Texas Longhorns 2009 Football Betting Preview

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Texas 2008 Record: (12-1, 7-1)
Texas 2008 Bowl: Fiesta Bowl vs. Ohio State (W 24-21)
Texas Coach: Mack Brown (115-26 at Texas, 201-100-1 overall)
Texas Offensive Coordinator: Greg Davis
Texas Defensive Coordinator: Will Muschamp
Texas Returning Stats Leaders:

• Rushing: Colt McCoy, QB, 561 yards
• Passing: Colt McCoy, QB, 3,859 yards
• Receiving: Jordan Shipley, WR, 1,060 yards
• Tackles: Roddrick Muckelroy, LB, 112
• Sacks: Sergio Kindle, LB, 10.0
• Interceptions: Earl Thomas, S, 2

Notable Texas Returning Players: CB Deon Beasley, CB Curtis Brown, WR Brandon Collins, S Blake Gideon, CB Cody Johnson, RB Vondrell McGee, LB Jared Norton, OT Adam Ulatoski

Key Losses for UT: LB Rashad Bobino, WR Quan Cosby, G Cedric Dockery, DE Henry Melton, DT Roy Miller, RB Chris Ogbonnaya, DE Brian Orakpo, CB Ryan Palmer

There might not be an angrier team in the country entering the 2009 season. Texas beat archrival Oklahoma by ten points on a neutral field but were passed by the Sooners in the standings due to a very controversial tiebreaker and had to watch as Oklahoma was given the chance to play for the National Title. Even worse, star quarterback Colt McCoy finished 2 nd in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy to OU’s Sam Bradford! Anyone think that the Longhorns won’t be playing with a chip the size of Texas on their shoulder this season?

The Longhorn offense scored over 42 points per game last fall and McCoy was the biggest reason for their success. He threw for over 3,800 yards and 34 touchdowns while also leading the team in rushing with over 550 yards and 11 scores! Personally, I would have voted for McCoy in the Heisman race as he played a much bigger role in his offense than Bradford. McCoy also returns his favorite target, senior roommate Jordan Shipley, who caught 89 passes for 1,060 yards and 11 touchdowns last year. Expect McCoy to have plenty of options in the passing game this season.

The big difference this fall will be in the running game. As impressive as it was for McCoy to lead the team in rushing, the tailbacks need to step up in a big way. Junior Vondrell McGee and sophomore Foswhitt Whittaker will get a lot more opportunities to rush the football and both should take a lot of the load off of McCoy’s shoulders. They’ll be running behind a very veteran offensive line which returns four starters from last fall! Senior tackle Adam Ulatoski was a 1 st team All-Big XII pick last year and should be the anchor of the group. With the vast majority of their offense returning, I expect another strong effort from the Longhorns and this should be one of the country’s best offenses.

Defensively, there is a ton of talent returning from the #1 defense in the conference a year ago. The Longhorns return four senior starters in the front seven after posting the league’s best run defense. However, there is some work to be done replacing three high NFL draft picks on the line and Texas might be a little bit more vulnerable against the run. However, the Horns are stacked with talent up front and should still be quite stout. The pass rush will come from hybrid linebacker Sergio Kindle, whose 10 sacks earned him 1st team All-Big XII honors last fall. Expect a senior-laden group of linebackers to help Texas field their typically tough run defense.

The secondary is also a bright spot as three starters return. Sophomores Earl Thomas and Blake Gideon started the whole year as freshmen last fall and both should be vastly improved after acquitting themselves well in 2008. After their defensive backs had trouble picking off passes last fall, I expect this much more experienced group to cut down on opposing yardage allowed while causing more turnovers. The only defense in the entire league that stacks up to the Longhorns is archrival Oklahoma’s and Texas should have one of the best units in America this year.

The schedule is very disappointing as they don’t have a single BCS opponent in their non-conference schedule! Didn’t Texas just play one of the biggest non-conference series in recent memory against Ohio State? The Longhorns only have three home conference games and many of their toughest tests are away from Austin. They also draw visits from Colorado and Kansas out of the North. On top of that, they have to travel to rival Texas A&M and extremely dangerous Oklahoma State! Of course, the game of the year is with Oklahoma in Dallas and the Red River Shootout could decide both teams’ fates in the Big XII and National Title chases. Oklahoma’s October schedule begins in Austin against Colorado before they have three tough games away from home and that stretch will likely decide their season.

Texas is a very talented team that features a very strong offense and a great defense. However, they’re perhaps the country’s most dangerous team because all of that talent will be playing with an attitude this season after getting the short end of the stick in the polls last fall. Frankly, I’m not sure how people could legitimately vote Oklahoma ahead of the Longhorns but OU’s video game offense impressed enough voters to give Texas the shaft. Don’t expect the Longhorns to get screwed again this season because I think that they have a great shot at going undefeated and I am picking them to beat the Sooners and win the Big XII South.

Texas Big Games: Oct. 10th vs. Colorado, Oct. 17th vs. Oklahoma( Dallas), Oct. 31st @ Ok St, Nov. 21st vs. Kansas, Nov. 26th @ Texas A&M

Texas’s Strength:

The defensive front four needs to be totally replaced, but the rest of the defense is a great, experienced group. Linebackers Roddrick Muckelroy and Sergio Kindle are two of the best in the nation. Muckelroy led the team with 112 tackles and Kindle tallied an impressive ten sacks on the year. Add Jared Norton to the mix and Texas has one of the best linebacker corps in the nation. The secondary returns most of its talent too. The team ranked seventh in the conference in pass defense and that number should be better for a team that generated such an amazing pass rush. With corners Deon Beasley, Curtis Brown and Chykie Brown back and young safeties Blake Gideon and Earl Thomas performing so well last year, the secondary is in good shape.

Texas’s Weakness:

But how effective can they be without Brian Orakpo and the rest of the d-line wreaking havoc in the opponent’s backfield? The Longhorns led the nation in sacks last year and are desperate to keep up the pressure. So desperate in fact that Sergio Kindle is being tried out at defensive end. Quan Cosby, the team’s leading receiver last year, is gone, but the Longhorns have plenty of talented receivers ready to step up. They also return a stable of running backs. The problem is Colt McCoy was the team’s leading rusher last year. Vondrell McGee, Cody Johnson and Foswhitt Whittaker are all capable backs, but it would be beneficial if one of them stepped up and became the go-to-guy.

Our Prediction for the 2009 Longhorns:

This is McCoy’s team and they will go as far as he can take them. His elusiveness is a big plus and it is never easy to bring him down, especially with four starting offensive lineman returning. Yet, that means McCoy takes a lot of hits and he is always one play away from being hurt. If a running back emerges, McCoy will not need to use his legs as often and that will be a good thing for the Longhorns and Coach Mack Brown.

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