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Texas opens season with some question marks

Aug 30, 2008 - 10:12 AM Florida Atlantic at No. 10 Texas, 7:00 pm EDT

AUSTIN, Texas (Ticker) -- Although Texas coach Mack Brown is coming off his seventh straight 10-win campaign, the 10th-ranked Longhorns have some issues entering the 2008 season, which begins with a home contest Saturday against Howard Schnellenberger's Florida Atlantic squad.

Texas, which went 10-3 last year, lost its best offensive player in running back Jamaal Charles, who entered the NFL draft after rushing for 1,619 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior last season.

The Longhorns also will be without five of last year's top eight receivers, including Nate Jones, Limas Sweed and Jermichael Finley.

In addition, Texas needs a bounce-back campaign from junior quarterback Colt McCoy, who threw 18 interceptions last season, and more stability on the offensive line, which started the same combination in consecutive games only once last year due to injuries.

If that's not enough, the Longhorns are coming off a season in which they allowed the most yards in the program's storied history. The Longhorns were 52nd in total defense in the Football Bowl Subdivision, yielding 371 yards per game, including 277 through the air.

Hoping to improve the defense, Brown hired 36-year-old Will Muschamp, a Nick Saban disciple who helped Louisiana State win the 2003 national championship, as defensive coordinator. Former Texas quarterback Major Applewhite also was brought in to coach the running backs.

Texas faces nine bowl teams from last year, including Kansas, Missouri and Colorado. The Longhorns also will do well not to look past Florida Atlantic, which has made steady progress under the now 73-year-old Schnellenberger, who started a once-fledging program just seven years ago.

After four years at the Division I-AA level (now the Football Championship Subdivision), Florida Atlantic moved to the Sun Belt Conference in 2005. The Owls (8-5) won the conference last year and then won their first bowl game, defeating Memphis, 44-27, in the New Orleans Bowl.

Florida Atlantic set an NCAA record by earning a bowl berth in just its third year in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A). Texas' defense could get an early test from Rusty Smith, who threw five TDs in the victory over Memphis as a sophomore.