Can Texas Exceed Pre-Season Expectations? (By Taylor Smith)

[Mike Roach]

The Big 12 released its preseason football predictions, and despite the top players Texas has signed for the 2016 class, the Longhorns remain in the middle of the pack. Texas is predicted to finish fifth with Oklahoma winning the conference. TCU, Oklahoma State and Baylor are all in front of Charlie Strong’s Longhorns as well.

Texas finished the 2015 season with a 4-5-conference record and a 5-7 overall record. The Longhorns endured a losing season for the second straight year, but there were flashes of hope for the 2016 season, which included beating Oklahoma and Baylor in 2015.

Many Longhorn fans are ready to forget that 2015 season, but the biggest “fear” most people still have with Texas football is its quarterback situation. As HornSports.com writer Jeffrey Cooperstein already mentioned, it is expected to see three different players at the quarterback position this fall.

Tyrone Swoopes will be in the game under center for short yardage situations, but after that, it appears to be a toss up between sophomore Jerrod Heard and early enrollee Shane Buechele. Heard has proven he can run the ball, but Texas needs a running and throwing quarterback threat to keep defenses on its toes. 

Heard finished the 2015 season appearing in all 12 games and starting in 10 of them. He completed a little over 57 percent of his passes (92-of-159) for 1,214 yards and five touchdowns. On the ground, Heard rushed for 556 yards and three touchdowns. In his second year, there is a possibility of Heard improving his completion percentage. Coming out of high school, Heard was ranked the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in Texas by 247Sports.

Buechele enrolled at the University of Texas in January 2016 ranked the No. 4 dual-threat quarterback in Texas by 247Sports. In the Horns vs. Texas spring game, Buechele completed 22 of his 41 passes for a total of 299 yards without an interception and two touchdowns. Buechele graduated high school with a career total of 6,379 passing yards with 37 touchdowns and 1,805 rushing yards with 21 touchdowns.

Heard did not play in the spring Orange and White game.

In order for Texas to become the “Texas Football” everyone knows again, finding a quarterback who can run, throw and play every down is crucial. And, if Texas can find that quarterback, nothing says the Longhorns won’t finish above that fifth seed preseason prediction.

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[Sirhornsalot]

Good stuff. I think Buechele is the best all around QB and will start. He's good. He's a freshman and will make some freshman mistakes.

Can we minimize those mistakes?

Will they come at ill-opportune times?

Will Charlie and Sterlin have patience?

The kid has the mentality to play above his age. And I think he will. He'll be the talk of the conference as far as QBs go . . . mainly because he is a frosh and performing well. He has a ton of talent around him so its not like the past where so much pressure was on the QB to make plays. Just drive the bus and let the players make plays. I think he can handle this.

OU – same love affair as always. I can understand why. But we'll still be their arses. They will not roll through the conference unblemished.

TCU – They'll lose a game they shouldn't have, but I fully expect a tough TCU. One that centers itself on its defense, wins by small margins. But wins a lot.

OSU – I'm not sold. At all.

Baylor – One of two things will happen with Baylor. 1) They'll circle the wagons and play like tasmanian devils, and win. . . or 2) They'll fall apart. I lean toward the latter.

KSU – Watch out for the Cats. I have a feeling they're going to be much tougher than most think.

My version

1. TCU

2. OU

3. Texas

4. KSU

5. WV

6. Tech

7. OSU

8. Baylor

9. ISU

10. Kansas

 

[North Texas Golfer]

Good stuff. I think Buechele is the best all around QB and will start. He's good. He's a freshman and will make some freshman mistakes.

Can we minimize those mistakes?

Will they come at ill-opportune times?

Will Charlie and Sterlin have patience?

The kid has the mentality to play above his age. And I think he will. He'll be the talk of the conference as far as QBs go . . . mainly because he is a frosh and performing well. He has a ton of talent around him so its not like the past where so much pressure was on the QB to make plays. Just drive the bus and let the players make plays. I think he can handle this.

OU – same love affair as always. I can understand why. But we'll still be their arses. They will not roll through the conference unblemished.

TCU – They'll lose a game they shouldn't have, but I fully expect a tough TCU. One that centers itself on its defense, wins by small margins. But wins a lot.

OSU – I'm not sold. At all.

Baylor – One of two things will happen with Baylor. 1) They'll circle the wagons and play like tasmanian devils, and win. . . or 2) They'll fall apart. I lean toward the latter.

KSU – Watch out for the Cats. I have a feeling they're going to be much tougher than most think.

My version

1. TCU

2. OU

3. Texas

4. KSU

5. Tech

6. OSU

7. Baylor

8. ISU

9. Kansas

Did West Virginia drop football 

 

[oldhorn2]

So many dark horses this year. More than I ever remember anyway. Teams that I think could surprise and do better than folks think.In no particular order:

  * WVU

  *Texas

  * Tech

  * K State

Teams picked high but that could be anywhere from really good to quite ordinary:

  * Baylor

  *OSU

  *TCU

Team that should be the best in Conference but sucks anyway

  *OU

 

[primal defense]

Tyrone Swoopes will be in the game under center for short yardage situations, but after that, it appears to be a toss up between sophomore Jerrod Heard and early enrollee Shane Buechele. Heard has proven he can run the ball, but Texas needs a running and throwing quarterback threat to keep defenses on its toes. 

I don't know where you have that it's a toss up between Heard and Buechele. Every report I've seen before Heard got hurt was Buechele was out performing Heard in the passing game. Heard's injury and Buechele's performance in the spring game has made it even more in Buechele's favor.

 

[oldhorn2]

still....Heard is an electrifying runner. He completed 57% of his passes with that clusterf**k offense we ran last year, so I wouldnt coun him out. As a freshman, I expect that Buschele would not only have to beat him out, but beat him out decisively. That may happen

 

[BudreauReye]

Did West Virginia drop football 

I've heard it on good authority that West Virginia is going to be in stealth team mode this year ... either that or SHL just plain ol' forgot that they are in the conference ... or that they play football ... or somethin like that!  

 

[North Texas Golfer]

Oklahoma has to be the prohibitive pre-season favorite.

I would put TCU in as the 2nd best team.

And Kansas would would have to be the prohibitive pre-season cellar dweller.

That leaves the other 7 teams to fight it out from 3rd to 9th place and it may be half way into the season before we can get a good handle on how it shakes out among those 7 teams.

 

[java]

I am going to call you on this one. I agree with a few points but not many.

- OU may win the conference, but I will wait and see.

- TCU ? New qb + other new critical pieces will make it interesting.

- OSU, "I'm a Man", 3rd. Maybe, but the officiating certainly went their way last year, and it was way over the top. Don't see that happening again.

- Baylor fourth? Playing with 70 scholarship players? Bwahahaha. I will believe that when I see it.

- Texas 5th behind OU and Baylor, who we beat last year. So, that means they are improving, but we aren't. Oh-K. And, our improved sophomores won't beat our sophomores who were freshmen last year. Really?

Those are just 5 of the problems I have. Guess y'all can call me Polyanna. Oh, our qb situation. Boo will be on the field for most of the ND game. I hope. If not, please don't call me Polyanna. K?

Hook 'em!

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I've heard it on good authority that West Virginia is going to be in stealth team mode this year ... either that or SHL just plain ol' forgot that they are in the conference ... or that they play football ... or somethin like that!  

 

[The Bry-Man81]

- Texas 5th behind OU and Baylor, who we beat last year. So, that means they are improving, but we aren't. Oh-K. And, our improved sophomores won't beat our sophomores who were freshmen last year. Really?

Hook 'em!

Java, I agree with you about Baylor, but I think the statement you make here is a bit simplistic. Yes, we beat OU/Baylor last year, but they both also finished ahead of us. Conference standings aren't determined by beating one team. Just because we can beat Oklahoma doesn't mean they still can't finish ahead of us. It's about beating teams consistently. OU has proven that they can play consistently throughout the season (with the exception of against Texas), while Texas, who certainly has a very high ceiling, also has a very low floor, as we saw against TCU and ISU. Until we prove that we can play at Red River Shootout level all year long, I understand being behind a team like OU or TCU in a PRESEASON ranking. We will definitely be improved, but I would love to see consistency.

 

[BudreauReye]

So ... SHL.  Are you trying to tell us that after you have been working out in someone's yard all day long in the hot Texas summer staring up at the sun for way too long, that in the evenings you go out looking for a nice friendly mosh pit to play in?  Is that you at the bottom of that pile? ... Or ... wait a minute!  Is this one of those endurance ticklin contests I have heard so much about?  

 

[java]

Java, I agree with you about Baylor, but I think the statement you make here is a bit simplistic. Yes, we beat OU/Baylor last year, but they both also finished ahead of us. Conference standings aren't determined by beating one team. Just because we can beat Oklahoma doesn't mean they still can't finish ahead of us. It's about beating teams consistently. OU has proven that they can play consistently throughout the season (with the exception of against Texas), while Texas, who certainly has a very high ceiling, also has a very low floor, as we saw against TCU and ISU. Until we prove that we can play at Red River Shootout level all year long, I understand being behind a team like OU or TCU in a PRESEASON ranking. We will definitely be improved, but I would love to see consistency.

I understand consistency, but if Boo has the skills he appears to and can stay healthy, we are going to be difficult to figure out.

The 70 player roster is going to jump up and bite Baylor in the 4th quarter. Remember how we suffered through Charlie's first season. Depth will be an issue. There isn't a way to scheme around it. Who are they going to substitute against the hurry up offenses?

I'm not arguing with OU as 1. That's possible. I think Baylor at #4 is beyond the pale. TCU as #2, maybe. The jury is out on Hill.

Those are my thoughts anyway. Is it time for ND, yet?

 

[mctmatt]

We were 5-7 last year this year we need to be at least 8-4 and playing in a bowl game. No we are not going to win the conference in my opinion but we have to be a much improved team this year than what I have seen the past 2 years. If Buechele is the starter than he is goind to need the Offensive Line to control the trenches  and a strong running game. Opening game will tell a lot and it will be more about the running game than anything else.  

 

[DMAC]

We were 5-7 last year this year we need to be at least 8-4 and playing in a bowl game. No we are not going to win the conference in my opinion but we have to be a much improved team this year than what I have seen the past 2 years. If Buechele is the starter than he is goind to need the Offensive Line to control the trenches  and a strong running game. Opening game will tell a lot and it will be more about the running game than anything else.  

Im going with 9-3 but then again I always get overzealous during the "withdrawl" season.

Secondary should be beast as well as LB's.  

OL should be drastically improved.  

RB's and WR are good to go.

The real difference makers will be QB, DL play, and FG Kicker.  

I'm hoping Boo is our salvation.

 

[TXHorns99]

It all starts at QB. Consistent, above average QB play, is, has been, and always will be the #1 determinate of a team's success and getting into the 9-10 win category. Here's to hoping and praying Gilbert has it figured out, I really want Charlie around to enjoy the fruits of his labor! Hook 'em!