Bleacher Report - Articles by Brian Behrend

Breaking News: UT Announces Will Muschamp As Next Longhorns Head Coach

Brian Behrend — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:17:38 -0500

The University of Texas has struck an agreement with Defensive Coordinator Will Muschamp that will keep him in Austin, and eventually lead him to the head coaching position for the Longhorns, said Athletics Director DeLoss Dodds on Tuesday. Details of the contract are still being finalized, but it will start with Muschamp's salary being raised to $900,000 on Jan. 1, 2009.

"This is a plan that has been enthusiastically agreed to by Mack Brown, President Powers, and the Board of Regents," Dodds said. "With the landscape in college football and all of the changes around the country, I've been looking at this for the last couple of years. When it's not working, you have to go outside and make changes. Things are going well here, it's working, so it's best to be prepared to build from inside, and that's what we're doing.

Read more at 40AcresSports.com.

Cedric Benson Sees All Charges Dropped

Brian Behrend — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:03:34 -0400

Two separate grand juries ruled thursday there was not enough evidence against former Longhorn and Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson to proceed with a trial.

All charges against Benson, stemming from his two alcohol-related arrests early this summer, have now been dropped.

Travis County Attorney David Escamilla told the Austin American-Statesman that both cases had weaknesses. "The boating while intoxicating case lacked a field-sobriety test," Escamilla said. "The second one, in the video on the DWI, he appeared very good on the video."

Read more quotes from Benson's attorney and thoughts on Benson's NFL future at BevoSports.com...

Rice Owls at Texas Longhorns Predictions

Brian Behrend — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 07:00:33 -0400

The Rice spread offense is a pretty impressive and efficient machine. Rice QB Chase Clement has thrown for eight touchdowns and is averaging 292 yards passing per game. Clement and receiver Jarett Dillard have connected for five scores through three games and are on their way to being the most prolific duo in history.

Unless you somehow missed the first two Texas games you know that the young Texas safeties still have a lot of growing up to do. Can they handle that prolific Rice passing game? Will Colt McCoy and the Texas offense continue to put up big numbers on the scoreboard? Here are our editors' predictions in the final score:

Brian: Rice 10 - Texas 45
Mike: Rice 13 - Texas 52

Head over to BevoSports.com to read the full predictions and analysis on the game...

Bevo Sports Big 12 Power Rankings (Week 3)

Brian Behrend — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:28:52 -0400

The top of the rankings stay the same, as OU continues to be dominant, Mizzou looks better every week, Texas Tech put up 700 yards against SMU, and Texas had the week off thanks to Hurricane Ike.

Oklahoma
Another week, another easy win. The defense gave up a little more this week, especially through the air as Washington QB Jake Locker passed for 249 yards. OU QB Sam Bradford was nearly perfect in the win, passing for 304 yards and five TDs.
Missouri
The best offensive performance of the season by the Tigers. Chase Daniel passed for 405 yards and four TDs as the offense put up 69 points against Nevada. The backup quarterbacks added 114 more yards for a whopping total of 519 yards through the air.
Texas
Unexpected bye week thanks to Hurricane Ike. Next up the Horns face Rice in what should be a gimme.
Texas Tech
The Red Raiders defense picked off five passes from SMU’s Bo Levi Mitchell and the offense had nearly 700 total yards. Tech is going to give up yards, but if they can become a big-play defense that creates turnovers, that might make them a Big 12 title contender.

Head on over to Bevo Sports to check out the full Big 12 Power Rankings: Week 3.

BevoSports.com Launches Version 2.0!

Brian Behrend — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:13:18 -0400

After a lot of arguing and hard work, Bevo Sports has relaunched with a new design and new functionality. We're officially Version 2.0!

The site has been redesigned from the ground up with reorganized content and a new homepage to present the latest and greatest content to you immediately when you visit the site. Head on over to BevoSports.com and check it out.

Please let us know via the contact form if you run into any problems, have trouble finding anything, or just have a feature request or comments on the new site. We hope you enjoy the new and improved site!

Kevin Durant to Play for OKC Thunder Despite Sucky Logo

Brian Behrend — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:40:50 -0400

The team formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics debuted their new team name and logo last night. To no one's surprise, the team name is the Oklahoma City Thunder, but I'm not sure anyone expected the logo to be completely awful.

It looks like they got it for $99 off a TemplateMonster.com. I'd love to support Kevin Durant, but I'm not wearing anything with that on it.

Read more design thoughts on the OKC Thunder logo at BevoSports.com

Texas Longhorns Position Preview: Offensive Line

Brian Behrend — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:58:47 -0400

Position Rating: B
Starters: Adam Ulatoski, Charlie Tanner, Chris Hall, Cedric Dockery, Kyle Hix
Reserves: Tray Allen, David Snow, Buck Burnette, Michael Huey, Britt Mitchell

2007 was a rough season for the Texas offensive line. After several seasons of dominant line performance, injuries and inexperience meant major struggles at times last year. Those struggles last year should prepare the group for 2008, as all five starters started at least one game last season.

With veterans such as Adam Ulatoski and Cedric Dockery supported by future stars like Kyle Hix, the group finally has both talent and experience. This means the offensive line could be a strength in 2008. If they can stay healthy it will mean a more consistent and explosive offense and possibly a return of the 2006 version Colt McCoy, something every Longhorn fan can get excited about.

See more in depth analysis of the Texas offensive line at BevoSports.com...

Texas Longhorns Position Preview: Linebackers

Brian Behrend — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:13:10 -0400

Position Rating: C+
Starters: Rashad Bobino, Roddrick Muckelroy, Sergio Kindle
Reserves: Jared Norton, Keenan Robinson, Emmanuel Acho

Linebacker has been a position of much consternation for the Longhorns since Derrick Johnson left the 40 Acres. A good way to ruin a perfectly good time last season was to bring up linebacker play around a bunch of Texas fans.

This year might be different as there are guys all over the depth chart that have fans excited.

If I was grading purely on potential this group would be much higher. Bobino is the only player we truly know what he’s capable of, but the talent is most definitely there and if Muck and Kindle come on like they should this unit could actually be a team strength by mid season.

Get full analysis of the Texas Longhorns' linebackers at BevoSports.com!