Ready to get started
Texas coach Tom Herman says he isn’t worried about high expectations — he expects even more.
AUSTIN — Don’t ask Tom Herman if Texas is back. He’s not going to entertain a question he purports not to understand. “I’ve never been able to answer that because I don’t know what the definition of ‘back’ is,” Herman said last month at Big 12 media days in Arlington. “I do know this: The expectations within our program will always exceed any external expectations that anybody else has for us.”
Expectations for the Longhorns, both internal and external, are considerable on the heels of a 10-win campaign and Sugar Bowl title. Media members ranked Texas behind only Oklahoma in this year’s preseason Big 12 preseason poll, and junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger has been bandied about as a legitimate Heisman candidate after he accounted for 41 total touchdowns in 2018.
Texas no longer seems mired in mediocrity, but Herman and Co. still have to address some key areas before opening the season at home against Louisiana Tech on Aug. 31. With fall practice set to begin Friday, here are five things to watch in the lead-up to the 2019 season:
A new-look offensive line
1Senior center Zach Shackelford remains the fulcrum of an offensive line that lost three senior starters. And junior guard Derek Kerstetter is a solid piece after appearing in 24 games and making 15 starts over his first two seasons.
“We think he is as good a center as there is in the country,” Herman said. He’s brilliant when it comes to making the calls. The center is kind of the quarterback of the offensive line, and he’s really the glue that holds that group together.”
How the rest of the line shapes up around those two could come to define the Longhorns’ season.
From all accounts, redshirt
sophomore Sam Cosmi has entrenched himself at left tackle. Texas is confident he can slide into the role held steady all last season by graduate transfer Calvin Anderson.
Georgia Tech graduate transfer Parker Braun, a two-time All-ACC selection, injects plenty of experience and some “nasty,” though it will take him some time to adjust to a new blocking scheme.
But Texas will need some unproven linemen, from junior Denzel Okafor to redshirt freshmen Junior Angilau and Reese Moore, to demonstrate the kind of physical and mental maturity require to open running holes and, most importantly, keep Sam Ehlinger safe.
Replacing Beck
2It would be a stretch to call Andrew Beck irreplaceable, but the absence of the firstteam All-Big 12 tight end will be felt. He was both a pass-catching threat and one of the top blocking tight ends in the nation, and he commanded the locker room.
Junior Cade Brewer fared well as a true freshman with Beck sidelined the entire season, but now he’s poised to step into the starting role.
“The tight end has to be a dog,” senior receiver Collin Johnson said. “He has to have the ability to block and catch the ball like a receiver and make plays. Andrew Beck was a huge key to that. Losing him is going to hurt, but I’m fully confident we’ll have people step in that role. Cade Brewer has unbelievable hands and he’s been developing into a complete football player.”
Orlando’s young defense
3Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando has to replace eight starters. Even with a pair of top-three recruiting classes on campus, that’s a tall task.
Texas will be extremely young in the secondary, with 2018 signees Anthony Cook, Jalen Green, D’Shawn Jamison, Caden Sterns, B.J. Foster and DeMarvion Overshown all expected to play big roles. Orlando will also be working with an entirely new starting
line, with senior Malcolm Roach and junior Ta’Quon Graham on the edges and redshirt freshman Keondre Coburn likely at nose tackle.
“Young and talented is better than young and not talented,” Herman said. “So we’ve got to find a way, too, to get the best 11 guys on the field. I think that’s important as well, regardless of what position they play.
“But we feel good. We feel like Todd Orlando is the cream of the crop when it comes to defensive coordinators in this league and I have no doubt that we will get better simply by an infusion of talent and another year of development in our system.”
Thompson’s development
4Texas is one serious Sam Ehlinger injury away from sailing into uncharted territory.
Ehlinger is the only quarterback on roster with any in-game experience at this level. Redshirt freshman Casey Thompson is the No. 2 and true freshman Roschon Johnson is the No. 3.
Could Thompson step in for a week, or even a half, and save Texas, like veteran Shane Buechele did last season against Baylor and Iowa State? His development this fall could go a long way in assuaging any concerns, though no one will truly know until the former four-star recruit steps onto the field.
Handling hype
5Texas hasn’t been ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press preseason top 25 since 2010. At the very least, the Longhorns this season will likely receiver their highest preseason ranking since coming in at No. 15 in 2013.
This program is perpetually hounded by hype, but it’s now warranted for the first time in years. How will Texas handle having an even larger target plastered across its back?