Remaining battles between UT and OU

[Sabanball]

James Wilder out of Tampa is supposed to announce today, and word is that he will opt for Georgia, though I am hearing that FSU is still in the mix. Either way, I think this sets up either Malcolm Brown or Isaiah Crowell to announce for us, possibly both. No way we are slow-playing Brown, he is at the top of our board.

[Sabanball]

Per a tweet from Bruce Feldman, Malcolm Brown committed to the l**ghorns tonight.

Hard for us beat Mac for this kid when he had Mama on his side. A big get for T*xas.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/h...101038704.html

[Tigeman]

Dude's already 225 lbs????

[Herr Scholz]

Originally Posted by Herr Scholz

Yeah, Brown's down to us, Bama and FSU. We're supposed to be in the lead but his trip to Bama this past week was a good one. Still think we get him in August.

Originally Posted by Tigeman

See I don't know where you guys are getting this that your in the lead? I've been hearing from a VERY close source that Bama's in the lead. His visit just put them out further.

Consider his statements after his visit with you guys, as just "Ho Hum", and it leads credit to my statement.

I wouldn't trust your TX recruiting insiders... they're gonna blow sunshine up your you know where!

I knew we had him all along.

Actually, I think it was a number of things that helped us: changing our offense to a more downhill running scheme (he said this was a big factor), close to home (like the TE Jenkins who just chose Wash. - allowed him to see our campus and team several times), we had Mom in our corner, us backing off Aaron Green to not muddy the waters of RB recruitment, Bama recruiting other RBs hard, etc. Still, I think his decision was a hard one. Glad we won this one. Our fanbase was about to go apoplectic if we missed on a top notch RB this time.

[Sabanball]

Originally Posted by Herr Scholz

I knew we had him all along.

Actually, I think it was a number of things that helped us: changing our offense to a more downhill running scheme (he said this was a big factor), close to home (like the TE Jenkins who just chose Wash. - allowed him to see our campus and team several times), we had Mom in our corner, us backing off Aaron Green to not muddy the waters of RB recruitment, Bama recruiting other RBs hard, etc. Still, I think his decision was a hard one. Glad we won this one. Our fanbase was about to go apoplectic if we missed on a top notch RB this time.

Hope he enjoys pass-blocking... .

Just kidding....Congrats, HS. You guys got a good one. He's too talented a runner to relegate to light duty in any offensive system, even Mack has to know that. I still maintain he would have got more work carrying the rock in our O, but he'll still have a great career in Austin and probably still end up in the NFL. I knew he would be a 50/50 shot for us at the very best. I wish him the best, except if we ever have a rematch in the next 4 yrs and against my second favorite team the Sooners.

[Herr Scholz]

Thanks, happy we landed him. Don't think Mack Brown and Greg Davis don't know how to utilize a RB though. UT has 4 RBs in the NFL right now coached by Brown at UT: Ricky Williams (Dolphins), Cedric Benson (Bengals), Jamaal Charles (Chiefs) and Chris Ogbonnaya (Rams). The first 3 all ran for over 1,000 yards last season. Williams and Benson ended their UT careers ranked 1st and 5th on the all time college rushing list respectively.

Our problems running the ball the past few years have been more about scheme. We've been running the spread because we had VY and then Colt. Our coaches have no problem changing the offense around the personnel they have, which is what is happening now once again.

[Tigeman]

Now the question is, does Saban stay in his ear. Once the season starts and he sees * still can't run the ball.... do the thoughts about making a mistake start creeping in his head?

It is only a verbal after all

[Herr Scholz]

I'm sure Malcolm will hear plenty from a lot of people before he signs on the dotted line. We'll see about our running game this year though.

[Sabanball]

I really don't see him reneging. Even though I'm disappointed we didn't get him, I think Malcolm has handled his recruitment with a lot of class and I think that says something about his character. That being said, I would see no reason to expect him to go back on his word--and even if he tried, I don't think Mama would let him. Unfortunately for my OU friends, he's a L**ghorn now. Take it to the bank.

[Soonermagik]

Not a big surprise, IMO. Why go compete at OU where we're loaded at RB? We're in a day and age where every guy wants to play immediately. He wouldn't play at OU right now... see Jeremy Calhoun.