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ARLINGTON – I do not care what test the college football playoff committee puts in front of the Texas Longhorns as they decide what teams should be in the final four.
Eye test. Style test. Conference champion. Strength of schedule. Victories against bowl-eligible teams. Nonconference wins. Quality opponents. Quarterback completion percentage. Best dressed head coach. Rock, paper, scissors, victories this season. Team with the best yodelers. The Longhorns meet every playoff team criterion.
The playoff committee will take Michigan, and aspiring coaches will be able to attend Jim Harbaugh’s “Spying For Dummies” lecture.
Washington earned a playoff spot after defeating Oregon (sorry, Phil Knight).
There is no need to overthink it.
Texas deserves to be in the playoffs.
The fourth team?
Let the committee throw in their SEC team of choice to avoid the mandatory IRS audit that occurs if they omit a team from the greatest football conference this side of heaven. Alabama, Georgia. We don’t care. That’s a fight for the playoff committee and the dentists of those respective fan bases.
“I disagreed with them before. I disagreed last year,” Alabama football coach Nick Saban said after defeating Georgia on Saturday. “So. I'll respect 'em. I know they have a tough job. I know there's a lot of good teams.
“But I'm just speaking up for our guys on our team who have busted their butt all year long to accomplish what they've accomplished. I think that needs to be recognized.”
Oh, Georgia football coach Kirby Smart has an opinion, too.
“Look at the SEC championship,” Smart said. “Our team in the playoff, look what they've done. Y'all tell me the record of the SEC teams in the playoff. It's pretty spectacular. Twice, two of them ended up playing each other. I mean, who are the best teams? Do we want the best teams?”
Yes, Kirby.
FSU can stay in Tallahassee.
The Seminoles are not one of the four best teams in college football. FSU will likely lose largely to any playoff team. If FSU needs to pass the eye test, the committee should have 20/500 vision as relates to the Seminoles.
Texas should be a playoff team.
“I didn't want this win and I didn't want this championship to be about the College Football Playoff. This is an accomplishment in and of itself, us winning a championship. That's the first part,” Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I'm so happy for these guys that there should be, regardless of what happens, they should feel very proud that they were leaders on this team, two of our captains on the team, to get us to this point. That's the first part. I want to be clear on that, we're here to celebrate this victory and this season and what we were able to accomplish this year. But I think one thing we've shown, we're a very complete football team. We don't rely on one phase or one aspect of this team to win. We play great defense. That offense was averaging well over 400 yards a game. That was one of the top running backs in the country. We held them to 2.6 yards per carry. Just a fantastic effort, defensively.
“Offensively when you go out and you have well over 600 yards, you're able to throw it, you're able to run it and you have almost three receivers over 100 and have another back go over 100 -- and special teams. That's the thing I think about our team is unique. We are very, very versatile. We have extreme depth. And we can win at the line of scrimmage and we can win at the skill-position spots.
“So, this may be a little bullish of me saying, but we'll play anybody in the country. I'm not shying away from that part. Like I feel very comfortable if we get into this tournament, we'll play anybody. We'll find out if we're good enough or not. But I feel like we have the team, the culture, the scheme, and the versatility of this team to play against anybody.”
It is hard to argue against Sarkisian.
There were some key stats before Texas defeated Oklahoma State on Saturday:
Top-35 wins by the FPI (essentially a "Quad 1" win)
Alabama, 5
Texas, 5
Ohio State, 3
Oregon, 3
Wins vs. bowl-eligible opponents
Alabama, 7
Texas, 7
Ohio State, 6
Oregon, 5
Wins vs. winning Power 5 opponents
Alabama, 5
Texas, 4
Ohio State, 4
Oregon, 3
Strength of record
Ohio State, 5
Texas, 6
Alabama, 7
Oregon, 8
“We played three bowl-eligible teams in our nonconference schedule and whether it was Rice, Wyoming, obviously to go Tuscaloosa, Alabama and win that game, that's a tremendous feat for these guys to accomplish that,” Sarkisian said. “Now, when you do that, sometimes that takes its toll on your team when you play the epic battles like that, when we play in Tuscaloosa. But to win that game by 10 points, I think, helped us as the season went on, and it helped us have some resolve, when we did lose a gut-wrenching game in early October, but we bounced back the way we did. And I think since that ball game that we lost, we've only trailed twice in the rest of the games on our schedule.
“And so hopefully, when people kind of look at the totality of the body of work, it's not just about the record; it's about the quality of the team. And I think that's the intent of the College Football Playoff, is putting the four best teams in that playoff. Do we think we're one of those four? Sure, we do. But this isn't a vote. We don't all get to go to the election booth and vote. So it's in their hands. All we can do is, like we told the players, control what we can control. Now let's play the best football we could, and I thought we did that today and hopefully put in their minds what would it look like if Texas was in a four-team playoff.
“I think it would look pretty good. But again, we'll see what they think.”
If Texas does not make the playoffs, it will have its first SEC "They didn't want to be in that bowl game" experience.
There is no need to overthink it.
Texas deserves to be in the playoffs.
“This season has been an amazing success,” Sarkisian said. “We're not done regardless. We're not done. We went into this season to be champions. And we are. These guys are wearing hats that say "champions" across the top. And that says a lot. So very, very proud of them for that.
Longhorn Player And Team Notes
(provided by UT)
QUINN EWERS, QB
• Completed 35-of-46 passes for 452 yards and four touchdowns.
• Broke the Big 12 Championship Game record and established career-highs for completions and passing yards.
• Equaled the Big 12 Championship Game and his personal best with four touchdown passes.
• Recorded the first 400-yard passing game of his career and eighth in UT history.
• Had his fifth 300-yard passing game of the season, tied for second-most by a Longhorn QB -- Colt McCoy (2009), Major Applewhite (1999).
• Marked his seventh career 300-yard game, tied for fourth all-time in UT history (James Brown).
• Surpassed 5,000 career passing yards, the eighth-most in program history.
• Also moved over 3,000 passing yards for the season, the sixth Longhorn to accomplish the feat.
• Has thrown a touchdown pass in 12 consecutive games played.
• Now has 12 career games of multiple touchdowns and six this season.
KEILAN ROBINSON, RB/KR
• Rushed four times for 75 yards and two touchdowns.
• First career game with multiple rushing touchdowns.
ADONAI MITCHELL, WR
• Set a new career-long reception with a 62-yard catch in the second quarter.
• Caught his 10th touchdown of the season.
• Became the eighth receiver in program history with 10 or more touchdown receptions in a season.
XAVIER WORTHY, WR
• Caught six passes for 86 yards.
• Extended his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 38 games, the third-longest streak in
program history.
• Has a reception in all 38 games he has played.
• Improved his career reception total to 195, sixth all-time in program history.
• Improved his career receiving yard total to 2,710, fifth all-time in program history.
ANTHONY HILL, LB
• Recorded his fifth sack of the season and forced a fumble.
• His five sacks rank tied for fourth all-time among freshman linebackers.
JA'TAVION SANDERS, TE
• Caught eight passes for 105 yards and one touchdown.
• His third 100-yard game of the season.
• Tied for sixth in program history for career touchdowns by a tight end (7).
• Improved his career receiving yards total to 1,220, second all-time in program history.
KITAN CRAWFORD, DB
• Earned his first career interception in the second quarter.
T'VONDRE SWEAT, DL
• Recorded his first career touchdown reception in the first quarter.
• Second defensive lineman this season to record a touchdown catch (B. Murphy).
Team Notes
• The Longhorns won their first Big 12 crown since 2009.
• UT has won four Big 12 titles (1996, 2005, 2009, 2023), the second-most in conference history.
• Texas has played in seven Big 12 Conference Championships, the second-most in conference history.
RECORD-BREAKING CHAMPIONSHIP
• The Longhorns won their first Big 12 crown since 2009.
• UT has won four Big 12 titles (1996, 2005, 2009, 2023), the second-most in conference history.
• Texas has played in seven Big 12 Conference Championships, the second-most in conference history.
TALLYING THE WINS
• Texas has won 12 games in a season for the first time since 2009.
• The Horns won the program's 948th game all time, fourth-most in FBS history.
• UT's 12-1 mark is the best start to a season since 2009 (12-0).
THE CAPTAINS
• Texas' captains are named on a weekly basis.
• The captains for today's game against Oklahoma State were QB Quinn Ewers, LB Jaylan Ford, DL T'Vondre Sweat and WR
Jordan Whittington.
DRAWING A CROWD
• Texas played in front of a Big 12 record 84,523 fans at AT&T Stadium.
• It marked the 12th consecutive game in which the Longhorns have played in front of a capacity crowd.
HIGH FLYING OFFENSE
• Texas had 422 yards of offense and 35 points in the first half.
• Texas became the only Power 5 team over the last 20 seasons to put up 400 yards of offense and 35 points in a single half of a conference title game.
• Texas finished the game with 662 yards of total offense, it is the fifth time they've surpassed 500 total yards of offense this season.
• Four different players caught a touchdown pass in the first half (A. Mitchell, T. Sweat, J. Sanders, J. Blue).
• Texas had two receivers go for 100+ yards for the 21st time in program history (A. Mitchell - 109, J. Sanders - 105).
• The 49 combined points in the first half is the most points scored in a half in Big 12 Championship game history. The
previous record was 46 (Colorado vs Texas, 2001).
• First time this season with back-to-back games with a 30-point half.
• Texas' offense was one-for-one on fourth down attempts in the win. Prior to the game, Oklahoma State was ranked first in the nation allowing only a 17.4% fourth down conversion rate.
DRIVING THE FIELD
• Texas capitalized on an OSU interception at the Texas 5-yard line, driving 95 yards on seven plays and capping it off with a 10-yard CJ Baxter touchdown run.
• It marked the second-straight week with a 90+ yard touchdown drive and fifth of the year.
• UT added a 15-play, 88-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
• The Longhorns have had nine scoring drives of at least 85 yards this season.
• Texas finished with 198 rushing yards, they have run for at least 100 yards in every game this season.
PICK PARTY
• Texas has 16 interceptions this season, eighth most in the FBS this season and Texas' most since 2017.
• Texas has recorded at least one interception in seven consecutive games.
• Nine different players have recorded at least one interception this season.
BREAKING BIG PLAYS
• Texas had six plays for 20 or more yards, including two for a touchdown.
• 1Q: Receiver Xavier Worthy 54-yard reception from QB Quinn Ewers.
• 1Q: Tight End Ja'Tavion Sanders 24-yard touchdown reception from QB Quinn Ewers.
• 2Q: Receiver Adonai Mitchell 62-yard reception from QB Quinn Ewers.
• 2Q: Jordan Whittingon 20-yard reception from QB Quinn Ewers.
• 2Q: Tight End Ja'Tavion Sanders 26-yard reception from QB Quinn Ewers.
• 3Q: Keilan Robinson 57-yard touchdown run.
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
If this occurred on a first date, it was their last outing
This kid has Thriller nailed
We will see if the committee gives Alabama a miracle on Sunday
Sports On A Dime
1. Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian on Xavier Worthy’s health: “Positive news on Xavier. X-rays were negative. He's been dealing with ankle stuff for the past month or so. But the beauty of it is we've got plenty of time now to get him healthy and get a lot of the guys healthy. We were not 100 percent health-wise coming into the game. A lot of guys had to fight through. So this will be a good couple weeks for us to get ourselves back and get ourselves healthy again and figure out where we're going to play.”
2. Sarkisian on Jonathon Brooks being on the field for the game’s last play: “Well, this team is very close, and there's a great deal of love on our team. And Jonathon meant a great deal to us. We would not be here today without Jonathon Brooks and what he did for us in a good portion of this season. And you hate when guys have season-ending injuries like that. And so ironically, on Thursday, at the end of practice, we took a knee. I had everybody on the sideline, and we took a knee. And I put Jonathon out there when we took the knee, and I think everyone is like, what's he doing?
“When I was done, I said when we win Saturday, Jonathon's going out there to be part of this victory with us, and he's going to register a snap that he was part of a Big 12 Championship game. And the guys, they love that stuff. So we had to follow through. So, it was a great moment. He's earned it. He deserved it. These guys are so close with one another that I'm glad he was able to have that moment.
3. Sarkisian on Ewers’ performance against Oklahoma State: “I thought Quinn was lights out today. And the biggest thing today was when the first read was there, he was throwing the ball really accurately and guys were making plays. But I thought the thing that showed up today was him getting to secondary reads and getting through progressions and still throwing the ball really accurately and giving guys chances to make plays.”
4. Sarkisian on being free wheeling at the beginning of Saturday’s game: “We made a point Monday morning when we started talking about how we were going to try to win this game, what it was going to take. One of the key points and what it was going to take we wanted to come out and start fast. We really wanted to come out and throw our best punches that we had. This was not a game that we wanted to throw jabs and feel it out. We wanted to go for it. And I think the guys got a lot of confidence in the game plan of how we were going to try to do that. And they executed it.
“As we touched on last night in our final meeting, especially with the offense, it's all set. Now let's just go execute. Let's have great poise, get great composure, great confidence and go play loose and go play the game. And they did it and they gave me confidence. When they start playing like that that gives me as the play caller confidence to call some things knowing they're going to execute it in those moments.”
5. Sarkisian on T’Vondre Sweat’s touchdown reception: “Every game you get down there, you have a plan of what you're trying to do. And it just happened to be this was a good look for it. And ironically, they kind of played it exactly how we thought they would. And when did you bobble it? Was that yesterday or Thursday? … He bobbles it yesterday in practice. I said, do not mess with me; you better catch it, and don't get a penalty. Get your behind to the sideline and celebrate to the sideline. So very cool moment.”
6. Sarkisian on running back Keilan Robinson doing the little things: “When you have a Keilan Robinson or Jordan Whittington doing those things around the ball and we can celebrate them, hopefully that inspires others to do it that way. And my job as a coach is I've got to find ways to reward them for doing that. And Keilan, like I said, when I first got here and he transferred here, I think he was a big component to kind of show the way of how important special teams is, how important the little things are to developing kind of the mindset of our team. And he hasn't changed. It's three years later and he's scoring a touchdown and then covering the kickoff. It's that's what we expect of our guys. That's the standard in which we play. Every play has a life of its own. And what you put on tape for that play is how you'll be judged.”
7. Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark on the impact that Texas has had on the conference and just college football in general? “ Legacy program, historic program. Big part of the history of who we are, not just today, but also in the future. Just to put it behind us, I love the Texas team. I'm great friends with the coach, the president, the AD. I wish them all well today. As I said in media day, they are a big part of the history of this conference and always will be. It's a nice way to kind of finish your time here, being at the championship game, and I wish them all well this morning. Thank you for your question.
8. Yormark on what he learned from the comments he made at Texas Tech and if any part of him was rooting for Texas just for what it would mean for the Big 12 and the possible CFP berth: “A couple of things. I never go backwards. I never look back. I enjoyed my time in Austin. The fans are great. One thing I love about college sports, because I've only been in it 16 months, love the passion. We shared something very much in common. I have a lot of passion for what I do. I'm rooting for both teams today. We've got two great teams that represent the Big 12, rooting for them both. Thank you for your question.
9. Oklahoma coach Mike Gundy on Texas blossoming under Sarkisian: “They're very talented, we all know that. It's no secret. I told my guys, I like our guys. They're on a good run right now with -- I was told during the week they have 11 players that are going to be drafted. Now, I don't know. I don't keep track of that. My point being is that would put him on a good run talent-wise. It's a high number, and they went through a period when the quarterback is out that, when I watched tape, they looked a little vulnerable at times. They lost the running back. They had a good running back, I heard, but other than that, they've stayed really healthy, and they're playing good football right now.
"So they're a good team. I don't mind telling you, to be honest, I told the guys in here, I would guess that team can play with anyone in the country right now, just from what I saw live. Maybe I'm wrong. Whoever, they're ready to play. If we would have got a couple breaks early, we would have been able to punch back and kind of stay in the ballgame, but we didn't get those breaks.”
10. Enjoy this trip down memory lane
