Texas Links!

The 2009 Preview train rolls on this week...it's now time to take a look at Opponent #7: Texas.

2008 Recap

• 2008 Schedule & Results
• 2008 Statistics
• 2008 Game-by-game summaries

And of course, the two pics that most clearly resonate when thinking about Texas 2008...

2009 Previews

• 2009 Schedule
• CFN's Texas Preview
• Malcolm Williams: All-Up-and-Coming Team
• Bruce Feldman's blog: The ten must-see games of the college football season

  Texas vs. Oklahoma, Oct. 17: You won't find a better QB battle this year than when Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy get together. It's no stretch to think the Heisman, the Big 12 title and possibly a BCS title game berth will be on the line here. Oh, and there's also the jilted feeling from the Longhorns for being passed over by the Sooners last year, a team they beat in this one in 2008. The Sooners, who have lost three of the past four, need to reassert themselves in the rivalry.

2009 Achilles Heel?

• Fox Sports: No Texas Back is a Lone Star
• Dr. Saturday: Wait, does Texas need more from its running game?

  Texas' position toward this, I think, is as follows: They're fine with it. When you're in front, you don't shift gears; you hit the gas. As middling as it looked in the big picture, the committee approach was still above average by Big 12 standards and had solid efforts -- over 150 yards on at least four yards per carry -- in the wins over Oklahoma, Missouri, Baylor, Kansas and Texas A&M. Beyond that, as the time of possession numbers here clearly demonstrate, "ball control" does not always mean "grinding running game," if your robot quarterback is the most consistent passer in NCAA history.

• Burnt Orange Nation: Replacing OG, Third-Down Back Extraordinaire, Part I - The Requirements
• Burnt Orange Nation: Replacing OG, Third-Down Back Extraordinaire, Part II - The Candidates
  

More Burnt Orange Nation Goodies

• Making the Jump to Light-Speed - Longhorns Set to Accelerate Tempo
• Anatomy of a Spread Linebacker
• Searching for Six - The Wide Receiver Position Battle, Part I

  Brandon Collins - The former basketball player has taken some time to adjust to the physical mentality of football, but most importantly, it has taken time for Collins to understand the work necessary to succeed. For Collins that means working hard to add strength to his thin frame and spending more time in the film room breaking down defenses and understanding and executing his blocking assignments.

  Excellent in the screen game, Collins will be expected to build on the flashes of big-play ability shown multiple times in the season, but never more importantly than on the second-to-last play of the Fiesta Bowl, making a tough catch and returning quickly to the line of scrimmage even with an injured ankle. Of all the receivers for Texas, Collins might be the most explosive and able to make defenders miss in space, a skill that could help him see time at split end making the same short catches made in 2008 by Quan Cosby.

• Searching For Six - The Wide Receiver Position Battle, Part II
  
• Spring Storylines

Et Cetera

• Sergio Kindle has concussion after car hits apartment
• Oldest living Longhorn recalls a very different time