2009 Preview: Texas Longhorns

were inflated.

Because teams were so busy passing all over the Longhorns they ranked third in the nation against the run. However, any time a team wanted to run against the Longhorns they did just that.

Baylor, Oklahoma State, and Ohio State—all power based running teams—racked up over 200 yards on the ground against Texas. So basically the Longhorns were an equal opportunity defense.

As bad as the secondary was at times in 2008, the coaching staff expects it to be an area of strength this season with all four starters returning.

Corners Aaron Williams and Chykie Brown, along with safeties Earl Thomas Blake Gideon, have had good individual performances but now the foursome needs to put it all together and play well as a unit.

The next defensive star for the Longhorns is OLB Sergio Kindle. The speed rusher had 10 sacks last year and defensive coordinator Will Muschamp said he’s going to line up Kindle all over the place to try and confuse offenses.

Kindle will need to have a big year because the Longhorns must replace three starting defensive linemen, including first-round NFL draft pick Brian Orakpo.

The key to the defense is going to be the play interior of the line. The Horns got pushed around too often last season and Muschamp wants his unit to become more physical at the point of attack and that starts up front with the two tackles.

Lamarr Houston is moving over to the nose and Kheeston Randle will step into his spot at defensive tackle. Ben Alexander looked good in the spring and he’s expected to be in the rotation as well but the Horns aren’t very deep at tackle should one of these guys go down.

The bottom line is this side of the ball must step up and avoid getting pushed around by the Oklahoma’s and Oklahoma State’s of the world because those teams can score with the Longhorns, so defensive stops will be crucial.


Schedule

Barring an upset of monumental proportions, the Longhorns are a lead-pipe lock to start the year off 5-0. Then things get a bit more challenging.

There is the tussle with OU, followed by road tests at Missouri, Oklahoma State, Baylor, and Texas A@M. Kansas also visits Austin on Nov. 21.

Still, this is as good as it gets for a title contender, especially considering there are no serious challenges outside of the conference.


Bottom Line

There is no question that the Longhorns have the talent on offense to compete for a National Championship but I see too many question marks to believe Texas is the No. 2 team in the country heading into the regular season.

While today’s brand of CFB is a little different and teams can win it all with a great offense and some defense, you still need to play SOME defense.

Texas showed last year against Texas Tech that no lead is safe against them so as long as Colt McCoy is healthy, they will always be in games.

The Horns also have an excellent special teams unit, as Shipley is a game-changing return man and punter Justin Tucker averaged 45.2 yards a kick in 2008.

However, the game against Oklahoma and a trip to Stillwater are going to be too much in my opinion if this defense doesn’t get a lot better in a hurry.

This is a very talented team but coming into the year I think they are a little overrated due to question marks surrounding the defense and running game.

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