12/9/08
QB Colt McCoy currently says he is staying at Texas for his senior season. He wants to win a national championship after falling one spot short in 2008. If true, this is obviously great news for the Longhorns as they follow up on their one-loss regular season. The offensive skill positions are still somewhat cloudy – top receivers Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby will soon be history, and the running backs have yet to prove they can win any games on their own. Thankfully, the OL will be manned by three seniors (two of them All-Big 12 honorees) and two juniors from tight end to tackle, giving the Longhorns the best looking set of blockers in the conference. The nation's second-ranked run defense takes a few hits up front, but the trio of senior linebackers (each is a top five UT tackler and the group is led by athletic Ironman Sergio Kindle) will have their backs. Most defensive problems during the past two seasons have been in the secondary, which really hurts playing in the pass-happy Big 12. This group is still young; the returning safeties earned most of their playing time as freshmen. For Texas to climb the BCS/South Division mountain, this whole group will have to improve by leaps and bounds. Mack Brown's team has more talent, but also has more expectations heading into next season in comparison to this past year. They still have the same question marks pertaining to the running backs and pass defense. If someone can emerge in the off-season at one of these positions, they just might take the next step.

UPDATE: WR Jordan Shipley has been granted a sixth year of eligibility for 2009. His addition, combined with a return of QB Colt McCoy may be good enough to push Texas into a Top Two ranking this preseason.