It seems like it was just yesterday that the college football season ended as Michigan topped Washington in the national title game in Houston. When the game ended, the worst time of the year began for college football fans: the dreaded offseason. Nearly eight months without college football. It feels like it just started, but we have somehow already made it to May. The weather is getting warmer, and we are getting closer to football season. Spring football just concluded for Texas football, and Longhorns fans can't wait for the 2024 season to roll around.
Spring football is one of the best times of the college football offseason as a sense of hope comes to every fan base around the country. It's exciting to see your team in action in the first time, even though it's just a scrimmage. You started to see the roster taking shape and projected depth charts start trickling out. Spring football is the first sign of the season, and now that it's over, college football fans are really in the home stretch. The cold winter months are tough to survive without football, but the excitement that comes with spring football makes everything easier. There is still a ways to go before the new season, but it is coming.
This next season of college football is going to be an exciting one, and there are a ton of reasons to be looking forward to it. There are a lot of changes coming to the game like rule changes, coaching changes, conference changes and playoff changes. Perhaps the most intriguing part of the new season will be the new conferences. The Pac-12 is gone, and the Big Ten and SEC are going to be loaded. They both seem to be on the verge of forming super conferences.
The SEC will be welcoming Texas and Oklahoma to the conference next year, and the Big Ten is getting a good crop of Pac-12 teams as USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are all joining the conference. Both the Big Ten and the SEC are going to be absolutely loaded next year, and it seems like more schools will potentially join the conferences in the future.
Next season, the College Football Playoff will look different as well as it is expanding to 12 teams. There will also be first round games on college campuses. More teams will have a chance to make the CFP, and there will be more games. It's going to be fun.
Texas football is back
The Texas football team is back. The Longhorns finally put together the type of season that their fans expect each year in 2023, and they are expected to come back even stronger next year. Steve Sarkisian led his team to a Big 12 title last season and a trip to the College Football Playoff. Their semifinal matchup against Washington came down to literally the last play, but the Longhorns came up just short and failed to make it to the national title game. Still, it was a great season for Texas, and they are expected to be one of the best teams in college football in 2024.
A big reason why Texas football is expected to be so good is because of their quarterback. Most people expected Quinn Ewers to depart for the NFL after last season, but he decided that he wants to play for the Longhorns for one more season. He was one of the best QBs in college football last season, and with a lot of the others leaving for the NFL, Ewers has a shot to be the best of the best this season.
This Texas football roster is loaded with weapons, it isn't just Ewers coming back that makes them a dangerous squad. He is going to have a lot of talent to work with offense, and the defense is returning a lot from last year as well. However, the Longhorns only have so many starting spots that can be filled. This is a good problem to have. Anytime there is a team that is this loaded, it can be difficult to figure out who the best options are at each position. The spring game showed us a lot about where things stand, but there is still a lot of offseason left.
One thing that happens with a team like Texas that is loaded with talent is transfer portal departures. The Longhorns are returning a lot of their starters from last season, and that means that a lot of starting jobs from last year are likely already going to be taken. Obviously, there will be position battles throughout the offseason and the best player will win them no matter what, but a lot of players realize that they likely aren't going to earn those spots, and they hit the portal. Here is the spring portal departure that hurts Texas football the most.
Terrance Brooks, DB
Last season, Texas football had a very good offense, but they had some issues on defense, specifically in the secondary. Those issues were on display when they lost in the College Football Playoff semifinal against Washington. They had a hard time stopping Michael Penix Jr. and that Washington pass game. That's why DB Terrance Brooks hitting the portal is their most painful departure from the spring.
Terrance Brooks seemed poised for a big junior season after he has had a solid first two years for the Longhorns. As a freshman back in 2022, Brooks had nine total tackles, and he more than doubled that number last season as a sophomore. He ended up finishing the year with 20 total tackles, and he also added three interceptions. He received All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors. It was a good season for him, and with another offseason under his belt, he should be able to have a great junior year.
It will be interesting to see where Terrance Brooks ends up for the 2024 season. Brooks has heard from a lot of big-name schools, but there have been a lot of rumors swirling about him going to UTSA next year. That would certainly be an interesting move.
This is a tough loss for Texas, but they did get Clemson transfer Andrew Mukuba in the transfer portal, and he will be a big help in the secondary. The Longhorns should have a good year in 2024.
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