The Blue Board

Unfortunately UCLA screws up their big wins with either terrible conference play or losing to scrubs on their OOC schedule, so it embarrasses teams like Texas or Tennessee when they lose to them. Honestly, there's no reason they should have finished lower than 4th in the Pac-10/12 every year with their talent. Dorrell and Neuheisel would find ways to lose though.

No we never travel for an OOC game.

On years when we do schedule an extra OOC opponent we play Miami. Just the way it is having two big in state rivals.

dp

Rumors float from Nick Saban to Urban Meyer to Gary Patterson to Chris Petersen.. Some think it would be fitting to see Major take over but I dont think thatll happen. The new hot name is coach Diaz our DC. However no one knows for sure yet so everythings just a guess until anything actually happens. I feel pretty strongly about one thing though ; if Mack were to win another title, he'll retire immediately.

Hes a decent RB coach. Hes one hell of a recruiter thats for sure so if someday he steps in as HC hell have a similar role Mack does where hes not as involved as far as Xs and Os and calling plays goes but hell manage everything else really well. He learned from Mack so thats why I think he would be somewhat similar. Then again I could he wrong. They may go the direction of handing the program off to a big name coach and not someone who has no previous HC experience.

I think Patterson is waiting on the UT job. He is to good of a coach to stay at TCU.

Check the future schedules. They might crack the top 150. Patterson has done the same thing that Bowden did - turn a bad football school into a good one. No reason for him to leave.

Well said!

But to answer the question, here it is:

IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE O-LINE.

Stacy Searels has done a good job with what he's had to work with. But this past recruiting class highlighted our deficiencies along both lines. First practically the first time ever, Mack Brown approved offers for a couple of SEC area JUCO studs. OT Donald Hawkins will start immediately at LT, which was a position where we had a TRUE freshman starting most of last season. He held his own, but was very undersized. The addition of Hawkins has allowed Searels to shuffle bodies around and promote healthy competition. This time last year we had literally only 8 scholarship offensive linemen.

It is now night and day compared to last year, and all things considered we actually had a decent year. Prior to losing our top three running backs to injury against Mizzou, we were on a roll. If our backs stay healthy it's likely that we would have beaten both Mizzou and KSU and ended up with ten wins. But thems the breaks.

Ash will start and he will do fine. Most people are skeptical, but I'm not. For the first time he's getting the lion's share of the 1st team reps at QB. He has the physical tools, can make the throws, and is the type of leader a football team needs at QB. All he needs is to digest the offense and get as many reps as possible.

TE is an unknown spot at this point, but look for DJ Grant (3 TDs against UCLA last year and then disappeared) and RS Freshman MJ McFarland to emerge.

WR looks good. Jaxon Shipley is an All-American waiting to happen. Mike Davis is refocused and playing much better. John Harris is sure-handed and a great blocker, but we lost him early last season to injury. He'll be back and it'll help a lot. DeSean Hales has also stepped it up and had a good spring.

The RBs? Filthy absolutely filthy. Joe Bergeron, Malcolm Brown, and Jonathan Gray will arguably be the best group of RBs in the country. So, again, if our O-line can grow and get it together, look out.

Defense?

It's just ridiculous.

The D-line will actually be better even though we're losing our top DT (Kheeston Randall). Brandon Moore is the other JUCO I alluded to earlier. He actually played against Texas in the title game a few years back as a freshman. He's a big SOB that will not be moved. He will help to allow our athletic LBs to roam the field as headhunters.

DEs. Arguably the best group in the conference. Jackson Jeffcoat, Alex Okafor, Reggie Wilson, and Cedric Reed will all play a lot and will be unstoppable at times.

LBs: Looks like DeMarco Cobbs is back and ready to use his versatility to blitz, drop in coverage like a safety, and just all around kick some ass. Steve Edmond will be compared to LeRon McClain before he leaves Texas. And Jordan Hicks looks to build on his great game he had against Cal. He was healthy and flew all over the place making plays.

Secondary looks like it will improve. Kenny Vacarro is one of the best safeties in the country and is looking at the Thorpe and salivating. Quandre Diggs and Carrington Byndom both return and are considered to be VERY solid CBs, and there's talent behind them. Adrian Phillips is our most versatile DB as of now, but he had off-season shoulder surgery, so we'll see how that plays out.

In conclusion with regard to the defense, our front seven is going to be sick, and our secondary will be provided with a lot of opportunities to make plays, which is what they do best. TEXAS DEFENSE in 2012 is no joke.

Finally, special teams.

K - We don't have one right now. We need our true freshman Nick Jordan to come in and be the guy immediately.
KO and punts will be handled by Will Russ. He's got a live leg, but can be inaccurate. With the move up to the 35 though, I see a lot of touchbacks and 3 and outs with our D.

In summary, we are on the right track, and most people that don't pay attention to what is happening in the off-season will be shocked when Texas returns to form in the Fall.

Oh no.

You could if it you'd like to.

Black shipley = mad.

Haha. Ok. Thanks for the downvotes.