The ball is still pointy and bounces funny.
Texas was deserving of last season's 5-7 record, certainly. However, those were a lot of close games that could have gone differently with a better dice roll.
There's all the usual "intangibles" about self doubt and learning to win. Those are certainly true. Less intangible, and within reach of the team's control, are things like Left Offensive Tackle, and a pass rushing DE.
Texas has a lot of offense waiting to be unleashed. There's a backlog of "all the way" players at just about every position that's supposed to touch the ball on an offensive snap. The only thing lacking is the 3 seconds post-snap needed to make it all work.
Ay, there's the rub!