Hoping for a Healthful 2 Weeks in Wide Receiver Town

ESPN is reporting that Billy Pittman (shoulder) will be out for the season opener against Arkansas State. He joins fellow receivers Limas Sweed (wrist) and Jordan Shipley (hammie) on the list of injured wideouts for Game 1. Sweed will likely play a little bit but is not nearly 100%.

Now, not to take Arkansas State lightly, but it's probably fair to suggest that the Longhorns are enormous favorites to win the ballgame with or without the three stud pass catchers. As BON notes, Greg Davis and Mack Brown are likely to keep the gameplan very conservative and simple either way (incidentally, that link will also show you some great analysis of Texas' Game 1 Depth Chart). So Colt McCoy won't be having a huge stats game in the opener, and it makes sense. You need to establish your running game to be successful throughout the season, and there's no reason to give TCU any idea of what Texas will actually do offensively from watching the Arkansas State game film.

That said, the Horns will presumably want to open it up and spread the field a good bit more in Week 2 against Texas Christian. That means it's important for Sweed, Shipley, and Pittman to be healthy (or at least healthier) by September 8. Don't get us wrong: Nate Jones, Quan Cosby, and James Kirkendoll are all very capable receivers. And Jermichael Finley (who once snookered one of our brothers out of $30) is a fantastic pass-catching TE. But we'd feel a lot better if the rest of the receiving corps felt a lot better by the time the Frogs come to Austin.