Texas ended 2023 with a loss to the Washington Huskies in the College Football Playoff semifinal while the Rams ended their season against Hawaii with a loss.
Texas Longhorns 0-0 (0-0 SEC) vs. Colorado State Rams 0-0 (0-0 Mountain West)
Date: Saturday, August 31
Time: 3:30 p.m. EST
TV Channel: ESPN
Location: DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin TX
Line: Longhorns -32.5 / O/U: 59.5
2023 Season Stats
Texas:
2023 Offense (Big 12 Rank) — P/G
Total Yards: 477.5 (3)
Passing Yards: 289.1 (3)
Rushing Yards: 188.4 (6)
2023 Defense (Big 12 Rank) — P/G
Total Yards Allowed: 321.7 (1)
Passing Yards Allowed: 240.8 (10)
Rushing Yards Allowed: 80.8 (1)
2023 Points Scored Per Game: 35.8 (3)
2023 Points Allowed Per Game: 17.5 (1)
2024 Ranking: 4
Colorado State:
2023 Offense (Mountain West Rank) — P/G
Total Yards: 399.3 (6)
Passing Yards: 306.5 (1)
Rushing Yards: 92.8 (11)
2023 Defense (Mountain West Rank) — P/G
Total Yards Allowed: 415.9 (11)
Passing Yards Allowed: 249.7 (10)
Rushing Yards Allowed: 166.3 (6)
2023 Points Scored Per Game: 26.1 (8)
2023 Points Allowed Per Game: 29.6 (8)
2024 Ranking: 94
Series History/All-Time Records
All-time head-to-head record: Texas Leads 1-0-0
Current streak: Texas has won one straight
Last Texas win: 1975 (46-0)
Last Colorado State win: N/A
2023 Top Returning Players
Texas Longhorns
Passing: Quinn Ewers- 272-394, 3479 yards, 22-6 (TD-INT)
Rushing: Jaydon Blue – 65 ATT, 398 YDS, 3 TD
Receiving: Gunnar Helm – 14 REC, 192 YDS, 2 TD
Tackles: Anthony Hill Jr. – 67 (41-26)
Sacks: Ethan Burke – 5.5
Interceptions: Michael Taaffe – 3
Colorado State Rams
Passing: Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi – 292-470, 3,460 YDS, 22-16 (TD-INT)
Rushing: Vann Schield – 90 ATT, 389 YDS, 3 TD
Receiving: Troy Horton – 96 REC, 1136 YDS, 8 TD
Tackles: Jack Howell – 114 (50-64)
Sacks: Marshon Oxley – 4
Interceptions: Henry Blackburn – 3
Texas Longhorns Players To Watch:
Offense: Quarterback – Quinn Ewers – Junior
Ewers returns for his Junior season and looks to create a bond with the newly transferred Isaiah Bond from Alabama to be his top receiver. Ewers helped lead the Longhorns to the CFP last season and will look to do it again this season in the expanded playoff.
Defense: Defensive Back – Michael Taaffe – Junior
Taaffe will have the task of keeping the Rams’ passing attack at bay as their quarterback threw for 3,460 yards and their top receiver finished with 1,136 yards. The Rams rushing attack shouldn’t beat the Longhorns so it’ll be the passing game that will need to be slowed down.
Bottom Line: Texas Longhorns SEC era begins
This will be the first game for the Longhorns as a member of the SEC and they are expected to be one of the top teams in the conference, the tough question they have entering this season is their run game having lost Jonathon Brooks to the NFL then they expected to have CJ Baxter as the lead back but he is done for the season so now enters Jaydon Blue who averaged 6.1 yards last season, hopefully, he can sustain that and lead the backfield as the Longhorns look to start the season 1-0 before heading to Michigan next weekend for a tough matchup.
