2008 Texas Longhorns

June 25, 2008

If you are starting to get excited about the upcoming NCAA Football season, than you aren’t alone as Jason Lowry is ready to make his 2008 Texas Longhorns football predictions. The Longhorns finished the season pretty strong after losing 2 straight in the middle of the season, they went 6-1 including a beating of Arizona State in the Holiday Bowl to finish the season 10-3 overall. Head coach Mack Brown could be facing one of his more difficult years to finish in the top 2 of the Big 12 South since he first started 10 years ago. Oklahoma and Texas Tech look like they are the real deal, and Texas will be counting on a lot of new starting faces, as they only return 11 starters this season. Lets take a look at what the Longhorns are going to be lining up on both sides of the ball this year.

Offense:
The majority of the returning starters come on this side of the ball, as 7 starters will be back for another year. The leading the offensive charge will be junior quarterback Colt McCoy who threw for 3303 yards and 22 touchdowns a year ago, but he really needs to lower the 18 interceptions he threw last season. The team has some pretty high hopes for redshirt freshman running back Foswhitt Whittaker, who will have some big shoes to fill after Jamaal Charles ran for 1619 yards and 18 touchdowns a year ago. If Whittaker struggles look for sophomore Vondrell McGee to take over the starting spot. The team has two very talented receivers coming back in 2008 in seniors Quan Cosby and Jordan Shipley. Both had 5 touchdowns a year ago, and those numbers will need to increase if this team wants to stay at the top of the Big 12 South. Also you can look for redshirt freshman Malcolm Williams to step in at the other starting receiver spot, and sophomore Blaine Irby will take over at tight end. The Longhorns have plenty of talent coming back with 4 starters on the offensive line from a year ago, and they got some really good talent in junior center Chris hall, senior right guard Cedric Dockery, and junior right tackle Adam Ulatoski. As it looks now sophomore Kyle hix will be the teams starting left tackle.

Defense:
This is where things can get pretty interesting as the Longhorns only return 4 starters on this side of the ball, but with the talent this team brings in year in and year out you have to think they will have enough talent to compete with teams in the Big 12. Texas looks like it will have one of the best defensive lines in the Big 12, even though they only bring back 2 starters. senior defensive end Brian Orakpo had a team high 5.5 sacks a year ago, and as it looks now fellow senior Aaron Lewis will be your other starting defensive end. The team has some really good talent up the middle at defensive tackle in junior Lamarr Houston who had 4.5 sacks a year ago, and senior Roy Miller who was pretty solid as a backup last year. Senior middle linebacker Rashad Bobino is the lone starter back at linebacker, but they got 3 very talented juniors to fill in on the outside. Look for Jared Norton and Sergio Kindle to split duties on the strong side, while Roddrick Muckelroy handles the weak side. The secondary could be a concern for Longhorn fans this season, as they only bring back 1 starter, but don’t have near as good of backups as they do on the line and at linebacker. Senior Ryan Palmer has the most tackles from last year, but it would be nice to see him get at least 1 interception this season. Junior Deon Beasley looks like he will have no trouble taking over the other starting spot, while junior Ishie Oduegwu and sophomore Chykie Brown take over the starting safety spots.

Prediction: 3rd in the Big 12 South
While we got them finishing with the same record as Texas Tech, we got the Red Raiders taking care of business at home against the Longhorns. Don’t take this the wrong way as we still think this is a very good team, and could very well be the 3rd best team in all of the Big 12, it just so happens that the South is loaded up top. While we know Texas fans won’t be shocked if this team wins the South, we think they are a year away if McCoy and fellow juniors stick around for their senior season.

If you are looking for more team preview and predictions be sure to keep checking back, as Jason Lowry continues to work his way through the best teams and conferences in the country. Also be sure to check back soon for our NFL preview and predictions as well. For those of you looking to get an early edge on the upcoming football betting season, head over to Bodoglife.com and get an account opened today.

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2008 Texas Longhorns

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