Texas Football 2008: Underdog or Underrated?

For the first time in nearly 11 years, Texas coach, Mack Brown, has been faced with questions regarding his team's status as an underdog in the upcoming season.

Texas?  An underdog?  The same Texas squad that has won at least 10 games for the past ten years is an underdog?

The Texas Longhorns may not be favored to win every single game on their schedule, but to call this program an underdog, especially with the many young, gifted players it has, is a serious miscalculation.

With the departure of Jamaal Charles, Limas Sweed, Jermichael Finley, and many talented seniors, this Texas squad has become very young.

While youth does have its disadvantages in terms of experience, especially in football, it can also be viewed as a fresh start.

Mack Brown has brought in yet another stellar recruting class, filled top to bottom with talented youngsters from all over the country.

In 2005, Texas had a team that had played together for at least two years.  During their time together, they became a cohesive unit and thus were able to win a championship.

Young, Wright, Dibbles, Huff, Thomas, Griffin, Hall, Studdard.  It was the ultimate dream team.

Texas now finds themselves in a similar situation.

With the graduation of many seniors comes the dawning of a new era at Texas.  A new beginning.

In 2008, Texas can begin the road back to the National Title with a group composed of a few familiar faces and many unknown faces.

Leading the Texas attack is junior QB, Colt McCoy.  Though he struggled last season, McCoy has shown flashes of sheer brilliance during his two seasons as a starter, which has led many to believe this could be the year he takes his spot as the best QB in a conference filled with many great QBs.

With the loss of Jamaal Charles, talented running backs Vondrell McGee, Fozzy Whittaker, and Chris Ogbonnaya will share the role in what is to be another strong rushing attack.

Senior receivers Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby have been reliable targets for McCoy and will continue that in to this season.

The offensive line, which struggled with injuries all through last season, will be much better, led by Cedrick Dockery, Adam Ulatoski, and Chris Hall.

The defense will see dramatic improvements with the hiring of the firey, Will Muschamp, as defensive coordinator.

Texas' pass defense has been awful, but that should be fixed this season with a strong pass rush led by Brian Orakpo and Roy Miller. 

The Linebacking corps is shaping up to be perhaps the best Mack Brown has ever had at Texas, led by Rashad Bobino in the middle and Sergio Kindle, Roddrick Muckleroy, and Jared Norton on the outside.

The return of proven players, Ryan Palmer and Deon Beasley in the secondary, will dramatically ease the loss of Marcus Griffin and Brandon Foster.

Kicker, Ryan Bailey, has proven to be the clutch kicker Texas has needed since the departure of Dusty Mangum.

While the 'Horns may be breaking in a lot of young, new talent, they are very much a threat to win the Big 12 south as well as the conference itself.

Consistency is the key.

Texas' schedule is brutal, facing Colorado, OU, Missouri, Texas Tech, Oklahoma St, Kansas, and A&M.  If Texas is to survive week in and week out, the offense needs to put up a boat load of points and the defense needs to return to the physical brand of football it has been known for over the years.

This could very well be one of Mack Brown's most dangerous teams simply because they have been forgotten amongst the hype of the other up-and-coming programs in the conference.  Missouri and OU are the front runners for the title at the moment, with Tech and Kansas not far behind.  Forgetting about Texas may be a coaches worst nightmare.

The Longhorns are a strong contender this year and if taken lightly, will make teams pay to the tune of 50 plus points.  I pity the poor coach on gameday who discovers that Texas is not a shadow of its former self.  That same coach will see his team demolished if for even a second he believes Texas is not a serious threat.

Texas is not an underdog. 

Texas is underrated.