Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The attrition continues for the Texas defense as Jacoby Jones will be going pro.
The attrition continues on the defensive side of the ball for Texas as defensive end Jacoby Jones has declared for the 2022 NFL draft. Continue reading “Texas DL Jacoby Jones declares for 2022 NFL draft”
As if Texas needed more bad news coming out of Red River week, it seems as if two key players are going to be out for some time.
As if Texas needed more bad news coming out of Red River week, it seems as if two key players are going to be out for some time.
Steve Sarkisian said both wide receiver Jordan Whittington and edge rusher Jacoby Jones are going to need surgery. Their timetable for return is unknown but both will miss Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State.
Whittington has a clavicle issue he suffered during the fourth quarter against Oklahoma. He injured himself while diving for a ball Casey Thompson was attempting to throw away.
With 24 receptions for 359 yards and three touchdowns, Whittington was the second leading receiver on the team.
Now, the wide receiver room is already thinner than it, adding onto Troy Omeire’s season-ending knee injury. Xavier Worthy and Joshua Moore will continue to be the guys in 12 personnel, but who steps up as a third receiver is unknown. Look for Marcus Washington or Kelvontay Dixon to get opportunities.
As for Jones, he was taken off the field in the first quarter with a foot injury. Texas is now down at their main pass-rushing position. Sarkisian said Alfred Collins and Ovie Oghoufo will have to step up in Jones’ absence.
With how big of an issue the pass rush was against Oklahoma, one of those two will have to elevate the defensive line. With how deep the Longhorns are on the inside and with the staff’s flirtation of Collins moving to jack, there should be a chance for a younger player to step up. True freshman Bryon Murphy was someone who received a lot of praise during fall camp.
Contact/Follow us @LonghornsWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas news, notes, and opinions.
As the two teams get set to face off for the 117th time, how do Oklahoma and Texas stack up statistically heading into the Red River Showdown?
The Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns will meet for the 117th time this Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. The Red River Showdown is one of the great rivalries in all of sports. The atmosphere, the history, the accomplishments of the two sides, and the back and forth nature of the rivalry makes the build-up and excitement to this game second to none.
Both teams are coming in off of big wins on the road. Texas outlasted their nemesis TCU in Fort Worth and the Sooners avenged two straight losses to Kansas State in Manhattan.
This season hasn’t been without adversity for either side. The Longhorns suffered a defeat at the hands of the Arkansas Razorbacks and switched starting quarterbacks in the process. The Sooners, though 5-0, have had to scratch and claw to stay undefeated.
In order to get you ready for OU-Texas, we’ve put together a little statistical tale of the tape to look at how the two sides matchup heading into this weekend’s Red River Rivalry game.
After a successful playing career, Jacoby Jones is now a football coach. He was announced as Morgan State University’s new tight ends coach
The Baltimore Ravens have had plenty of former players go on to become football coaches at multiple levels. Whether it’s at the high school level, the college ranks or even professionally, the team has seen some of their former players succeed in picking up a clipboard and trying their hand at coaching the game that they love.
In an announcement by the Morgan State University football Instagram page, former Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones was introduced as the tight ends coach for the Bears.
https://www.instagram.com/p/COsup3vHhhI/
Morgan State won’t be the first stop of Jones’ coaching career. He returned to his alma-mater, Lane College, to become their wide receivers coach from 2018-2020, and then found himself back in Baltimore as the wide receivers coach for Calvert Hall high school during the 2020 season.
After accepting the coaching position with Calvert Hall, Jones told Glenn Clark Radio of Press Box that he’s thankful for the city of Baltimore for giving him opportunities, referring to both his time with the Ravens and his new opportunity with the local high school.
“This place right here, when I was at my lowest, they gave me a changing opportunity in life and I turned my life around,” Jones said. “Now they are giving me another opportunity again.”
During his time with Baltimore, Jones provided a spark to not only the Ravens’ offense, but to their special teams unit as well. He caught 76 passes for 992 yards and three touchdowns while also averaging 30.1 yards per kick return.
Jones was able to play in the NFL for a long time, doing so successfully while also winning a Super Bowl with Baltimore. Now, he will look to continue to build on the post-football career that he has carved out for himself.
The Baltimore Ravens will have a Super Bowl legend announce their Day 2 selection during the 2021 draft in Jacoby Jones
The Baltimore Ravens have had a plethora of team legends announce draft picks over the course of their franchise history. That will continue in 2021, as the team announced that Baltimore Super Bowl hero Jacoby Jones will have the honor of reading off the Ravens’ selections on Day 2 of the draft.
We're excited that Jacoby Jones will announce our Night 2 picks during this year's #NFLDraft! pic.twitter.com/DeJhDYdBOq
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 23, 2021
Jones spent just three years with the Ravens from 2012-2014, but was an impact playmaker for all of them. He caught 76 passses for 992 yards and three touchdowns, and also put up 3,037 kick return yards, 853 punt return yards, and five total special teams touchdowns during his time in Baltimore.
While he had plenty of regular season contributions for the Ravens, he is remembered in Baltimore for the plays he made in the 2013 playoffs, where he was the hero for the team on multiple occasions.
It’s the @QadryI scream that does it for me. Mile High Miracle. #Chillspic.twitter.com/mJzuXKLGeI
— Bobby Trosset (@BobbyWBAL) January 12, 2021
Super Bowl XLVII – 3 Feb 2013
Jacoby Jones runs the opening kick of the second half back 108 yards to give the Ravens a 28-6 lead. Before the play, Coach John Harbaugh tells LBs coach Don “Wink” Martindale “this might go” pic.twitter.com/wj3UANJ7Tv
— Aidan (@Balden303) January 5, 2020
Jones will be forever remembered in Ravens history, and is beloved by both the organization and the fans. He’ll have the exciting opportunity to add to his Baltimore resume on Day 2 of the 2021 draft, announcing a few of the next players to put on a Ravens uniform.
The Baltimore Ravens second Super Bowl victory was dubbed 5th best of the last two decades and even that might be underselling it.
On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will headline Super Bowl LV. In celebration of yet another champion being crowned, List Wire ranked every Super Bowl over the last 20 years. While the Ravens are naturally featured twice on the list, having won twice over that timespan, it’s Super Bowl XLVII that got the blood pumping.
According to Barry Werner of List Wire, Baltimore beating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII ranks fifth. It’s easy to see why when Werner breaks down the basic story of the game.
“The Ravens were a force and then there was a blackout that turned an apparent easy victory into a nail-biter. Baltimore boasted a tremendous defense that had all sorts of issues with Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers.”
Come on, that’s something you’d expect to see in a movie or made-for-TV special. The Ravens had gotten to a 28-6 lead early in the third quarter thanks to a Jacoby Jones 108-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. But a power issue caused the stadium to go dark for more than 30 minutes, ultimately seeing the 49ers rally in the second half to put the victor in question. As we all know, Baltimore prevailed, beating San Francisco 34-31 to claim their second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.
While the game itself was magical and full of twists and turns, the lead up to it was somehow even better.
The Ravens hadn’t been great throughout the regular season, finishing with a 10-6 record to squeak into the playoffs. But, between linebacker Ray Lewis announcing he’d retire at the conclusion of the season and quarterback Joe Flacco having arguably the greatest postseason in NFL history, Baltimore seemingly had everything fall in their favor in what can only be described as a Cinderella story.
The Ravens got matched up with Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts in the wild-card round, giving Lewis one final home game before riding off into the sunset. Up 24-9 in the closing minutes of the game, Lewis lined up at running back while Baltimore was in victory formation, doing his famous squirrel dance to close out his career at M&T Bank Stadium to the cheers of the crowd.
With one game down, the Ravens were matched up against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in the divisional round. It would take double-overtime and a miracle to get the job done, however. Down seven points in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, Flacco heaved a pass to Jacoby Jones just over the outstretched arms of safety Rahim Moore, seeing him streak into the end zone untouched for an improbable 70-yard touchdown pass that has since been dubbed “The Mile High Miracle.” Kicker Justin Tucker put the final nail in the coffin after a Corey Graham interception gave Baltimore the ball in Denver territory, nailing a 47-yard field goal to win, 38-35, in double overtime.
Now in the AFC Championship, the Ravens needed to go through a familiar foe in Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. It was a rematch of the AFC Championship Game from a year prior that saw New England barely edge out Baltimore, 23-20. This time, however, there would be no Brady heroics. After a tight first half, the Ravens’ defense ratcheted things up in the second half, forcing four turnovers (including a turnover on downs). Meanwhile, Flacco and the offense feasted, putting up 21 unanswered points to win 28-13 to head to New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII.
Though other Super Bowls were ranked higher, the playoff storylines and the big game itself make the Ravens’ run something special. It’s certainly one Baltimore will never forget.
[vertical-gallery id=60338]
Texas’ defensive coordinator will bring a new scheme to Austin. Let’s take a look at personnel options on the defensive line.
What may be the biggest question among Texas fans right now surrounds the new defensive scheme. Continue reading “Texas Translation: Projecting personnel into Pete Kwiatkowski’s defensive front”
Senior defensive end Jacoby Jones ended the speculation on Tuesday when he announced he would forgo the NFL Draft and return in 2021.
With the loss of Joseph Ossai to the NFL Draft, a major question mark rises on who will handle edge duties in the 2021 season. Continue reading “Texas defensive end Jacoby Jones announces his return for 2021”
With the Valero Alamo Bowl fast approaching, we look at which Texas Longhorns will be key for a victory on Tuesday night in San Antonio.
After talking about a potential Alamo Bowl game for what feels like weeks, the Longhorns will finally take the field in San Antonio, Texas against Colorado. Continue reading “Alamo Bowl: Players who are key for a Texas Longhorns victory”
The Texas Longhorns-Oklahoma State Cowboys first quarter recap. The Longhorns are looking to play spoiler in the OSU bid for the CFP.
The Texas-Oklahoma State matchup started with the Longhorns offense taking the field first. Bijan Robinson started the offense with back to back runs to get them to the Texas 45-yard line. The drive stalled after Sam Ehlinger was stopped at midfield on third and long forcing the punt for the Longhorns.
After a two-yard run by Chuba Hubbard, Spencer Sanders found Tylan Wallace on a catch and run for a first down. One play later the Cowboys were at midfield on the offense. After a first down catch and run, Jacoby Jones gets called for a roughing the passer penalty, Oklahoma State drives deep into Texas territory. Sanders finds Wallace for the first score to give the Cowboys an early lead 7-0.
In typical Texas fashion they are called for a delay of game on the first play of the drive. More familiar failures for the Longhorns. On third down, Ehlinger finds Jake Smith but a drop forces another punt from the Longhorns. The Cowboys would get the ball back for their second possession up 7-0.
The Oklahoma State offense fumbles the exchange to Hubbard and the Longhorns jump on the ball. The Longhorns recover the ball to start in the redzone. Ehlinger finds Jake Smith to get first and goal at the five-yard line. Keaontay Ingram get the ball to the one, then punches it in to tie up the game.
🤘 @TexasFootball takes advantage of the turnover to tie it up! pic.twitter.com/dQWz5vnKI1
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 31, 2020
On the play prior to the touchdown run, Ingram’s ankle was rolled up on and would head to the locker room for evaluation. On third and eight for the Cowboys, D’Shawn Jamison extends the drive for Oklahoma State on a pass interference call. The Longhorns defense responds with sacks by Joseph Ossai and Jones to force a Cowboys punt. Texas takes over with 5:55 remaining in the quarter.
The Texas starts with back to back carries to Roschon Johnson before taking a shot downfield to Brennan Eagles where Ehlinger overthrew him. The Cowboys were offsides to give a free first down. Facing a third and one, there was a snap issue from Derek Kerstetter that forced another punt.
After Joseph Ossai reads the quarterback and brings him down to force a third down play. The defense gives up a big play on a screen play where multiple Longhorns missed a tackle opportunity to bring LD Brown down. After a big play to Landon Wolf, Sanders finds him again wide open in the endzone after the rub route ran to perfection. 14-7 Oklahoma State.
As the quarter came to the close, Ehlinger started to get into a rhythm as he finds Eagles and Smith on back to back plays.
Stats:
Ehlinger 3-7 40 yards
Robinson 5 carries, 39 yards
Smith 2 receptions, 29 yards
