The Texas Longhorns kick off their season this Saturday in Houston against Rice at Reliant Stadium. The 2009 season for Texas ended in a heartbreaking loss to #1 Alabama, where true freshman QB Garrett Gilbert was baptized in fire. The price Texas and Gilbert paid in that 2010 Nat’l Championship game will start paying dividends as soon as this Saturday. With that, here are my 5 bold predictions for the 2010 Texas Longhorn season.
#5 Texas will have a 1,000+ yard receiver
Last year Texas had Jordan Shipley, who was Colt McCoy’s go-to guy and caught anything that was thrown anywhere near him, racking up 116 receptions for 1,485 yds and 13 touchdowns. Who is going to fill the void left by Shipley? Perhaps senior John Chiles, or maybe it’s the speedster Marquis Goodwin. All I know is that someone has to catch the 3,500+ yds Gilbert will throw this year.
#4 Garrett Gilbert will throw for 3,500 yards
Garrett Gilbert possesses everything that makes NFL scouts salivate. He is a prototypical NFL player with height, a lot of arm strength, and the ability to play under center. Mack Brown has said Texas will focus more on the run game, but I highly doubt that will diminish the chances Brown gives Gilbert for his big downfield playmaking ability. Gilbert will have a lot of chances to rack up stats vs. Rice, Wyoming, Texas Tech, Iowa St., Baylor, Kansas St., Oklahoma St. and Florida Atlantic. These are 8 teams with little to no pass defense that Gilbert will terrorize.
#3 Texas will defeat Oklahoma for the 3rd straight year
A good many pundits are picking Oklahoma to win the Big XII South this year. While they may be correct, one thing I can guarantee is that Texas will defeat Oklahoma for the 5th time in 6 yrs. Mack Brown has been able to turn the tables on Bob Stoops, who once was able to terrorize Brown and his horns every year in the Cotton Bowl.
#2 Texas will beat Nebraska by at least 14 pts
The children of the corn have been riled ever since Hunter Lawrence’s 46 yd field goal split the uprights as the Big XII Championship came to a conclusion in December 2009. Their fury and spite came to full fruition earlier this summer when they announced they were packing up and moving to the Big Ten conference. Well, Nebraska fans are in for another sob fest come their October meeting with Texas. Nebraska possesses absolutely zero offensive firepower that can put Texas on their heels. Gilbert, however, will terrorize the Cornhusker secondary with his big-play ability. Texas will win by 14+.
#1 Texas will lose a heartbreaker late in the season
Texas will be ranked in the top 2 late in the season. Orangebloods will be nervously anticipating another Nat’l Championship appearance, and then the unthinkable will happen (again). Texas will drop a heartbreaker to Texas A&M, or possibly even Nebraska in the Big XII CCG. Nonetheless, Texas will bounce back and win their BCS bowl and enter the 2011 season ranked top 2 in the country, and will march into New Orleans, LA for the 2012 BCS Nat’l Championship.
