Baylor: Who emerges from the quarterback battle? 

Baylor has a truly open quarterback battle for the first time in several years after Charlie Brewer transferred to Utah. Because of Brewer’s success, none of the four quarterbacks in the competition have a single collegiate start to their name. 

Whoever takes over out of Gerry Bohanon, Blake Shapen, Jacob Zeno and Kyron Drones will be tasked with fixing an offense that ranked near the bottom of college football last season. With so much defensive production and skill talent returning, the quarterback position needs to get resolved quickly. 

Houston: Is development happening fast enough? 

When Dana Holgorsen took over the program, it quickly became clear that the recruiting talent on campus wasn’t up to snuff. Holgorsen has tried to fix it with transfers and redshirts, along with some young producers. 

At this point, though, most of the roster belongs to Holgorsen. We’ve seen some of his finds pop up in a big way, like transfer Marcus Jones and promising D-Lineman Chidozie Nwanko. Heading into year three, pointing to the old staff isn’t good enough. Houston has to be competitive. 

North Texas: Has Phil Bennett fixed the defense? 

The Mean Green had the worst defense in college football last season, and it wasn’t that close. The program allowed an obscene 522.1 yards and 42.8 points per game in 10 games, including 56 points in an embarrassing bowl loss to Appalachian State.

Now, veteran coordinator Phil Bennett is tasked with fixing the defense. He’s led big turnarounds before, including at Baylor. Turning things around is a process, but UNT has to be much better than the 2020 debacle to compete for a bowl game. 

Rice: Can the Owls roll with the losses? 

For a few short weeks, we got to see the version of Rice we have all been waiting to see. The Owls beat Marshall, took other games to the wire and generally looked like a much more cohesive and complete team. 

Now in April, Rice lost star linebacker Blaze Alldredge to Mizzou, receiver Austin Trammell to the NFL draft and QB Mike Collins to medical retirement. Multiple years of strong recruiting have the program in a decent position, but the development will have to hurry along this offseason. 

SMU: What does the post-Buechele era hold?

There have been quite a few “firsts” over the years thanks to Shane Buechele at SMU. He was the first Mustang to grace the cover of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football since Lance McIlhenny in 1983. SMU won 10 games for the first time since that season. 

Now, Sonny Dykes has his first season post-Buechele at SMU. The Mustangs have some very impressive options to replace him, including blue-chip recruit Preston Stone and OU transfer Tanner Mordecai. However, will the program still have the same top-down culture without their historic quarterback leading the way? We’ll see. 

Texas: Can the Longhorns speed out of the gates? 

When Steve Sarkisian took the Texas job, he walked in the door with the mantra “All Gas, No Brakes.” Well, that saying will be put to the test as Sarkisian tries to replace a star quarterback and many other NFL-caliber contributors at Texas. 

The quarterback competition between Casey Thompson and Hudson Card will take most of the headlines, but this is a talented staff that has won at the highest level. It will be fascinating to see how quickly these largely Alabama-based coaches can get Texas’ star-filled roster on the same page. 

Texas A&M: Do the Aggies have a championship level O-Line? 

The Aggies rank as perhaps the most complete team in the state. However, the one gap comes at a key place: offensive line. Texas A&M is losing four starters from the Joe Moore Award finalist unit last season. 

Luckily, top lineman Kenyon Green was an All-American last season and the Aggies added starter Jah’mir Johnson from Tennessee. With the level Josh Henson has recruited the unit over the past few seasons, the talent is there. Who will step up? 

TCU: Is the passing game coming along? 

For the first time of the Max Duggan era, there’s legitimate experience returning around him. Quentin Johnston proved to be a star in the making at wide receiver, while Zach Evans at running back and a handful of offensive linemen showed real flashes down the stretch. 

Now, it’s time. We’ve been waiting for Duggan to take the step towards stardom for two years now and have been prevented by context. The context has largely been fixed. In 2021, we’ll finally get to see what Duggan has got. 

Texas State: How are the transfers integrating? 

The Bobcats put together a historic all-transfer recruiting class in 2021 to try and compete right away. Six Power Five transfers will immediately raise the profile of the program, including multiple on the offensive line. 

However, the transfer portal can be a lottery game, especially when trying to integrate so many right away. Jake Spavital will have to ensure that he finds roles for all his new additions as efficiently as possible over the offseason. 

Texas Tech: How has Tyler Shough fit in? 

After two inconsistent offensive years, Matt Wells turned to two new faces to quickly fix the Texas Tech passing game. Offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie helped lead some of the top offenses nationally as OC at TCU. 

However, all eyes will be on Oregon transfer QB Tyler Shough this summer. Shough was projected as a potential top NFL draft pick heading into the abbreviated Pac-12 slate, but never quite got rolling. He’ll have a second chance at Texas Tech if he can lock down the starting job and imprint his identity on the offense. 

UTEP: Will the Miners be ready from the start? 

The Miners have one of their most manageable schedules in years to start the season, which is much needed after many years of struggling. UTEP opens with New Mexico State, New Mexico and FCS Bethune-Cookman in the four first games, and then hosts an Old Dominion team with a new coach that didn’t play last season. 

If the Miners play their cards right, there’s a real possibility this team could finish with a bowl appearance for the first time since Aaron Jones. However, it will take focus and execution right from week one. That has been a problem for Dana Dimel’s UTEP – it has to change. 

UTSA: Can the momentum continue? 

Almost no one nationally is sitting in a better seat than Jeff Traylor. The Roadrunners are fresh off an explosive 7-5 campaign and return almost every contributor on both sides of the ball. A Conference USA championship is in sight. 

However, college football is littered with programs that we expected to take the next step and it didn’t happen. All the pieces are in place for UTSA to be the breakout team of 2021. It’s up to the players and coaches to finish the job. ???????