Reassessing preseason predictions at the Texas Longhorns' first bye

While the halfway mark of the Texas Longhorns’ 2024 season isn’t until after next Saturday’s rivalry contest with the Oklahoma Sooners, the bye week after five games is a decent time to reassess my own preseason predictions made just before the Longhorns walloped Colorado State.

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For some predictions, it will be out with the old and in with the new. Other cases will have me sticking to my guns.

Let’s begin.

Name the SEC Champion and who they beat in Atlanta

August prediction: Georgia over Texas

October prediction: Texas over Tennessee

I think we saw what Georgia can do when it has to untether itself from the shackles of Mike Bobo‘s typical plan, but how often will the Bulldogs be comfortable doing that? There’s obviously talent in the Alabama secondary, but there’s some inexperience as well. Can Georgia do that against Texas and a secondary that’s let nothing get past them this season?

Here’s what the month of October looks like for Texas…

• October 5 – Bye
• October 12 – vs. Oklahoma
• October 19 – Georgia
• October 26 – at Vanderbilt

Here’s what it looks like for Tennessee

• October 5 – at Arkansas
• October 12 – Florida
• October 19 – Alabama
• October 26 – Bye

Plus, Georgia has to face both the Horns and the Vols.

The common opponents for Texas and Tennessee are large in number as both teams have to travel to Arkansas and Vanderbilt but get Florida, Kentucky, and Mississippi State at home.

The crimson each team faces is different as Texas gets Oklahoma and Tennessee gets Alabama. The only other difference on the schedule for both UT’s is Tennessee has to go to Athens while Georgia has to come to Austin.

Both teams have an explosive offense and a difficult defense to crack. At this point, I expect there to be a lot of orange in Atlanta on December 7.

Name what seed Texas is in the College Football Playoff and how far it gets

August answer: No. 5 seed and the Horns get to the semis.

October answer: No. 2 seed and the Horns get to the finals.

I think Ohio State rolls through its schedule, therefore I have Texas at No. 2.

Eric had it the same back in August. While this robs Longhorn fans of a chance to see a home playoff game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, it keeps a week of hits off of a team that will be playing for an additional month in this scenario.

Who is your national champion?

August answer: Unfortunately, Ohio State.

October answer: Unfortunately, Ohio State.

This might be one week premature but Ohio State’s offense will have its toughest test yet with the Iowa defense. If the Buckeyes can make life difficult for Kirk Ferentz and neutralize any attempt for his program to win in the ugly way it prefers, that will bode well for Ohio State and Ryan Day.

Who is your Heisman winner?

August prediction: Sigh, Dillon Gabriel

October prediction: Travis Hunter

Hunter has played in 662 snaps across the Buffaloes’ five games according to Pro Football Focus. That is 132 snaps a game.

He already has 46 catches for 561 yards and six touchdowns, plus 16 tackles, one TFL, two interceptions, 3 passes defended, and a forced fumble.

Hunter is playing at an All-American level at two different positions in a Power 4 conference in 2024.

Sometimes, multipurpose players get packages. Remember when Adoree Jackson played some offense and defense for Steve Sarkisian at USC?

Hunter isn’t a package player. He’s full-time at both. If he plays at the same pace but Colorado loses every game, it shouldn’t diminish how insane it is for Hunter to be exceling on both sides of the ball. And that’s as someone who enjoys everything Ashton Jeanty and Jalen Milroe have done this year.

Hunter for Heisman.

What’s one lingering question you have about the team as it enters the 2024 season? 

August answer: The awe-inspiring part of Nick Saban‘s career was the volume of national championships he brought back to Tuscaloosa, Ala. The most impressive part might have been limiting the amount of C- games his Crimson Tide played from his second year in 2008 to his final campaign in 2023 to a single digit total. The Longhorns played some C- games with enough A+ flashes to overcome C- opponents in 2023 and even lost games in 2022 because they delivered what amounted to be a middle-quality effort against a team that brought their best. Texas’ schedule, save for the non-Michigan non-conference slate and Vanderbilt, does not allow for C- games to earn wins even with the established talent. Can Sarkisian do what his mentor did best and make sure everyone in his program, players and coaches alike, bring their best or something close to it weekly?

October answer: Maybe so, but it’s not clear after one game against a year-one Mississippi State team with its backup quarterback. Maybe I should have swapped Vanderbilt and the Bulldogs.

The Longhorns offensive MVP will be…

August answer:  Kelvin Banks, but Quinn Ewers will get deserved glory as well.

October answer: No change. Appreciate what Texas has at left tackle while you still can.

The Longhorns’ defensive MVP will be…

August answer: Anthony Hill Jr.  All-America level season.

October answer: I’ll stick with it but it’s hard not to take a hard look at some of the things Michael Taaffe has done.

Do any Longhorns win any non-Heisman postseason awards? (Outland, Thorpe, etc.)

August answer: Bert Auburn gets the Lou Groza because he combines a look with consistency that a person voting for an award for a kicker would be drawn to. Kelvin Banks gets all the possible lineman related awards, so the Lombardi and the Outland. Jake Majors has a real shot at the Rimington, too.

October answer: I stand by only the Banks prediction at this point, but don’t count out Taaffe for the Burlsworth, which goes to college football’s most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on.

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Season record prediction

August answer: 10-2, two SEC losses. No. 5 seed. Can’t wait.

October answer: 11-1, one SEC loss. No. 2 seed. Still can’t wait.