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Texas will enter the 2009 season with national yitle hopes after a stellar 2008 campaign. In fact, Mack Brown was pointing towards 2009 last offseason as the team he was looking forward to taking to his second title. Even with the anticipated success there are a few question marks on the field.

1. Will the offensive line play get better?

Texas struggled to run the ball late in games all of last year. Mack Brown wants that to change. So much so that all accounts point to the team spending most of the spring figuring out what needs to change. Outsiders point to scheme, but this is the same scheme that allowed Vince Young, Selvin Young, and Jamaal Charles to rack up tons of yards in 2005. The difference is Kasey Studdard, Jonathan Scott, and Justin Blalock won’t be in the starting lineup. The big guys up front have been good, but not great, and with most of them now in their third and fourth year in the program there are no more excuses. Texas’ offensive lineman must play stronger at the point of attack for this offense to be as balanced as Brown wants it to be. The Longhorns may not have a true game breaker in the backfield, but they’re good enough to do damage if given the holes. If Texas can get a running game going the offense could be the best ever at Texas. Guys like Charlie Tanner, Michael Huey, and Kyle Hix need to step up and be as dominant as most think they can be.

2. Who is going to step up at running back?

For most of the spring Cody Johnson was running with the first team. Texas is looking to go under center more this year, and Johnson is clearly the best downhill runner on the roster, at least until Chris Whaley reports. Unfortunately, Johnson got hurt and will miss the spring game on Sunday. The door could be no more wide open for the likes of Vondrell McGee, Foswhitt Whittaker, Tre Newton, and Jeremy Hills. The staff knows what they have in McGee and Whittaker. McGee is explosive and a hard runner, but doesn’t offer the receiving and/or blocking skills position coach Major Applewhite stresses in his players. A lot of people feel like the staff wants Whittaker to be the guy because of his skill set, but the little guy just can’t stay healthy. There hasn’t been a huge buzz around Hills or Newton but an eye opening spring game could set them up for playing time in the fall. The fact is somebody needs to step up because the running game is the only thing holding this offense back.

3. Who will get to the quarterback?

We all know Sergio Kindle will be on one side, but who will be the other defensive end? Texas feels like Kindle will replace the production provided by soon to be multi-millionaire Brian Orakpo, but who will replace Kindle’s? Right now it looks like Sam Acho will get the start with Eddie Jones and maybe even freshman Alex Okafor getting looks on pure rushing situations. Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has Acho’s brother Emmanuel working at the buck end position along with starting inside linebacker Jared Norton. More than likely it won’t matter who is on the field, Muschamp won’t allow the defense not to get pressure. How much will Texas show in the spring game is a question that can’t be answered, but with a secondary that returns all but one contributor it is likely that Muschamp will unleash the hounds this year. The question is will he apply pressure because of his personnel like last year, or will he have to do it with scheme.

4. Who’ll play in the nickel formation?

For all intents and purposes the Longhorn defense is a 4-2-5. Texas says their base is a three linebacker set, but with the offenses they face in the Big 12 more times than not five defensive backs on the field. Going into the spring there were grumblings about the perceived battle between returning starter Blake Gideon and the message board deity Christian Scott and who will get the snaps, but it looks like Muschamp has found an answer, and that answer is both. The speed and versatility of Earl Thomas has allowed Muschamp to play him in the slot while keeping the brains of Gideon on the field while not sacrificing the athletic gifts of Scott. The cornerback situation appears to have already settled despite what anybody says. Right now Chykie Brown and Aaron Williams are locked in as the starters with Curtis Brown and Deon Beasley backing up. In the past it has been hard for underclassman to jump over guys with more experience but it looks like the talent of Williams is too much to overlook. The true sophomore to be has a chance to be one of the best defensive backs to come through the 40 acres if what the staff thinks about him is true. The whole formation depends on how Thomas does in the slot. If he can stay there, Texas can have three safeties on the field.

5. Who will step up and lead?

We know who the likely candidates are on offense. Colt McCoy, Jordan Shipley, and Adam Ulatoski would figure to take charge on that side of the ball. All three levels of the defense will lose the guy most pegged as their emotional leader. The defensive line lost Roy Miller and Brian Orakpo, the linebackers lost Rashad Bobino, and the defensive backs lost Ryan Palmer. If last year’s team taught us anything it is that leadership or the lack there of can never be overlooked. If you need any other evidence take a look at the Cowboys. From a talent perspective Kindle and Roddrick Muckelroy would lead the charge, but both of those guys are quiet and low key by nature. Lamarr Houston has been said to be taking charge in the front seven and Thomas has it locked in the secondary. The team keeping the momentum and mentality of last year will ultimately decide if all the goals are met this season.

Can the Texas defense step up without Brian Orakpo?

For the first time in over a month Texas faces an opponent that hasn’t been ranked in the top 10 at some point in the season. The players and the staff faced the challenge of staying “up” for such a difficult streak of games, but getting “up” for a game against an inferior opponent like Baylor after a heartbreaking loss may prove to be more of a challenge. Texas appears to have an advantage at every position, even with Brian Orakpo and Quan Cosby not likely to play.

When Texas has the ball

The Texas offense found their stride late in the Tech game after struggling to get anything going in the first two and a half quarters. Colt McCoy had a decent game, but it was no where near the level he had been playing at before the second half of the Oklahoma State game. The Longhorn offense struggled after Cosby went down, but the emergence of Malcolm Williams as a deep threat could be the silver lining. When Cosby is able to get back, and he will at Kansas, Texas will finally have a three wide receiver set that scares opposing defenses.

The biggest concern coming out of the loss in Lubbock is the play of the offensive line. The big guys up front got beat up for most of the night night. They couldn’t open up holes for the run game or protect McCoy in the passing game. The ability is there, and if some of the older guys like Cedric Dockery and Charlie Tanner don’t step it up they may lose more snaps to younger guys like Michael Huey and David Snow.

Texas’ offense has gone all year without a consistent run game and it is probably naïve to believe one is miraculously going to appear. The hope for Texas is that a healthy and utilized Foswhitt Whittaker can provide enough of a spark to take some pressure off of Colt McCoy. McCoy proved to be human last week and in those games the Longhorns have to be able to run the ball to stay effective. They couldn’t in last week’s loss and it may have cost them a shot at the Conference and National Championships.

Texas should be able to move the ball against Baylor. The Bears defense has allowed over 30 points in five of their last six games, all of which were losses. Applying pressure and creating turnovers are the only way Baylor stays in this game and the Bears defense has not been good at either.

When Baylor has the ball

This is not your older brother’s Baylor offense. First year coach Art Briles found his future in his first year. That future goes by the name Robert Griffin. The freshman quarterback has been nothing short of outstanding. He can run and pass, and was the last quarterback in Division I to throw an interception. For the first time in a long time Baylor has a player that can scare you on every play.

The Longhorn defense played well in the second half last week. The only touchdown they gave up came with one second left in the game. The task this week will be to rebuild the psyche of the young secondary. Curtis Brown, Blake Gideon, and Earl Thomas all had a forgettable last minute of the game, and each of them may have left the field with the feeling they were the reason their team is no longer number one in the nation.

The staff and fellow players have spent a whole week assuring these guys that one play and one guy has never lost a football game. But with young emotional players no one can tell how they will react their next time out. They could turtle up and play tentative from here on out, or they can feed off of the emotion and become better football players because of it.

Texas lost their best player for the week in Brian Orakpo. Most would believe that Texas doesn’t need Orakpo to win the game, but when facing a dual threat quarterback like the one Baylor has every team would want to be at full strength.

Just like on offense, the biggest concern heading out of last game was the play of the defensive line. Texas Tech’s offensive line won the individual battles last week. Baylor won’t have the talent that Texas faced last week and it will be important to regain confidence with early pressure.

Texas’ speed should be able to nullify most of what Baylor would like to do. Even with Orakpo out Texas should be able to get pressure with Sergio Kindle, Sam Acho, and Henry Melton. The key for this defense will be keeping Baylor out of manageable third downs. If Texas can force Baylor’s freshman quarterback into long distance plays, one would think defensive coordinator Will Muschamp can overwhelm him with schemes.

Everybody knows to look for Colt McCoy and Brian Orakpo each game, but UT’s success in this week’s game against Rice and in the upcoming conference match-ups will hinge on the production and success of a few players that are coming into their own. Let’s look at five.

Foswhitt Whittaker

The redshirt freshman tailback was the most productive back in Texas’ offense in his only game this year. His skill set fits in perfectly with the type of offense Texas likes to run. Foswhitt averaged 6.0 yards on 12 attempts against UTEP. He had missed the first game with a knee injury but all reports suggest his knee is fine so expect more touches against Rice. Running backs coach Major Applewhite has been emphasizing receptions out of the backfield, and with Whittaker possessing the best open field moves on the team he seems to be in line to become more and more a part of the offense. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him start, and if he doesn’t start against Rice, he will be by the time Big 12 play begins.

Earl Thomas

The Rice game will be Earl’s third start at safety in college. Rice’s tight end James Casey leads the nation in receptions per game (over 9), and is sure to be Thomas’ man of the night as the defense has seemed to play Blake Gideon in the deep middle. The redshirt freshman has played hot and cold as would be expected in his first two college games, but coach Will Muschamp seems to have confidence in him. If Thomas can hold his own and wrap up when he hits a ball carrier it will help ease the anxiety of a lot of Texas fans. If he can’t, Christian Scott or Ben Wells may get more looks.

Michael Huey

The young offensive lineman got a chance for major playing time when teammate Charlie Tanner went down with a leg injury. Huey struggled at times against UTEP and must begin to move people off the line in order to hold off Tanner when he comes back as well as true freshman David Snow. Texas wants more push in the run game on the inside. Huey has the raw talent and mean streak to remind many fans of ex-Longhorn, and big bellied cult leader, Kasey Studdard, but must translate it on the field to solidify Huey as a starter for the next few years.

Malcolm Williams

Colt McCoy has played great, beyond great really in the first two games, but eventually this team will need a deep threat and the most likely candidate appears to be the 6′4″ Williams. Through the first two games it appears Texas hasn’t even looked to go deep, settling for underneath patters. As the talent of the players, and the coaches, rises the need to stretch the defense takes on added importance. Watching Williams in practice and in pre game warm ups leaves little doubt to his physical skills, but like most young players Williams needs to build his on field confidence by making big plays in a real game. Think of Limas Sweed before and after the catch in the “Horseshoe” against Ohio State. Williams will need a play like that to jump start his season and his career.

Ryan Palmer

The best player on Rice’s team is wide receiver Jarrett Dillard and one would think senior cornerback Ryan Palmer will be the guy asked to shadow him throughout the night. The Owls offer little threat on the ground, so the play of the secondary (especially on third down) will be important in preventing any thought of an upset. Dillard and Rice quarterback Chase Clement will finish their careers as the leading touchdown scoring tandem in NCAA history will try to pick on the size of Palmer, but the senior has shown an ability to hold his own against bigger receivers. Holding this group of players in check will serve as a much needed confidence boost heading into games such as OU, Missouri, and Texas Tech.

Position Rating: B
Starters: Adam Ulatoski, Charlie Tanner, Chris Hall, Cedric Dockery, Kyle Hix
Reserves: Tray Allen, David Snow, Buck Burnette, Michael Huey, Britt Mitchell

The Texas offensive line struggled through the 2007 season due to injuries and inexperience. Injuries to important senior players forced young guys to step in and play before they were ready. Those struggles last year should however prepare the group for 2008, as every starter has significant playing experience and nine of the top 10 guys have seen previous playing time.

Adam Ulatoski and Kyle Hix are entrenched as the starting tackles. Ulatoski is the most experienced player on the line but will be moving from the right side to the left to protect QB Colt McCoy’s blindside. Various serious and nagging injuries have prevented him from becoming the dominant tackle Texas fans thought he would be, but he’s still only a junior and he’s finally healthy so this could be a big year for Ulatoski. On the other side, Hix played in every game last year as a true freshman and started at right tackle in the Holiday Bowl. He was a top recruit in the state and expectations are high for him for this season and his career. Tray Allen and Britt Mitchell will be the primary backups at tackle.

The guard positions aren’t as set in stone. The current starters are Charlie Tanner and Cedric Dockery but there is also a lot of noise about sophomore Michael “Baby” Huey. Tanner and Dockery were the starters for most of 2007 and each is a consistently solid performer. Dockery once looked like he’d follow his brother Derrick to the NFL but missed significant time with a serious knee injury in 2006 and is hopefully finally at full strength now. The three players will likely all see good amount of playing time early on as the coaches see if Huey can unseat one of the veterans. True freshman David Snow is the fourth guard on the depth chart and looks to have a bright future.

Chris Hall looks to have finally found a permanent home. After spending time at all five positions on the line last year as a sophomore he’ll anchor the line this year as the starting center. His intelligence and experience at every position should let him excel as the quarterback of the offensive line. Talented backup Buck Burnette needs to be ready in case Hall is required to shuffle around again this season.

They may not get the pub other positions do, but the offensive line is the most important piece of any good football team. After a rough 2007 season the line should be a strength in 2008. If they stay healthy it’ll mean more time for McCoy to pass and more holes for the running backs to run through, which in turn means a more consistent offense.

Related Links

• Quarterbacks preview
• Running backs preview
• Wide Receivers preview
• Tight ends preview
• Defensive tackles preview
• Defensive ends preview
• Linebackers preview
• Cornerbacks preview
• Safeties preview

Football season is so close you can smell it. Less than a week from now the Longhorns will finally take the field for the 2008 season against FAU and today Mack Brown and Co. released the first official depth chart of the year. We wouldn’t be true Texas fans if the first thing we did wasn’t overanalyze and complain about it, so of course we’ve done that below:

General Thoughts

• Lots of OR’s all over the place like every year. Harder to complain this year because there’s a ton of youngsters on at least one side of the conjunctions.
• Looks like there will also be a lot of situational players as well. There are several places where players (e.g., Aaron Lewis) are listed as co-starters with very different complementary players.
• Lots of youth in general, including several true freshmen. There may be some games this year where you’re yelling at the television set because of the mistakes but 2008 and 2009 should be exciting.

Offense

• No Malcolm Williams anywhere at wide receiver. Not in the top 3 at either flanker or split end. True freshman Dan Buckner right behind Quan Cosby is encouraging but overall no Williams seems like bigger story. Let’s hope the light comes on.
• Former tackle Greg Smith has been back at the position for less than two weeks but he’s already listed ahead of Peter Ullman as the blocking tight end.
• Michael Huey vs. Cedric Dockery vs. Charlie Tanner at guard. Everyone has been raving about Huey throughout fall camp but most believed he’d be cutting into Tanner’s reps not Dockery’s. The general opinion (and we all know that’s never wrong) is that Dockery is the better of the returning guards but Huey is listed behind him. Is there a strategic reason the coaches believe Huey should stay at right guard?
• The 12 names and 5 OR’s confuse me at running back. What exactly is going on there?

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Update: Bevo Sports is giving away NCAA Football 09, enter to win!

NCAA Football 09 is less than a month away, the demo is up on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network, and player ratings are starting to make their way on to the Internet. EA Sports released the team top 25 and player ratings for all those teams.

I went through the list and put the players’ real names in where possible. I had trouble with a lot of the true freshmen in the game so if you know who any of the blank names are or if I made any mistakes please let me know in the comments. It really looks like EA did a poor job this year on the roster and depth chart. Hopefully it’s a little more accurate when the game is released.

You can download Excel files of the player ratings at the bottom of this post or check out the overall ratings for the Texas team below:

Downloads

• Texas player ratings
• Full top 25 player ratings

The Texas Longhorns held their annual football banquet Friday night (photos) where they honored team members for their accomplishments on and off the field. Though fans and recruits do attend, the event is definitely a night for the players to look back on the season and to honor the careers of the outgoing seniors.

Quarterback Colt McCoy and running back Jamaal Charles were deservedly named the team MVPs. McCoy didn’t have as good of a season as he did his freshman year but he definitely is the player that made this team go (when it went anywhere). Charles was also named Darrell K. Royal Most Valuable Offensive Player while the Mike Campbell Most Valuable Defensive Players were Brandon Foster and Marcus Griffin.

In a team vote Dallas Griffin, Tony Hills, and Derek Lokey were honored with the D. Harold Byrd Leadership Award. Also, in a shocking development quarterback McCoy was given the Outstanding Quarterback Award.

In a move that infuriated Internet Coaching and Motivational Experts Rashad Bobino, Scott Derry, and Robert Killebrew shared the honor of being the team’s Outstanding Linebackers. I’m not sure what else you can really do though as no linebacker really deserved the honor and it would be pretty embarrassing to not hand out an award for the position.

A list of all the award winners is after the jump.

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We’ll be updating this list as we get news (mostly from Rivals) of which players have officially signed their letters of intent and if everything goes as planned will be the newest Texas Longhorns in August. The first two players to become Longhorns were Ian Harris out of San Antonio and Cody Johnson from Waller. Keep checking back here because we’ll update this list as we hear more names.

Confirmed Signings

• Ian Harris
• Cody Johnson
• Kyle Hix
• Tray Allen
• Michael Wilcoxon
• Russell Carter
• Aundre McGaskey
• Tyrell Higgins
• Sam Acho
• James Kirkendoll
• Brandon Collins
• G.J. Kinne
• Ahmard Howard
• Keenan Robinson
• Malcolm Williams
• Blaine Irby
• Earl Thomas
• Christian Scott

Early Enrollees

• Curtis Brown
• John Chiles
• Michael Huey
• Andre Jones
• Ben Wells
• Fozzy Whittaker

Update: Just added Blaine Irby and Earl Thomas to the list which leaves only Christian Scott remaining. The stud safety just was the last player to commit to the Horns (just this weekend) and it looks like he’ll be the last one to fax in his letter of intent as well. Hopefully he’s not having any second thoughts. (10:38 am)

Update: Christian Scott’s letter is in and confirmed by both Rivals and Inside Texas (thanks Eric!). That means all 24 recruits, 18 today plus the 6 already on campus, are signed and will officially be Longhorns either this summer or in the fall if their grades are in order. Congrats to the class of 2007 and welcome to the family. (11:58 am)

Just a reminder that the US Army All-American Bowl will be on NBC today at noon. The game takes place in San Antonio at the Alamodome and features some of the best high school football players in the country.

This will be most Longhorn fans first opportunity to watch any of the 2007 football commits in action. Bevo Sports will have some thoughts on the game and possibly some video later this weekend. There will be 13 Texans on the West squad and the Longhorns have six commits and a few targets playing in the game. Here’s the guys to keep an eye on during the game:

Texas Commits

• Tray Allen, West #56
• Curtis Brown, West #3
• John Chiles, West #5
• Michael Huey, West #70
• Blaine Irby, West #19
• Andre Jones, West #89

Texas Targets

• Ron Brooks, West #81
• Joe McKnight, West #4
• Christian Scott, West #23

Others to Watch

• John Brantley, East #12
• Matt Simms, East #2

I’ve been busy and haven’t had time to post about this weekend’s invitation-only junior day and the successful recruiting flurry that Mack Brown and the Longhorns had. The Horns picked up eight commits from some of the best athletes in the state. While I was putting off this post, three more commits rolled in today including a couple of big ones to bring the total to eleven. These early offers are only handed out to the players Brown and staff feel are true standouts. Other recruits will be evaluated more and decisions on them will be made later, so we know how highly they think of the group they offered.

Gilmer wide receiver Curtis Brown is probably the biggest star of the group so far. Big, fast, and physical he could see either side of the ball at Texas. The Horns are really assembling a monster class of offensive linemen, with five commits already onboard including future 4-stars Kyle Hix, Aundre McGaskey, and Matt Nader. They’ll probably hold a scholarship for blue chipper Tray Allen, but otherwise they’re probably done at the position for the year already.

With three of four members of next season’s secondary set to graduate, defensive back is a big need in the 2007 recruiting class and it’s already been addressed. Brown could end up at corner and athlete Earl Thomas is headed for that position as well. Ben Wells has the size to play either CB or safety. Highly rated Lennon Creer is also rumored to be a big Texas lean as well and could join the growing list of future Longhorns soon.

I don’t think it’s hyperbole to call this the best weekend ever in Texas recruiting, and possibly the biggest and best group of kids pulled in by any school in such a short time span.

Check out the full haul from the weekend below…

*Note: The star ratings are just my best guesses based on the little bit of video I’ve seen of the recruits and Orangeblood.com’s Lone Star Top 100.