The University of Texas Longhorns football team finished last year with a 10-3 record but lost to rivals Oklahoma in the Red River battle and then lost to Washington in the Holiday Bowl to finish the season. Coach Mack Brown has been working on the team’s toughness in spring practices through tackling and running drills and will definitely have his team prepared to take on the best the Big XII has to offer in the hopes of winning a national championship. The team has put up big seasons before but each time ended it with a loss to Oklahoma and now even a 10-3 season is a disappointing one if one of the three losses is to their cross-state rivals. This year might be the year that the Longhorns put it all together by beating Oklahoma and playing for a national title, so I have them ranked #6 in my pre-season poll.

Running back Cedric Benson has averaged more than 1,200 yards and 15 touchdowns a season through his first three years at UT. The team changed their offensive philosophy in the middle of the season in 2003 and began to rely more heavily on Benson and it paid off with six straight wins. The team lost its top three wideouts this year so Benson will be seeing the ball early and often this season. Quarterbacks Vince Young and Chance Mock are both around this year but Young showed late last year that he can lead the team by throwing for 1,155 and running for another 998 in limited time. If Young can keep up the pace of last year with defenses preparing for him, he could have a chance at winning the Davey O’Brien Award, given each year to the nation’s top QB. Linebacker Derrick Johnson has been named the preseason Defensive Player of the Year in some publications and with good reason. Johnson’s game resembles that of Ray Lewis, arguably the best defender in the NFL since the days of Ronnie Lott and Mike Singletary. Johnson finished last year with 125 tackles and four interceptions and can cover the entire field. The loss of tackle Marcus Tubbs to the draft will hurt the team but Rod Wright should be able to step up and fill the void. Wright won Big 12 defensive freshman of the year in 2002 and has averaged more than 60 tackles a year in his first two seasons.

The date circled on the calendar for the Longhorns is October 9 when they’ll meet the Sooners of Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl. The Sooners have taken the last four meetings convincingly and Texas needs to get a win immediately. The game isn’t just for bragging rights but will also have huge implications on the Big XII South race. Other games that the Longhorns will have to worry about are September 11 at Arkansas, October 23 at Texas Tech and November 26 at Kyle Field to take on the Aggies of Texas A&M. If the Longhorns can get by these teams, they’ll likely find themselves in a BCS bowl in early January.

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