwing an extremely catchable ball -- had the Texas quarterback really zipped it, the ball might have gone through the hands of the talented receiver.

Final Totals

Ten plays for 80 yards, 2:09 expired. Four of seven passing for 47 yards by McCoy, who also added 23 yards on three carries. One potential touchdown ovethrown on the slightly miscommunication by McCoy and Shipley. One catch for four yards by Kirkendoll. One catch for 16 yards by Chiles. One catch for 16 yards by Shipley. One catch for 11 yards and a touchdown by Williams. One 10-yard roughing the passer penalty on Oklahoma State. One miscommunication on the offensive line between Huey and Hall that allowed the defensive tackle to get in the backfield and hit McCoy.

The Verdict

Texas dodged a major bullet early in the drive when the officials ruled Kirkendoll's forward progressed stopped, negating the potential fumble and recovery by Oklahoma State. However, Kirkendoll must do a better job of protecting the football with both hands in traffic and have a better understanding of when he can no longer pick up yards on a play and is better off just going down.

The drive also featured a smart adjustment by Greg Davis. After getting little out of the empty set and having McCoy leave the pocket relatively quickly, he went back to 11 personnel to give McCoy more protection and allow him to stand in the pocket longer. It almost paid off with the pass to Shipley before eventually resulting in the touchdown pass to Williams.

The other key element of the drive was the scrambling of McCoy. Even though he did leave the pocket early on his two two-yard scrambles, he avoided potentially drive-killing sacks that would have also forced the Longhorns to use their last timeout, preserving it in the case of emergency. More importantly, though, it showed just how difficult it is to defend the Longhorns when McCoy leaves the pocket, especially in man coverage -- his 19-yard run was probably the biggest positive play of the drive before the touchdown pass to Williams.

Scoring before the half is also a major swing of momentum and it virtually put the game out of reach at that point, as the Longhorns went up 24-7 -- there was no way that defense was going to give up 17 points in the second half. By scoring the touchdown, Texas demoralized Oklahoma State going into halftime and completely took the biggest crowd in Oklahoma State history out of the game for the remainder of the contest. There's also something about Texas running the two-minute offense, as McCoy has seemingly found his rhythm several times this season just before halftime, notably against Wyoming to finally jumpstart the Longhorn offense.

Twisting, Turning Road Brings Cobbs to Texas (Updated)

GhostofBigRoy — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:15:19 -0000

Finally, good news!

It seems like forever since the Longhorns actually landed a player in the 2010 class -- in fact, it has been more than seven months since Reggie Wilson decided to come to Texas. Since then, the Longhorns lost two commitments, from Ross Apo and Ahmad Dixon, and have fallen out of the race for the services of Darius White, though, on the positive side, Texas still has a strong chance with Jordan Hicks and Jackson Jeffcoat. The overriding point is that since the Longhorns receive so many commitments around the Junior Days in February, the recruiting class is essentially done shortly after it starts, leaving little in the way of positive news for the greater part of a year leading up to Signing Day.

The nearly complete and total lack of success in recent years in landing late commitments from elite players makes the commitment of DeMarco Cobbs, an athlete from Tulsa Central and the top-ranked player in the state of Oklahoma, all the more unexpected and surprising. Given that he got back in contact with the Texas staff, it doesn't mean that Mack Brown and company have finally found that elusive strategy that will suddenly result in elite players flocking to Texas near the end of the recruiting process -- if anything, the circumstances show just how much of an anomaly Cobbs' decision is, enough of one for Rivals to turn it "bizzare" on the front page of Orangebloods. In fact, Jeff Howe points out ($) that Cobbs is the latest big-time commitment for Texas since Roy Miller in 2005 and the first player from Oklahoma to commit to Texas since Brian Pickryl in 2002.

How exactly did Cobbs end up choosing to commit to Texas after committing to Tennessee back in September, seemingly ending his recruitment after seriously considering the Longhorns early in the process?

The twisting, turning Cobbs timeline

November 2008: Cobbs, visiting Austin for the Thanksgiving day game against Texas A&M, tries to give his verbal commitment ($) to the Texas staff shortly after visiting, but the coaches tell him that they don't offer players or accept commitments until after the 2009 class signs. However, Mack Brown and company do indicate to Cobbs that he is approved for a scholarship offer. Shortly before his visit, Cobbs indicates that he has been a Texas fan for much of his life ($):

Texas was a big surprise. I was happy when I heard from them. When I was younger, I always wanted to play for the Longhorns. I'd always play with them on video games, and I watched Vince Young and Cedric Benson play.

December 2008: In an interview with Orangebloods ($), Cobbs says that he has "always just loved Texas," and that he plans to attend a Junior Day.
Janurary 2009: After receiving national interest from programs like Alabama and LSU, Cobbs decides to open up his recruitment ($), saying that he wants to give every interested school a shot. Cobbs also unofficially visits Oklahoma State and the Rivals site for the Cowboys ($) reveals that his nickname is "Booby" and Cobbs once again says that he always planned on playing for Texas growing up. Late in the month, Cobbs says that he plans on waiting until close to Signing Day ($) to make a decision.
February 2009: SoonerScoop names Cobbs Mr. Oklahoma ($) for the class of 2010. Cobbs receives his Texas offer in the mail ($) early in the month and says that he plans on making the first Junior Day, while speaking again about how wide receivers like Limas Sweed, Roy Williams, and Quan Cosby helped Texas gain his attention. For the first time, Cobbs' ride falls through ($) and he can't make it to campus for the Junior Day at the beginning of the month, as his head coach has other obligations in his new role as athletic director. His coach does, however, report that Cobbs says that "We're going to be really good," when referring to Texas. For the second time, Cobbs can't make it down to the second Junior Day because of his coaches obligations as athletic director. Meanwhile, by the end of the month, Texas has 19 commitments, including four wide receivers and another player in Adrian Phillips who could get a look at that position. For the first time, the numbers begin to become a concern.
March 2009: Despite not making it down to Austin for either Junior Day, which begins to raise some credibility issues for Cobbs and questions about how much he really likes the Longhorns, he does call Texas his "dream school."
March to May 2009: Cobbs begins to fall off the Texas recruiting radar and loses contact with the coaching staff. In late April, Cobbs reports more than 30 offers from all over the country and names five of his top 10 schools ($) -- Oklahoma, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, and LSU. In May, Cobbs says the Texas coaches have seemingly "dropped me," and that he has not been in contact ($) with them for some time -- the Texas coaches simply haven't called. He insists that he is still interested in the Longhorns despite naming a top 10 that does not feature Texas at all, instead adding Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, USC, and Arizona to the other five teams on his list. A USC coach visits Cobbs in Tulsa ($) and he makes plans to attend the Rising Stars camp, while saying that USC may be his favorite. At the end of the month, Cobbs puts in a call to Bruce Chambers ($), who tells Cobbs that the Texas coaching staff believed he wasn't interested in the Longhorns any more. Cobbs says that they are now "on the same page" amd plans on attending a summer camp if he can make it.
June 2009: Cobbs firms up plans ($) to make it down to Austin for the end of the three-day overnight camp from June 14-17. He says that Texas is "definitely back in the mix." Once again, Cobbs fails to make it down to Austin, saying that he failed to get the proper identification to board the plane. It seems that Cobbs has now fallen off the Texas radar as his excuses for not making it to Austin begin to ring hollow. At the end of the month, Cobbs does make it out to Los Angeles to participate in the USC Rising Stars camp ($), where he struggles at time to get separation from a good group of defensive backs.
July 2009: Cobbs trims his list ($) to six -- Alabama, Tennessee, LSU, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Florida. His interest grows in Tennessee, but a trip to a camp at Alabama ($) impresses him greatly.
August 2009: After spending the weekend in Knoxville ($), Cobbs cites the success of players from Oklahoma at Tennessee as a major reason the Volunteers are now one of his favorites. By the end of the month, Tennessee is his leader ($).
September 2009: Cobbs commits to Tennessee ($), saying that he feels the pro-style offense there and the NFL experience of many members of the coaching staff will prepare him for the next level, while indicating that he is also happy to end the "hectic" recruiting process.
October 2009: Cobbs begins to have second thoughts about his commitment to the Volunteers and decides to re-establish contact with Bruce Chambers. Texas receives his senior film and expresses their continued interest in Cobbs, staying on contact for most of the month until Cobbs decides on October 29 that he wants to become a Longhorn, seemingly ending a process that saw him attempt to commit to Texas early, completely lose contact with the coaching staff, commit to Tennessee, then finally end up committing to Texas.

How firm is his commitment?

Any recruit who changes their mind several times begins to raise issues of trustworthiness. Given Cobbs' history of failing to make it to Austin, Cobbs might seem even less trustworthy than most. The overriding factor that makes his commitment to the Longhorns seem genuine is his long-time love for the Longhorns. In fact, it was probably miscommunciation between Cobbs and the coaching staff that led him to drop Texas in the first place and an unfortunate situation with his high school coach that kept him from making the first two Junior Days, though his absence in June is much harder to explain.

The other good news is that, unlike Ahmad Dixon, Cobbs actually called the Tennessee coaching staff after switching his commitment, handling that business with great maturity. Add to it the fact that Cobbs is reportedly a genuine kid and Texas fans should have confidence that he will sign with the Longhorns next February. This is also not a case of the coaching staff continuing to pursue a committed player -- Cobbs re-established the contact after wavering on his commitment to Tennessee, as he began to think more and more about being so far away from home.

Cobbs had this to say about his decision:

In the beginning, Texas was where I wanted to be. I just felt like it wasn't too far from home, Texas was always my dream school. I'm pretty solid with that commitment. I don't plan on changing my mind. You can't go wrong with that decision. I'm pretty excited about it.

I just went ahead and got it over with. Now I'm a Longhorn. I'm not going to change my mind. Now I'm a Longhorn and that's where I'm going to college.

Who wouldn't want to be a part of a winning program? It's just a great place to be, a great place to go to school and a great place to live. Texas has been in my heart ever since I was little. That's where I wanted to be and I'm glad I got that opportunity.

The comment about being "pretty solid" with his commitment may raise some concerns, but the fact of the matter is that there is every reason to believe that Cobbs does really want to be a Longhorn -- he called Texas his "dream school" so many times during the early part of the recruiting process and spoke so often about the Longhorns being his favorite growing up that there is little reason to doubt his sincerity right now. There's also the fact that Texas fans have plenty of other, more pressing things to worry about than Cobbs de-committing, like the game in Stillwater Saturday evening.

What position will he play?

At 6-1 and rougly 200 pounds, Cobbs is listed as the ninth-best athlete in the 2010 class by Rivals and has the ability to play several positions in college, the foremost being wide receiver. A quarterback for his Tulsa Central team, Cobbs also plays defense and could play safety or even outside linebacker in college. With his excellent feet and explosiveness, running back is another, though much more far-fetched, possibility -- it seems unlikely since the Longhorns alreadly have two other big running backs from the 2009 and 2010 classes -- Chris Whaley and Traylon Shead. Given the similarities, it doesn't make much sense for Cobbs to play running back in Austin, though his ability to make plays with the ball in his hands opens up a variety of possibilities for his use in the Texas offense. Possibilities as varied as Greg Davis' creativity will allow. So yeah, there's probably not a great chance of much creative stuff.

As for a personal preference, Cobbs understands that quarterback will not be his position in college, but still desires to have the ball in his hands, making wide receiver his first choice. Since the Texas coaching staff asks incoming players what position they want to play and attempts to accommodate those wishes, it's probably safe to say that Cobbs will start out as a wide receiver at Texas, though he could be an incredibly physically imposing presence at the safety position. Cobbs did say after his commitment that the coaching staff hasn't decided where they would prefer him to play.

[Update]: Just a few thoughts on Cobbs as a wide receiver. Rivals ranked him as the third-best athlete ($) at the Gridiron Kings event in Florida this spring, saying that Cobbs is a strong athlete, but "isn't a natural wide receiver." The concerns about his future at receiver stem from his route-running ability ($), which is certainly raw, but also his hands -- apparently he had some trouble consistently catching the ball at the event. The scouting report by ESPN ($), on the other hand, cites his ball skills as a strength and another observer at the Gridiron Kings event came away impressed ($) with his ability to get off of press coverage and "outbody" defenders for the football. Cobbs did score four touchdowns at the event, mostly from the slot, showing his ability to make plays in an extremely competitive environment and an observer at the Oklahoma camp ($) called him "smooth" at the receiver position. And, despite his struggles at times ($) when he attended the Rising Stars camp, the review of his performance began by saying "If you had the ability to create the perfect receiver, Cobbs would be the end result," while also citing his incredible potential.

All in all, Cobbs is physically ready for college football, as he will not need much time in the weight room to contribute -- in fact, he might be better served maximizing his speed at this time. By most accounts, Cobbs is still raw, but has the athletic ability to become an exceptional wide receiver and should be able to use that strength to fight off defenders and go up and get the football. However, given his less-than-stellar vertical, catching jump balls may not ever be his strength. If Cobbs can become a good route runner, there's no reason why he can't succeed playing wide receiver at Texas.

Also, a couple of other numbers on Cobbs -- his Scout page ($) reports a 10.62 100m time and a 32-inch vertical, while benching 305 pounds and squatting 400.

[end Update]

Here is his high school film:

Demarco Cobbs Junior Highlight Film (via goose7856)

The quality is terrible on that YouTube video, but the same film can also be found at Inside Texas (I believe it is free).

Just how athletic is Cobbs?

Watching the available film on Cobbs, two main comparisons jump out. The first one is Michael Crabtree because of his excellent feet, ability to jump cut, vision, and pure physicality -- this is the comparison many scouts have made. The second one is John Chiles, as both appear to have roughly the same explosiveness in high school and both played the quarterback position for their respective schools. Watching their film back-to-back, Chiles may have the slightest of edges in pure speed, but Cobbs in high school looks faster than Chiles in college.

The bottom line is that Cobbs looks extremely impressive on film and appears to be the type of player who could excel in the short passing game at Texas and become a major threat on stop patterns, hitches, but particularly in the screen game -- he has top-notch feet for a wide receiver and elite vision for the position, the same skills that lead to speculation about him being able to play running back.

The biggest concern about Cobbs is how well he tested at the Army All-American combine back in January, where he posted a 4.76 40, a shuttle time of 4.60, and a vertical of only 26 inches. Several things are important to note about those times: 1) the track at the combine is notoriously slow, as only seven players posted sub-4.5 times at the entire event, and 2) his high school coach said that it may have been the first time that Cobbs ever ran a timed 40.

To the first point, the Temple running back ran a 4.50 flat at the event and his speed is relatively unquestioned -- he would probably shave a tenth of a second of that time on a better track, with some reports stating that he has been timed in the 4.3s -- those reports are probably pretty unreliable, but the overriding point stands. Kyle Prater, the second-ranked prospect nationally and the top-rated wide receiver, ran a 4.70 at the event, but his Rivals page lists a 4.56 40 as his best time. As for the vertical, the Temple running back tied for the best result at the combine, posting a leap of 36.5 inches. Watching film, it's probably safe to say that Cobbs is a legit 4.5 guy, thought it's hard to say if that's closer to 4.50 or 4.59.

To the second point, Cobbs' high school coach Corey Russell had a variety of explanations ($) for why his star player did not turn in an impressive time at the event -- he didn't start well, have the right shoes, or even the proper technique for starting well. Cobbs had to borrow a pair of shoes from a fellow attendee after falling on his first attempt and Russell said that they work on stance and starts at Central, but place little emphasis on running the 40.

Final thoughts

Ultimately, 40-yard dash times simply don't matter that much on the football field. Al Davis famously falls in love with fast wide receivers who have one major problem -- they aren't really wide receivers, just extremely fast dudes playing football. The best tool for evaluation, then, is film. And Cobbs passes that test with flying colors -- he is clearly an exceptionally talented football player.

Because of that, he represents an excellent pick up for the Longhorns and though he may need to conintue working on his first-step explosiveness and avoid whatever program Mad Dog has had John Chiles on at Texas, there can be little doubt that Cobbs is an excellent addition to the 2010 Texas recruiting class and has a strong chance of being a big contributor on the field, whether he ends up on offense or defense. And, perhaps just as importantly, Texas fans finally have another commitment to help them feel better about the 2010 class, which now may be the best in the country. Rejoice, Longhorn recruitniks!

Crossfire Q&A: Texas

RPT — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:00:34 -0000

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Fear this man. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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The game against Texas this week has given us the chance to collaborate with one of the best sites in the business, as we welcome GhostofBigRoy from Burnt Orange Nation here to RMN to give us a better idea of what to expect from the Texas Longhorns on Saturday.

RMN: Before the season, my colleague Bill said he expected a regression from Colt McCoy's numbers, and the stats so far seem to have vindicated him in many respects. What's been the difference between Colt '08 v. Colt '09?

BON: It's not a simple answer, so I'll go ahead and divide it into a couple of points. First, the major change is defensive adjustments. OU blitzed a lot during the first half and so did Wyoming at times, but most teams have sat with two deep safeties and forced Texas to complete passes underneath.

Last season, Texas did that well and could move methodically down the field with the controlled passing game, but the failure to do so this year relates to the second factor, which is the loss of Quan Cosby and Brandon Collins, two players McCoy relied on to complete third-down passes, in the case of Cosby also the hitch passes that he could turn into solid gains and Collins as his hot receivers on blitzes. McCoy has not established that level of comfort with the current receivers, who have struggled to create separation and, frankly, McCoy didn't help much early in the season because he was uncharacteristically inaccurate at points early in the year.

Those struggles have passed now, but the bottom line is that the receiving corps, notably John Chiles and James Kirkendoll, has been a disappointment overall and defenses have caught up with the Texas offense unveiled last season against Oklahoma, particularly in defending the crossing routes Texas used to convert many third downs last season and either disguising coverages to confuse McCoy's pre-snap reads or also using their coverage look to manipulate his read into something easily defensible.

RMN: The Texas defense is giving up an absurdly low 3.6 yards per play, tied for tops in the nation. How is the credit divided here? Has Texas amassed enough talent that schemes don't matter, or does Will "Boom" Muschamp get a lion's share of the credit too?

BON: Dividing the credit equally doesn't seem to be fair to the job that Will Muschamp has done at Texas. The recruiting has played a big part of it - guys like Sergio Kindle and Eddie Jones were the bluest of blue chips coming out of high school, but the staff did an excellent job identifying underrated talents like Roddrick Muckelroy, from a school East Texas school, and the Acho brothers, who played at a private school in Dallas. Don't underestimate, then, the collective recruiting the staff has done.

There is a ton of talent on that defense and none of those players were recruited by Muschamp. That being said, what Muschamp has turned this defense into is completely of his own creation, particularly Kindle, who was unbelievably lost in the shuffle during his first two years on campus - Muschamp took his talent and maximized it in a way the previous defensive coordinators had not. The previous coaches wanted to make him into a linebacker who could drop into coverage. Muschamp unleashed him on opposing quarterbacks because he recognized that Kindle is best served playing downhill, the skill that made him so highly regarded coming out of high school in the first place. In that way, Kindle is perhaps a perfect example of the overall effect Muschamp has had - players are now in a position to succeed and they are doing so.

RMN: The benching of James Kirkendoll isn't much of a surprise after his Zidane-esque headbutt in Dallas, but what gives on the benching of John Chiles (who looks like a freak athlete) and Dan Buckner (who I thought was a mismatch nightmare and one of UT's biggest weapons)? Is Texas deep enough at receiver that it really doesn't matter, or is Mack Brown just trying to send a quick message?

BON: The issue for Chiles is simple - he hasn't been producing and can't consistently get separation in his routes. Unfortunately, whatever athleticism he has, and it was certainly of great repute coming to Texas, it just hasn't translated onto the field for whatever reason. As for Buckner, Mack Brown said that he's concerned about his knee, but really Buckner is going to lose some snaps to Greg Smith because the coaching staff seems to desire a greater emphasis on the running game. That's the short answer. If anyone is interested in the treatise I wrote about the issue, it's here.

Basically, the answer to your question is both. Brown is trying to send a message (if it's a message to Buckner it's to block better), but the main thing to take from this is that the coaching staff finally decided it was time to let talented players like true freshman and two-time Junior Olympic long-jump champion Marquise Goodwin, who can certainly create separation with his blend of incredible speed and ability to get into and out of cuts, and Malcolm Williams, the star of last year's Tech game who has had trouble getting into the field this season, reportedly because of a combination of dropped balls and less-than-ideal work ethic at times in practice.

RMN: Can ANY team expect to run on Texas this year, much less a Missouri team that's been struggling on the ground all season?

BON: Looking down the line, Oklahoma State is a concern because they racked up more than 200 yards last year against a unit that didn't get run on much, just like this current one, and Alabama and Florida are both concerns, for slightly different reasons in a possible national championship game appearance. Other than that, the flat answer is no. Texas has given up 29 yards rushing in the last four games. Muschamp puts a big emphasis on stopping the running game on first and second downs to create tough situations for the offense, but still manages not to give up many big plays in the passing game on early downs. Missouri will have an extremely difficult time running the football against Texas, I don't think there's any doubt about that.

RMN: Seeing what you've seen this season, if you were the opponent (in this case, Mizzou), how would you go about attacking the Texas defense? How would you defend the Texas offense?

BON: Can I pass on trying to formulate a plan to attack the Texas defense? Thinking about this question makes me extremely glad that the Longhorns won't ever have to face a Muschamp-coached defense. Teams haven't had much success at all this season doing much of anything. Colorado had success on two touchdowns isolating a tight end on a linebacker in coverage, but Muschamp adjusts so quickly I'm not sure he's going to allow that to happen again and I don't know anything about Missouri having a threat in that aspect of the game like the two excellent tight ends they've had recently.

Other than that, Tech had some success with double moves against Chykie and Curtis Brown, but on one of the plays I'm thinking of with Chykie giving up a touchdown, Muschamp blamed the blitz not getting there fast enough. In fact, if Texas sends a couple blitzers and the Mizzou line can hold for a second, Gabbert could be able to find something downfield and that is probably their best chance for a big play. Really though, other than a couple breakdowns in concentration by Chykie, the secondary hasn't given up much this season, a huge change from last year. As for as defending the Texas offense, I think I would blitz some on early downs to try to get the Longhorns behind the chains and then sit back in coverage in obvious passing situations and keep everything in front. In my opinion, that's pretty much the book on the Texas offense, but it may be changing now with an increased emphasis on the running game and downfield passing off of play action. If I'm an opposing defensive coordinator, though, I would just play by the book until Texas proves that it can run the ball consistently.

RMN: Bonus -- Should we hide our women and children when Sergio Kindle lines up across from the Missouri offensive line?

BON: Kindle is a beast, but I'm not going to predict any serious threats to the health of Blaine Gabbert just because the two times I've done that this season, Kindle was effective, but had relatively quiet games in terms of massive, Taylor Potts-like hits on the quarterback. Don't get me wrong, it's safe to say that Tiger fans should be afraid of Kindle, but with the way that the rest of the Texas defense is playing right now, it's really the whole unit that should be downright terrifying.

Morning Coffee Loves Beating OU

GhostofBigRoy — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:31:57 -0000

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Flavor of the Week at running back: Cody Johnson. Yes, one might be inclined to suggest that Fozzy Whittaker deserves this honor after what was undoubtedly his best performance in a Longhorn uniform and to further suggest that the only reason Cody Johnson is receiving this coveted honor is because the Flavor of the Week must change, avoid repeats as long as possible. Both valid arguments.

However, there are several reasons for Johnson winning the award this week -- the first reason is the hard work that he put in this fall to lose nearly 20 pounds and maximize his quickness. Yes, he should have been in better shape coming into fall practice, but the point is that right now he is where he needs to be physically. The second reason is that the coaching staff seems to finally have settled on the proper role for Johnson -- a fourth-quarter battering ram to bludgeon tired defenses. Mack Brown spent a lot of time during the spring and beginning of fall practice talking about wanting to run a better four-minute drill at the end of games to kill the clock and maintain possession of the football. For that role, Johnson is the perfect weapon.

Johnson also wins this award because against Oklahoma he looked as quick as he ever have, but more importantly, he ran angry, with a purpose, instead of the tentative Johnson from earlier in the season. The end result -- five carries for 31 yards, helping him finish with the highest per-carry average on the team for the game, while also catching a pass out of the backfield for a six-yard gain. He won't ever be a big-play threat in the passing game, but if he can make himself available for McCoy to pick up positive yardage on otherwise well-defended plays it can provide a big lift to an offense struggling to find an identity.

The bottom line is that Johnson provides the Longhorns with a serious weapon in games that are close into the fourth quarter and in situations where Texas needs to kill the clock. Nice to see him finally deployed in a way that strategically makes sense other than his specialty, short-yardage situations.

Musical chairs at the receiver position. John Chiles took a beating in PB's Postgame React due to his inability to separate from defenders. Well deserved after catching two passes for one yard on the day, one of them on a slip screen that Oklahoma clealry saw coming, as they did not even bother to line up a defensvie back over him. Had he just run straight down the field he probably would have been open. James Kirkendoll picked up a personal foul penalty for head-butting Quinton Carter, who apparently took acting lessons this off season from former punter Mike Knall and would have made Vlade Divac or your average Argentinian basketball player proud with his subsequent flop. Kirkendoll caught three passes for 11 yards and may be the biggest disappointment in the receiving corps after so much off season talk about how consistently he runs routes. Besides the Wyoming game, Kirkendoll has provided little in the way of help this season on offense and has been giving questionable effort.

So, exit Kirkendoll and Chiles, enter Malcolm Williams and Marquise Goodwin. During his Monday press conference, Brown spoke about wanting to run the ball better to open up more play-action possibilities downfield, which is where Williams enters the equation. The bottom line is that the other receivers haven't produced, so it's time to finally, belatedly, see what Williams can do with his first shot at extended playing time. As for Goodwin, the touchdown catch and the diving play near the sideline illustrate just how good he can be with more opportunities. It's cliche now given that he's proven all season that he's a football player willing to put as much of a hit on defenders as he can, but it's true. He's a football player who also happens to be an all-world track star and the future at Texas is incredibly bright for that young man. It's also worth noting that Jordan Shipley will return to the flanker position that he occupied most of the last season after failing to create separation against Oklahoma's Brian Jackson, who surely raised his NFL stock with his strong performance on Saturday.

Tracking: playmaking defense. What a change a year can make. After forcing five turnovers against Oklahoma, with two coming on special teams, the Longhorns now have three more turnovers than they forced all of last season. Individually, Earl Thomas now has five interceptions, only one fewer than the team had as a whole in 2008 and good enough to tie for the national lead in that category. Apparently not content to allow his brother to recover all the fumbles, Emmanuel Acho joined the party with two fumble recoveries and would have had a chance at the fumble Thomas forced near the goalline had he broken down a little better instead of overrunning the football. Hey, at this point, if an Acho is around a loose football and doesn't recover it, it's a remarkable occurrence.

Curtis Brown and Deon Beasley, once regarded as the two least physical members of the entire defense, put hard hits on Oklahoma players to knock the ball out, with Beasley's play probably ranking as his best at Texas, though there really isn't much competition. Like Michael Huff and Aaron Ross before them, it's now time to say that Duane Akina has finally molded them into football players. At points last season, I wasn't sure that I would ever be able to say that about them.

Consider for a second the stats put up by Earl Thomas -- seven tackles, two for loss, three pass break ups, one forced fumble, and one interception. Thomas had huge expectations for growth entering the season and it's safe to say that he has fulfilled those expectations and perhaps even gone beyond them. His play on the interception was just beautiful -- he faked the blitz towards the line of scrimmage, then dropped back into coverage and showed off his excellent speed doing so. Kid is fun to watch and it will be a travesty if he doesn't win a Thorpe Award at Texas.

Speaking of which, he might end up with some serious competition from Aaron Williams, who recovered from the biggest mistake of his career, the missed tackle on the long touchdown by Ryan Broyles, by using his sick vertical leap to catch a pass that Landry Jones was trying to throw out of bounds. You can watch football for a long time and never see a more athletic pick than that. Oh yeah, and he also knocked the reigning Heisman winner out of the game. If Will Muschamp could engineer a nickel back, he would have a hard time making a more perfect player than Aaron Williams. Simply incredible.

It's easy to forget now how much the Longhorns had to replace on the defensive line losing four players who were essentially starters or major members of the rotation in Roy Miller, Brian Orakpo, Aaron Lewis, and Henry Melton. This group inside is playing about as well as you could ask -- even though Sergio Kindle doesn't have the gaudy sack numbers, every team slides their protection to his side of the field and he still makes plays, pressuring the quarterback and playing the running game so quickly and aggressively that he's able to consistently make plays up and down the line of scrimmage. The player that he has become in the last season and a half makes his usage through his first two seasons at Texas all the more criminal. Shame on you, Gene Chizik, Larry Mac Duff, and Duane Akina.

Sam Acho's play on the other side deserves plaudits as well -- he has made the jump predicted in his first season lagging heavy snaps. Then there's the interior of the line, supposedly a major weakness. Remember that? Seems so long ago, doesn't it, since we were all wringing our hands about the defensive tackle position? Lamarr Houston has been unbelievable and Ben Alexander continues to play extremely well in his last season on the 40 Acres. Kheeston Randall has held his own, but now has at least three roughing the passer penalties on the season and that needs to stop. Like, yesterday. Oscar Giles and Mike Tolleson both deserve a raise after the job they have done with this group. Phenomenal.

Tracking: special teams. The special teams may not have scored a touchdown on Saturday, but they sure worked hard at it. Deon Beasley's forced fumble along the sideline nearly led to a scoop and score by Malcolm Williams, but I still have no idea how the officials ended up determining that it was Texas ball at the OU 18. As mentioned below, the field goal kicking was perfect from Hunter Lawrence and the rubgy punt was much more effective this week from Justin Tucker, who did not kick the ball left-footed during the game.

Of his eight punts on the day, Tucker put three inside the Oklahoma 20 yardline and averaged 45 yards per attempt, including one 60-yarder. The concern is that he's having trouble consistently getting the ball to fall in front of opponents to get that good roll he consistently got last season, which creates another problem -- with the low, line-drive nature of the punts, it's easy to out-kick the coverage, especially if the punt travels 40 or more yards in the air. That precise scenario allowed Dominique Franks to return a punt 30 yards to midfield. After a week of evaluating whether to stick with the rugby punting or return to using John Gold, Brown clearly made the philosophical decision to stick with Tucker and that simply may be the way that Texas continues to punt in the future.

The return game was not as effective as it has been, with Shipley picking up negative yardage on his two punt returns and DJ Monroe failing to break off any long plays on his three returns. On the positive side, Antwan Cobb returned a sky kick 18 yards and Monroe was effective, averaging 25 yards a return, certainly enough to give the Longhorns the good field position they enjoyed for most of the day.

The Sooners made the smart decision to block Marquise Goodwin when punting, but Aaron Williams came free on the edge and nearly blocked the first attempt of the day. Good to see him return to action in that capacity. On the other side, the Longhorns covered kicks as well as they have this season, holding Mossis Madu to only 21 yards per return on the day.

Overall, it's clear that the Sooners have worked hard in the last year to shore up their kick coverage and did a passable job by not allowing any long returns by Jordan Shipley or DJ Monroe. However, it's equally clear that Texas will continue to win the special teams phase of the game if the Longhorns can continue to cover kicks and get good production of Justin Tucker rugby punting. And it should be a major relief to Texas fans that Hunter Lawrence proved himself so capable on such a pick stage. Way to go, kicker.

Randomness. Let's do this bullet-style.

The game plan running the football was excellent against Oklahoma with some actual misdirection and using DJ Monroe in motion on the jet sweep. Kudos to the coaching staff. The plan in the passing game? Not so much.
Recently, PB asked me about where I would rank this Texas defense and after that performance against Oklahoma, it has to rank right up there with 2005, but this team even seems to have a few more playmakers on it. Another performance like that against Missouri and I might be inclined to put them in front of that excellent 2005 unit.
Fozzy Whittaker won the Hard Hat award this week after crashing into Thomas following a personal foul committed by Oklahoma. Mack Brown said that the team had a good laugh about that at the meeting.
How clutch was Hunter Lawrence? Anyone who has watched teams like South Florida over the years knows that field goals of over 40 yards are far from gimmes in the college game and Lawrence nailed identical 42-yarders. You can bet that Bobby Petrino would have sacrificed one of his children to have someone that consistent against Florida this weekend.
Blake Gideon missed six tackles by himself against Oklahoma. Christian Scott let his team down terribly by failing to remain eligible and I wonder how his teammates will accept him back next season, assuming that he makes progress academically -- will it be hard for them to trust someone who left them hanging with his own selfishness?
Why has the offensive line been such a disaster in the first half of so many games, only to respond with sometimes-dominant performances in the second half? I love the ability to finish, but why the consistently poor play early?
You may have heard rumors about OU still sucking. Absolutely true.

Missouri Depth Chart

GhostofBigRoy — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:54:23 -0000

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OFFENSE
Position	No.	Player	\|	No.	Player	\|	No.	Player
Flanker (Z)	8	Jordan Shipley	\|	11	James Kirkendoll		6	DeSean Hales
Sub B	84	Marquise Goodwin	OR	7	John Chiles	\|
Tight End (Y)	83	Greg Smith	\|	13	Ahmard Howard	OR	89	Barrett Matthews
	Flex TE: Dan Buckner
Right Tackle	64	Kyle Hix	\|	72	Britt Mitchell
Right Guard	63	Michael Huey	OR	56	Tray Allen	\|	54	Mark Buchanan
Center	71	Chris Hall	\|	78	David Snow	\|	75	Steve Moore
Left Guard	52	Charlie Tanner	\|	56	Tray Allen
Left Tackle	74	Adam Ulatoski	\|	77	Luke Poehlmann
Split End (X)	9	Malcolm Williams	\|	4	Dan Buckner
Tailback	28	Fozzy Whittaker	OR	31 2	Cody Johnson Vondrell McGee	OR	23	Tre' Newton
	Specialty Back: D.J. Monroe
Fullback	24	Antwann Cobb	\|	31	Cody Johnson
	Short Yardage/Goal-Line: Lamarr Houston
Quarterback	12	Colt McCoy	\|	3	Garrett Gilbert	\|	17	Sherrod Harris
Place-Kicker	15	Hunter Lawrence	\|	39	Ryan Bailey	\|	19	Justin Tucker

DEFENSE
Position	No.	Player	\|	No.	Player	\|	No.	Player
Buck	2	Sergio Kindle	\|	80	Alex Okafor
Tackle (Nose)	92	Ben Alexander	OR	91	Kheeston Randall
Tackle	33	Lamarr Houston	\|	96	Calvin Howell	\|	93	Tyrell Higgins
End	81	Sam Acho	\|	32	Eddie Jones	\|	95	Tevin Mims
Strongside LB	18	Emmanuel Acho	\|	1	Keenan Robinson
Middle LB	38	Roddrick Muckelroy	\|	42	Dustin Earnest
Weakside LB	1	Keenan Robinson	\|	18	Emmannuel Acho
Right CB	3	Curtis Brown	OR	8	Chykie Brown
Right Safety	21	Blake Gideon	\|	27	Nolan Brewster	\|	5	Ben Wells
Left Safety	12	Earl Thomas	\|	27	Nolan Brewster
Left CB	4	Aaron Williams	\|	3	Curtis Brown
Nickel	4	Aaron Williams	\|	12	Earl Thomas
Punter	19	Justin Tucker	\|	47	John Gold	\|	17	Trevor Gerland

SPECIAL TEAMS
Punt Returns	8	Jordan Shipley	\|	12	Earl Thomas	\|	3	Curtis Brown
Kickoff Returns	26 8	D.J. Monroe Jordan Shipley	\| \|	84 4	Marquise Goodwin Aaron Williams	\|	9	Malcolm Williams
Kickoffs	19	Justin Tucker	\|	15	Hunter Lawrence
Holder	8	Jordan Shipley	\|	17	Sherrod Harris
Deep Snapper (PAT/FG)	83	Greg Smith	\|	72	Britt Mitchell
Deep Snapper (Punts)	58	William Harvey	\|	48	Alex Zumberge

Follow after the jump for some analysis of the changes this week...

In perhaps the biggest shake-up to the depth chart this season, it's clear that the coaching staff is intent on making major personnel changes on the offensive side of the football, most notably in the receiving corps. Listed at split end all season, Jordan Shipley has now returned to his more natural flanker position at struggling against Oklahoma to get open at the X position, pushing James Kirkendoll into a back-up position after two terrible performances in a row. After leading the team in receptions and receiving yards on Saturday, as well as scoring the only Longhorn touchdown of the day, Marquise Goodwin is now listed as the co-starter with John Chiles at the sub-B position, but is listed first, portending a sharp increase in snaps for the all-world athlete. And, making the week for many Texas fans, it finally appears that Malcolm Williams will get a chance at Shipley's vacated X position.

On the offensive line, Tray Allen moves into a co-starter relationship with Michael Huey, though Huey is still listed first, while David Snow is now solely the back up at the center position. Early in the season, Snow was listed as backing up each of three interior positions. The Longhorns need to find an effective interior combination and need to do it soon -- only Charlie Tanner appears entrenched at his left guard position.

At running back, Fozzy Whittaker and Cody Johnson remain the co-starters, with Vondrell McGee and Tre' Newton backing them up, along with DJ Monroe listed as the specialty back. Mack Brown says there is no way that he can get reps for all five, so expect McGee and Newton to see only limited action this week. Does Tre' Newton see some time as the third-down back or is he effectively buried now after injuring his neck?

On the defensive side of the ball, the status quo reigns, fitting after the dominant performance put on by Will Muschamp's charges. About the only thing worth noting is that Nolan Brewster is backing up both safety positions, ahead of Ben Wells.

Snap Shots: Bad Colt Directs Opening Drive of Second Half

Peter Bean — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:10:29 -0000

There have been many words spent castigating Greg Davis, the offensive line, James Kirkendoll, Cody Johnson, Chris Jesse... pretty much everyone in the stadium except for Jordan Shipley and Colt McCoy. Most of it's fair, but I've now re-watched the game, and I regret to say that McCoy deserves some share of the blame. Below, the opening drive of the second half, directed by Bad Colt.

As always, click any image to enlarge.

1st and 10: Texas is in its base 11-personnel, with Shipley split solo on the weakside at the top of the screen, Vondrell McGee at tailback alongside Colt. The Buffs are in their base 4-2-5, safeties 10 yards deep. As McCoy receives the snap, the linebackers are statues because, dude, why not? It's not like Texas is gonna run it.

Checking ~~his reads~~ Shipley: As McCoy scans the situation, this is what he sees. Shipley is smothered by a triangulation of Buffaloes: press coverage from the corner, safety help over top, and a Will linebacker breaking towards the sideline.

Real teams run screens: Obviously, McCoy is still locked in on Shipley here, but this frame is presented to highlight a different point. Imagine for a moment we had a better offensive coordinator. He'd look at situations like this and conclude, "Gee, we could easily run some successful screens here." It's pretty easy to see what a good situation Texas would be in if LT Ulatoski (#74) and LG Tanner (just below him) released their blockers to McCoy. As Shipley dragged the corner and safety down the line, McGee (#2) would be wide open for the dump screen, with Ulatoski and Tanner paving the way in front, with only the linebacker to block. Sigh.

Still. Checking. Shipley. C'mon Colt. For crying out loud, he's just not open. Can't get open. Smothered, like you like your hash browns at the Waffle House in Abilene. MOVE ON.

Lack of options: To be fair, McCoy's options on the other side of the field are miserable. Dan Buckner has "run" a... well, a nothing. He's standing at the line of scrimmage, threatening exactly no one. Not pictured at the bottom of the screen, Texas' other wide outs are comfortably covered by two corners with safety help. Why do they have safety help? Because Greg Davis has sent Buckner on a stand and watch route and can be covered by a linebacker. McCoy's best option was probably to swing it out to McGee in the flat, where he'd have a chance to make a linebacker miss.

Completions are misleading: McCoy completed 33 of 39 passes on Saturday, but more than a few were like this one to Buckner -- good for nothing. This one's not so much a manifestation of Bad Colt as it is an example of the mediocrity of Davis's design in the passing game.

2nd and 7: Exact same set as 1st and 10.

QB draw holler! As soon as Chris Hall snaps to McCoy you can see him start to release upfield.

Hey, this looks promising: Looks pretty good at this point, don't it? If Hall can engage the linebacker, McCoy's just gotta dart through the nice hole between Tanner and Ulatoski and let his receivers wipe out the safety.

WRONG WAY! Colt! You're going the wrong way!!! I've highlighted where you need to go! Nooooooo!

Gone to the dark side: This could've been a nice QB draw. But Colt's gone to the dark side...

Army of white: No gain, Texas.

3rd and 6: Empty set with Fozzy Whittaker in as a fifth receiver at the very top of the screen, flanked by Kirkendoll and, upright on the line, Buckner. Shipley's in the near slot, with John Chiles split beneath him at the bottom of the screen.

Bringing six: As McCoy receives the snap, Colorado sends the linebackers -- it's a max rush, with 6 guys headed at 5 blockers. Colt McCoy, senior Heisman candidate, has seen this many times and knows where the ball needs to go. Right?

Maybe not: Christ almighty, Colt's looking to the near side, where his options are comparatively terrible considering the open space Texas is working with on the strongside of the play.

Locked in: Colt apparently made up his mind before the snap. He's looking to Chiles on a slant. Period. For all the complaining about the offensive line, they've given McCoy a beautiful pocket to take a moment to make a read here. He's not interested, though.

Gross: One other note as Colt releases the pass to Chiles -- check out the routes Kirkendoll and Buckner have been sent on. I hope one of them got it wrong...

Behind the receiver: Nevermind the question of whether John Chiles is the guy you want throwing a slant to on 3rd and 6, even if he is McCoy's pass is crap -- well behind the well-covered Chiles. Incomplete and it's time to rugby punt it six yards down the field.