Tag: Texas Longhorns predictions

Future Rankings: How the Big 12 looks for 2023

Projecting the 2023 Big 12 conference outlook.

The 2022 season is coming to a close and multiple Big 12 teams are vastly different than last season.

TCU and Kansas are the biggest risers in the conference. The Horned Frogs improved from 5-7 in 2021 to 12-0 this season. Kansas finished the season 6-6 after going 2-10 a year ago. Oklahoma plummeted from 11-2 last season to 6-6 this year.

There’s plenty of variance in between those teams. Texas and Kansas State separated from the middle with both teams winning six conference games. Baylor and Oklahoma State fell from Big 12 championship appearances last year to mediocrity.

Undoubtedly bowl performances will skew how each team is perceived over the offseason. Before those results come in, let’s project how Big 12 teams should look next year with a season’s worth of data on each team.

Texas Football: Game-by-game predictions and storylines ahead of fall camp

Here are pre-camp predictions and storylines for each game on Texas’ schedule this season.

Fall camp begins in Austin soon, and we have a good idea what team will take the field in the season opener. While starting positions are still up for grabs, the roster that will emerge from the tunnel is now on campus.

Freshmen offensive linemen will show whether or not they are ready for playing time. Certainly, they will look lost at times, as we have often seen from returning linemen. We will see which five have the strongest grasp of the offense and work the best together.

Linebackers could determine what defense Texas most often deploys. Pete Kwiatkowski would welcome the emergence of David Gbenda or Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey as reliable linebacking options.

Here is a look at how I see the 2022 college football season playing out for Texas, along with potential storylines ahead of each matchup.

Texas QB Quinn Ewers will be good, but how soon?

Bobby Burton of Inside Texas shares his belief in Quinn Ewers.

Inside Texas’ Bobby Burton believes Quinn Ewers will be a good quarterback. The only question he has is how soon Ewers will meet that standard.

Paul Wadlington and Burton discussed a number of things in Wadlington’s “Everyone Gets a Trophy” podcast. In their most interesting topic, they weighed in on whether this Texas team will live up to expectations. According to both, it all hinges on how soon they get great quarterback play.

Burton had the following to say about the 2022 football team, starting at the 40:28 mark.

If they get (good quarterback play), I think the offense can be terrific. Because everything else is there. I can’t remember a skill position group at all positions, other than quarterback, that were this loaded. … I think Quinn Ewers is going to be good. Is he gonna be good (early), or is he gonna be good eight games in after Texas is already 4-4?

Wadlington echoed the importance of quarterback stating: “If the quarterback plays well enough, the offensive line won’t matter much. And the lesser the quarterback plays, the more the offensive line will matter.”

Texas figures to have an excellent team next year should they bring back Ewers, Xavier Worthy and Isaiah Neyor. To be great this season, Ewers or the young line will need to vastly improve their respective positions.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz52bnpekkafqb player_id=none image=https://longhornswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[pickup_prop id=”21118″]

The Checklist: Benchmarks for a successful football season in 2022

There are multiple ways to measure success for Texas football this year.

Steve Sarkisian is starting his second season at Texas. Many expect he will have a good season this year. By good, I mean that Texas would win nine or more games.

Given the talent on the roster, that is a reasonable expectation. Texas got better at most starting positions this offseason with huge transfer portal additions.

We have spoken at length about just how good Quinn Ewers can be at quarterback. Additionally, he has the best skill talent Texas has had since 2005. While the 2008 team had Quan Cosby and Jordan Shipley, that group couldn’t compare to the elite depth Texas has this season.

Nevertheless, there are still plenty of questions about this team. At linebacker, safety, and offensive tackle the Longhorns have highlight reel talents who need to prove they can make the simple plays.

Here are a few ways we can measure success for the Longhorns in 2022.