Husker Locker will be counting down and breaking down each of the teams in the conference. We hope you view this series as more interesting, comprehensive and definitive than what you may find elsewhere. Where we can make strong takes – we will.

We rank the teams 12 to 1 in overall strength. Then we’ll provide for you the North/South breakdown – and the preseason All Big 12 team, as well.

Enjoy!

Today: No. 1 Texas

Coach:Mack Brown
2008 Record: 12-1 (Beat Ohio State 24-21 in the Fiesta Bowl)

What’s Changed Since 2008: Brown launched a rather exhaustive media tour for both UT football and quarterback Colt McCoy following the Longhorns getting jobbed out of the Big 12 and BCS title games. McCoy grew a mustache which at least two opposing fan bases will mock during the season. Sergio Kindle ran a car into an apartment building, drove away, bought a pizza, saved a three cats from trees, jammed with a salsa band down Sixth Street, resolved the FCC’s dispute with Comcast, piloted a drone into Pakistan, then decided to tell someone about the car, and the apartment. Brown also signed an excellent recruiting class, maybe his best.

2009 Non-Conference Schedule: Pretty dreamy, if you ask us. Louisiana-Monroe a trip to Wyoming, back home vs. UTEP, and a midseason classic against Central Florida.

2009 Conference Schedule: UT makes or breaks its season with this trio: Vs. Oklahoma, at Oklahoma State, and at Missouri. And don’t forget the game at College Station on Thanksgiving. A&M is still a rival.

Offense: Spread Passing

Coordinator: Greg Davis – Smart in the sense that provide the quarterback with enough freedom to make plays. But if the quarterback can’t make those plays, the Longhorns tend to bog down a little. Fortunately, McCoy made those plays in 2008.

Strength: McCoy, who we think is the nation’s best college quarterback. He’s more athletic than Sam Bradford, a better pure passer than Tim Tebow, and possesses just a little more moxie than former Horn Jevan Snead. A fearless runner who plays hurt, cut and dazed, McCoy was deadly accurate in 2008. The receiving corps, headlined by Jordan Shipley and the next great one, Malcolm Williams, is good. UT also has the league’s best offensive line, led by tackle Adam Ulatowski.

Weakness:Texas has lost four tight ends for the season because of various lingering injuries. Vondrell McGee is still learning to be a superior running back.

Defense: 4-3/attacking

Coordinator: Will Muschamp, who has no problem letting his front four do the work – which they often did last year – but likes to mix an occasional five-man blitz featuring Kindle, a rare, exciting athlete who also runs cars into apartment buildings.

Strength: The back seven should be excellent. UT’s defensive backs were a little beaten up last year – 259 yards per game through the air, only six interceptions – but most of the key faces return. The linebackers – Kindle, Roderick Muckelroy and Jared Norton – are the league’s best unit. Kindle is a special player used in a variety of ways. Big enough to stuff the run. Fast enough for coverage.

Weakness:The front four won’t be weak, per se, but you don’t replace Brian Orakpo and Roy Miller – who combined for 17 sacks – easily. How quickly true freshman defensive end Alex Okafor adjusts to the speed of the college game could play a role in how well the Longhorns do.

Special TeamsTerrific. Shipley will handle the punt and kickoff returns, Hunter Lawrence is one of the Big 12’s best kickers, and John Gold and/or Justin Tucker are fine punters. UT generally has good coverage units.

Intangibles: Two big ones work in Texas’ favor. First, there’s a chip on the Horns’ shoulder, and there’s something to prove. UT smacked Oklahoma around for the last three quarters of a 45-35 win, and overcame a 22-0 deficit at Texas Tech – in the fourth game of a brutal stretch, mind you, facing four top 15 teams – only to lose on the game’s second-to-last play. And for all that…OU got the nod? Absurd. Texas is playing mad in 2009. Second is McCoy. The kid’s not afraid of Oklahoma, of bowl games, of injury, and not afraid, it seems, of failure (and he had his share of it in 2007). Every negative stereotype UT teams have – soft, uncertain, talk big and play little – McCoy defies it. He’s not as gifted as Vince Young, but the Eyes of Texas look to him just the same.

Best-Case Scenario: BCS champions. No ties. No controversy.

Worst-Case Scenario: Three losses.

Our Take: We don’t think people fully appreciate how much of a juggernaut Florida’s going to be in 2009. OK, maybe they do. And they should; it’s the closest thing to a dynasty you’re likely to see. We think Texas gets to the Rose Bowl. But we’re not in 2005 anymore.

Permanent Link to this Blog Post