Texas Football: 3 biggest trap games on Longhorns schedule in 2023

In a little more than 100 days, Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian will embark on their final season in the Big 12 before moving to the SEC in 2024. Texas will open up the 2023 regular season at home on Sep. 2 at home at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial against the Rice Owls out of Conference-USA.

Sark and the Longhorns will then face head coach Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide under the lights in primetime at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Sep. 9 in one of the most highly anticipated non-conference matchups of the 2023 college football season. The Texas-Alabama game is definitely the highlight of the Longhorns’ non-conference schedule since the other two opponents are Rice and the Wyoming Cowboys (Sep. 16).

Texas has high expectations entering the 2023 season as the favorite to win the Big 12 by a decent margin according to most major sportsbooks (including FanDuel at +115 odds). Since this will be the final opportunity to claim a Big 12 Championship before the Longhorns make the move to the SEC in 2024, Sark must make the most of this chance to take the program to higher heights than it’s seen in the last decade.

If Texas wants to make at the Big 12 title, though, it must take care of business against what appears to be a weaker conference slate this year compared to the depth present top-to-bottom last season.

Notable trap games on the docket for Texas football in 2023

With that in mind, here’s a look at three of the biggest trap games on Texas’ regular season schedule in 2023.

Houston (Oct. 21: Houston, TX)

ESPN FPI Rank: 54

Sharp Beta Rank: 45

For the first and only time, Texas will face the Houston Cougars as Big 12 foes this fall. But this will not be the first time that Texas faces Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen as a Big 12 foe. The former West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Holgorsen faced the Longhorns seven times as a Big 12 foe during his tenure in Morgantown.

Holgorsen and Sark have not faced each other as Big 12 head coaches, though. And given the offensive-mindedness of both head coaches, I would expect this game to be a high-octane affair at TDECU Stadium in Houston on Oct. 21.

Houston could wind up being one of the tougher offenses that the Longhorns face in the Big 12 this fall. According to the preseason ESPN SP+ rankings from Bill Connelly, Houston has the 16th-best offense in the FBS in 2023.

Holgorsen and the Cougars return a lot of production on offense, ranking 25th in the FBS in returning offensive production in 2023 (per Sharp College Football). Most notably, Houston brought in a quarterback transfer that gave the Longhorns a lot of trouble last season, former Texas Tech dual-threat junior Donovan Smith.

Last season, Smith totaled more than 350 yards along with three touchdowns and no interceptions as Texas Tech pulled off the upset in overtime of Texas in Lubbock. Smith’s running ability put the Longhorns off-schedule on defense, especially during a number of different fourth-down conversions that seemingly never ended for the Red Raiders.

If Smith ultimately does win the QB battle over sophomore Lucas Coley, he could continue to give Pete Kwiatkowski and the Longhorns’ defense trouble if they don’t make the necessary adjustments to limit the running aspect of his game.

Houston also has some other returning playmakers on offense worth noting, including a capable running back duo of former USC transfer Brandon Campbell and the speedy Stacy Sneed. Texas will also have to worry about the top returning wideout duo of junior Matthew Golden and redshirt junior Sam Brown.

As long as Texas can limit the Houston offense to give its defense a rest, the Longhorns’ offense should be more than capable enough to take care of business in this Big 12 matchup on Oct. 21.

The Houston defense is the weakest link for the Cougars. Houston’s defense ranks among the bottom 20 teams in the FBS in returning production after ranking 112th in the FBS last season in points allowed per game (32.2).