Pokes Report Big 12 Preview: Texas
Our Big 12 preview reports continue with the Texas Longhorns. The 2019 season was very lackluster for the Longhorns as they finished the season 8-5, ranking sixth in the conference after being predicted to finish second. A positive outlook for 2020 is that Texas returns 15 of their 22 starters from last season as well as 84% of their two deep lineup. The obvious premier name returning to the team is 4-year starting quarterback Sam Ehlinger. It is believed that Ehlinger will be in the midst of the Heisman Trophy run for his senior campaign. Two key departures though are Ehlinger’s top receiver weapons, Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay, who were responsible for more than half of Texas’ receiving yards last year. The coaching staff heading into this season is nearly the same but has added a new wide receivers coach and defensive coordinator.
How have they handled COVID-19?
Texas seems to be on top of their game during the pandemic. Upon returning to campus the first time during June, there were 13 positive tests which resulted in those athletes immediately self quarantining. However, Texas Athletics announced Aug. 7. that it “had administered 153 COVID-19 tests among its five on-boarded teams (football, men's basketball, women's basketball, volleyball and soccer) over the past three weeks of surveillance testing, which have resulted in no new positive test results.”
“I think our guys are well aware of the necessary precautions that they need to take,” Tom Herman said. “We've proven that we can do it with some extended time off. Obviously, this isn't going away anytime soon, so the newness is going to wear off at some point and we've just got to maintain our diligence, but I've been really, really proud of our guys.”
When it comes to the specific topic of students returning to campus, Herman said “upwards of 90 percent” of the players in the program will be taking fall semester classes exclusively online to keep players away from most of the students.
What are the Longhorns prospects for success?
As I said before, Texas returns a large portion of their talent from their 2019 team. They return one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the nation along with a projected starting offensive line made up of 71 career starts. Although they lost their top two receivers, they do have some talent in the wide receiver room, it just needs to be proven on the field. Running back was arguably the Longhorns worst position last year due to injuries. This year with some health and a new addition of a 5 star freshman at the position, they are primed for a strong position group.
The leader of the group is Keaontay Ingram, who was named to the 2020 Doak Walker Award preseason watch list and third-team All-Big 12 Preseason selection by Phil Steele after running for 853 yards on 144 carries last season.
Their defense is also returning eight starters from last year's team being led by All Big 12 and All American caliber players BJ Foster, Caden Sterns , Joseph Ossai, and Keondre Coburn. This is easily the most experienced defense Tom Herman has had since he took over as head coach.
“Development doesn't happen overnight,” Herman said. “We kind of all circled this year a little bit as to where the snowball gets started rolling downhill a little bit for us. As long as we continue to recruit and develop at the level that we have since we've been here, I think you're going to start to see seasons more like we anticipate in 2020.”
Who could be the Longhorns’ difference maker?
It is my opinion that if the Longhorns have the season they want to, which is to make it to the Big 12 championship, they will need the running back position to show up in a big way. Last way, the offense suffered greatly due to lack of running back health and production. This year Keaontay Ingram, Roschon Johnson, and five star freshman Bijan Robinson are all in line to receive touches, Ingram being the No. 1 option to begin the season.
“We feel like we can win a game with any of those three guys back there,” Herman said on Saturday after the teams second scrimmage. “The thing that is glaring is on the depth. That only three scholarship players are practicing at a very violent, physical position makes you a little bit apprehensive, but they’ve had a really great camp thus far.”
As good as each of the three backs may be, they will not be able to rely on only one of them. This will need to be a three way committee if they want their backs to stay healthy and effective against some very good Big 12 defenses this year.
Bijan Robinson was the bell cow of their 2020 recruiting class, being ranked as the best player in the Longhorns class coming in at #15 nationally and a consensus five star recruit. It is very possible that a few weeks into the season, we may see Robinson receiving a large portion of touches if he progresses through camp with no issues.
Is the new schedule for 2020 better or worse?
The new schedule for the Longhorns is considerably easier than before. Texas was originally scheduled to play South Florida and UTEP in Austin but was also set to travel to Baton Rouge to face the defending national champions, the LSU Tigers.
"I had been very hopeful that the Big 12 would come to this decision," Herman said on playing football in the fall. "Chris Del Conte has been awesome; he kept me informed throughout the entire process so it didn’t come as a surprise. Our guys are really excited."
The LSU matchup was a potentially top 10 dual but is no longer on the schedule.
I will say though, Texas does face a decently scary four game stretch from weeks 3-6 as they face TCU, Oklahoma, Baylor, and Oklahoma State. The Sooners matchup will obviously be played in Dallas in AT&T Stadium while they will be traveling to Stillwater to face the Cowboys.
The second half of their season is much easier as they face West Virginia, Kansas, and Kansas State in three of their last five games but I think the damage will be done by then and this team will be beat up and worn out.
Conclusion:
This is a crucial year for Tom Herman if he wants to remain at Texas. When I look at the schedule though, I see the best for them at 7-3 but 6-4 is a possibility. I expect losses to Oklahoma in week 4, Oklahoma State in week 6, and Iowa State led by star quarterback Brock Purdy in week 9.
