Texas football vs. ULM: Opening Odds for regular season opener

Just six days away now from the start of the regular season slate, Texas football is close to taking the field at home at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium for the opener against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks out of the Sun Belt. On Sep. 3, Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian will take to the field at DKR for the first game since Black Friday 2021 against what looks to be a pretty beatable opponent in ULM.

Texas is coming into this regular season opener next weekend after a disappointing result from last year. Sark and the Longhorns finished up last season with a record of 5-7 (3-6 Big 12), which featured one of the worst losing streaks in conference play for this program in more than the last half-century.

Meanwhile, ULM comes into this game after posting a lowly record of 4-8 (2-6 Sun Belt) last season. Head coach Terry Bowden and the Warhawks will be looking to continue their upward trend in terms of success in the win column after going winless back in 2020.

This will be a big game for the Longhorns as they look to get the newly named starting quarterback and redshirt freshman Quinn Ewers to get settled in. Against ULM next weekend, Ewers will be making the first start of his collegiate career. This will also be Ewers’ first start since the end of his junior season at Southlake Carroll High School back in 2020.

Here’s a look at the opening odds on game week for the regular season opener as Texas takes on ULM at home on Sep. 3, with the kickoff time set for 7 p.m. CT.

Texas football vs. ULM opening odds

According to WynnBet, Texas is a 38.5-point favorite over ULM in the first set of betting odds on game week. And the over/under is set at 66.5 points.

The ESPN Football Power Index gives Texas a whopping 98.8 percent chance to beat ULM in this game.

Texas football vs. ULM storylines for game week

First and foremost, the aforementioned Ewers will be important to watch as he looks to settle into the starting role in the opener next weekend. Ewers needs to get comfortable before Texas’ regular season schedule really ramps in the following two weeks when this team faces the No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide and defending Conference-USA Champion UTSA Roadrunners.

Another notable storyline will be how Texas performs at the skill positions and along the offensive line after suffering two costly injuries earlier in fall camp. Texas lost the likes of redshirt sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Neyor and senior interior offensive lineman Junior Angilau for the entire season as they both suffered torn ACLs in the first scrimmage of fall camp.

Texas is likely going to rely more heavily on the likes of sophomore center Jake Majors and true freshman offensive guard Cole Hutson to fill the void left by Angilau along the interior of the O-Line. And the duo of senior wide receiver Tarique Milton and redshirt freshman outside receiver Casey Cain to try to fill the void in the receiving corps left by Neyor in the wake of his season-ending injury.

Sark and the Longhorns will need to take a step forward this season after having such a disappointing result come out of his first year at the helm. Starting off on the right foot for the Longhorns means getting Ewers in rhythm and building some momentum in the opener against the Warhawks next weekend.