Texas Longhorns
Head Coach: Mack Brown
2011 Record: 8-5 overall, 4-5 Big 12
2011 Bowl Result: Beat California 21-10 in the Holiday Bowl
Odds to Win Big 12 Championship: 4/1
Odds to Win 2013 BCS Championship: 25/1
Over / Under Regular Season Wins: over 9 -125 / under -105
All Odds Courtesy of Bovada

Last year, Texas returned to a bowl game after a dreadful 5-7 season in 2010. Now, 8-5 isn’t a great season by Texas standards. After All, it was only three seasons ago that Mack Brown’s Longhorns lost to Alabama in the BCS Championship game.

In 2011, Texas lost to Oklahoma, Oklahoma St, Missouri, Kansas St, and Baylor. All except Kansas St were by double digits, including a humiliating 55-17 thumping by rival Oklahoma. Texas had wins over bowl teams BYU, UCLA, Iowa St, and Texas A&M. Texas beat Cal 21-10 in the Holiday Bowl. The running game averaged over 200 yards a game, but the passing game was terrible at just under 190 yards per game. Texas scored 28.1 points a game, and the defense allowed 22.2 points a game.

This year, Texas is #15 in both preseason polls. The Longhorns are the second favorite to win the Big 12 behind Oklahoma, but Big 12 newcomers West Virginia and TCU will also contend for the title.

Offense

Texas appears loaded at all positions on offense except at quarterback. Sophomore David Ash and Junior Case McCoy platooned last year, and will do so again this year. Co-coordinators Major Applewhite and Brian Harsin made the decision this week to start Ash for the season opener, but said McCoy will take some snaps too.

Neither was that great last year. Ash completed 56.9% of his passes for 1,079 yards with 4 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He also had 73 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked 16 times. Ash even caught a touchdown pass. McCoy completed 61.1% of his passes for 1,034 yards with 7 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He was sacked 9 times. Actually, the best quarterback on the roster might be receiver Jaxon Shipley who completed all four of his passes last year with 3 touchdowns. He had a quarterback rating of 500.8! I am joking, of course, but Ash and McCoy need to improve drastically or the offense will struggle again.True freshman Connor Brewer could see some snaps as well.

The Longhorns could have one of the best crew of running backs in the country. Sophomore Malcolm Brown had 172 carries, 742 yards, and 5 touchdowns. Sophomore Joe Bergeron was originally signed as a fullback, but plays both fullback and tailback for the Longhorns. He had 72 carries for 463 yards and 5 touchdowns. Texas will use some two back sets with both Brown and Bergeron on the field at the same time. D.J. Monroe had 48 carries for 326 yards and a touchdown. Jeremy Hillis had 36 carries for 177 yards. Both will get carries. The Longhorns also signed 5 star recruit Johnathan Gray, who rushed for almost 11,000 yards with a national record 205 touchdowns in his high school career. Gray will be a star barring injury. Ryan Roberson is the fullback when Bergeron isn’t in the game. He is a true blocking back and will not get any carries.

The Longhorns return their top 3 receivers from last year. Mike Davis had 45 catches, 609 yards, and a touchdown. Shipley had 44 catches, 607 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also had 11 carries for 39 yards. He missed 3 games due to injury last year, and might have had 1,000 receiving yards if he was healthy for the whole year. Marquise Goodwin had 33 catches, 421 yards, and 2 touchdown grabs. He spent his summer vacation competing for Team USA in the long jump in the London Olympics, where he came in 10th. D.J. Grant moves from receiver to tight end after he had 16 catches, 180 yards, and 3 touchdowns. Speaking of tight ends, redshirt freshman M.J. McFarland has superstar potential.

The offensive liner returns 4 starters and 5 players with a combined 64 games starting experience. The left tackle will be JUCO All-American Donald Hawkins. Right guard Mason Walters and center Dominic Espinosa anchor a line that was serviceable last year. They were better at run blocking, as they gave up around 2 sacks per game.

Defense

Last season, under defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, Texas had a top ten defense. They did allow 22 points per game, but that was mainly because of the prolific offenses they faced in the Big 12.

The line is led by ends Jackson Jeffcoat and Alex Okafor, who combined for 35 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, and six broken up passes. Those numbers are especially jarring when you consider Texas had 116 tackles for loss and 29 sacks as a team last year. Jeffcoat was injured in the Holiday Bowl but was cleared to practice earlier this month. Ashton Dorsey is the only returning tackle, but Desmond Jackson, Chris Whaley, and Malcolm Brown (not the running back) are all very talented.

Jordan Hicks is the only returning starter at linebacker. He had 57 tackles last year. Sophomore Steve Edmond takes over at middle linebacker. He is very fast and a huge hitter, so he has the potential to be a star. Junior DeMarco Cobbs takes over as weakside linebacker. He is also very fast. He missed part of last season with a broken arm.

The secondary loses safety Blake Giedeon but the other 3 starters return. Corners Carrington Byndom and Quandre Biggs combined for 6 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, 30 broken up passes, and 12 tackles for loss. Safety Kenny Vaccaro had 77 tackles, 2 interceptions, and he broke up 8 passes.

Special Teams

The Longhorns must replace kicker Justin Tucker who made 40 of 48 field goals in his career. Freshman Nick Jordan and redshirt freshman Ben Pruitt will compete to replace Tucker, but Jordan is considered the favorite.Tucker also handled kickoffs and the punting as well. The Longhorn kickoff coverage team allowed almost 24 yards per return last year.

Tucker averaged 39.2 yards per punt last year and put 13 inside the 20. Sophomore William Russ will handle both kickoffs and punts. If he can average over 40 yards per punt with his strong leg, then the punting game should improve.

Quandre Diggs will likley return both kicks and punts. He averaged 22.6 yards per punt return, and 19.1 per kick return. Jaxon Shipley will also return punts and D.J. Monroe will return some kicks.

Schedule

Texas opens at home against Mountain West teams Wyoming and New Mexico. The Longhorns then go on the road to Ole Miss and Oklahoma St. Next comes a home game against West Virginia, the trip to Dallas to play Oklahoma, and  then Baylor comes to Austin. Texas then travels to Kansas and Texas Tech. The Longhorns then host Iowa St and TCU, before closing at Kansas St. This is the first time since 1893 that Texas has not played Texas A&M because of the Aggies’ move to the SEC.

Outlook

Texas should be better than their 8 win season a year ago. The only question is at quarterback, but the rest of the team is stacked. I think Texas wins 10 games, as they get West Virginia and TCU at home. They lose to Oklahoma and split on the road at Oklahoma St and Kansas St.

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