Preview: Colorado State Rams @ No. 4 Texas Longhorns

The season kicks off for both Colorado State and Texas on Saturday as the 4th ranked Longhorns host the Rams at Darrell K. Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium. After winning the Big 12 last season and making an appearance in the College Football Playoff for the first time, expectations are high for Steve Sarkisian’s program as they enter their first season of play in the Southeastern Conference. For Colorado State, an upset over a Top-5 team would do wonders for Jay Norvell who enters his third season as head coach. The Rams haven’t had a winning season since 2017 but are optimistic things will change this year, despite being picked to finish 5th in the Mountain West Conference preseason media poll.

The Longhorns return starting quarterback and Heisman hopeful Quinn Ewers who threw for 3,479 yards and 22 touchdowns last season, but they were dealt a blow to the depth at running back when starter CJ Baxter and freshman Christian Clark suffered season-ending injuries in practice earlier this month. Junior Jaydon Blue will get the start at the position with Tre Wisner and graduate transfer Vernon Gardner seeing time as well. At wide receiver, Texas will show many new faces – mostly in the form of pickups from the transfer portal. Isaiah Bond (Alabama), Silas Bolden (Oregon State), Matthew Golden (Houston), Ryan Wingo and DeAndre Moore are all names to know at the wideout position. The Texas defense played extremely well last season, and finished ranked third nationally in rushing defense. They lost defensive line anchors T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy to the NFL, so it’s worth keeping an eye on how the line fills the void in their absense.

Colorado State finished 3-5 in the Mountain West last season and 5-7 overall, but the Rams return two offensive playmakers in redshirt sophmore quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and graduate student wide receiver and team captain Tory Horton. Fowler-Nicolosi threw for 3,460 yards and 22 touchdowns and Horton caught 96 passes for 1,136 yards last season. The Texas secondary will be challenged to contain Horton’s dynamic playmaking abilities. Defensively the Rams struggled last season, giving up at least 30 points in six games. They added players out of the portal, particularly on the defensive line to help contain the run and pressure quarterbacks.

Texas and Colorado State have previously met only one time, in 1975, in Austin. The Longhorns won the game 46-0, behind a team-high 103 yards rushing by Earl Campbell.

The Longhorns are 3-0 in season openers under head coach Steve Sarkisian and have 15 straight wins against unranked opponents. This season marks the 100th season at Darrell K. Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium as the home for Texas Football.