Longhorns success may hinge on offense —
Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley are gone to the NFL, so the Texas Longhorns will turn to a promising new quarterback and a more rush-oriented offense to carry them to the conference championship game in December. Or, at least that’s the plan.
Garrett Gilbert is the new QB — the guy who had to come into the national championship game last year after McCoy went down five plays into the game. It was a rough start, Gilbert hitting only one of his first 10 passes. But he finished a respectable 14 of 30 the rest of the way, and despite four interceptions was able to keep the Longhorns in the game.
It won’t be some frenzied surprise situation for Garrett this fall, after having a spring camp and entire off season to prepare for the starting role. He’s a cerebral “nice guy” QB, somewhat like Major Applewhite or Colt McCoy in demeanor, but he has a stronger throwing arm and more pocket presence than them. And, stepping in last January when needed earned him the confidence of his teammates.
Still, Mack Brown wants to ease some of the pressure off Garrett by having a better ground game. That was one of Texas’ few weaknesses last year. Key player will be Tre Newton, oldest son of former Dallas Cowboy great Nate Newton.
The challenge for Texas’ coaching staff will be with the offensive line, which returns only two starters from last year. The Longhorns lost three fifth-year seniors to graduation, meaning they may face some of the problems caused by inexperience that Oklahoma had (pre-injuries, anyway).
At wide receiver the man they hope to replace go-to-guy Shipley is Malcolm Williams, a 6’3″, 225-pound Terrell Owens-type receiver.
Gone is the team’s lead tackler from a year ago, LB Roddrick Muckelroy, but Texas has depth at this position and is expected to be strong over all at defense. They were the No. 1 rush defense in the country last year. They shouldn’t fall off too much from that perch. DE Sergio Kindle graduated, but tackle Sam Acho and Kheeston Randall are expected to move into the leading roles there.
The secondary is even better, with three legitimate future NFL prospects there. Curtis Brown and Chykie Brown are seniors. Aaron Williams is a sophomore. They also have lots of depth at this position.
Big games will be the Red River Rivalry, of course on October 2 in Dallas, followed by a week off, then at Nebraska on October 16.
GAME: Red River Rivalry, Dallas, Texas — October 2. TBA.
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