It’s almost here. The Steve Sarkisian era at Texas is only one day away.
The Longhorns will be taking on a well coached and talented Louisiana team that put together a 10-win season in 2020. The Ragin’ Cajuns are running it back for another year, as they brought back almost all of their starters from last year’s team.
On the other hand, Texas will have new faces all over the field on both sides of the ball. For the third consecutive year, the Longhorns will also have different offensive and defensive coordinators.
However, even with all the new players and staff, the expectations for Texas to have a stellar season are still very much prevalent. Sarkisian is viewed as having one of the best offensive minds in college football, and defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski is widely considered one of the best in the nation as well.
Under the past regime, this Week 1 matchup could have very well been chalked up as a loss. Texas typically started off slow and seemed to underperform when favored against an opponent, but that is why Sarkisian is the man in charge now.
Longhorns Wire staff all chose Sarkisian’s squad to win this one, but I decided to take it a step further and boldly predict five things that could happen in Texas’ season opener on Saturday.
The Texas defense will force three turnovers
Andrew Dieb-USA TODAY Sports
The defense under Kwiatkowski will be insanely aggressive and we have already seen glimpses of this in practices and scrimmages. His defensive units at Washington were the highest ranked defense in the Pac-12 five out of the seven years he was the defensive coordinator, and part of the reason was how many turnovers they forced. In 2020, the Huskies only played four games and still forced eight turnovers, which was only one less than Texas’ nine forced turnovers in six more games. It will be difficult as Louisiana quarterback Levi Lewis is a fifth-year senior who is very smart with the ball, but with all the stunts and confusing looks Texas will give him, it would not surprise me if he falters a tad. Against Iowa State last season, Lewis was not aggressive by any means throwing the ball, so forcing him to be uncomfortable and take risks can bode well for Texas. The Longhorns defense has the experience and players to be one of the top defenses in the Big 12, and getting off to a hot start will be crucial. I would predict two interceptions and one fumble recovery to hit the three mark.
At least one Texas receiver has 100 yards receiving
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Under former head coach Tom Herman, wide receivers were always rotating in and out and it typically seemed when someone got hot — they would be pulled. In 2020, Texas only had two games where a wide receiver reached 100 or more receiving yards, with one of them being the opening game against UTEP. Meanwhile, at Alabama, Sarkisian’s offense only had one game on the year where they did not have at least one receiver with 100 yards through the air. I am expecting the Texas offense to be taking more shots down the field than a bachelorette party in Nashville. Sarkisian will want to set a precedent early on in the season that the Longhorns will have a dynamic offense. Louisiana does have a very strong defensive back group, that was able to hold Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy to just 145 yards, with their leading receiver having 43 yards, but I doubt there is any defense that Sarkisian has not seen up to this point. If I had to predict who would be the receiver to do so I would probably go with Joshua Moore, as Sarkisian recently spoke about how much of an impact player he was.
Bijan Robinson gets at least 25 touches
AP Photo/Michael Thomas
It is no secret that Bijan Robinson is Texas’ best offensive weapon and he was criminally underused last season. Sarkisian has already emphasized that Robinson will be getting a much larger load this season, and he was not just saying that to appease the fan base. Robinson has potential to be the best running back in the nation, so why would Sarkisian not feed him? Having Robinson, who averaged over eight yards per carry last season, showed how elusive he is. He can really take the pressure off of redshirt freshman quarterback Hudson Card. At Alabama, Najee Harris averaged 19 carries and three catches per game. Sarkisian always made sure to get the ball in his playmakers hands, and I think he will be doing the same against Louisiana. From a prediction standpoint, I’ll say Robinson concludes the game with 25 carries and four receptions, giving him a total of 29 touches.
Hudson Card starts off slow, but erupts after
AP Photo/Eric Gay
Hudson Card is an Austin native starting his first career game, which happens to be at home against a ranked opponent. I think it is fair to say that nerves, and simply lack of experience, will play a factor at first. To assume that he will come out and dominate is unfair to Card, he could likely take a couple drives to really get his feet under him. I think Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud was a perfect example, as he got off to a very slow start in the Buckeye’s win over Minnesota that saw him go 6-of-14 for 53 yards in the first half, but turned it up in the second half throwing for 236 yards and four touchdowns. Card has consistently been protecting the ball in practices and scrimmages, the knock on him was taking sacks. The experienced Ragin’ Cajuns defense might rattle him a tad at first, but I think by the third drive Hudson will settle in and start shredding the defense. I think he throws for over 300 yards and three passing touchdowns.
Texas wins the game by two touchdowns
Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
Although this game may be tight throughout, I not only think that the offense will find a rhythm and pull away, but I think the defense will shut Louisiana down when the time comes. There has only been two seasons in defensive coordinator’s Pete Kwiatkowski seven-year career at Washington that the Huskies averaged 20 points given up per game. Once the Texas offense finds it grove, which ultimately may just mean force feeding Robinson, the defense should be well equipped enough to lock down Louisiana. What many people forget about in their win over Iowa State, is the fact that Louisiana had two special teams touchdowns. Their offense was not special by any means, they just did not make as many mistakes as Iowa State. If the Longhorns can stay disciplined and just play their game, this should not be as close as people are making it out to be.
1
1
1
1