Where would Shorthorns rank on our schedule this year?

[Hogmodo]

There is not an SEC team we played that I would rank below Texass.  Texas A&M is probably the closest to them and the Aggies would be about a touchdown or more favored if they played them.  Charlie Strong has them playing hard and they did improve as the season went on, but would Texass rank ahead of Northern Illinois?

[sowmonella]

Better than only our out of conference games.

[jkstock04]

They don't measure up to a single SEC team that we played this year. Honestly laughable when you think about it.

[Deep Shoat]

Between NIU and TTU.

[jrulz83]

They'd be the best of the non-conference games.

[Locutus_of_Boar]

There is no team in the SEC west that compare to the current state of the Longhorn program and nor do UGa or Mizzou from the east.  I think Florida and USCe come the closest.

Truly, Texas looks like Northern Illinois sans the QB and with a more athletic defense.

[ErieHog]

Solid 10th.

[code red]

Between NIU and TTU.

Ehhhhh  I think they are a little better than that.....Id say Texas A&M level.

[goodguytex]

Closest they may come to an SEC team may be Kentucky. But even Kentucky gave Misstake all they could handle, so I'm not even sure that's true. Marginally better than Texas tech would be a accurate.

[ErieHog]

Ehhhhh  I think they are a little better than that.....Id say Texas Tech level.

Better than Tech, but worse than NIU.

[PORKULATOR]

10th

[code red]

Better than Tech, but worse than NIU.

Sorry meant A&M......Texas will have depth issues just like us.

[island hog]

To me, they remind of LSU...mobile qb that is hot and cold.  Fair running game but mean, beefy d-line with athletes at LB and corners.  Their two inside def tackles will be playing on Sunday and their corner Diggs may be taken in the first couple of rounds.  I worry a little that their strengths counter ours ...I've watched a lot of horn games this year and if they get up on us and Swoopes gets loose on some runs out of the pocket, we could be in trouble.  We will have a hard time running on them...they will stack the box and dare us to throw.  We need Derby in the worst way...our TEs could be the difference. 

[EastexHawg]

Their losses this year were to BYU before their Heisman candidate QB was lost for the season...UCLA...Baylor...Oklahoma...Kansas State...and TCU.

How many of those teams would the Aggies have beaten?  For that matter, how many of those teams would...oh, never mind.

I can't stand Texas and rooted hard against them in every game they played, but I don't see this as a sure win by any means.

[ErieHog]

Their losses this year were to BYU before their Heisman candidate QB was lost for the season...UCLA...Baylor...Oklahoma...Kansas State...and TCU.

How many of those teams would the Aggies have beaten?  For that matter, how many of those teams would...oh, never mind.

I can't stand Texas and rooted hard against them in every game they played, but I don't see this as a sure win by any means.

Three or four, depending on the road/home/neutral splits.

They really are not a good football team.

[Tripod1]

Hope the trash talking doesn't bite us.  I understand they may be weaker than the west teams but if anything this season has proven across the nation is that on any given weekend any team can win.  Throw in this is a bowl game and a long layoff between games.  I will save my talking till AFTER we beat them.

[ErieHog]

Hope the trash talking doesn't bite us.  I understand they may be weaker than the west teams but if anything this season has proven across the nation is that on any given weekend any team can win.  Throw in this is a bowl game and a long layoff between games.  I will save my talking till AFTER we beat them.

If we lose this game to Texas,  I hope it tempers enthusiasm for next year significantly; this is not a good football team we will be playing.    There is absolutely no reason to lose this game.

[GolfnHog]

The Whorns aren't a very good team but, that being said, I anticipate that the Longhorns will be reminded that the Hogs are a thorn in their side and the history of the teams will be a focal point. It will also be a calling card that the Horn coach is from AR and what better motivation to win than to win for the AR raised coach.

Longhorns will be inspired but I also think that the Hogs will have the same message preached to them, about the history, and will be better prepared to fight a mano to mano fist fight.

We are going to have to throw the ball and if we can't it could be tighter than the stats show it should be.

[EastexHawg]

Three or four, depending on the road/home/neutral splits.

They really are not a good football team.

Baylor and TCU would both tear A&M a new one.  I don't see them beating UCLA or Kansas State more than 3 times out of 10, either.  But...that's just my opinion.

It will be interesting to see how A&M does against West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl.  I won't be even slightly surprised if they lose.

I'll be happy with a one point win over Texas. 

[Killean]

10th behind every conference game and NIU.

[Paul]

just ahead of NIU because of their defense

[HotlantaHog]

Charlie Strong is a very good coach, grew up in Batesville, Arkansas, understands the Texas-Arkansas history and will have his team pumped up for the game.

[redeye]

They'd beat all of our non-conference opponents and did beat Texas Tech.  NIU is a good team, but I doubt they would beat Texas.  This isn't a good Texas team, but just like with Alabama, a bad Texas team is still capable of a winning record, because they have so much talent.  It won't be the blowout some are foolishly predicting.

Having said that, I'm also unsure they'd beat anyone on our SEC schedule, but we only won 2 games.  Strong's still in his 1st year, so Texas is probably similar to Arkansas at the end of last season, except they have more talent and won more games.

[DLUXHOG]

They'd beat all of our non-conference opponents and did beat Texas Tech.  NIU is a good team, but I doubt they would beat Texas.  This isn't a good Texas team, but just like with Alabama, a bad Texas team is still capable of a winning record, because they have so much talent.  It won't be the blowout some are foolishly predicting.

Having said that, I'm also unsure they'd beat anyone on our SEC schedule, but we only won 2 games.  Strong's still in his 1st year, so Texas is probably similar to Arkansas at the end of last season, except they have more talent and won more games.

Matt 5:22, they're not foolish... Hogs have blown Texas out several times.......

[Fayettechill14]

Offense: Worse than any Power 5 team we've played. So all SEC opponents and Tech. Maybe not even better than NIU, although I'll let them have that.

Defense: Pretty salty. Definitely better than Tech, A&M, Georgia, and Miss State. Not quite as good as Alabama, Mizzou, or LSU.

[HotlantaHog]

Aug 30 - W vs. North Texas, 38-7
Sep  6 - L vs. BYU, 7-41
Sep 13 - L vs. UCLA, 17-20
Sep 20 - Open
Sep 27 - W at  Kansas, 23-0
Oct  4 - L vs. Baylor, 7-28
Oct 11 - L at  Oklahoma, 26-31
Oct 18 - W vs. Iowa State, 48-45
Oct 25 - L at  Kansas State, 0-23
Nov  1 - W at  Texas Tech, 34-13
Nov  8 - W vs. West Virginia, 33-16
Nov 15 - W at  Oklahoma State, 28-7
Nov 22 - Open
Nov 27 - L vs. TCU, 10-48
Dec  6 - Open
Dec 13 - Open
Dec 29 - vs. Arkansas, 9:00 PM

[Lake City Hog]

If you look at their schedule they beat 1 team with a winning record, West Virginia at 7-5 and 1 team that finished even, Oklahoma State at 6-6.
They actually played 3 games outside the state of Texas, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State.

[greasy_corner]

I'd rank them 13th.  Only because we didn't make the SEC championship this year.

[greasy_corner]

Charlie Strong is a very good coach, grew up in Batesville, Arkansas, understands the Texas-Arkansas history and will have his team pumped up for the game.

I dig what you're saying, but I don't agree with it.  This tu coach knows no more about the tu-Hogs rivalry than what he is told.    Feigned enthusiasm.  Never a Hog and still in his shorthorn diapers.       

[Locutus_of_Boar]

Offense: Worse than any Power 5 team we've played. So all SEC opponents and Tech. Maybe not even better than NIU, although I'll let them have that.

Defense: Pretty salty. Definitely better than Tech, A&M, Georgia, and Miss State. Not quite as good as Alabama, Mizzou, or LSU.

Texas defense is particularly good at stopping what Arkansas can't/won't do anyway...which is throwing to wide receivers.  They were like 56th in run defense.

This will be another field position & kicking game.  Texas offense biggest threat may be that their placekicker is 11/17 over 30 yards.  However they have higher penalty yards and lower turnover margin.

Make no penalties & turnovers, get ahead early as usual, grind it out collect the trophy and a few recruits and call it a successful setup for 2015.

[redeye]

If you look at their schedule they beat 1 team with a winning record, West Virginia at 7-5 and 1 team that finished even, Oklahoma State at 6-6.
They actually played 3 games outside the state of Texas, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State.

That's 2 more then they usually played in their SWC days.

[redeye]

Texas defense is particularly good at stopping what Arkansas can't/won't do anyway...which is throwing to wide receivers.  They were like 56th in run defense.

Which means we'll be throwing the ball a lot to surprise them. 

[Fayettechill14]

Texas defense is particularly good at stopping what Arkansas can't/won't do anyway...which is throwing to wide receivers.  They were like 56th in run defense.

This will be another field position & kicking game.  Texas offense biggest threat may be that their placekicker is 11/17 over 30 yards.  However they have higher penalty yards and lower turnover margin.

Make no penalties & turnovers, get ahead early as usual, grind it out collect the trophy and a few recruits and call it a successful setup for 2015.

True, but...

They give up a lot of raw yards because their defense is on the field a lot. They are 98th in opponent plays per game. Why? Part of it is because their offense is so terrible. Their offense goes three-and-out on 41.1 percent of possessions, good for 112th nationally. They run 72.8 plays per game, 70th nationally.

So a lot of those yards are due to opponents just getting that many plays. They only give up 3.9 yards per rush, which is 40th. Not great, but much better. Even that is affected by sacks, and they are 8th nationally in sack percentage.

So, yes, we should be able to run straight up the middle against them with some success. One problem: their depth is their biggest defensive weakness. They are 116th in scoring defense in the 4th quarter (12.3 points per game) and they wear down worse than we do. In the first three quarters, they are pretty good. So, it's pretty simple: we cannot abandon the run if it's not working early. They are guaranteed to run out of gas late if we keep running. But for three quarters, this game could be a battle.

[Oklahawg]

Until TCU lit them up they were improving quickly on defense. They have the raw athletes to get better fast.

Can we contain them on offense? We should be able to, which means we control the TOP and wear them down. I hope.

[island hog]

I've watched them a lot this year and the strength of their team is up the middle on defense...Ridgeway, Brown, Hicks and Edmond should all get their chance on Sundays in the future.  Ridgeway and Brown are beasts and huge at DT.  The best of them all is Diggs at CB.  I do not see us running at will on these guys...they are very strong but get a bad rap due to the TOP issues they've had.  Diggs can cover, is super fast and will lay a lick on the ballcarrier.  He returns punts too...TCU has an elusive qb who caused them trouble...we don't.  Still see the Hogs winning...

[Hawgzinbowlz]

If we lose this game to Texas,  I hope it tempers enthusiasm for next year significantly; this is not a good football team we will be playing.    There is absolutely no reason to lose this game.

Texas would compare to T@M. We've already given the Lone Stars 1 gift this year.
If we take this game serious we will win by 7-14 points. Run the ball, stop the run, protect the football, play smart, etc. If we don't bring serious energy and Texas wants the game more than us...we'll get it handed to us.
I read where one of the younger players was going off about how we would beat Austins finest, easily. I hope this is not a general player perspective.
CBB and Co. have motivated us through difficult losses and a very emotional win (with a solid win the following week) to arrive at a bowl and I expect us to be ready...if so...we win.
Texas has too good of a group of athletes to take lightly.
I look for a win to catapult us to an excellent recruiting class and improvement next year.

" GO HOGS "