SBNation.com User Blog: mattyj

Honey Badger Don't Play for LSU No More

mattyj — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 17:33:34 -0000

Honey Badger Don't Play for LSU No More

Kicked off for the ever popular "rules violation."

Black Hearts and Gold Pants enjoying Greg Davis at Iowa

mattyj — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:24:27 -0000

Black Hearts and Gold Pants enjoying Greg Davis at Iowa

JT Barrett commits to tOSU

mattyj — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:57:25 -0000

OU gets 2nd top RB commit

mattyj — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 11:56:06 -0000

OU gets 2nd top RB commit

OU got its second commitment from a top-ranked RB. I thought this line at the end of the article was humorous (though clearly a misprint):

"Bryant's commitment gives the Sooners the top paid of running back recruits in the country."

Jacorey Warrick is #8

mattyj — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:16:36 -0000

Jacorey Warrick is #8

I'm sure Wescott will have a great write-up soon, but for now Texas adds another versatile athlete.

OTL: Texas-Will Lyles Connection

mattyj — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:56:42 -0000

OTL: Texas-Will Lyles Connection

Not as bad as I thought by the title, but still interesting.

What does BON want Texas to do in the realignment game?

mattyj — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:07:02 -0000

I know this horse has been beaten to death and then shot and thrown off a cliff, but I wanted to see the opinion of the Burnt Orange Nation on the matter in a nice, easy to see poll. I know not all these are necessarily realistic, and that the possibilities are changing daily, but I wanted to include any that I've heard rumored.

So, Burnt Orange Nation, what would be your ideal situation for Texas in the realignment game?

Poll

Which realignment scenario would you prefer for Texas?

Independent in football; ACC or Big East for other sports

19 votes

Join Pac-12 with OU, OSU, and Tech

55 votes

Join B1G with ND

30 votes

Hold together Big 12 by adding BYU, TCU, etc

32 votes

Join ACC in all sports

17 votes

Form new conference with BYU, ND, and other similar schools

13 votes

166 votes | Poll has closed

LaDarrell McNeil commits to Tennessee

mattyj — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 01:12:38 -0000

LaDarrell McNeil commits to Tennessee

I know there was some thinking Texas should have offered him. He's another a&m lost to the SEC UT. I guess they can consider the Santos and McNeil recruitments an appetizer for the next 100 years.

Top QB Gunner Kiel Commits to....Indiana??

mattyj — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:30:12 -0000

Top QB Gunner Kiel Commits to....Indiana??

Gotta be a little hit to OU, but we'll see if this lasts until Signing Day.

Wheeler commits to Tech

mattyj — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 03:41:34 -0000

Wheeler commits to Tech

I know we weren't really recruiting him anymore, but he's another big get for Tubs and IMO another reason why Tech is better off with Tubs in long run than they were with the Pirate.

Longhorn Digest: Austin to be named DC

mattyj — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 03:24:19 -0000

Longhorn Digest: Austin to be named DC

Looks like it's going to be Teryl Austin. Interesting that the article mentions Shannon is still an option for another position.

Jamaal gets paid

mattyj — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 18:39:59 -0000

Jamaal gets paid

Jamaal Charles gets a 5 year, $32.5 million deal from Chiefs.

247 Sports Reporting Davis to Resign Today

mattyj — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:16:47 -0000

247 Sports Reporting Davis to Resign Today

I know we're not wanting to speculate, but this would seem to be a huge deal. Things could be fixing to ramp up.

UPDATE: According to the same article, Davis will resign today, but there's no definitive time for an announcement. I'll believe it when it's official, but as mentioned with this much smoke you have to think there's fire.

Baylor Hoops Under Investigation

mattyj — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:00:01 -0000

Baylor Hoops Under Investigation

I'm shocked. There's no way any of us saw this coming.

Force out Brown to keep Muschamp?

mattyj — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:50:51 -0000

Force out Brown to keep Muschamp?

Daily Oklahoman reporter Berry Tramel reports hearing from a "source" in Dallas that if Georgia came calling Texas may "force" Mack to retire just to retain Muschamp. Pure silliness if you ask me.

Offensive and Defensive Expectations

mattyj — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 00:32:26 -0000

So it has been 5 games and we're a very disappointing 3-2. Let's get a few things out of the way to start:

1. Yes, Greg Davis is inept. We're all frustrated by him. However, this is not a Greg Davis defense (or attack) post.

2. We all seem to agree that, though the defense has underperformed at times, they are the better unit. We're going to see if we can find out why.

3. Garret Gilbert is young. We need to give him time. No one wanted Colt or Vince to play QB at the beginning of their careers either. Is he a surefire All-American? No. Can he be? Sure. Patience please.

Ok, here we go...

So it has been 5 games and we're a very disappointing 3-2. Let's get a few things out of the way to start:

1. Yes, Greg Davis is inept. We're all frustrated by him. However, this is not a Greg Davis defense (or attack) post.

2. We all seem to agree that, though the defense has underperformed at times, they are the better unit. We're going to see if we can find out why.

Ok, here we go...

We're Texas. We expect our team to be great. No, we demand it. Some hate us for that, but that's who we are and why we're great. As a part of that, we expect a defense that is suffocating and keeps opponents out of the end zone. We also expect an offense that scores on every drive and averages 500 yards a game. Is that too much? Probably, but that's not an excuse for inadequcies on either side.

That said, I was talking with a friend and we started talking about NFL talent on this team. We started naming the NFL prospects (guys who will likely get drafted or have a chance to get drafted) on both sides. Here's what we came up with.

Offense

Garrett Gilbert (let the debate begin)

Mike Davis

Darius White

Malcolm Williams

Mason Walters

Kyle Hix (I know, I know, but he's big. He'll likely get a look.)

Defense

Kheshton Randall

Curtis Brown

Aaron Williams

Kenny Vaccaro

Christian Scott

Now I know that projecting NFL talent is about as easy as projecting high school talent and this list assumes a lot, but this is what we came up with. Please feel free to disagree and share your own list.

That said, I think its pretty clear that one side of the ball is more talented than the other. I don't think this is a surprise, but it leads to a couple questions:

1. Is the D full of NFL talent because of the great coaching, or is the coaching great because of the NFL talent?

2. Is the O lacking NFL talent because of a lack of recruiting and development or is the offense struggling because of the lack of NFL talent.

I think the answer to the questions is a little of both. I also think this shows that as many of us already know our defense will have to carry us the rest of the way. It also proves that expecting a championship level offense might have been asking too much. I know this won't make anyone feel better and is about 3 weeks too late, but I wanted to get the opinions and thoughts of BON.

"When he went in the game the other day, there were 11 defensive players who said, 'He's in the...

mattyj — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:51:36 -0000

"When he went in the game the other day, there were 11 defensive players who said, 'He's in the game, so he's going to get the ball,' and he still made 14 yards." -- Texas coach Mack Brown, on WR D.J. Monroe

Gee...seems like you would want a guy like that to get the ball more than once in three games...

http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1129865

Texas vs. Notre Dame in 2015-16 ($)

mattyj — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 21:15:36 -0000

Texas vs. Notre Dame in 2015-16 ($)

This may not be linked well because I didn't get it exactly from this site, but Geoff Ketchum just said on The Horn that Texas has scheduled a home and home with Notre Dame.

Update: According to the Chicago Tribune it would be a 4-game home and home.

More Malcolm Brown News

mattyj — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:11:41 -0000

More Malcolm Brown News

"The two remaining uncommitted five-star prospects are Gardena (Calif.) Junipero Serra wide receiver George Farmer and Cibolo (Texas) Steele running back Malcolm Brown. Farmer is considered a near-lock for USC, with Oregon, Florida, Miami and Alabama rounding out his top five. Brown is a huge Texas lean, followed by Florida State, Oklahoma and the Tide.

Alabama has little to no shot at either prospect, but it is impressive that the Tide is involved with every uncommitted five-star player left on the board."

2011 Rivals 150 - Basketball

mattyj — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:49:12 -0000

2011 Rivals 150 - Basketball

Rivals updated their Class of 2011 basketball rankings and Texas commit DeAndre Daniels has earned a 5th star and moved up to #10 overall coming in just ahead of fellow Texas commit Myck Kybongo who is #11. Also representing Texas are Sheldon McClellan at #47 and Julian Lewis at #85. The basketball recruiting machine continues to impress.

Bradley Marquez commits to Tech ($)

mattyj — Sun, 09 May 2010 12:56:59 -0000

Bradley Marquez commits to Tech ($)

One more RB off the board.

Horns pick up commit 25 ($)

mattyj — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:10:29 -0000

Horns pick up commit 25 ($)

K Will Russ has switched his commitment to Texas. What a weekend.

Why does everyone hate USC so much?

mattyj — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:37:46 -0000

Why does everyone hate USC so much?

I just don't understand.

Blog Poll Submission Week 10 vs. 6th Grade Top 25

mattyj — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:10:24 -0000

Bumped for amazing. I spiffed up the presentation a little bit, but the data belongs to mattyj. -HB

I teach 6th grade and have a class of boys who are obsessed with sports, especially football. In order to get them to talk less and learn more I told my class that on Mondays they could submit top 25 ballots and I would tally them up for a class poll. 13 students submitted ballots, and their biases and ignorances show big time (See: aggie and Purdue with 1st place votes). It all makes about as much sense as the Sagarin ratings. So, without further adieu, for your entertainment pleasure, our 6th grade class Top 25. Enjoy.

Follow through the jump to compare this poll with the "experts" including yours truly. -HB

Bumped for amazing. I spiffed up the presentation a little bit, but the data belongs to mattyj. -HB

Follow through the jump to compare this poll with the "experts" including yours truly. -HB

This is just awesome. For comparison, here are the links to the coaches, Harris, and AP polls. -HB

Here's my Blog Poll submission for this week as well:

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Florida
2	Alabama	1
3	Texas	1
4	TCU
5	Cincinnati
6	Georgia Tech	3
7	Boise State	1
8	Pittsburgh	4
9	Iowa	3
10	Miami (Florida)	4
11	Oregon	4
12	Houston	1
13	LSU	2
14	Southern Cal	1
15	Ohio State	2
16	Oklahoma State
17	Penn State	7
18	Arizona
19	Utah	2
20	South Florida	3
21	Wisconsin	3
22	Virginia Tech	3
23	Brigham Young
24	Oregon State
25	Nebraska
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: Notre Dame (#19), Oklahoma (#20), California (#22).

Discuss...

5-star back interested in Texas

mattyj — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:21:51 -0000

5-star back interested in Texas

Another piece of evidence for those convinced Texas should spend more time and effort in OOS recruiting.

Reggie Wilson is #21

mattyj — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:03:02 -0000

Reggie Wilson is #21

All 3 Texas sites (OB, BOB, and Inside Texas) are reporting that Reggie Wilson has committed to the Horns. Big pick-up as Mack continues to roll.

ESPN.com Shepard article

mattyj — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:09:14 -0000

ESPN.com Shepard article

Interesting article about Russell Shepard's recruitment. This quote from his coach especially stood out:

"Said Thiebaud: "As I told Mack, 'You haven't won a conference championship, let alone a national championship, without a kid like that playing quarterback.' He agreed.""

Ouch. I guess the truth can hurt.

CU Depth Chart

mattyj — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:30:25 -0000

CU Depth Chart

Anyone else concerned by the fact that apparently Vondrell is entrenched as the started?

The NBA Draft Age Limit Debate

mattyj — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:57:22 -0000

As we all know this is the slow time of the year for sports, so I thought I'd throw out a question for debate, just to pass the time.

So I was browsing Rivals.com and came a across a story about 2008 5-star point guard prospect Brandon Jennings. Jennings has committed to play at Arizona next year, but is waiting on final grades to see if he'll be eligible. The story goes on to say that if declared ineligible Jennings plans on going to Europe to play for a year then declaring for the draft. The story then eludes to the fact that even if he is academically eligible Jennings is considering going to Europe anyway.

Rivals Link

This story floods my mind with questions. Why don't the top high school seniors in the country just go and get paid to play for a team in Europe for a year then enter the draft? Isn't is better for them to get to focus on nothing but improving their games for the League rather than go to college and worry about school, dumb NCAA regulations, limited practice time, etc? And if you're a freshman or sophomore in high school who's aiming to play in the League, why not move to Europe and start playing professionally over there at 15 and 16 to get ready like the Euro kids do? Would a Euro-type pro league with no age limits that would serve as a "farm league" to the NBA work in the US?

I love college hoops as much as anyone and want to see it thrive, but with the age rule forcing kids to masquerade as college students for a year the game is hurting. It seems to me the prospect of playing professionally overseas to prepare for the draft is infinitely greater than playing at a college for a year getting paid with a scholarship I'd never end up using. Will that become the new trend?

Just wanted to see what y'all thought.

As we all know this is the slow time of the year for sports, so I thought I'd throw out a question for debate, just to pass the time.

Rivals Link

Just wanted to see what y'all thought.

Mack: Chiles to get looks as WR

mattyj — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:38:57 -0000

Here's an article by everyone's favorite AAS writer where Mack says Chiles will stay at QB, but they'll look at ways to get him the ball as a WR.

Bohls' article

I'm wondering what this means for Sherrod Harris. Does he get a better chance at playing? How much are they looking at playing Chiles at WR? I love that Mack is looking to get the best 11 on the field no matter what. Its encouraging.

Thoughts?

Here's an article by everyone's favorite AAS writer where Mack says Chiles will stay at QB, but they'll look at ways to get him the ball as a WR.

Bohls' article

Thoughts?

Poll

Using Chiles at WR and QB:

Great move that might make him our most important player

209 votes

Could be good if the coaches actually follow through

395 votes

I'd prefer Chiles remained exclusively at QB

37 votes

641 votes | Poll has closed