Texas football really, truly might be back. The Longhorns jumped from seven to 10 wins in Tom Herman’s second season, and won the first New Year’s Six bowl since 2009.

With more success comes new expectations for the Longhorns. Now, Texas will start top 10 in next season’s preseason AP Top 25. The Longhorns will likely be a trendy pick for the Big 12 championship. But perhaps more importantly, the expectations have changed on the 40 Acres.

Here’s our full postmortem and review of the 2018 Texas Longhorns football season.

Full list of recaps: UTEP Miners || Rice Owls || Texas State Bobcats || UTSA Roadrunners || SMU Mustangs || Houston Cougars || North Texas Mean Green || Texas Tech Red Raiders || Baylor Bears || TCU Horned Frogs || Texas A&M Aggies || Texas Longhorns ||

Texas Longhorns Season Recap

Final record: 10-4, 7-2 Big 12

Head coach: Tom Herman (39-14, 17-10 at Texas)

Coordinators: OC Tim Beck, DC Todd Orlando

Offensive MVP: QB Sam Ehlinger

Wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey had a heck of a case for this recognition, but Ehlinger took his game to another level this season. The sophomore quarterback threw 25 touchdowns with only five interceptions, and became the first Texas quarterback since Colt McCoy to throw for 3,000 yards. Additionally, he made strides in the short-yardage game, and rushed for 16 scores. The offense is built around Ehlinger’s skill set, and he stepped up in a big way.

Defensive MVP: DE Charles Omenihu

Texas was strong across the board defensively, but Omenihu was the gamebreaker who made it all go in the front seven. Omenihu led the team with 18 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks and five quarterback hurries. No other defensive lineman posted even three sacks for the Longhorns. Omenihu helped open the game up for linebackers Gary Johnson and Anthony Wheeler to work, and that helped a young secondary develop.