Tag: Big 12 Football

Oklahoma pass rusher Mark Jackson enters transfer portal, per report

Edge rusher Mark Jackson makes the third Sooners defender to enter the transfer portal this week.

Alex Grinch may get his own players playing time sooner than he realized.

Edge rusher Mark Jackson makes the third Sooners defender to enter the transfer portal this week. He joins linebackers, Levi Draper and Ryan Jones.

Jackson saw just four games in 2019 and played in 32 games total during his career at Oklahoma, including seven starts in 2018. In his four seasons, Jackson amassed 53 total tackles, eight tackles for loss and four sacks.

Jackson, a senior from Cibolo, Texas (Steele High School), was a four-star linebacker/rush end and signed as part of the 2016 class and saw playing time all four years at Oklahoma, but played in just four contests, allowing him to redshirt and gain an extra season of eligibility.

With Jackson being the third defender entering the portal, Grinch may be using his 2020 class earlier than he expected. The Sooners have two defensive tackles incoming as well as two defensive ends, including Reggie Grimes who has been a stand out at the Polynesian Bowl.

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Texas Longhorns have new leading candidate for tight ends, special teams coach

Oklahoma’s special teams coordinator and running backs coach Jay Boulware may return to Texas for a similar position.

It appears the Longhorns have narrowed in on a potential tight ends and special teams coach. Although the current special teams coordinator and running backs coach at Oklahoma, Jay Boulware has previous ties to the University of Texas.

According to Rivals.com reporter Anwar Richardson, head coach Tom Herman could sway Boulware back to where his coaching career began.

Boulware was a backup offensive tackle at Texas in 1991-92, before his collegiate career was prematurely ended due to cardiac arrhythmia. As a student-athlete, Boulware became a student-assistant coach before ultimately working with the tight ends as a graduate assistant in 1996.

An extensive resume of Boulware’s coaching experience includes Stanford, Auburn, Utah, and Oklahoma.

 

 

 

WATCH: 2020 Texas football commits arrive to campus

Several of Texas’ top-rated 2020 football commits have arrived on campus to get a head start on their collegiate careers.

Several high school athletes strive to graduate early in December. This allows the freshman to enroll on campus in the spring semester, where they can take full advantage of college training staff and weight rooms before the season begins.

Although five-star running back Bijan Robinson and four-star outside linebacker Prince Dorbah are in Hawaii participating in the Polynesian Bowl, it appears a large portion of the Longhorns top-rated 2020 commits have already arrived on campus.

Four-star defensive tackle Vernon Broughton, four-star offensive lineman Logan Parr, four-star safety Xavion Alford, and four-star dual threat quarterback Hudson Card have all arrived in Austin to get a head start on their collegiate careers.

Two of Texas’ top commits participating in Polynesian Bowl

Two of Texas’ top 2020 commits, Bijan Robinson and Prince Dorbah, will be participating in the Polynesian Bowl this Saturday.

There will be no shortage of talent on display at the Polynesian Bowl this Saturday, January 18, on CBS Sports Network. Held annually during the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Week, the country’s top high school players come together to celebrate culture alongside top level competition.

According to 247 Sports Composite, there are six five-start athletes on the roster. Dozens of four-star recruits will also be participating.

Two of the top rated players partaking have already committed to the University of Texas. Five-star running back Bijan Robinson and four-star outside linebacker Prince Dorbah are currently in Hawaii preparing for the game.

Robinson and Dorbah signed with Texas in December. Both will likely close out their high school seasons together in Aloha Stadium as many other 2020 commits have already arrived to campus in Austin.

It appears they are each soaking up the moment.

High expectations surround these highly-rated commits for the Longhorns this season.

Coach O: “I felt like we had the players to win a championship” after Texas game

According to LSU head coach Ed Oregeron, the play on 3rd and 17 against Texas gave him the confidence that this team had the players to win.

Defeating Clemson 42-25 on Monday night, LSU won its fourth national championship in program history. Texas faced the Tigers early in the season, narrowly losing 45-38. In an offensive shootout, both quarterbacks dominated throughout the entire game, each having over 400 passing yards. 

Down the stretch of the season, it was LSU’s quarterback Joe Burrow who made play after play for them, securing a Heisman trophy. Nothing was different against the Longhorns, as he was clutch throughout the entire game. 

His best play of the night came late in the fourth quarter and up a touchdown. It was 3rd and 17 for the Tigers with 3:30 left on the clock. With the Longhorn offense scoring on every second-half possession they had to that point, if LSU gave the ball back to Texas, they more than likely would have gone down the field and scored, making it a brand new ball game. 

Instead, Burrow avoided the blitz sent by the Longhorns and found wide receiver Justin Jefferson open down the middle of the field just beyond the line to gain. Picking up the first down, Jefferson avoided a weak tackle from Caden Sterns to find his way into the endzone. It was the icing on the cake, giving the Tigers their first big win of the season.

After the national championship, head coach Ed Orgeron cited that play as the moment he knew his team was capable of winning a championship. 

“When we made that third down and 17 against Texas, I felt like we had the players to win a championship,” said Oregon on the podium after the game. 

A play that will more than likely haunt Texas fans’ dreams for awhile turned out to be a play that sparked a national championship for the Tigers. It jumpstarted their season and gave them the confidence to go up against anybody in the country. 

Luckily for the Longhorns, they will have the opportunity to get their revenge on Sept. 12th in Death Valley. With LSU losing a lot of their national championship winning squad, Texas will have a great opportunity to do what the Tigers did. Get a big win early in the season and give them confidence throughout the entire year.

Former Longhorn Emmanuel Acho Talks Financial Incentives In 2009 Title Game

Former Texas Longhorn Emmanuel Acho claims that they had extra incentives to intercept Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy in the title game.

Following the Louisiana State Tigers’ National Championship Game former wide receiver and current Cleveland Browns player Odell Beckham Jr gave cash to players on the team. This sparked a lot of heat including reports that the NCAA and Southeastern Conference is looking into the matter. A clip was shown that OBJ did indeed hand players money which is a violation of NCAA rules.

Former Texas Longhorn and current ESPN analyst Emmanuel Acho stated that the 2009 team was offered money to perform in the National Championship game against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

“We went to the national championship game in 2009 and … it was public to the team, for every interception the defensive back got, they were going to get $1,000. For every pick y’all got against Alabama in the national championship game, you’re going to get $1,000.’ Now, the difference is we just didn’t do it publicly on the field.”-excerpt from 247 Sports.

Acho went to Twitter to clarify his comments on ESPN regarding the claims that Texas players would be rewarded financially for their performance in the title game.

 

Former Texas Longhorn ranked No. 7 on College Football’s top 150 players

ESPN announced the top 150 college players of all time, former Texas running back Earl Campbell landed in the top ten.

During halftime of the College Football Playoff National Championship, a former Longhorn legend was honored as one of the top college football players of all time.

ESPN released the rankings of the Top 11 of 150 best players, former Texas running back Earl Campbell was listed as the seventh-greatest player in history.

Campbell showcased a dominant senior season with the Longhorns in 1977. After rushing for 1,744 yards and 18 touchdowns, Campbell won Texas’ first Heisman Trophy in a landslide vote.

The former Longhorn legend finished his four-year career with 4,443 rushing yards and 40 touchdowns. In the 1978 NFL Draft, the Houston Oilers selected Campbell with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

In 1991, Campbell was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

 

Vegas Odds: Texas Longhorns Match Oklahoma For National Championship Odds

According to Vegas oddsmakers, the Texas Longhorns have the ninth-best odds to win the National Championship and that matches a rival.

Less than 72 hours removed from the National Championship game that saw the Louisiana State Tigers hoist the trophy as the best team in college football. As is the case with any championship, Vegas has already put together the odds for the next championship team.

The Texas Longhorns come in with the ninth-best odds according to Sports Betting Dime at +2500. Ironically enough that is the same exact odds as their rivals the Oklahoma Sooners have. The Longhorns are looking to best the Sooners for Big 12 supremacy and also looking for their first ever College Football Playoff appearance.

The best odds belong to the team that fell in the playoff championship game, the Clemson Tigers.

USA Today Sports Grades All 130 Teams

The USA TODAY Sports collection of analysts graded out all college football teams but where did they rank the Texas Longhorns?

USA Today Sports spent the year keeping a close eye on all 130 teams in college football. The Texas Longhorns had high expectations coming off their big Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia. After quarterback Sam Ehlinger proclaimed that “Texas was back”, their season unraveled leading to a 8-5 season that saw them take the soon to be National Champion Louisiana State Tigers to the brink and a huge bowl victory to cap off the season.

USA TODAY Sports gave the Longhorns a grade of “C”. Not exactly surprising given the expectation level for Texas. After competing for the Big 12 Championship against rival Oklahoma, the Longhorns were poised for a rematch in 2019 but unfortunately the surprise Baylor Bears snatched that opportunity away from them.

The Dallas Morning News posted an article that claimed that Texas would lose to LSU by a field goal but win 11 games including the Big 12 title. While the Longhorns did lose to the Tigers, they didn’t live up to the rest of the prediction. For 2020, the pressure is on Sam Ehlinger and Tom Herman to get the Longhorns back to the top of the Big 12 and competing for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Bidding war for Longhorns RB coach Stan Drayton: Cowboys out, return to Texas likely

In what appeared to be a three-way race for Texas running backs coach Stan Drayton’s services, a return to the Longhorns is now likely.

It was reportedly a three-way race to land Texas Longhorns associate head coach and run game coordinator Stan Drayton. Fortunately for the Longhorns, it doesn’t appear Drayton will be accepting a similar position within the National Football League.

Head coach Tom Herman has made it a priority to bring back Drayton for the 2020 season, especially with five-star running back Bijan Robinson arriving to campus. This appeared to be the most likely scenario until the Dallas Cowboys became involved.

Cowboys new head coach Mike McCarthy highly coveted Drayton, scheduling an interview last week in an attempt to reunite Drayton with former Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott. The Cowboys are no longer a possibility to sway Drayton away from Texas.

According to ESPN reporter Lindsey Thiry, the Cowboys have decided to hire former Los Angeles Rams running backs coach Skip Peete.

Oddly enough, the Rams were reportedly the third team interested in Drayton’s services. Although it could remain a possibility, Thiry denied the team’s interest in the Texas coach. The Cowboys vacant coaching position appeared the most enticing option if Drayton were to return to the NFL.

With Peete accepting the same position in Dallas, NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport now believes Drayton will stay at Texas.

Drayton’s decision speaks volumes of the expectations he has for the Longhorns this year, there’s no shortage of highly-rated athletes in the backfield.