Each morning Longhorns Wire will share the top stories from around the Big 12 Conference. For this edition of the Big 12 morning rush, Bleacher Report, Twitter, and TexasTech.com provide the headlines.

Big 12 Football: Preview and Predictions for 2020 Season

Bleacher Report was giving its Big 12 preview and predictions for the 2020 season. The sports website predicted the Longhorns defense would be the best of the otherwise average bunch.

Picking a best defense in the Big 12 is on par with trying to find a colander which best holds water, and I suppose Texas has the fewest and smallest holes.

The Longhorns were a mess on defense last year, particularly in the secondary. They allowed 292.5 passing yards per game (fourth-most among 130 FBS teams), as well as 28 total passing touchdowns. In both of those categories, they ranked in the bottom 10 percent nationally.

But it was largely an inexperienced group that also dealt with an unusual number of injuries. Both Jalen Green and D’Shawn Jamison barely saw the field in 2018, but those 4-star recruits made a combined 16 starts last year.

Meanwhile, 5-stars Caden Sterns and B.J. Foster each missed four games because of injury and went more than two months (Sept. 7 to Nov. 9) between games played together, which left the Longhorns in a relatively constant state of flux at safety.

There’s no denying the talent in this secondary, though. As previously mentioned, head coach Tom Herman cleaned up on DBs during the 2018 recruiting cycle, snagging six of the top 24 defensive backs. That group should be a strength instead of a liability in Year 3 on the roster.

Elsewhere, Joseph Ossai should be one of the best front seven guys in the Big 12. Texas’ hybrid DE/LB led the team in tackles, tackles for loss and sacks last year, and he even picked off two passes for good measure. His NFL draft stock isn’t anywhere near as high as Penn State’s Micah Parsons, but Ossai has emerged as something of a Big 12 version of that future top-10 pick.

If senior Ta’Quon Graham can serve as a team leader along the defensive line, the Longhorns should have the best overall defense in this conference. Shutting down Utah in the Alamo Bowl may have just been the beginning of a breakthrough year.

Bevo to be at Darryl K Royall- Memorial Stadium in 2020

According to Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman, both Bevo and Smokey the Cannon will be attending Texas football home games this season. The live mascot is one of the best traditions in all of college football.

Ricky Brennes, the executive director of the Silver Spurs' Alumni Association, tells me they are planning on having both Bevo XV and Smokey the Cannon at Texas games this fall.

— Brian Davis (@BDavisAAS) August 19, 2020

Texas Tech Women’s Basketball hires Krista Gerlich as head coach

Texas Tech has hired Krista Gerlich as their latest head coach for their women’s basketball team. The Lady Raiders hired her from the University of Texas at Arlington, where she is the school’s winningest head coach.

Texas Tech director of athletics Kirby Hocutt announced Tuesday that former Lady Raider Krista Gerlich has been hired as head coach of the school’s women’s basketball program.

“I am excited to announce Krista Gerlich as our next Lady Raider basketball coach,” Hocutt said. “Coach Gerlich has been outstanding as a head coach at both UT-Arlington and West Texas A&M, and her track record as a student-athlete at Texas Tech speaks for itself. I believe that she is the right person to lead our women’s basketball team and I am excited to see what she and the Lady Raiders accomplish in the seasons ahead.”

“I can’t put into words how excited I am to be entrusted with rebuilding the Lady Raider basketball program, which is near and dear to my heart,” Gerlich said. “I can’t wait to get to work on taking this program back to where it’s supposed to be, where it has been and where everyone in the Texas Tech community expects it to be. I’m looking forward to meeting the current Lady Raiders, embracing them and their journey, and helping them write a better ending to their careers at Texas Tech, because they deserve it.

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