Texas Football: Way-too-early game-by-game predictions for 2020

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HOUSTON, TX – SEPTEMBER 14: Head coach Tom Herman of the Texas Longhorns prepares to lead the team onto the field before the game against the Rice Owls at NRG Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /

After a tricky opening two weeks, the Longhorns get two to exhale. They’ll play UTEP in Week 3, and then get a bye before traveling to Manhattan to open Big 12 play against Kansas State. The early bye is a great chance to rest before kicking off conference play, but it will likely hurt the Longhorns in the long run.

After the bye, they’ll have nine straight weeks of conference football (ten if they get to the Big 12 Championship Game). Before it, though, Texas will play host to the UTEP Miners.

Former Kansas State offensive coordinator Dana Dimel is the head man at UTEP, and he has nowhere to go but up right now. 2020 will be his third season in charge, and he’s compiled just a 2-22 record so far in El Paso.

For Texas, this is the lone game on the schedule that they can pencil in as a victory here in March. This UTEP team is consistently one of the sport’s bottom -dwellers, and this could be a game in which backups like quarterback Casey Thompson get some snaps late.

If the Longhorns can indeed pull off that Week 2 win over LSU, they’ll be entering the bye week at 3-0 and with all the hype the college football world can muster. Think we’ll hear the phrase “Texas is back” at some point?

Prediction: Texas 56, UTEP 7 (3-0)

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