Texas Football: 5 reasons Longhorns will beat Maryland in Week 1

AUSTIN, TX - SEPTEMBER 02: Shane Buechele #7 of the Texas Longhorns scrambles and is tackled by Brett Kulka #96 of the Maryland Terrapins in the second quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on September 2, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /

4 of 6

(Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /

3. Texas has the better defense

By season’s end, Texas finished tied for 41st in the nation in total defense. Compare that to Maryland, who was the 86th-best defense in the country.

In 2017, the Longhorns battled in tight contests — they lost four games by five points or less, which showed they could hang with some of the better teams in the country and in the Big 12.

The Maryland offense actually picked Texas apart quite a bit last year. Then again, the Longhorns, like most teams were still shaking off the rust in the first game of the season. At the same time, the quarterback that posed more of a threat to Texas was Pigrome, who will not be the starter come Saturday.

Maryland has struggled over the last few seasons to put together a winning formula and its defense let up more than 30 points in each of its loses in 2017.

Texas will benefit from returning seven of its 11 players on the defense side of the ball.

Home/Texas Longhorns