College football already began for a handful of teams last week, but Texas’ season officially kicks off on Sept. 4 against Louisiana.
The Longhorns have had a big week to say the least. Steve Sarkisian named Hudson Card the starting quarterback to open the season, and Texas landed two four-star defensive lineman on the same day in Jaray Bledsoe and J’mond Tapp. Let’s just say the aura around the program is off the charts right now, exuberating confidence in the new staff to be successful.
Although Texas is starting the season ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll, the experts over at Bleacher Report felt more confident in the Longhorns when they released their top 25 ahead of Week 1. Whether or not they moved Texas up due to Card being the starter is not specified, but these rankings did come a day later, so perhaps some clarity at the quarterback position worked in Texas’ favor.
The Longhorns came in at No. 17, below schools such as Miami, Coastal Carolina, and Florida. They were listed ahead of programs like LSU, Indiana, Penn State, and Louisiana.
Texas has a great chance to soar up the rankings if they can string together some early wins against quality opponents. The Longhorns have everything working in their favor right now with a Sarkisian led offense where there is sure to be fireworks, and the defense could be one of the best units Texas has fielded in over decade with eight seniors and three juniors in their starting lineup.
This could very well be a huge season for a program who has been on the outside looking in for far too long.