Texas Football: 3 weaknesses Sarkisian can exploit vs. Louisiana

Limited explosiveness of the wide receivers

This task will more fall on the shoulders of the likes of new co-defensive coordinators/linebackers coaches Pete Kwiatkowski and Jeff Choate. Louisiana doesn’t have the most explosive receiving corps of any of the teams that the Longhorns face this fall. There is some returning production for the Cajuns in 2021, but it’s not the best group that Texas will face.

The highlighting trio that returns for Louisiana this fall includes sophomore Kyren Lacy, senior Jalen Williams, and junior Peter LeBlanc. Lacy is the most productive of the returning wide receivers in this trio for Louisiana. He did have a solid true freshman campaign, registering 28 catches for 364 yards and four touchdowns.

Louisiana isn’t necessarily boasting bad wideouts this fall, but there are some flaws compared with the rest of the offense. The Cajuns have a strong offensive line and deep backfield. Yet, the wideouts did have a problem with dropping the ball near the end of last season and none of the top three averaged more than 14 yards per catch.

It is not often that the Longhorns should get beat over the top in this game, at least that shouldn’t be the case after what we saw from the Cajuns last season.

There’s no doubt that Texas could match up well with these Louisiana wideouts next weekend. There is some size that Louisiana has on the outside between the 6-foot-3 Williams and 6-foot-3 Lacy. But Lacy also didn’t have the strongest finish to last season, with three drops in the final five games, and less than 70 yards after the catch.

Between senior starting cornerbacks D’Shawn Jamison and Josh Thompson, Texas should have more than enough ability to deal with the top wideouts of Louisiana next weekend.