#25 Texas Longhorns

2010 Recap
2010 started right for the Texas Longhorns. A Heisman finalist in Colt McCoy and a spot in the BCS National Championship. Colt McCoy was knocked from the game early in the first quarter by future first round draft pick Marcell Dareus, enter Garrett Gilbert. The wide-eyed freshman had previously played in limited mop-up duty during his freshman season and entered the National Championship game generally unprepared. He rebounded from a turnover ridden first half and threw two touchdown passes to wide receiver Jordan Shipley and brought the Longhorns to the brink of victory. But fourth quarter touchdowns from Alabama running backs Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson sealed the victory and the BCS National Championship for the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Longhorns lost the game but Gilbert immediately became a star in Austin for his late game heroics.

Garrett Gilbert

The hype however was not well founded. The Longhorns went 5-7 in 2010 and were not bowl eligible for the first time under head coach Mack Brown. Poor coaching, poor offensive line play coupled with the lack of a blue-chip running back, and the overall poor performance of Gilbert resulted in the worst season under Mack Brown while at Texas.

Following the dismal 2010 season Defensive Coordinator and Head Coach in Waiting, Will Muschamp left Texas and became the head coach at the University of Florida. The Longhorns had turnover at key positions on the coaching staff: Offensive and Defensive Coordinators (Bryan Harsin and Manny Diaz), wide receiver, offensive and defensive line, secondary (although Duane Akina later returned from Arizona once replacement hire Jerry Gray was named the Tennessee Titans Defensive Coordinator) and strength and conditioning coach.


Recruiting

Malcolm Brown

Despite the Longhorns 5-7 season Mack Brown managed to sign another stellar class in a long line of highly touted classes. Finishing with the #5 class according to ESPN, and the #3 ranked class according to Rivals.com. The class was headlined by quite possibly the most important recruit Mack Brown has signed since Cedric Benson, Malcolm Brown. Brown figures to be a key component of the Longhorns success in 2011. According to sources he has all ready begun to impress during limited action in off season workouts. Brown was the #10 player according to the Rivals 250 and the #7 player according to ESPN 150 recruiting rankings.



2011 Season Prediction
For most it seems only natural that the Longhorns would be one of the nations most improved teams but as Lee Corso says, "Not so fast my friend." While I do believe the Longhorns will improve in 2011, the key reasons being the arrival of freshman running back Malcolm Brown, a rejuvenated Mack Brown, and the new offensive philosophy of Bryan Harsin; however it will not be as easy as some believe. The Longhorns are still dreadfully thin on the offensive line and not only are the ranks thin but the starters are young and inexperienced themselves outside of Senior center David Snow and projected starter Trey Allen, and must have major contribution from their incoming freshman, and question marks at defensive tackle outside of last seasons starter Kheeston Randall and of course the largest question of them all, who will be the Longhorns starting quarterback come fall? The smart money is on incumbent Garrett Gilbert but Mack Brown has assured the media that the competition is in fact wide open. Reports have said that all quarterbacks have had their struggles and flashes during summer sessions and incoming freshman Quarterback David Ash has surprised many drawing rave reviews. But again smart money is on Garrett Gilbert

CTSports projects the Longhorns to finish with a record of 8-4 with losses against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, at Missouri and at Texas A&M. 

2011 Schedule CTSports Predictions
Sep. 3 - Rice                       
Sep. 10  - BYU                   
Sep. 17 - @UCLA             
Oct. 1 - @Iowa St.             
Oct. 8 - OU                         
Oct. 15 - Oklahoma St.      
Oct. 29 - Kansas            
Nov. 5 - Texas Tech        
Nov. 12 -  @Missouri    
Nov. 19 - Kansas St.       
Nov. 24 - @Texas A&M  
Dec. 3 - @Baylor            


CTSports Projected Record        8-4

Check back for #24 of the CTSports Top 25.