Well, things are clearly on schedule as head coach Tom Herman gets set for his third year leading the Texas Longhorns. In 2017, Herman led the longtime Big 12 residents to a respectable, seven-win season after replacing former head coach Charlie Strong. Last season, the Horns took an even bigger step forward by recording double-digit victories for the first time since they won 13 games for former head coach Mack Brown way back in 2009.
Now, as they get set for the upcoming 2019 campaign and Year 3 of the Herman era, Texas is hoping to take another step forward to challenge for both, the Big 12 conference crown and a berth in the four-team College Football Playoff. Better yet, you’re going to find out everything there is to know about the Longhorns before they take to the gridiron for their 2019 regular season opener. Now, let’s find out if the Horns are going to be contenders or pretenders in 2019.
Texas Longhorns 2019 College Football Season Betting Guide
Betting Statistics
- ATS: 10-4 (W-L) / 6-7-1 (ATS) / 3-2-1 (Home) / 3-5-0 (Away) / 1-1-0 (Grass) / 5-6-1 (Turf)
- O/U: 6-8-0 (W-L) / 2-4-0 (Home) / 4-4-0 (Away) / 2-0-0 (Grass) / 4-8-0 (Turf) / 56.9 (Total)
While the Longhorns managed to win 10 games a year ago, they also struggled to cover the chalk by going an uninspiring 6-7-1 ATS while covering the spread three times at home and on the road. Texas also played under their O/U total odds an identical four times at home and on the road.
2018 Team Leaders
- Touchdowns: Sam Ehlinger (16)
- Rushing: Tre Watson (786)
- Passing: Sam Ehlinger (3292)
- Receiving: Lil’Jordan Humphrey (1176)
- Interceptions: Caden Sterns (4)
After splitting time under center during his freshman season in 2017, now, junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger is the unrivaled starter at Texas and that looks like a good thing seeing as how he completed 64.7 percent of his passes tossing 25 TD passes and just five interceptions a year ago while adding a phenomenal, team-high16 rushing touchdowns. Senior running back Tre Watson rushed for a team-high 786 yards, but just three scores while junior wide receiver Lil’Jordan (don’t you just love that name?) hauled in a team-high 86 passes for 1,176 yards and nine scores. Defensive back Caden Sterns recorded a team-high four interceptions as a true freshman last season. The best news is that all of Texas’ 2018 team leaders will return except Watson.
Offense
- Total Yards: 411.6 / Rank 58
- Passing Yards: 258.2 / Rank 35
- Rushing Yards: 153.4 /Rank 91
- Points Scored: 31.1 / Rank 47
- Field Goal %: 72 / Rank 75
The Longhorns were good, but not great on offense a year ago as they finished 58th overall, 35th in passing, an uninspiring 91st in rushing and 47th in scoring (31.1 ppg).
Defense
- Total Yards: 393.6 / Rank 67
- Passing Yards: 262.3 / Rank 112
- Rushing Yards: 131.4 /Rank 28
- Points Allowed: 25.9 / Rank 57
- Field Goal %: 68 / Rank 37
On the defensive side of the ball, Texas was again, good,but not great in finishing 67th overall, a dismal 112th against the pass, a stellar 28th against the run and 57th in points allowed (25.9 ppg).
Outlook
I know the Longhorns are hoping to take another step forward to challenge Oklahoma for the Big 12 conference crown after beating the Sooners in the regular season a year ago, but I’m personally not fully convinced that Texas is going to leap-frog the Sooners – or improve on their 10-win record from last season.
First, the Longhorns need to replace a whopping nine starters on the defensive side of the ball, including the entire front seven and both starting cornerbacks. Herman will also have to find three new starters on the offensive line and pray that Ehlinger doesn’t go down for any significant period of time since there is no backup on the roster with any meaningful experience.
The Horns do have some seriously impressive talent at the wide receiver position and a pair of talented safeties in senior Brandon Jones and 2018 Freshman All-American Caden Sterns. Still though, with an almost completely new defense, and question marks along the offensive line, I’m expecting the Horns to have their hands completely full this coming season.
Home dates against LSU (10-3), Oklahoma State (7-6) and Oklahoma (12-2) look treacherous and road dates at West Virginia (8-4), TCU (7-6), Iowa State (8-5) and Baylor (7-6) don’t exactly look like ‘gimmes’. In spite of their success a year ago, I’m going with the Longhorns to suffer two losses at the very minimum in 2019 and quite possibly, three.
