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College football 2019: Biggest trap game facing every Top 25 team

By Cody Williams

CLEMSON, SC - NOVEMBER 24: Tee Higgins #5 of the Clemson Tigers gets away from R.J. Roderick #10 of the South Carolina Gamecocks during their game at Clemson Memorial Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Clemson, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CLEMSON, SC - NOVEMBER 24: Tee Higgins #5 of the Clemson Tigers gets away from R.J. Roderick #10 of the South Carolina Gamecocks during their game at Clemson Memorial Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Clemson, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 01: Texas Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger (11) gives the roaring Texas crowd a Hook ’em Horns sign after scoring a first half rushing touchdown during the Sugar Bowl football game between the Texas Longhorns and Georgia Bulldogs at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 1, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 01: Texas Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger (11) gives the roaring Texas crowd a Hook ’em Horns sign after scoring a first half rushing touchdown during the Sugar Bowl football game between the Texas Longhorns and Georgia Bulldogs at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 1, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

5. Texas Longhorns

Biggest Trap Game: at West Virginia (Oct. 5)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Texas Longhorns are back. Though it’s become a fruitless refrain over the past few years in Austin, it may actually be true heading into the 2019 college football season. Tom Herman clearly has the chops to be the guy to legitimately bring the burnt orange back to the forefront of the sport and has the roster to make that happen as well this season after a 10-4 campaign last year.

The offense should continue to be exciting under Herman, thanks also in no small part to quarterback Sam Ehlinger. While the Longhorns undoubtedly need the signal-caller to take fewer big hits and, thus, stay healthy this season, he’s proven to be a leader and playmaker needed to win games. And with Collin Johnson leading the way at wide receiver, he has the horses outside to help him do just that.

Defense could be the linchpin that makes or breaks Texas in the 2019 season, though. After a down year in 2018, they have the talent to be one of the best units in the Big 12 — but they don’t have the experience. As such, it’ll take players stepping up if they’re to realize their potential.

Texas’ early-season schedule is tough and this West Virginia trap game is part of that. After playing LSU in Week 2 and Oklahoma State in Week 4, they then go to Morgantown before heading for their rivalry showdown with Oklahoma. Given that, Herman’s team must stay locked in and not forget about the Mountaineers, even if they’re lesser than they were a year ago.