2018 Texas Longhorns football team

2018 Texas Longhorns football
Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 28–21 vs. Georgia
ConferenceBig 12 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 9
APNo. 9
Record10–4 (7–2 Big 12)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorTim Beck (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinatorHerb Hand (1st season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorTodd Orlando (2nd season)
Base defense3–4
CaptainAndrew Beck
Breckyn Hager
Chris Nelson
Elijah Rodriguez
Anthony Wheeler
Home stadiumDarrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium
Seasons
← 2017
2019 →
2018 Big 12 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 4 Oklahoma y$^   8 1     12 2  
No. 9 Texas y   7 2     10 4  
Iowa State   6 3     8 5  
No. 20 West Virginia   6 3     8 4  
TCU   4 5     7 6  
Baylor   4 5     7 6  
Oklahoma State   3 6     7 6  
Kansas State   3 6     5 7  
Texas Tech   3 6     5 7  
Kansas   1 8     3 9  
Championship: Oklahoma 39, Texas 27
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2018 Texas Longhorns football team, known variously as "Texas", "UT", the "Longhorns", or the "Horns”, represented the University of Texas at Austin during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Longhorns played their home games at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, and competed as members of the Big 12 Conference. They were led by second-year head coach Tom Herman.

Texas, coming off a 7–6 season in Herman's first year, began the year ranked 23rd in the preseason AP Poll. In the first game of the year, the Longhorns were upset by Maryland in a game played at FedExField in Landover, Maryland. The team won its next six games, including a dramatic win over No. 7 Oklahoma in the 113th Red River Showdown. The Longhorns rose to as high as No. 6 in the AP Poll, but fell in consecutive weeks to Oklahoma State and West Virginia. At the end of the regular season, Texas had a record of 7–2 in Big 12 play, good for second in the standings and earning them a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game against Oklahoma. The Sooners won the rematch by a score of 39–27. Texas was invited to the Sugar Bowl to play SEC runner-up No. 5 Georgia, which Texas won in an upset by a score of 28–21. They finished with an overall record of 10–4 and were ranked 9th in the final AP Poll, the most wins and highest ranked finish for the school since 2009.

The team was led on offense by sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who finished with 3,292 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns, and a Big 12-leading 16 rushing touchdowns. His 41 total touchdowns was third in the conference and seventh nationally.[1][2] Wide receiver Lil'Jordan Humphrey led the team with 1,176 receiving yards. On defense, the team had three first-team all-conference members in defensive lineman Charles Omenihu and defensive backs Kris Boyd and Caden Sterns.

Preseason

[edit]

Award watch lists

[edit]

Listed in the order that they were released

Award Player Position Year
Rimington Trophy[3] Zach Shackelford C JR
Chuck Bednarik Award[4] Breckyn Hager DE SR
Gary Johnson LB SR
Fred Biletnikoff Award[5] Collin Johnson WR JR
John Mackey Award[6] Andrew Beck TE SR
Butkus Award[7] Gary Johnson LB SR
Jim Thorpe Award[8] Kris Boyd DB SR
Bronko Nagurski Trophy[9] Kris Boyd DB SR
Outland Trophy[10] Patrick Vahe OL SR
Wuerffel Trophy[11] Collin Johnson WR JR
Walter Camp Award[12] Collin Johnson WR JR
Ted Hendricks Award[13] Breckyn Hager DE SR
Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award[14] Collin Johnson WR JR

Big 12 media poll

[edit]

The Big 12 media poll was released on July 12, 2018 with the Longhorns predicted to finish in fourth place.[15]

Media poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Oklahoma 509 (46)
2 West Virginia 432 (2)
3 TCU 390 (1)
4 Texas 370 (1)
5 Oklahoma State 300
6 Kansas State 283 (2)
7 Iowa State 250
8 Texas Tech 149
9 Baylor 125
10 Kansas 52

Schedule

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 1 11:00 a.m. vs. Maryland* No. 23 FS1 L 29–34 47,641
September 8 7:00 p.m. Tulsa* LHN W 28–21 90,563
September 15 7:00 p.m. No. 22 USC*
  • Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium
  • Austin, TX
FOX W 37–14 103,507
September 22 3:30 p.m. No. 17 TCU
  • Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium
  • Austin, TX (rivalry)
FOX W 31–16 95,124
September 29 2:30 p.m. at Kansas State No. 18 FS1 W 19–14 49,916
October 6 11:00 a.m. vs. No. 7 Oklahoma No. 19 FOX W 48–45 92,300
October 13 2:30 p.m. Baylor No. 9
  • Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium
  • Austin, TX
ESPN W 23–17 93,882
October 27 7:00 p.m. at Oklahoma State No. 6 ABC L 35–38 56,790
November 3 2:30 p.m. No. 13 West Virginia No. 17
  • Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium
  • Austin, TX
FOX L 41–42 100,703
November 10 6:30 p.m. at Texas Tech No. 19 FOX W 41–34 60,454
November 17 7:00 p.m. No. 16 Iowa State No. 15
  • Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium
  • Austin, TX
LHN W 24–10 102,498
November 23 11:00 a.m. at Kansas No. 14 FS1 W 24–17 15,219
December 1 11:00 a.m. vs. No. 5 Oklahoma No. 14 ABC L 27–39 83,114
January 1, 2019 7:30 p.m. vs. No. 5 Georgia* No. 15 ESPN W 28–21 71,449

[16]

  • ^‡ At the time, largest attendance recorded at Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium[17]

Personnel

[edit]

Roster

[edit]
2018 Texas Longhorns football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 1 John Burt Sr
RB 5 Tre Watson GS
WR 6 Devin Duvernay Jr
QB 7 Shane Buechele Jr
OL 69 Austin Allsup  Sr
OL 66 Calvin Anderson GS
OL 75 Junior Angilau Fr
TE 47 Andrew Beck  Sr
TE 80 Cade Brewer So
RB 30 Toneil Carter So
OL 52 Sam Cosmi  Fr
WR 82 Brennan Eagles Fr
QB 11 Sam Ehlinger So
TE 85 Malcolm Epps Fr
TE 89 Chris Fehr  Sr
OL 74 Rafiti Ghirmai Fr
OL 58 Mikey Grandy So
WR 13 Jerrod Heard  Sr
RB 41 Tristian Houston  Jr
OL 73 Patrick Hudson  So
WR 84 Lil'Jordan Humphrey Jr
OL 67 Tope Imade  So
RB 26 Keaontay Ingram Fr
WR 9 Collin Johnson Jr
RB 28 Kirk Johnson Jr
OL 70 Christian Jones Fr
OL 68 Derek Kerstetter So
TE 81 Reese Leitao  Fr
WR 85 Philipp Moeller  Sr
WR 14 Joshua Moore Fr
OL 76 Reese Moore Fr
OL 78 Denzel Okafor Jr
RB 21 Kyle Porter Jr
WR 86 Jordan Pouncey  Fr
QB 3 Cameron Rising Fr
OL 72 Elijah Rodriguez  Sr
OL 56 Zach Shackelford Jr
QB 8 Casey Thompson Fr
OL 71 J.P. Urquidez  So
OL 77 Patrick Vahe Sr
WR 83 Al'Vonte Woodard Fr
RB 30 Tim Yoder  Sr
RB 32 Daniel Young So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 40 Ayodele Adeoye Fr
LB 42 Marquez Bimage So
DB 38 Kobe Boyce  Fr
LB 36 Demarco Boyd  So
DB 2 Kris Boyd Sr
DB 15 Chris Brown  So
DL 88 Daniel Carson Fr
DL 91 Jamari Chisholm Sr
DL 98 D'Andre Christmas Jr
DL 99 Keondre Coburn Jr
DB 4 Anthony Cook Fr
DL 92 Max Cummins  Fr
DB 18 Davante Davis Sr
DB 24 Jamarquis Durst  Sr
DB 27 Donovan Duvernay  So
DB 39 Montrell Estell  Fr
DL 48 Andrew Fitzgerald  So
DB 25 B.J. Foster Fr
LB 35 Edwin Freeman  Sr
DL 49 Ta'Quon Graham So
DB 3 Jalen Green Fr
DL 44 Breckyn Hager Sr
LB 50 Byron Vaughns Sr
LB 31 Kyle Hrncir Jr
DB 17 D'Shawn Jamison Fr
LB 33 Gary Johnson Sr
DB 19 Brandon Jones Jr
DB 11 P. J. Locke Sr
LB 23 Jeffrey McCulloch Jr
DL 97 Chris Nelson  Sr
DL 98 Moro Ojomo Fr
DL 90 Charles Omenihu Sr
LB 46 Joseph Ossai Fr
DB 31 DeMarvion Overshown Fr
LB 39 Edward Pequeno Jr
DL 32 Malcolm Roach Jr
DB 7 Caden Sterns Fr
DB 29 Josh Thompson So
LB 43 Cameron Townsend  Jr
LB 45 Anthony Wheeler Sr
DL 94 Gerald Wilbon Jr
DL 37 Mike Williams Fr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 8 Ryan Bujcevski Fr
K 17 Cameron Dicker Fr
P 37 Jack Geiger  Fr
LS 53 Jak Holbrook  Sr
K 45 Chris Maggar  So
K 49 Joshua Rowland Sr
LS 54 Justin Mader Fr
LS 83 Michael David Poujol  So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Tim Beck – Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
  • Stan Drayton – Associate head coach/Run Game Coordinator/running backs
  • Oscar Giles – Defensive line
  • Herb Hand – Co-offensive coordinator/offensive line
  • Corby Meekins – Wide receivers
  • Drew Mehringer – Pass Game Coordinator/wide receivers
  • Craig Naivar – Co-defensive coordinator/safeties
  • Todd Orlando – Defensive coordinator/linebackers
  • Darek Warehime – Special teams coordinator/tight ends
  • Jason Washington – Recruiting coordinator/cornerbacks
  • Yancy McKnight – Strength and Conditioning

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: April 8, 2019

Game summaries

[edit]

vs Maryland

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 23 Longhorns 7 15 7 0 29
Terrapins 14 10 0 10 34

Tulsa

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Hurricane 0 0 7 14 21
Longhorns 14 7 0 7 28

USC

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 22 Trojans 14 0 0 0 14
Longhorns 3 13 21 0 37

900th Program Win

TCU

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 17 Horned Frogs 6 7 3 0 16
Longhorns 7 3 14 7 31

At Kansas State

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 18 Longhorns 7 12 0 0 19
Wildcats 0 0 7 7 14

Texas lost their first game on the road at Maryland and then won their next three games at home, and their last two victories came against ranked teams—No. 22 Southern California and No. 17 TCU. But the travel games (especially in this series) have not been in the Longhorn's favor. The home team has won last six games between the two teams and Texas has not won in Manhattan since 2002.[18]

Texas was the only team to score in the first half of play, with two touchdowns, a field goal, and a safety. Kansas State had a chance to score a touchdown on the final play of the first half when Alex Delton threw a pass to Adam Harter that was dropped in the end zone. The score at the half was Texas 19, Kansas State 0.[19]

Kansas State fared better in the second half, holding Texas scoreless and replacing Alex Delton with Skylar Thompson. Thompson led Kansas State to score two touchdowns in the second half with 14 points. In the end, Texas held the lead with a final score of 19-14.[20] For the next week Texas plays Oklahoma after stopping the second-half comeback by Kansas State.[21]

vs Oklahoma

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 7 Sooners 7 10 7 21 45
No. 19 Longhorns 10 14 21 3 48

The 2018 edition of this classic rivalry matchup was pivotal for both the Longhorns and the Sooners, as both had something to prove; OU was playing its first ranked opponent of the season, and Texas was trying to show that it could once again compete with the elite of the NCAA after years of very average performances. This year's game, which ended in a Longhorn victory, was the highest-scoring Red River Showdown game in history, with a combined score of 93. A memorable aspect of this game was Texas' dominance until midway through the fourth quarter, only to eventually surrender a 21-point lead to the Sooners late in the game; Heisman candidate Kyler Murray put on an incredible performance, showcasing his superior speed and accuracy. This comeback, however, did not come to fruition, as Texas kicker Cameron Dicker made a 40-yard field goal with approximately 9 seconds remaining on the clock to win the game for Texas.

Baylor

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 7 3 7 0 17
No. 9 Longhorns 3 20 0 0 23

At Oklahoma State

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 6 Longhorns 7 7 7 14 35
Cowboys 17 14 0 7 38

West Virginia

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 12 Mountaineers 10 17 0 15 42
No. 15 Longhorns 14 14 3 10 41

At Texas Tech

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 15 Longhorns 0 17 10 14 41
Red Raiders 7 3 0 24 34

Iowa State

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 16 Cyclones 3 0 0 7 10
No. 15 Longhorns 7 10 7 0 24

At Kansas

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 15 Longhorns 7 0 14 3 24
Jayhawks 0 0 0 17 17

vs Oklahoma (2018 Big 12 Championship)

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 15 Longhorns 7 7 13 0 27
No. 4 Sooners 3 17 7 12 39

vs Georgia (2019 Sugar Bowl)

[edit]
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 15 Longhorns 10 10 0 8 28
No. 5 Bulldogs 0 7 0 14 21

Rankings

[edit]
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP23RV1819976151513119149
Coaches21RVRV22201487151914119149
CFPNot released171915141415Not released

Players drafted into the NFL

[edit]
Round Pick Player Position NFL club
5 161 Charles Omenihu DE Houston Texans
7 217 Kris Boyd CB Minnesota Vikings

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "2018 Big 12 Conference Year Summary". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  2. ^ "2018 College Football Year Summary". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  3. ^ "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  4. ^ "2018 Bednarik Award Watch List - Maxwell Football Club". Maxwell Football Club. July 16, 2018. Archived from the original on July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  5. ^ "2018 Biletnikoff Award Watch List". July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  6. ^ "2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released" (PDF). July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  7. ^ "Butkus Award - 2018 Collegiate Watchlist". The Butkus Award. July 23, 2018. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  8. ^ "Paycom Jim Thorpe Award Names 2018 Preseason Watchlist". July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  9. ^ "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  10. ^ "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  11. ^ "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  12. ^ Carbone, Al (July 27, 2018). "Walter Camp Football Foundation Announces 2018 Player of the Year Preseason "Watch List"". Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  13. ^ "Preseason Watch List - 2018 edition of the Ted Hendricks Award" (PDF). August 14, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  14. ^ "2018 Nominations The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award" (PDF). August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  15. ^ "Sooners Picked to Repeat in Big 12 Preseason Football Poll".
  16. ^ "2018 Texas Football Schedule".
  17. ^ "Texas football sets attendance record at Royal-Memorial Stadium". hookem.com. September 15, 2018. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  18. ^ "Something has to change for No. 18 Texas, Kansas State". ESPN. September 25, 2018. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  19. ^ Robinett, Kellis (September 29, 2018). "Skylar Thompson's comeback attempt falls short as Texas beats K-State 19-14". Wichita Eagle. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  20. ^ Woods, Greg (September 29, 2018). "Thompson gets offense going in second half in loss to No. 18 Texas". Manhattan Mercury. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  21. ^ Daeschner, Trenton (September 29, 2018). "National reaction from Texas' win over K-State: Longhorns get all they can handle from Wildcats in gritty win". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 30, 2018.