The demolition of Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium's North end zone began Friday and apparently didn't take too long. Check out the time lapse video of the demolition below:
The end zone is being torn down as part of a $150 million expansion to DKR. There will be approximately 8,000 additional seats in the North end zone for next season and the entire section will be closer to the field. The additional people and more enclosed structure should also give the Horns more of a home field advantage next season. I can't wait till all the proposed changes are completed and the stadium is completely enclosed, it should be one of the largest and most impressive facilities in the country.
The 2006 Heisman Trophy was awarded to Ohio State's Troy Smith Saturday night in an agonizingly long and uneventful made-for-ESPN ceremony. With that out of the way we can now look forward to next year and begin discussing the players who could make a run for college football's biggest award in 2007.
Heisman runner-up Darren McFadden is likely the early favorite but Texas quarterback Colt McCoy and a random overhyped Notre Dame player should also be on any early lists. As just a redshirt freshman McCoy was a serious Heisman contender in early November before he was injured and he should be ready for an even better season in 2007.
McCoy's passing stats were on par with Troy Smith and Brady Quinn's and he was leading his team like a grizzled veteran. He led the Horns to come from behind victories against Nebraska and Texas Tech. Before that fateful QB sneak against Kansas State, McCoy was setting team and national records and had the Horns in position to defend their national title. Imagine the numbers he could've put up if offensive coordinator Greg Davis hadn't kept the training wheels on for so long.
It won't be a cakewalk for McCoy next year, the Longhorns do lose three of their starting linemen including All-American Justin Blalock and there's rumors his favorite wide receiver Limas Sweed may jump to the NFL early. McCoy needs to improve his arm strength, force fewer passes into coverage, and most of all stay healthy for the entire season, but if he does those things he could find himself in New York for the 2007 Heisman Trophy presentation.
Last night on ESPN at the Home Depot College Football Awards Texas cornerback was announced as the winner of the Jim Thorpe Award. The Thorpe Award goes to the nation's top defensive back and Ross is the Longhorns' second consecutive winner. Last year safety Michael Huff took home the honor.
Ross beat out Florida's Reggie Nelson and Michigan's Leon Hall for the award in what is at least a slight upset in my book. Ross was outstanding for much of the season and has a knack for making the big play, but the Texas secondary struggled all season long and particularly against Kansas State in the huge upset loss.
He certainly had the statistics to deserve the award (18 pass breakups, five interceptions, and three forced fumbles) and Ross was one of the nation's best cover guys, but it's surprising to think that college football's top defensive back came from one of the country's worst pass defenses. How bad would the Texas secondary have been without him?
The Associated Press writers who cover the Big 12 and nine Longhorns were named to the first and second teams. Texas had the most first teamers of any school with six players being honored. The fact that only three defensive players made the list is a pretty good indication of why the Longhorns underperformed this season. The Horns really need a linebacker or two to step up next year if they want to make another title run. In addition to making the second team, quarterback Colt McCoy was named the Newcomer of the Year by the AP writers.
Here's the Longhorns who made the list:
First Team Offense
OG Kasey Studdard OT Justin Blalock OC Lyle Sendlein
It's been a rough couple of weeks for the Longhorn faithful. Upset loss to Kansas State, injury to Colt McCoy, loss to hated rival, reinjury of star quarterback, defensive coordinator moving on to Big 12 opponent, and finally stud backup QB transferring (maybe). It's getting scary just to wake up in the morning and check the papers.
A few Texas players though have gotten some good news as they were named finalists for national individual awards:
Justin Blalock: Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) Tim Crowder: Ted Hendricks Award (top defensive end) Aaron Ross: Thorpe Award (top defensive back)
None of the three players are favorites for the awards but its great to see Longhorns frequently showing up on these lists year after year. The winner of the Hendricks Award will be announced on December 6th and the Outland and Thorpe announcements will be part of the ESPN College Football Awards Show on December 7th.
Colt McCoy's father says the freshman quarterback is feeling better should be ready to go by the Longhorns' bowl game (whichever one they end up in). McCoy was initially injured on a quarterback sneak against Kansas State and then reinjured by a cheap shot from Texas A&M's Kellen Heard and a hit from Michael Bennett.
Pops also wonders the same thing a lot of Texas fans were Friday:
Brad McCoy also said he thinks his son's arm strength was off against A&M and wondered if it was a lingering effect from a stinger suffered against Kansas State two weeks earlier.
"I've coached him his whole life and I just didn't think he had his best stuff," Brad McCoy said. "He's so accurate, and he doesn't throw short very often, and it seemed like his passes got shorter and shorter as the game wore on. That's just Dad's opinion."
McCoy should not start the bowl game unless he's 100%. Against A&M he started off well but quickly tired and wasn't near the player he had been all season. Colt's a gutty, smart kid but he doesn't have the arm strength to make all the throws unless he's completely healthy.
Hopefully Brad McCoy is right, because rumors of an impending transfer by true freshman QB Jevan Snead are picking up steam. If the coaches know he's gone to they bring him to a bowl game? If not who is the Horns' back up? Does Mack Brown consider burning Sherrod Harris' redshirt if McCoy can't go? It's been a rough couple weeks for Texas fans.
Texas fans have a little something extra to be thankful for this week as UT coach Mack Brown announced at his weekly press conference that both quarterback Colt McCoy and lineman Justin Blalock would be available against Texas A&M on Friday. The offense put up 42 points against Kansas State and wasn't the reason the team lost the game, but it was clearly a different offense without the two injured stars. If both players are 100% I feel much more confident about the match-ups against the Aggies and the outcome of the game.
Probably just as importantly the bye week gives the many banged up guys on defense a little time to heal. Coach Brown said, "We'll probably be healthier as a team than we have been for the past eight weeks." That's fantastic news for a defense that has struggled with injuries throughout the season and has not played up to expectations.
The news out of Austin this week on Colt McCoy's injury has been minimal and mixed. Early in the week rumors were that McCoy was throwing and practicing and now his dad is pretty much saying the opposite:
Redshirt freshman quarterback Colt McCoy sat out of practice all this week while recovering from pinched nerves in his neck and shoulder, his father, Brad, said Thursday.
"I think the coaches wanted this to truly be an off week for Colt while he rests the injury," Brad McCoy said. "But his spirits are better. He was pretty down after Saturday night."
Hopefully he was only held out for precautionary reasons and will be ready to go by next Friday. As far as I know he has been throwing with minimal pain but has not been practicing with the team. No reason to rush him back but McCoy will need snaps in practice this coming week to shake off any rust before game day.
Backup quarterback Jevan Snead did eventually settle down last week against Kansas State but I'd feel much more comfortable going into the aggie game with our Heisman-candidate quarterback at 100%.
Former Longhorn running back Ramonce Taylor was sentenced this Thursday for his felony pot possession arrest back in May. He'll be able to serve his 60-day sentence on weekends while he continues to attends classes at Texas College in Tyler. More details on the ruling:
Former Texas running back Ramonce Taylor was sentenced Thursday to 60 days in the Bell County jail and 350 hours of community service as part of his plea deal two months ago on state felony drug-possession charges.
Taylor also received five years of deferred probation and must pay a $1,000 fine. He was given the option of serving the jail time on weekends, so long as he finishes the sentence by March 11 and maintains his status as a full-time student.
Taylor was the one who called police and gave them permission to search his car, which was when they found his backpack with close to five pounds of marijuana in it. Taylor pled guilty to the charges back in September but he and his lawyer still maintain that the drugs weren't his.
It's still unclear how Taylor's conviction and year away from football will affect his NFL future but things certainly don't look too bright right now for him. The NFL never stops giving guys with talent chances so if Taylor can impress them when draft time comes around with his talent and in interviews he'll get his shot.
It's been almost 48 hours since Texas lost to Kansas State in one of the season's biggest upsets and it might finally be okay for me to talk about it without weeping. The loss will certainly be one that's remembered by Longhorn fans for a long time. It was made much worse by the seemingly perfect storm of events from earlier in the weekend that had set up the Horns for a real shot to defend their national title. Here's a few of my thoughts on the gameloss debacle from Saturday night:
Gene Chizik and the defensive game plan. Chizik is one of the most respected defensive coordinators and his name pops up for pretty much every available head coaching gig that comes available, but something has been off with the defense all season long. Against Kansas State Chizik blitzed early and often but never got any pressure on the KSU quarterback and never adjusted. We left ourcornerbacks out there by themselves and they didn't respond well. We have a great run defense and an awful pass defense, why don't we ever run any nickel?
Jevan Snead just needs time and a little help. He didn't start out well but as the game wore on the true freshman started to look more comfortable. He didn't have much protection early on, the KSU defense brought everyone at him and the offensive line did a terrible job picking up the blitz. He needs more experience and needs to learn he doesn't always have to rocket the ball as hard as he can, but he'll be a fine QB whenever (or wherever) he gets his chance. Tough kid.
Maybe we should try not to fumble as much. It was a problem last year but we got away with it, we put the football on the ground way too often and it finally resulted in a loss. The game was tied at 21 in the third quarter before Jamaal Charles and Selvin Young turned the ball over on successive drives. Sometimes it's because they're fighting for extra yards, sometimes it's bad luck, and sometimes they're just too careless, but there's never any excuse for fumbling the football. They're two of the best running backs in the conference, but the coaches can't feel too confident putting the football and the game in their hands.
The 2006 Heisman Trophy was awarded to Ohio State's Troy Smith Saturday night in an agonizingly long and uneventful made-for-ESPN ceremony. With that out of the way we can now look forward to next year and begin discussing the players who could make a run for college football's biggest award in 2007.
Last night on ESPN at the 
The Associated Press writers who cover the Big 12 and nine Longhorns were named to the first and second teams. Texas had the most first teamers of any school with six players being honored. The fact that only three defensive players made the list is a pretty good indication of why the Longhorns underperformed this season. The Horns really need a linebacker or two to step up next year if they want to make another title run. In addition to making the second team, quarterback Colt McCoy was named the 
It's been a rough couple of weeks for the Longhorn faithful. Upset loss to Kansas State, injury to Colt McCoy, loss to hated rival, reinjury of star quarterback, defensive coordinator moving on to Big 12 opponent, and finally stud backup QB transferring (maybe). It's getting scary just to wake up in the morning and check the papers.
Colt McCoy's father says the freshman quarterback is feeling better should be ready to go by the Longhorns' bowl game (
Texas fans have a little something extra to be thankful for this week as UT coach Mack Brown announced at his weekly press conference that both quarterback Colt McCoy and lineman Justin Blalock would be available against Texas A&M on Friday. The offense put up 42 points against Kansas State and wasn't the reason the team lost the game, but it was clearly a different offense without the two injured stars. If both players are 100% I feel much more confident about the match-ups against the Aggies and the outcome of the game.
The news out of Austin this week on Colt McCoy's injury has been minimal and mixed. Early in the week rumors were that McCoy was throwing and practicing and now 
Former Longhorn running back 
It's been almost 48 hours since Texas lost to Kansas State in one of the season's biggest upsets and it might finally be okay for me to talk about it without weeping. The loss will certainly be one that's remembered by Longhorn fans for a long time. It was made much worse by the seemingly perfect storm of events from earlier in the weekend that had set up the Horns for a real shot to defend their national title. Here's a few of my thoughts on the 
