Scouting TexasTexas easily won their first game of the season, last weekend, 56-7 over the Mean Green of North Texas. The game took place in Austin at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
Quarterback
Vince Young left a large void at quarterback when he went to the NFL. Coach Mack Brown did not announce his choice until Monday of the week of the first game. We have only seen the red-shirt freshman QB Colt McCoy in one game, the opener against Northern Texas. In that game he was 12 of 19 for 178 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions. He showed some Vince Young running with a 27 yard run that setup a touchdown. He had a total of 38 yards rushing and one touchdown with his feet. His counterpart Jevan Snead was not quite as good, only hitting 3 for 7 for 22 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. He ran for 11 yards.
Running Game
Ramonce Taylor, who had 1,219 all purpose yards last year did not return to the team after legal problems. Selvin Young came to Texas for his freshman year in 2002 and challenged legendary Texas running back Cedric Benson for playing time. Injuries have limited his playing time, but he appears to be healthy so far this year. In the first game of this season he had 44 yards and a touchdown. Jamal Charles will see significant playing time after winning Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors with 878 yards and 11 touchdowns last year. In the North Texas game he led the team in rushing with 77 yards and one touchdown.
Receivers
The leading returner at receiver from last year is Limas Sweed who had 545 yards last year, and a critical touchdown to seal the win over OSU last year. In the North Texas game the split end had five receptions for 111 and two touchdowns. Joining him at receiver is Billy Pittman and Quan Cosby along with Neale Tweedie at tight end. Pittman missed the only two passes thrown his direction in the game last weekend, but he had a 130 yards and a touchdown against the Buckeyes last year. Cosby had 20 yards against North Texas.
Kicking Game
Gone is place kicker David Pino, along with his 113 points back in 2005. Senior Greg Johnson, who handled kickoffs last year, will do all the roles of place kicking and punting this year. In the game last week he averaged 43.5 yards on punts and hit all his PATs.
O-Line
The Longhorns have to replace first team All-American tackle Jonathan Scott and third-team guard Will Allen. However, returning is guard Kasey Studdard and tackle Justin Blalock with 39 and 26 consecutive starts, respectively. Also returning is senior center Lyle Sendlein. The new starters include sophomore Cedric Dockery at guard and converted tight-end junior Tony Hills at tackle.
D-Line
First-team All-American defensive tackle Rodrique Wright is a tough player to replace on the D-Line. Rerturning for the Longhorns is tackle Frank Okam, end Tim Crowder and end Brian Robison. Crowder had four tackles, four for loss and two sacks against OSU last year. At nose tackle we will see Derek Lokey.
Linebackers
Returning from last year's team is sophomore Rashad Bobino moved to the middle with the departure of Aaron Harris. Another returning as a starter is junior Robert Killebrew at strongside. At weakside is converted safety Drew Kelson, who forced the fumble late in the game against OSU.
Secondary
The Longhorns have two holes to fill at corner for the OSU game, Cedric Griffen left and earlier this week Mack Brown suspended 3-year staring cornerback Tarell Brown, read my blog entry for details. In Brown's place will likely be junior Brandon Foster, who has never started, but he does have 22 games experience. The other corner spot will be held by senior Aaron Ross At safety senior Michael Griffin returns. At free safety we see Michael's twin, Marcus Griffin. Weren't there twins at corner for Northern Illinois last week? Very strange....
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