With the countdown started to its season opener against Colorado State, the Texas football team continued practicing on Thursday.

This may be the most-anticipated football season at Texas in some time. Coming off a season in which it went 12-2, won the Big 12 championship and made its first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff, UT has been picked to finish second in the Southeastern Conference's preseason poll.

On Thursday afternoon, the media was allowed to watch around 20 minutes of UT's second practice of the season. Here are three things that the American-Statesman observed at Denius Fields:

Michael Taaffe getting lots of work, injured thumb and all

Earlier this week, Texas special teams coach Jeff Banks raved about safety Michael Taaffe and his willingness to contribute in the kicking game. He certainly had his share of snaps in punt return during Thursday’s practice despite playing with a cast on his left hand.

Taaffe, who worked lots of snaps with the first-team defense on Wednesday, served as one of the downfield blockers as Matthew Golden, Isaiah Bond and Silas Bolden took turns returning punts. Taaffe will also likely see lots of action in coverage this season, regardless of how many snaps he gets at safety.

Oh, and about that injury: Texas coach Steve Sarkisian told the Houston Chronicle’s Kirk Bohls that Taaffe hurt the thumb during the summer but it shouldn’t affect summer workouts for the Austin native and Westlake graduate.

— Thomas Jones

Texas looks for more fumbles in 2024

For each of its first two practices, UT has opened the media window with its defensive backs trying to knock footballs out of the tight grips of Texas quarterbacks and skill players. The drill wasn't overly serious or competitive − Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers was notably grinning at one point on Wednesday as Taaffe and Derek Williams Jr. tapped at the football he was carrying − but the drill also wasn't meaningless.

Earlier this week, UT defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski told reporters that creating more turnovers was a goal for the Longhorns this season. Specifically, Texas needs to force more fumbles.

Over 14 games last season, Texas forced 14 fumbles. It recovered eight of those loose footballs. Cal recorded a Football Bowl Subdivision-high 16 fumble recoveries during the 2023 season.

Nationally, Texas ranked 43rd in fumble recoveries last season. That was a significant leap from a 2022 season in which UT ranked 119th with the four fumbles it recovered. The Longhorns last had double-digit fumble recoveries in 2017.

— Danny Davis

Who'll be on the mic for Texas?

Sarkisian is a well-known hater of the sign calling system in college football, even prompting the press in the past to write articles about why the NCAA should adopt helmet radios.

Well, he got his wish. The NCAA announced that this year, one player on offense and defense will have access to helmet comms that will allow for direct contact with coaches. Sarkisian has already used it in practice, allowing multiple players the chance to have the radio. Figuring out how it directly translates to college football though, will be a process.

“That's something that's going to be a little bit of a work in progress ... We've talked to a lot of different teams around the country. We talked to teams in the NFL,” Sarkisian said Wednesday. "The huddling in the NFL is drastically different than the no huddle aspect of college football. And then it's the type of offense that you're playing.”

The coach explained that in order to be ready for anything, Texas is training multiple players at different position groups to use the comm system. Whoever gets the radio is dependent on the opponent of the week.

“Who’s best suited for that game (will) be the guy that's getting the call,” Sarkisian said.

— Caleb Yum

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 3 observations as Texas Longhorns practice ahead of football season