Editor’s Note:  The following is an article written by guest blogger Adam Jones from Jones Top Ten.  Although I think Adam is a great blogger and author, we are not related.  I urger visitors to check out a copy of his book, Rose Bowl Dreams: A Memoir of Faith, Family and Football which I reviewed here.  You can buy a copy of the book at the CFTT Book Store here.

Texas/Oklahoma Preview 2009

By Adam Jones, special to collegefootballtopten.com

Almost everything that could go wrong for the Oklahoma Sooners offense has during the first stretch of the season. Meanwhile, Texas rolls along mostly intact. So why are Longhorn fans nervous?

Starting with the Sooners, it wasn’t enough to replace almost an entire offensive line in the off-season. The players left behind started to play their way out of the game, as well. It got so comical that tight end Brody Eldridge moved over to center for the opener against BYU. This makeshift wall could have gotten Sam Bradford killed—death didn’t result, but injury did. Bradford’s balky shoulder, combined with the loss of All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham for the season, left the Sooners with little more than a serviceable run game, a decent back-up QB in Landry Jones and emerging receiver Ryan Broyles. That was enough—behind an excellent defense—to rout Idaho State and Tulsa, but the Sooners failed again in an excruciating one-point loss to Miami. To add injury to insult, Ryan Broyles went down with a broken scapula (yes, yes, Bob Stoops believes he will play Saturday…whatever).

Sam Bradford returned against Baylor and looked sharp, but his receivers didn’t and the Sooner line has not gotten any better. Now it must contend with the loss of guard Brian Simmons. The hits just keep on coming. Recipe for a Texas rout, right? Not so much. For as bad as the Sooner offense looks on paper, the OU defense is just as good on the field. Gerald McCoy may be the best defensive tackle in college football and Jeremy Beal, at end, has almost been his equal. The pair have been twin and will make life miserable for an underperforming Texas offensive line. Indeed, the game has come down to an ugly battle of terrific front sevens (Longhorns Sergio Kindle, Sam Acho, Lamarr Houston and a posse of athletic linebackers can’t wait to challenge the Sooners) against offensive fronts that don’t look capable of keeping them at bay. This is hard for Longhorn fans to swallow, since they are fielding roughly the same offensive line that played the same OU defense straight up in last year’s contest and dominated the fourth quarter. But the Texas offense simply isn’t right this year. The running game is abominable and Colt McCoy, though still ridiculously accurate, has been turnover prone. The brilliance of Jordan Shipley and the Texas game-breaking return units have been the story for the Horns thus far.

Unless Texas gets off track and shows something on offense they haven’t shown so far, and unless the depleted Sooner receiving corps can do something (anything!) to help Sam Bradford out and take the pressure off of tailbacks DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown, then a repeat of last year’s 45-35 barn-burner is not in the cards. Texas is a bit better on offense and has a passel of game-changing players waiting for their break-out Cotton Bowl moment. It should be enough for a 28-20 win. But not too many Longhorn fans are confident of much more.

Adam Jones is the author of Rose Bowl Dreams: A Memoir of Faith, Family and Football and writes a weekly college football column at the website www.jonestopten.com.