19 Days, 19 Questions: #13

With 13 days left until KICKOFF, 'The Forty' is back in business and going to run down the top 19 questions for the upcoming year.


13: How soon until Limas Sweed and Billy Pittman are back?


I think a more apt title for this article may be "Please God, when will this hell of an off season be over!!" Between run ins with the law and now injuries, the football season cannot get here fast enough for Mack Brown and the Texas faithful. The latest tribulations have been the injuries of wide receivers Limas Sweed and Billy Pittman.









On Saturday, it was announced that Billy Pittman is going to be out indefinitely with an injured shoulder. As of Saturday, Pittman was in a sling at practice. We can only hope this strined shoulder is not something that is going to sideline Pittman for an extended amount of time. Over the past two seasons Billy has racked up 69 catches for 1,206 yards. Pittman became Vince Young's go-to receiver in 2005 and continued his strong career in 2006.

The man Pittman took a bit of a back seat to in 2006 was Limas Sweed, who had a breakout year of his own. However, Sweed was sidelined with his own injury just a few days before Pittman. Sweed's wrist was injured on Wednesday, after taking a spill in practice. Despite the injury, Sweed seems optimistic that he can return for the opening game against Arkansas State..

However, I would not be upset if both Pittman and Sweed did not make an appearance in the Arkansas St. game. There is no reason to rush either of these guys back. As long as they are ready against TCU, the Horns should be fine. This may even give the younger wide receivers such as Phillip Payne and James Kirkendoll valuable real-time game experience before they become the main guys in 2008. Texas is the deepest team in the nation at wide receiver and there is no reason to rush back an injured player against inferior competition.

My Prediction: We will not see Limas or Billy until the 2nd game of the year, against TCU