EARLY BIRD 2008 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW
RELEASED DECEMBER 2007
TEXAS LONGHORNS
OFFENSE - 9
------RETURNING STARTERS------
DEFENSE - 4
KEY LOSSES
OFFENSE: Limas Sweed-WR, Nate Jones-WR, Billy Pittman-WR, Tony Hills-OT, Dallas Griffin-C
DEFENSE: Frank Okam-DT, Derek Lokey-DT, Robert Killebrew-SLB, Scott Derry-WLB, Brandon Foster-CB, Erick Jackson-SS, Marcus Griffin-FS, Drew Kelson-FS, Justin Moore-P
Running Back

Jamaal Charles has the potential to be the best RBs in the country. For Texas to return as a top contender, both nationally and in their tough conference (half), they will need him to live up to his potential every week.

Secondary

This usually strong unit struggled in a big way (109th in pass defense), despite having apparent talent. They will have to regroup with a bunch of fresh faces trying to earn starting spots.

RB Jamaal Charles
 
DE Brian Orakpo
 
* DEPTH CHARTS were only designed as a simplistic gauge for listing players that departed and players that received the most playing experience (consistent starters). NationalChamps.net recognizes the importance of missing personnel data not listed such as redshirts, transfers, injuries, incoming recruits, back ups and alternates. Their coverage will begin with our full 2008 Preseason Preview due out this coming spring.
 
TEXAS 2008 DEPTH CHART
Returning Starters/
Key Players
OFFENSE
QB Colt McCoy-Jr John Chiles-So
FB Luke Tiemann-Sr Antwan Cobb-So
RB Jamaal Charles-Sr Vondrell McGee-So / Chris Ogbonnaya-Sr
WR Quan Cosby-Sr ..
WR Jordan Shipley-Sr ..
TE Jermichael Finley-Jr Peter Ullman-Sr
OT .. ..
OG Charlie Tanner-Jr ..
C Chris Hall-Jr ..
OG Cedric Dockery-Sr ..
OT Adam Ulatoski-Jr ..
K Ryan Bailey-Sr ..
 
TEXAS 2008 DEPTH CHART
Returning Starters/
Key Players
DEFENSE
DE Brian Orakpo-Sr Eddie Jones-So / Sam Acho-So
DT Ben Alexander-Jr ..
DT Roy Miller-Sr ..
DE Lamarr Houston-Jr Aaron Lewis-Sr
SLB Sergio Kindle-Jr ..
MLB Rashad Bobino-Sr Jared Norton-Jr
WLB Roddrick Muckelroy-Jr ..
CB Ryan Palmer-Sr ..
CB Deon Beasley-Jr ..
SS Ishie Oduegwu-Jr ..
FS .. ..
P Trevor Gerland-Jr ..
QUICK ANALYSIS

The theme for Texas remains - the Longhorns are all about offense. The question is...inversely, after five opponents broke the 30-point barrier, can they stop anybody from passing and scoring? The offense returns the bulk of the lineup, and all are upperclassmen, meaning a great deal of experience will be back to continue the offensive fireworks. QB Colt McCoy, soon-to-be in his third season as the starter, can no longer be considered a beginner, and holding this team back would again mean second-tier status in their conference. Arguably, he had a much better freshman season (seven INTs in ’06 compared to 18 this past year). Outside of losing an oft-injured Limas Sweed, the receivers are to again be a solid veteran crew, one that got McCoy 3100+ in the regular season. RB Jamaal Charles has to parlay his late season surge into consistent success throughout in '08. He has the potential to be one of the best RBs in the country, and his production would be paralleled by team success. The defense has been the problem as of late in Austin, especially in the secondary where the nation's 109th-ranked pass defense failed to close the deal after the offense had scored more than enough points against Tech (arguably the difference between making the BCS or their current status of the Holiday Bowl). The slate will be almost swept clean in this secondary, which leaves many questions as to the direction of the entire defense. But such could be a good thing after the past DB debacle. A good many other holes need filling on D, yet getting back into national championship contention may not be as far away as the depth chart currently dictates. But ever-diligent, Mack Brown has continued to recruit well over the years, and he will need some big time help on the defensive side from his stable of raw (but talented) youngsters. The past two years (since the undefeated 2005 National Championship team) have equated to at least three losses each, but ’08 could just as easily see UT’s return to prominence amongst college football’s top teams. Still, given the state of the defense, that task seems possibly too tough in their top-heavy conference (half).

 

TEXAS
2008 SCHEDULE

8-30 FLORIDA ATLANTIC
9-6 at UTEP
9-13 ARKANSAS
9-20 RICE
10-4 at Colorado
10-11 Oklahoma @Dallas, TX
10-18 MISSOURI
10-25 OKLAHOMA STATE
11-1 at Texas Tech
11-8 BAYLOR
11-15 at Kansas
11-28 TEXAS A&M