Texas vs. Colorado State: Staff predictions for Week 1

We are just a few hours away from the kickoff of the 2024 Texas football regular season slate, as the No. 4 ranked squad in the nation hosts the Colorado State Rams at DKR on Aug. 31. Head coach Steve Sarkisian's squad will host former Texas assistant coach Jay Norvell and the Rams for only the second matchup ever between these two teams on the gridiron in both program's history.

Sarkisian and the Longhorns are looking to start this season on the right foot before they travel to Ann Arbor for Week 2 for the highly anticipated matchup against the Michigan Wolverines on the road on Sep. 7.

Texas is expected to contend for a spot in the SEC Championship Game and to make the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff field this postseason. In the preseason SEC media poll, the Longhorns were picked to finish second in the conference standings this season.

Texas is a sizable favorite a few hours before kickoff on Saturday morning against Colorado State. The betting line has moved even further in Texas's favor after it was a 32.5-point favorite in the pre-game spread as recently as Aug. 30 (per FanDuel). Sarkisian and the Longhorns are now favored by 34.5 points in the pre-game betting line over Colorado State.

The Longhorns have been consistently in the right side of the win column in the last couple of decades. Since 2000, Texas is 21-3 in its regular season openers. Texas is also a perfect 3-0 in regular season openers in the Sarkisian era, dating back to 2021.

In the regular season opener last season, the Longhorns defeated the Rice Owls at DKR by a score of 37-10. Texas has also defeated the UL-Monroe Warhawks and Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns in past regular season openers under Sarkisian since 2021.

Here's are the Hook'em Headlines staff predictions as No. 4 Texas hosts Colorado State at home at DKR in Austin on Aug. 31 to open up the 2024 season, at 2:30 p.m. CT.

Game predictions for Texas football vs. Colorado State in Week 1

Andrew Miller: Texas-45, Colorado State-14

Marc Henry: Texas-31, Colorado State-14

Shane Black: Texas-55 , Colorado State-17

Tarik LaCour: Texas-52, Colorado State-17

Brian Sweet: Texas-38, Colorado State-17

Sam Farris: Texas-35, Colorado State-24

Texas football vs. Colorado State EA College Football 25 simulation for Week 1

Starting this season, we will do a simulation on the EA College Football 25 video game for each Longhorns game every week. Here is the prediction from the first simulation of the season for the Longhorns vs. Rams on EA College Football 25.

Texas-21, Colorado State-3

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