Five Texas Longhorns to Watch Today

Sep 5, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Tyrone Swoopes (18) scrambles out of the pocket against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame defeats Texas 38-3. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Jerrod Heard

I wrote that I thought Heard should start this game. The schedule gets tough after Rice and Strong needs to see what Heard can do.

It appears the Texas coach plans to stick with Swoopes as the starter. Maybe a shakeup at offensive coordinator is enough drama for one week and Strong wants to slowly ease Heard into the lineup. Regardless, I expect Heard to get plenty of snaps today.

When he is on the field we need to see what the kid can do. Open up the offensive playbook and pull out all of the stops. Don’t give him a watered-down playbook to work with. I know Norvell will want to run the ball, and Heard gives him another weapon to use.

Heard will take over at some point this year. With Cal, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, TCU and Kansas State coming up it would be better for the redshirt freshman to get his reps in today rather than work him in slowly. He needs to get game experience. He won’t get it watching from the sidelines.