Texas Football Starts the Climb Back to the Top

The University of Texas football team heads into the opening game of the season with more questions than usual.  The recent release of the depth chart showed over ten positions listed with “co-starters." 

Who is the No. 3 receiver?  Who will get the majority of the carries?  Will the line come together?  How will the secondary perform?  All of these questions and more have been on the minds, tongues, and keyboards of a lot of UT fans this off season. 

With all the questions comes something Texas rarely has a chance to do.  Overachieve.  Usually the fan base knows what to expect.  With the new defensive coordinator and talk by Mack Brown of opening up the offense before facing Oklahoma has many fans quietly excited about a season where expectations range from Alamo Bowl to Fiesta Bowl. 

Mack Brown has compared this team to the 2004 squad.  That team went on to win the Rose Bowl over Michigan, setting up a run at the National Title.  What made that group special was confidence. 

This group will need the same type of swagger and all the reports coming out of camp indicate new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and running backs coach Major Applewhite have brought an attitude and toughness to the team that has been lacking the last two years.

The criticisms that Florida Atlantic Coach Howard Schnellenberger made about Texas’ toughness may have rustled feathers in the program, but that doesn’t change the fact the comments were true. 

Over the years, the program in Austin has been a lot of things, hard-nosed and tough are not two of them.  Too many times the Longhorns have given up games when they couldn’t afford to. 

The victory in back-to-back Rose Bowls had done a lot to erase these memories.  That is until the team imploded at the end of the next two seasons.

For many fans the euphoria has worn off and now it is time to win again.  On Saturday August 30^th in the improved DKR, Vince Young will have his jersey retired.  And when

he does it will officially end the honeymoon this program has been on in the last two years. 

A new group of players who made no contribution to that title now have the opportunity to show they can live up to the expectations and a coaching staff must prove there career wasn’t made by a once in a life time player.

The quest finally begins this weekend.