Tyrone Swoopes

This is sophomore quarterback Tyrone Swoopes’ third straight week on the this dubious list. Swoopes’ season continues to be a whirlwind of ups and downs. The 6-foot-4-inch, 243-pound quarterback started off hot against West Virginia, as he completed his first four passes, including a two-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Geoff Swaim. But, despite his impressive start, Swoopes finished the game with an unimpressive stat line: 11-for-29, 124 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Despite his subpar performance, the Longhorns defeated the Mountaineers and are now one game away from bowl eligibility. Now, Texas needs Swoopes more than ever. He needs to step up and improve. Swoopes has to get better at reading coverages, and he has to trust his instincts when teams blitz him. Now is the time for Swoopes to play at his best as Texas can secure a bowl birth with a win at Oklahoma State.

Offensive line

The offensive line has continued to improve throughout the season, and it put together its best performance against West Virginia. The line’s great output against the Mountaineers allowed running backs — senior Malcolm Brown and junior Johnathan Gray — to run for a combined 191 yards.

Now that the running backs have started playing well, defenses will try to stack the box with eight, or even nine players, to stop the run. The offensive line will need to step up and continue to play well against the Cowboys as the they will try hard to stuff the run.

Michael Davidson

Who even knew who senior punter Michael Davidson was before the West Virginia game? But, after senior punter Will Russ shanked a punt early in the game, Davidson came in and had two really good punts, each downed inside the one-yard line.

Now that Davidson has shown his ability as a punter, Texas needs him to step up and be consistent.