Texas Football: Ranking the difficulty of every opponent in 2018

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AUSTIN, TX – SEPTEMBER 02: Dorian Leonard #8 of the Texas Longhorns celebrates after Shane Buechele #7 scores a rushing touchdown in the third quarter against the Maryland Terrapins at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on September 2, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /

Although this is not classified as a true road game to start the 2018 season, that’s pretty much what it is. Texas-Maryland will be played at Fedex Field in Landover, MD on Sep. 1. The home of the Washington Redskins will host a very intriguing non-conference affair between two Power Five programs.

Maryland is coming off season with a final record of 4-8 (2-7 Big 10) where things went downhill after a host of injuries incurred in the season opener in Austin last year. Redshirt freshman quarterback Kasim Hill and redshirt sophomore Tyrrell Pigrome (who was injured against Texas last season) should be vying for the starting gig for the Terps under center.

This will be the first glimpse that Texas fans get at who is the starting quarterback for the beginning of the regular season. Shane Buechele got the nod last year while Sam Ehlinger got more looks down the stretch. It will also be big for some of the senior defensive leaders for the Horns to step up from the word go, like cornerback Kris Boyd and edge rusher Breckyn Hager.

Maryland has more returning talent for 2018 than it did in 2017, so the Terps could be a sleeper team in the Big 10. Another cause for concern for the Horns against Maryland is the fact that the Terps were at the best at the beginning of the 2017 season before the team was plagued by injury. Texas has an extremely difficult matchup on its hands at the start of 2018.

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