2007 Texas Longhorns football team
The 2007 Texas Longhorns football team (variously "Texas" or "UT" or the "Horns") represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Mack Brown. The Longhorns played their home games in Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium (DKR).
| 2007 Texas Longhorns football | |
|---|---|
Holiday Bowl champion | |
Holiday Bowl, W 52–34 vs. Arizona State | |
| Conference | Big 12 Conference |
| South | |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 10 |
| AP | No. 10 |
| Record | 10–3 (5–3 Big 12) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive coordinator | Greg Davis (10th season) |
| Offensive scheme | Spread |
| Co-defensive coordinator | Duane Akina (3rd season) |
| Co-defensive coordinator | Larry Mac Duff (1st season) |
| Base defense | 4–3 |
| Home stadium | Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 85,123) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 4 Missouri xy | 7 | – | 1 | 12 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7 Kansas x% | 7 | – | 1 | 12 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas State | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nebraska | 2 | – | 6 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa State | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 8 Oklahoma xy$ | 6 | – | 2 | 11 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 10 Texas | 5 | – | 3 | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 22 Texas Tech | 4 | – | 4 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oklahoma State | 4 | – | 4 | 7 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas A&M | 4 | – | 4 | 7 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baylor | 0 | – | 8 | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship: Oklahoma 38, Missouri 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Longhorns entered the 2007 season ranked third on all-time college football lists in both total wins and winning percentage. A pre-season ranking by ESPN writer Mark Schlabach had the Longhorns ranked eighth, while College Football News ranked Texas third. The Longhorns came into the season ranked fourth in both the Coaches Poll and AP Poll. During the preceding summer five players had been disciplined for legal infractions, another suspended for NCAA rule violations, and a coach had undergone surgery for cancer. Additional players were suspended during the season.
The Longhorns played games against two opponents they had never faced previously: Arkansas State University and the University of Central Florida (UCF). The Longhorns narrowly achieved a victory in their home opener with Arkansas State, and in their first road game of the season, Texas was the inaugural opponent for the UCF Knights in their new stadium. In preseason speculation, games against Texas Christian University (TCU) and Oklahoma (OU) were considered among the top 20 games to watch during the 2007 college football season.
The Longhorns lost conference games to the Kansas State Wildcats, the Oklahoma Sooners, and the Texas A&M Aggies. In two close games, they avoided upset attempts by lower-ranked Nebraska and Oklahoma State, the latter game involving a 21-point fourth quarter comeback by the Horns. Texas concluded its season by winning the 2007 Holiday Bowl against the Arizona State Sun Devils—another first-time opponent for Texas—bringing their season record to 10–3.
The Horns finished the season ranked tenth in the AP poll and in the USA Today coaches poll. After the season, five UT players entered professional football through the 2008 NFL Draft and four others agreed to sign free-agent contracts with NFL teams.