UTEP, FAU, and Arkie

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Esoteric Horn

< 25 Posts
How good/bad are the teams we are going to be facing? I know nothing about them, but does anybody else? We seem to be worrying more about the Mizzous and the Kansases, but personally I'm more worried about making it to the RRS undefeated (something we havent done since Vince
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). Can the well-read hornfans drop some knowledge on me? I feel we as fans lack in preparedness and readiness for these opponents.
 
UTEP is on par with Rice. I know they have put a scare into Tech the last couple of years, but having to point to a close loss as a team's high water mark is telling. There will be more Longhorn fans in El Paso than anything.

Arkie will be bad this year. Adjusting to a new scheme. Good interior o-line and average backfield that will miss Mcfadden and Jones. Very inexperienced defense that got even worse when their best linebacker got kicked off the team this summer.

FAU may actually be the toughest of the 3 games in my opinion. They return a lot of starters from a bowl team that won a lot of games last year. The sheer talent differential will be too much to overcome for them, but it could be a close game for 3 quarters. Dangerous team if we turn the ball over. They also match up poorly for us as they return a solid corps of wideouts and a pretty solid QB. Our secondary will need to grow up fast and get some help from the front 7.
 
FAU has some serious talent on the offensive side of the ball. QB Smith and WR Cortez Gent, both Jrs., are NFL prospects. They are a pass first team. we need to shut down the servicable RB Pierre and pressure Smith.

In their top three non-conference games they got blown up by Kentucky, Florida and Okie LIght.
 
Arkansas will be a middle-to-bottom of the pack SEC team...like they always are.

I predict they be a pesky opponent to the Horns...like they always are.
 
I think Arkansas front 4 is supposed to be pretty good this year. They return their middle OL and they still have some talent in the backfield. Casey Dick looked decent in the spring game and he is an experienced QB and he's finally playing in a QB friendly offense. Plus its Arkansas, Petrino knows what this game means to the program and its fans and has probably been pointing to this game since he got the job. They will be ready to play just as they were last time, we better match their intensity.

FAU returns 18 starters and has some athletes on that team. They won their conference last year so I'd expect them to give us a good challenge. Again matching intensity is key. We need to come out and stomp on them.

Don't know anything about UTEP other than we are going to be the opener at their new stadium. Again if we don't match their intensity it could be like UCF all over again.

This team needs to play all 4quarters this year. Too many times last year we just went through the motions for a quarter or two almost every game, except OU and ASU. If that happens again this year those 8-4 predictions that a lot of you all have will probably come true.
 
lol at utep being on par with rice...they are much better than rice, and dont kid yourselves on the amount of fans there, i think miner fans will still outweigh horn fans. anyway i like utep, just cant root for them against texas.
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Expect somewhat of a shootout against FAU. They like to pass and will most likely catch some young DB's napping early in the game for big, demoralizing scores. I also expect to be pleasantly surprised by our generally star-free offense on our way to a pretty beefy score.
 
UTEP is better than Rice but they still have no shot. This is a great game to break in with. It is not as soft as a FCS team, but should allow for some young'uns to get some PT.

Arky WILL be pesky and will take focusness to win. Even if the game means little to Texas fans this year, Arky will play this game like it is the SEC title. They have lost too many people to have a serious chance to win this game, but they will fight like a stray dog.

FAU is the game I am most interested in. They are athletes no doubt about it. This is where the secondary gets its first test going into Big 12 play. This is the perfect non-conf game for us. This year is the year of the shootout in the Big 12 so an athletic FAU should get our DBs ready. Hopefully this is the game the DBs gel and gain the confidence they will need in conference play.
 
I've been to a few games in the Sun Bowl and the fans do give a lot of support for their team. It's also a very loud stadium. It has a capacity around 50,000 and I wouldn't be surprised if less than half is burnt orange.
 
pig has suspended a few players so the distractions could be a factor.
ooops,nevermind, they will be back for our game.Imagine that?
 
SA you have obviously never been to a game at the sun bowl....esp in the last 5 years...or have alzheimers. Miner fans will show up in force...as long as all the richie rich's in austin dont buy up all the season tickets. Oh and their students are actually able to go to the games and be loud there, not a bunch of golf clappers like at DKR. Like ive been saying, UTEP is a great atmosphere, mediocre team. Texas a great team, and overrated stadium atmosphere. And if thats the only thing, I really cant stand about my favorite team, i can live with it i guess. Obviously Money &#62; crowd intensity.
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P.S. on the rice thing, i will rescind commentary....
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P.P.S. check out this little blurb on the sun bowl...


8. The Sun Bowl: Not the bowl game per se, but the stadium itself. Rival coaches say the place where UTEP plays is one of the loudest places in the country, regardless of crowd size. "You're in a hole," one coach says. "The place has really weird acoustics where everything echoes. You definitely need to have a silent count in there."ESPN 10 secrets
 
The Sun Bowl is a great stadium and the UTEP fans will be there in force--they are really fired up about the Texas game and the Sun Bowl will really be loud. Don't read too much into the Tech games--Tech struggled on D because Setencich did his usual defensive scheme of making no changes whatsoever. Tech scored at will in both games--Texas should do the same.
 
In regards to Arkansas........

If I were being optimistic, I would point to a new coaching staff that is far superior to the previous keystone *** clowns. Like him or hate him, Petrino is head and shoulders above Nutt. Luigs, the Rimington Award winner, 1st team AA, and #1 center in the country returns. Additionally, Casey Dick seems to have embraced the new pass happy offense throwing for over 400 yards in the spring scrimmage. Arkansas has also won 3 of the last 4, to include 2 in the state of Texas (for whatever that's worth), and Texas has had trouble as of late consistently putting down the 3 teams that hate them the most (Losing 2 straight to A&M, 3 of 4 to UA, and 6 of 8 to OU).

If I were being a pessimist, I would point to a defensive unit that probably wouldn't start for most Sun Belt teams and a group of untested WR's that will without a doubt have to make plays in a Petrino offense.

Realistically speaking, Texas should win by a couple of TD's. Arkansas will put up a fight but there simply isn't any talent there.
 
Don't know why....but my gut is telling me UTEP will be alot like the Central Florida game. A win, but not one to be pruod of.
 
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