Football Preview: Defense Looking for Improvement Against UTEP

In response to their team's less-than-mediocre performance in 2007’s home opener against Arkansas State, Longhorn coaches continually stressed the importance of finishing off opponents throughout training camp this season. And to that end, the team left little to chance in this year’s opener, steamrolling Florida Atlantic and their overly loquacious head coach, 52-10, last Saturday.

More of the same is to be expected this week when the Longhorns face the Miners of UT El Paso, who are coming off of a 42-17 loss to Buffalo in which they gave up 484 total yards on defense and committed three turnovers.

But despite the presumed lack of drama, the game will give fans and coaches the opportunity to gauge the progress of the 18 players who appeared in their first NCAA game in Week 1 for the Horns, particularly those in the defensive secondary.

Starting safeties Earl Thomas and Blake Gideon showed significant improvement after halftime, but gave fans cause for concern with a number of miscues in the first half that resulted in big gains for Florida Atlantic. Afterward Mack Brown chose to focus on the more impressive of the two halves, saying “It was probably the biggest and fastest learning curve I've ever seen with young guys” when asked about the performance of his freshman safeties. “Hopefully they will play better this week”, he added.

And considering UTEP’s lack of offensive prowess compared to Florida Atlantic, expectations should be raised across the entire secondary.

Offensively, a conservative game plan is expected from coordinator Greg Davis, who is likely waiting for the Big 12 schedule to begin before revealing the full extent of his playbook. Rather, the present concern is developing chemistry between Colt McCoy and his young receiving corps, who were impressive last week, as well as continuing to refine John Chiles’ role in the offense.

NOTES:

Perhaps a pot of coffee may be more appropriate than your usual case of pre-game Lone Star, as kickoff is scheduled for 9:15 p.m., meaning the game could stretch into the wee hours of Sunday morning. It will be broadcast on ESPN2.

The team will be without starting defensive tackle Lamarr Houston due to suspension. Houston was arrested on DWI charges hours after the conclusion of last week’s game.

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