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Texas (Last Year: 12-1)
2009 College Football Season Preview:
Star Players:
QB Colt McCoy, WR Jordan Shipley, WR Brandon Collins, WR Malcolm Williams, T Adam Ulatoski, G Charlie Tanner, C Chris Hall, DE/LB Sergio Kindle, DT Lamarr Houston, ILB Jared Norton, OLB Roddrick Muckleroy, CB Chykie Brown, S Blake Gideon, S Earl Thomas, K Hunter Lawrence.
Draft/Graduation/Transfer Losses:
RB Chris Ogbonnaya, WR Quan Cosby, G Cedric Dockery, DT Roy Miller, DE Brian Orakpo, DE Henry Melton, DE Aaron Lewis, ILB Rashad Bobino, CB Ryan Palmer.
2009 Texas Longhorns Offense:
Colt McCoy has been ridiculously consistent since inheriting the starting job from Vince Young starting in the 2006 season, and next year will be no different. Texas will be a top-five team nationally in points per game and they will score at will on their non-Oklahoma/Oklahoma State opponents.
This team pretty much has to rely on Colt McCoy because they don’t have a good running back on their roster. Neither Vondrell McGee nor Cody Johnson averaged more than 4.5 yards per carry last season. With the threat of McCoy at quarterback, a very good offensive line, and a great spread system in place, running backs should be averaging more than five yards per carry in this offense. Texas didn’t bring in a superstar recruit at running back to help their offense in 2009. This offense will be exactly the same as last season.
Quan Cosby is replacable with talented young players such as Brandon Collins and Malcolm Williams at receiver. Jordan Shipley will be McCoy’s go-to target next season so watch out for more third-down calls to Shipley. McCoy does a great job with his accuracy and mobility, which frustrates defensive backs to no end. This opens things up for the receiving corps and makes their life much easier.
All-Big XII tackle Adam Ulatoski returns to man McCoy’s blind side. I don’t think Ulatoski has the athleticism to play left tackle in the NFL, but he does a solid job of keeping McCoy’s jersey clean. This offensive line is one of the best in the country and it will be difficult for teams to get after McCoy in the backfield. Seniors Chris Hall and Charlie Tanner are very experienced on the interior and are smart enough to pick off stunts and blitzes. The Texas line has a lot of experience up front, and since McCoy gets the ball out so fast in Texas’ spread, there is nothing to worry about here.
2009 Texas Longhorns Defense:
You would think with a year under the players’ belt in Wes Muschamp’s defensive scheme the Texas defense would be better in 2009 than 2008, but that is not the case.
Texas led the Big XII with 47 sacks last season. With Brian Orakpo, Roy Miller, Henry Melton, Ryan Palmer and Aaron Lewis gone, this team only returns 21.5 sacks. They simply don’t have the talent to replace Orakpo’s pass-rushing threat on the outside. Miller gave this team an outstanding clog for running lanes. Melton was great in the defensive end rotation. Who on this defense is going to get 10-plus sacks next season other than Sergio Kindle? Sam Macho and Russell Carter? I don’t see it.
The linebacking corps and defensive backfield should be good. Roddrick Muckleroy is an underrated talent on the weakside. He plays with a lot of range and has fluid hips in zone coverage. Jared Norton is an emerging prospect on the inside. Sergio Kindle will rotate between strongside linebacker and defensive end.
Earl Thomas leads this team on the back end. He had 70 tackles, four forced fumbles and 11 pass break-ups in 2008. Chykie Brown is a player I really like at corner. Blake Gideon isn’t afraid to stick his nose in the running game from the strong safety position. Aaron Williams was a highly recruited player and will be looked at to take over for Ryan Palmer at corner.
Muschamp is the best defensive coordinator in the country and this team has some talent in their back seven, but they simply aren’t nearly as good as they were last year on the defensive line. This will hurt them against the Oklahomas of college football.
2009 Texas Longhorns Schedule and Intangibles:
Texas has no challenges in their non-conference schedule and I really have to call out the UT Athletic Department on this one. What a bunch of wussies. Louisiana-Monroe, Wyoming, UTEP, UCF and Creampuff State are their four non-Big XII matchups. Are you kidding me? Grow a pair of balls and play somebody. Florida usually plays Florida State every season. USC battles Ohio State and Notre Dame out of conference. Alabama is facing Clemson and Virginia Tech for the season opener in back-to-back seasons. This Texas non-conference schedule is a complete joke.
End of rant. Texas Tech doesn’t have the defense to stop Texas, and they lost Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree. Easy win for Texas. Same song different verse; like Oklahoma, Texas’ real first challenge is the Red River Shootout on Oct. 17. This should be a great game as Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford battle for one last time.
At Missouri might not be an easy contest, but Texas should escape with a double-digit win. Blaine Gabbert doesn’t have Chase Daniel’s experience and this defense lost two studs in William Moore and Evander Hood.
Oklahoma State has national championship hopes this season. Texas travels to Stillwater two weeks after they play Oklahoma. This will be a very difficult game. I have to give Texas a slight edge, though we have seen upsets before (obviously) in college football. A matchup between two top-10 programs will definitely have our attention.
The rest of the Texas schedule is ridiculously easy.
2009 Texas Longhorns Positional Rankings (1-5 stars):
Quarterbacks |
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Offensive Line |
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Secondary |
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Running Backs |
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Defensive Line |
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Special Teams |
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Receivers |
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Linebackers |
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Coaching |
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2009 Texas Longhorns Analysis:
Ten of the 12 games on this schedule are near-locks to be double-digit victories unless Colt McCoy gets injured. Oklahoma’s defensive line is far superior to Texas’ this season and they also have more talent at linebacker. I think their defense is more capable of stopping Texas, than Texas is at stopping Sam Bradford. Chalk up a win for Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout. I just think Texas lost too much on their defensive line from the 2008 season. The Oklahoma State game should be close, but I think Texas squeaks by in the end because they have better athletes on defense than the Cowboys. Texas will probably return to the Fiesta Bowl in 2010, but it wouldn’t shock me if they were playing for the national championship.
Projection: 11-1
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