The Longhorn Republic

The Texas Longhorns run the gauntlet to start the regular season, going eight games without a bye week.

They end that run against a team likely to be in contention for a conference championship, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, a team that erased a double-digit lead a year ago to beat the Longhorns in Austin. The Cowboys lost several key pieces of a team that was a play away from a conference championship a year ago but has plenty of talent to reload and make another run. Offensively, the Cowboys lost their two top producers to the NFL, but return Spencer Sanders, a four-year starter who was just named the preseason first-team All-Big 12 quarterback.

Defensively, Oklahoma State lost its defensive coordinator, as well as its top five tacklers, but does return one of the top pass rushers in the conference, sophomore Collin Oliver, who finished third in the conference in sacks a year ago. Rebuilding the back end of the defense may prove to be much easier with the elite front they should field in 2022.

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It's pretty easy to say that the biggest strength the Texas Longhorns possess offensively is the parade of talent housed in the running backs room. 

The group is headlined by Bijan Robinson, who fully stepped into his talent a year ago and emerged as one of the top running backs in the country. In the second year under Steve Sarkisian, Robinson has the opportunity to solidify himself as the top RB in the nation and help Texas achieve its goals in 2022. Helping carry the load is senior Roschon Johnson, looking to close out his Longhorn career on a high note, after changing positions as a freshman to help out the team. 

We talk realistic expectations for the group, what should the workload be to ensure fresh legs, and how does this set them up for 2023 and beyond?

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We continue our trek through the Texas Longhorns' 2022 schedule, this time diving in on the Iowa State Cyclones.

Texas has no end of trouble with Iowa State in recent memory, dropping three straight to the Cyclones -- including a trip to the woodshed last year in Ames. But the 2022 Cyclones are looking for answers of their own after losing the long-time core of their offense, quarterback Brock Purdy, running back Breece Hall, and a pair of NFL tight ends. What can we expect from Iowa State in 2022? Are they rebuilding or reloading?

Defensively, Iowa State has to replace its four top tacklers from a year ago, but defensive guru Jon Heacock returns one of the best pass rushers in the country in Will McDonald. What will the renowned defensive mind cook up for the Cyclones in 2022 to keep offenses on their toes?

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THe Texas Longhorns joined the rest of the Big 12 in Arlington for the annual gathering of coaches, players and press to preview the upcoming football season.

While Oklahoma Sooners' coach Brent Venables struggled to land his metaphors, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy was forced to answer questions about the outgoing teams. The Texas contingent feels that Texas made the right choices in recruiting, especially up-front while providing minimal insight into the quarterback race between Hudson Card and Quinn Ewers.

We also stop and dive in on the quarterbacks and the forthcoming conclusion of the quarterback battle. Which quarterback do we think starts the season as QB1 and do we think they'll hold the spot through the season? What help will they need from the rest of their teammates? And ultimately, how will it impact the on-field production.

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We continue our journey through the Texas Longhorns' schedule, reaching the Red River Showdown and the Oklahoma Sooners.

It's a new era in Norman, with Brent Venables taking over for Lincoln Riley, who dramatically left for the USC Trojans - taking a bit of talent with him. Joining Venables is offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, coming off of two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss, and his former all-conference quarterback Dillon Gabriel at the helm.

Venables and defensive coordinator Todd Bates inherit a defense that needs to replace NFL talent in the trenches but will have an opportunity to reverse a negative trend under former defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.

To help us dive in on the Sooners, we welcome Kamiar Mehrabian of Crimson and Cream Machine to help us dive in on OU.

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The month of June was great for the Texas Longhorns on the recruiting trail, landing 12 of their 18 overall commitments, including No. 1 overall player Arch Manning. Manning's commitment started a wave of momentum, propelling Texas to nine other commitments -- including adding two additional five-star players.

The commitments shot Texas up as nigh as No. 2 in the recruiting rankings, but movement in early July has Texa settling in comfortably at No. 4 in the country. So where do we think Texas will end up in February when all of the ink is dry?

To help us break down the current state of recruiting, we reached out to Hudson Standish of Horns247 to add some layers to the conversation. We discussed June's Arch Madness, what we should expect moving forward from Texas, and what it says about Steve Sarkisian's immediate future in Austin.

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The journey toward the 2022 Texas Longhorns' season continues with a preview of the West Virginia Mountaineers, a team that handed Texas an eight-point loss a year ago and sealed a losing season in the first year of the Steve Sarkisian era.

West Virginia will look quite different from a year ago, with new coordinators on both sides of the ball and rotating talent -- both transfers in and out -- that will likely shape the season for them. Graham Harrell has a high-ceiling quarterback in JT Daniels but may not know what he has at the wide receiver position until a few weeks before the season. Defensively, WVU has to replace its top three tacklers and will take the field without one of the Stills brothers on the defense for what feels like the first time this century.

So what can we expect from the Mountaineers in 2022?

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We've reached the conference portion of the 2022 Texas Longhorns seasons, so that means we get to bring on one of our favorites, Albie Shore of Tortillas and Takes to help us preview the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

It's the first year under new head coach Joey McGuire, who has taken the recruiting world by storm and has tech positioned well heading into the fall. The Red Raiders return their quarterback from a year ago, but turn over at the wide receiver position and much of their defense as well. So what are expectations for the Red Raiders in 2022 and how will they build moving forward?

We also dive in on the latest commitments to the 2023 class, Oklahoma State flip Billy Walton and 5* wide receiver Johntay Cook, II. Texas is now up to No. 2 in the 247Sports recruiting rankings and will continue to build into the fall.

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Last week, 2023 quarterback Arch Manning sent a shockwave through college football when he announced his commitment to the Texas Longhorns via social media.

National media, outside of the sports realm, picked up on the commitment that quickly dominated the sports news cycle. Then, within 72 hours of his commitment, Texas and the college football world saw the actual impact of the commitment, with Texas adding six other commitments to the class -- including a second 5* player from Louisiana. With the additions, Texas jumped from the double-digits in the overall class rankings to No. 3 overall and became one of just four schools nationally to have multiple five-star players committed.

What does this mean for Texas and the 2023 class? How does this impact the players already on campus? And what does it mean for Steve Sarkisian's future in Austin?

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The Texas Longhorns are heading toward the 2022 football season and we had the opportunity to sit down with former Texas running back Fozzy Whittaker, who has spent the last four seasons as an analyst on the Longhorn Network after finishing his NFL career.

Fozzy was a member of the team from 2008-2011, playing a role in the 2009 run at a national championship. We ask Fozzy what he thinks it's going to take to get Texas back to championship caliber, what are his biggest questions for the 2022 season, and who he has his eye on for the upcoming campaign. Because it's the Longhorn Republic, we also have some fun and dive in on which of his former teammates would have made a great WWE superstar and his dream NIL deal.

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