Behind Enemy Lines: Texas Longhorns

The 2024 Kentucky football season is right around the corner. You’ve kept close tabs on what’s happened around Mark Stoops’ program. Now KSR is speaking with folks who closely cover the opponents Kentucky will face this fall.

The Wildcats will end SEC play at a new venue, DKR Texas Memorial Stadium. It is Kentucky’s first trip to the Forty Acres since the season opener in 1951. Joe Cook from Inside Texas was kind enough to take some time to shine a little light on the newest addition to the SEC that enters with CFB Playoff expectations.

Behind Enemy Lines: Tennessee, Auburn, Georgia, Ole Miss, South Carolina

1. For Texas to get where it wants to go, who needs to step up?

It’s easy to point to quarterback Quinn Ewers but his development following a high-quality 2023 is one reason there’s optimism in Austin that the Longhorns are up for a great season. Don’t be fooled by national pundits asking questions about Arch Manning. Yes, he’s Arch Manning and yes his future is bright. But this has been Ewers’ team all spring and summer and that will continue into the fall. Ewers will need to build rapport with three transfer receivers and a host of underclassmen pass-catchers, but he’ll have an offensive line returning four starters and a fifth with plenty of in-game experience. 

On defense, Texas needs Alfred Collins to play like the highly-touted prospect he was in the 2020 class. He’s been waiting behind NFL defensive tackles like Keondre Coburn, Moro Ojomo, T’Vondre Sweat, and Byron Murphy for most of his career. Now, there’s no one preventing him from seeing the field. He’ll need to show consistency he hasn’t in his career, but reports have him doing everything necessary to be a force on the field more often in 2024. Scheme-wise, Texas would benefit from better cohesion between the front and the secondary on Pete Kwiatkowski’s side of the ball.

2. Who is the Texas player we aren’t talking about enough during the preseason?

On offense, it’s Jaydon Blue. Blue was a fourth option at running back last year during his sophomore season. With Jonathon Brooks, Keilan Robinson, and CJ Baxter ahead of him, most of Blue’s snaps came in games already decided. Brooks’ late-season injury created an opportunity for Blue and he made the most of it. He scored touchdowns in the Longhorns’ final three games and had a strong spring working alongside Baxter. Blue profiles as the lightning to Baxter’s thunder. Both will be key parts of the offense this year. Honorable mention: true freshman wide receiver Ryan Wingo.

On defense, it’s transfer EDGE Trey Moore. Moore, a transfer from UTSA, was a player Nick Saban pursued strongly prior to his retirement. Moore excelled in C-USA in 2022 and when the Roadrunners made the jump to the American Athletic Conference in 2023, Moore’s game made a jump as well. He registered 17.5 TFL and 14.0 sacks on his way to AAC Defensive Player of the Year honors. He should have a significant role as the weakside EDGE in Texas’ defense. 

3. What’s the greatest obstacle for Texas as they enter the SEC?

Texas fans would regularly give things like “it just means more” and “SEC ready” side eye during their days in the Big 12, especially as Texas A&M fans would boast about how they were in the better league. The Aggies have a lot to show for it, don’t they? But I do think Texas fans and even Steve Sarkisian’s program has recognized that, for lack of a better term, the dude volume in the SEC is far greater and is made more apparent on a weekly basis in the SEC than in any other league. 

Think of it this way: There aren’t many Deone Walkers in the Big 12.

That said, Texas has recruited extremely well in the past few cycles to where its dude volume is in the upper tier of the conference even as it joins. Those dudes have a new experience to go through, but the talent level the Longhorns boast isn’t out of place in the league.

4. Folks are excited for the renewal of the Texas A&M rivalry, but is it the most important game of the season for Longhorn fans?

No. 1 is Oklahoma. Every year. No matter what. Texas and Oklahoma are each other’s No. 1 rivals. The Lone Star Showdown is special and I’m glad it’s back. Bedlam is crazy. But this is the most important game on the schedule every year. Despite all the changes in college football, it is important to beat your rivals. Texas went 11-1 in the regular season last year, but the Longhorns lost to Oklahoma last season and there are Texas fans who don’t look kindly at Sark’s 1-2 record against the Sooners.

No. 2 is Georgia, which is the following week. Texas will probably take its SEC opener against Mississippi State, enjoy the bye, then battle Oklahoma. If Texas wants to determine if it’s really a contender for the SEC title and maybe even the CFP, then the Bulldogs will be the way to measure up.

No. 3 is the A&M game. I was tempted to put Michigan here but there’s no way that a non-conference matchup, even against the defending national champions, would override the return of a rivalry that went on a silly 13-year hiatus. The first game will be in Kyle Field, and the last time Texas played in College Station the home of the Aggies held under 90,000. It now holds up to 110,000 and it likely will have that many (or more) screaming Aggies in College Station on November 30. Plus, this is a game that could have playoff implications for both teams. 

As far as that top-three, that’s a slate Texas fans haven’t been able to look forward to in some time.