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The window is open. The door is unlocked. Heck, the Texas Longhorns may even be able to fit through the pet door if necessary.
The Florida Gators came to Austin, and all they left with was a lousy t-shirt. Former Gator coach Steve Spurrier told a reporter he traveled to Austin because he had never been in DKR and wanted to see it since he's getting older. Not only did he visit a stadium he’d never seen in person, but Spurrier also got a taste of what it was like to be on the receiving end of those beatdowns his teams used to deliver. Spurrier once said, “It's not my job to stop my team from scoring. It's your job. If you don't want to be scored on, do something to stop it.” Gator Nation should be grateful that Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian didn’t take that approach against his friend, Gator coach Billy Napier, or the Florida athletic director might have rescinded his endorsement this past week and reissued a press release that said, “Just kidding.”
Texas entered Saturday on the outside looking in regarding the SEC Championship Game.
The Longhorns control their destiny.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s downward spiral is out of control.
Oklahoma is 5-5 with two games remaining (Alabama, and at LSU).
That was for the petty Longhorn fans.
Sarkisian owes his good friend Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss) a new visor and a pair of Blue Delta Jeans for Christmas after the Rebels did the dirty work for Texas.
Ole Miss defeated Georgia 28-10 and shook up the SEC standings. That was Georgia’s second conference loss, and the Bulldogs may not make the conference championship game.
Tennessee (5-1 in the conference), Texas (4-1), and Texas A&M (5-1) are in a three-way tie in the loss department in the SEC standings.
The Vols will play against Georgia this weekend, followed by UTEP and Vanderbilt—a team that should have been tossed into the Cumberland River like the goalpost that was thrown in following the win against Alabama several weeks ago—after getting dismantled by South Carolina.
If Tennessee defeats Georgia, the Vols should beat Vanderbilt and prepare for lunch at The Varsity in Atlanta.
Texas A&M’s remaining schedule includes New Mexico State, at Auburn, and Texas at home. Auburn is irrelevant. Texas is the only “real” conference game remaining on Texas A&M’s schedule.
Texas’s next game is on the road against Arkansas, then at home against Kentucky, and Texas A&M in the season finale.
If Texas and Texas A&M can avoid an upset, that season finale on November 30 will determine which team advances to the conference championship.
Aggie Yell Leaders, get your onesies ready.
Clearly, the most important goal for Texas is advancing to the college football playoffs. Making the conference game is meaningful; however, getting to the tournament is what really counts.
Just know Sarkisian disagrees.
“Our goal is to go win an SEC championship, and that's what we're striving for,” Sarkisian said. “When that day comes and goes, then we'll recalibrate and get ourselves prepared for what the next part of the season could be if we're fortunate enough to get in there. But it's an honor. If you're a team that can hoist that trophy in this conference, knowing the rigors of the opponents and how difficult it can be, I think that's a heck of an honor for our players and for our staff if we're able to do something like that.
“I think you could probably ask Kirby or Mike Elko, all the guys, all the coaches, all the teams in our league. That's a heck of a challenge, and that's a heck of an honor if you can achieve it. I don't think in the Southeastern Conference, it's minimized at all. Everybody knows that's a heck of an honor if you can do that.”
In addition, you may think advancing to the conference championship game sounds great, but what if you lose?
I addressed that topic in a recent War Room.
"Rich Clark, Executive Director of the CFP, was asked how the committee would judge teams that sustained a loss in the conference championship game. Would that team be penalized? How would they measure a loss in the conference championship game versus other teams in the conference that sat at home and did not endure an additional loss?
"That's actually something that we talked about with the committee members," Clark said. "And what I'll say is, in the discussion, what I realized is they're sophisticated enough to know that in a conference championship game, you have the top two teams in the conference playing. If the third-place team is sitting out, and they're not putting it on the table and actually risking a loss in that conference championship, the committee is sophisticated enough to understand and take that into account. All wins aren't created equal, and all losses aren't created equal either. I will say it depends on what the loss looks like. It depends on who we're talking about as a third-place team, so they will take that all into consideration.
"I honestly don't think that a team would be unduly penalized if they lost in a conference championship game. It'll be taken into account appropriately, and the committee will do that in a sophisticated way."
In other words, if a team does not get blown out in the conference championship game, that squad will be ranked ahead of teams that stayed home.
This Longhorn team seemingly has what it takes.
If the Quinn Ewers we saw on Saturday is the quarterback we’ll see for the rest of the season, Texas will run the table.
The offensive line cleaned up its mistakes.
The explosive plays were back.
This defense is dominant.
Sarkisian is coaching with confidence.
“It’s what I was saying this week. I think our best football was still ahead of us.," Sarkisian said. "We had spurts throughout the first eight games where we looked really good, but I felt like we had better football in us, that we could go play, and they played better [on Saturday]. I'm sure I'm going come in here Monday morning and I'm going have areas where we can continue to improve. We've got to get our outside zone running scheme going again. For whatever reason, we're just not quite in sync, and we're getting too many holdings on the edge, the runners and the timing. We've got to get back to work on that. I get it, it was a second half, but the run game got leaky. It just didn't feel like us defending the run. I'm always going to find areas and things that we can improve upon and need to improve upon.
"But this is a great starting point for November of just us playing the style of football that I think we're capable of playing.”
Team Notes
(via UT)
10 X 10
• On 33 passing attempts from quarterbacks Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning, 10 different Longhorn student-athletes hauled in at least one pass from the duo, marking the most in a single game since having 10 against Mississippi State on Sept. 28, 2024.
MAKING PLAYS
• The Texas offense accounted for 12 plays of 20-or-more yards, marking the most in a single game this season and most since having 10 against Mississippi State on Sept. 28, 2024. For the season, the Longhorns now have 69 plays of 20-or-more yards.
CENTURY CLUB
• By rushing for 210 yards on 31 attempts against the Gator defense, the Texas offense has now rushed for 100-or-more yards in eight of nine games this season. It's the second time this season the Longhorns has surpassed 200-or-more rushing yards after totaling 239 on 52 attempts against ULM on Sept. 21, 2024.
LONGHORNS' FOOTBALL
• The Texas defense has now accounted for at least one turnover in all nine games this season and at least in 17 straight contests. The Longhorns forced two first-half turnovers, registering multiple turnovers in four straight games and seven of nine games throughout the 2024 campaign. Over the last 17 games, the UT defense has forced multiple turnovers in a single game on 13 occasions.
FIRST HALF, MONEY HALF
• Texas' 35 first-half points on the morning was the most by a Longhorn offense since playing Oklahoma State in the 2023 Big 12 Championship game.
Players Notes
(Via UT)
QUINN EWERS, QB
• With his 29-yard passing touchdown to Matthew Golden with 3:43 remaining in the first quarter, Ewers extended his streak of consecutive games played with at least one passing touchdown to 20 in a row, which is the second longest streak in program history behind Colt McCoy's 29 consecutive games from 2007 season to 2009. Ewers and McCoy are the only student-athletes in program history to pass for at least one touchdown in 20-or-more consecutive games played.
• Ewers has now been credited with multiple passing touchdowns in six of his seven games played this season. He now has back-to-back games played with three-or-more passing touchdowns after having three at Vanderbilt a week ago. Additionally, the Southlake, Texas native has tossed three-or-more touchdowns in four games this season.
• Ewers' four first-half passing touchdowns against the Gators marked the most by a Longhorn quarterback since he accomplished the feat during the first half of the 2023 Big 12 Championship game against Oklahoma State.
• With his 333 passing yards against the Florida defense on Saturday morning, Ewers now has 7,378 career passing yards, passing Chris Simms (1999-02; 7,097) for sixth on the program's career passing yards list.
• With his five passing touchdowns on the day, Ewers now has 56 career passing touchdowns, passing James Brown (1994-97) for fifth on the program's career passing touchdown list.
• Ewers now has nine career games with 300-or-more passing yards in a single game.
• Ewers' five passing touchdowns against Florida were tied for the third most in a single game in Texas history, one behind the program record of six set by Colt McCoy (Baylor, 2006) and Casey Thompson (Kansas, 2021).
QUINTREVION WISNER, RB
• The 50-yard receiving touchdown for Wisner from quarterback Quinn Ewers marked the longest career reception for the running back. The reception was also the first career receiving touchdown for the sophomore.
JERRICK GIBSON, RB
• Saturday morning's game marked the first career 100-yard rushing performance for the true freshman running back out of Gainesville, Fla.
• With his 14-yard rushing touchdown with 14:55 remaining in the fourth quarter, Gibson scored his fourth rushing touchdown on the season, first against an SEC opponent and first since the Longhorns' victory over ULM on Sept. 21, 2024.
MATTHEW GOLDEN, WR
• Golden's first-quarter receiving touchdown was his fifth on the season and second in as many games. It marks the seond time this season the Houston transfer wide out has hauled in at least one touchdown pass in consecutive games.
• Golden added a second receiving touchdown on the afternoon with 1:19 remaining in the second quarter, marking the second time this season the junior receiver has recorded a multi-touchdown outing after opening the 2024 season with a two touchdown performance against Colorado State on Aug. 31.
JAKE MAJORS, OL
• By earning the starting assignment for Saturday's contest, Majors has now started 50 career games during his time on the Forty Acres, becoming just the seventh different Longhorn football student-athlete to reach the 50 career start milestone.
TREY MOORE, EDGE
• For the second consecutive game, Moore was credited with a fumble recovery after falling on a Ja'Kobi Jackson fumble with 3:20 remaining in the first quarter.
ANTHONY HILL, JR., LB
• Hill, Jr., forced Florida running back Ja'Kobi Jackson to fumble in the closing minutes of the first quarter. The forced fumble was the third over the last four games for the linebacker.
TY'ANTHONY SMITH, LB
• With 58 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Smith picked off Florida quarterback Aidan Warner, marking the first career interception for the freshman linebacker out of Jasper, Texas.
ANDREW MUKUBA, DB
• On just the second play of the second half, Mukuba picked off Florida quarterback Aidan Warner, marking the third interception on the season for the senior defensive back and second in as many games this season.
• The 6-foot, 190-pounder finished Saturday's game with a career-high six tackles, surpassing his previous career high of five which he accomplished three times throughout the season.
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
This is true on every level
Every man has been put in the friend zone at least once – and it is great to see Jacob win
Mark Henry would not approve (adult content/bad language alert)
Protect this woman at all costs (adult humor)
Sports On A Dime
1. I cannot remember seeing a coach go for it on 4th-and-1 on their 24-yard line before Sarkisian did it on Saturday. However, that gamble paid off for Texas when Jerrick Gibson gained 2-yards and extended that first-quarter drive. Three plays later, Ewers threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Golden.
“I believe in our players,” Sarkisian said. “We felt good about the stuff that we had in short yardage for the game. They give me the confidence and belief in the way they execute it in practice. I really didn't blink. I was going for it. Our analytical guy told me what the book had said we were supposed to do, but I was already kind of in the mode of, let's go for it. I knew there was a lot of football left to be played. We remained aggressive. I don't ever want to lose our stinger, but we want to be smart with what we do. Made the decision and were able to extend the draft.”
In addition, Sarkisian said the book said to go for it.
“If we didn’t make it, I would have said the book said to go,” Sarkisian said.
2. Sarkisian on Quinn Ewers’ performance: “I thought Quinn played fantastic today. I thought he played great two weeks ago against Vanderbilt. He just had a little bit of bad luck with some tip balls, but he was on point again today. We had, unfortunately, a couple of drops for him, but he was on point. He really navigated the offense. As much as it was just throwing the ball, I just felt like our rhythm, our tempo, the intent in which we were playing the game, the ball was going to the right guys on time. They were catchable balls where they could run with it. I just think he's coming to the game with a real sense of confidence coming into the game. I can only imagine coming out of a game like this, that his confidence is even better.”
3. Sarkisian on Isaiah Bond’s presence helping his team have explosive plays on Saturday: “Obviously, he had a couple of really big explosive plays. The reverse was 40-something yards. On the screen, he's able to take that for a touchdown and make a guy miss. What he does is add to the speed factor that we have on offense. He's got elite speed. DeAndre Moore has got elite speed. Jaydon Blue played really fast today. Tre Wisner played fast. When we can spread the field a little bit and not feel like we're so condensed, it's hard [on opponents]. We want people to feel our speed. We want people to fear our speed, and when they play back, now, some of those underneath things, we can create space for our guys to catch and run. But also when they do come up, we have those opportunities to take shots down the field, which we did that today as well.”
4. Sarkisian on the running back room: “It was a real conscious effort coming into the game to say, hey, let's see Jerrick back in the fold, of what it looked like early in the year when he kind of had to play because I think he provides a little different change of pace for us. It's a little bit more of a downhill, physical running style. Then you're able to get Blue on the edge, you're able to get Tre on the edge, and then you're able to utilize both those guys in the passing game, too. They're real weapons receiving the ball for us. I think it's a very versatile room that we have. We just have to make sure that we're tapping into the versatility of all the players that we have.”
5. Sarkisian on the performance of his offensive line against Florida: “That's the key to the drill. I think in any good team I've been a part of, the offensive line is kind of the front line, figuratively speaking. They're the ones that kind of set a lot of the tone for what we do. We can design all sorts of plays, run game, pass game, screens, but if you can't block them, the game gets hard. We don't play seven on seven, and so we've got to be really good at the line of scrimmage. I think that they've been challenged, and I think they've responded at a high level. They responded because there's a lot of experience, there's a lot of pride in that group, and a lot of guys who have played winning football, and I think they showed up today and played a brand of football that we're used to seeing.”
6. Sarkisian on coaching DeAndre Moore on the sidelines after his receiver dropped two passes: “I was telling DeAndre Moore at one point, I know he was frustrated with a couple of those plays, but we just scored a touchdown. I said, “Man, the team.” And then he kind of recalibrated – everybody else is doing a great job, and we're up by this much, and I just dropped two balls. We've got a really good team, and we're not having to rely on one guy to make a play. And so we needed DeAndre two weeks ago at Vanderbilt, and we needed his play today. A lot of guys stepped up, and we were able to get by without it.”
7. College Football Playoff committee chair Warde Manuel on ranking the Longhorns fifth this past week: “Well, I think Texas has looked good all year in terms of how they have played. They have won on the road at Michigan and went to Vanderbilt and won. As we've seen, Vanderbilt is a very good team this year. Their only loss at home was to No. 3 Georgia. We don't look at it as being fragile or not. We are going to judge each week with a clean sheet and approach it, and we look forward to watching how Texas plays as the season progresses.
8. Here are two interesting NCAA rule updates worth sharing:
In addition, the NCAA issued this press release on Friday afternoon:
“At the request of the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Oversight Committee, the NCAA staff issued a blanket waiver suspending the school limit on the number of official recruiting visits available to FBS members for hosting football prospective student-athletes. The waiver is effective immediately and is in place for football's current recruiting cycle (April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025).
“The committee requested the waiver to provide schools additional flexibility to address the impact of recent changes in NCAA legislation (immediate eligibility for undergraduate four-year college transfers and unlimited official visits for prospective student-athletes) and the intercollegiate environment.
“Prospective student-athletes can visit a school as many times as they like for an unofficial (self-financed) visit, and a school can host a prospect for one official visit. Since December 2022, FBS programs have been able to host a maximum of 70 official visits for football prospects from April 1 to the following March 31.”
9. Meanwhile, in the Big 12 ...
10. Props to Ole Miss
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