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I hope everyone took this past week to recover after what occurred during the Red River Rivalry. You spent this week watching Sooner players get Horns Down tattoos on their thighs without realizing every time they look down, it will be Horns Up from their vantage point. They printed t-shirts to celebrate the victory. Oklahoma players and coaches rejoiced over one regular season victory more than Texas A&M embraces the wins of other SEC teams. To be fair, Texas A&M does not win many conference games.
While Oklahoma was celebrating a four-point win, most rational Longhorn observers were putting the loss in its proper perspective. Texas entered this weekend with the No.1 ranked defense in the Big 12. The Longhorn defense that had one lackluster performance in six games was ranked second in opponent red zone conversions, second in opponent third down conversions, and fourth in total offense. Jonathon Brooks was the nation’s second-leading rusher entering Saturday’s games, while Quinn Ewers was the second-leading passer in the Big 12. Oh, and Texas is 5-1 and ranked in the AP Poll and Coaches Poll. However, as the old newsroom motto goes, never let facts get in the way of a good story.
It is time to dust yourself off and get back on that Longhorn high horse of expectations. You spent way too much time this past week trying to figure out tiebreaker scenarios with West Virginia, which seems like a waste of time after its loss against Houston. Texas is at the midway point of this season, and I know most times when a coach says “All of our goals are still in front of us,” that person is trying to stay optimistic during a bad season. However, the same rules do not apply to your 2023 Longhorns.
The mission is simple.
Run the table.
“If that's our worst, we're going to be okay," Sarkisian said. "We will fix the things that need to get fixed as a coaching staff and as a team during the bye week, and we'll play good football in the second half of the season and I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to watching our coaches and our leadership really step up as we head into the second half of the season. Obviously, bye week, one thing that's going to be big for us is getting healthy. We are a little bit banged up as a football team which is understandable. I think everybody is at this point in the season. We understand that but it would be nice to get a little bit more healthy than we are right now. We've got some issues to address collectively and individually.
"I think we need to create more turnovers from a defensive perspective. We're not causing enough fumbles right now. We want to improve upon that. We definitely want to improve our red zone offense. We've already started working on that as a staff. I think our two-minute defense needs to be better, so we're diving into that. I think we need to get more out of our return game, whether that’s punt return or kick return. We got too many good athletes right now to not be getting more out of that aspect of the game. For all that to happen, all of the players need to be coachable. They need to understand why we're trying to get them better and to put forth the right effort to make that happen. I think the overriding message is, hey, everything we want out of the season is still right in front of us right now. We got to go handle our business.”
That is not false bravado from Sarkisian.
The majority of us predicted Texas would finish 10-2 during the regular season. Some of you predicted 11-1. Only a handful of dreamers thought Texas would finish 12-0. Right now, dreamers are the only group of Longhorn observers looking for a consolation prize.
Before the season, I thought Texas would sustain a loss against Alabama and a conference opponent. The loss against Alabama did not occur but Oklahoma happened. Texas still looks like a team that will appear in the Big 12 Championship Game.
And Texas needs six more wins for that to occur.
Sure, there are scenarios where Texas can advance to the title game with two losses, but let’s save the worst-case discussions for another day.
Let us review the task ahead (before Saturday’s game):
At Houston (3-3 overall, 1-2 in the Big 12)
8th ranked offense/14th ranked defense
BYU (4-2, 1-2)
14th ranked offense/7th ranked defense
Kansas State (4-2, 2-1)
6th ranked offense/5th ranked defense
At TCU (3-3, 1-2)
5th ranked offense/8th ranked defense
At Iowa State (4-3, 2-2)
13th ranked offense/4th ranked defense
Texas Tech (3-4, 2-2)
10th ranked offense/10th ranked defense
- Texas will play against only one team with an offense ranked in the top five.
- Only two of the six remaining teams have a defense ranked in the top five.
- Right now, Texas will face three teams with winning records. Two of those games are at home.
- None of the remaining teams on Texas’ schedule are ranked.
This Texas team is good enough to run the table, finish 11-1, and meet Oklahoma in the conference title game.
What about the college football playoffs?
Getting to the conference championship game should be the goal.
Any achievement past that is a bonus.
Heck, if Texas handles its business, it could reenter the playoff discussion.
For now, a rematch against Oklahoma should be the No.1 goal.
"Everything we wanted out of our season is in front of us right now," Sarkisian said "We got to go take care of our business. ... Those goals still remain because they're reality. Now more than ever.
“There are no divisions in the Big 12. The two best teams go to play for the championship and we control that. Naturally, no one likes to lose a game, but we got to handle our business and we're more than capable of doing that."
The mission is simple.
Run the table.
Midseason Awards
Offensive MVP – RB Jonathon Brooks
Comment: The biggest running back questions we had entering this season were who would replace Bijan Robinson and could that person be as effective. It is crazy to think that CJ Baxter was named the starting running back on opening day, but Brooks has emerged as one of the best rushers in the country. Brooks has rushed for 726 yards and six touchdowns through games on 108 carries. Last season, Robinson rushed for 645 and 10 touchdowns on 110 carries. Brooks has exceeded all expectations entering this season.
Defensive MVP – DT T’Vondre Sweat
I was told before this season to expect great things from T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II. Neither defensive tackle has disappointed this season. Sweat has been unstoppable at times and performed like a future high-round draft pick. If he hits another level during the second half of this season, the Longhorn defense should look like the dominating unit we saw before Oklahoma.
Special Teams MVP – P Ryan Sanborn
He is averaging 46.4 yards per punt and has punted for 50-or-more yards five times this season. He has been a standout on special teams since the kickoff and punt return units have lacked the explosive plays those athletes are capable of.
Funniest Things You Will See This Week
That did not take long …
This is scarier than Michael Meyers
Sadly, I have heard worse questions from reporters
Not quite ready for 007
Sports On A Dime
1. Ketch delivered this nugget in Thursday’s War Room: “* There's been growing conversation during the season about the possible NFL declaration status of starting quarterback Quinn Ewers, which had me kicking the tires on where things might stand with half the season left to play. The vibe I got back from a couple of people I trust is that there's still a very strong belief that Ewers is more likely to leave than stay at this point. I didn't get the sense that there was a lot of fear about the volume of quarterbacks competing for slots in the first round from those that will be involved in discussions when the season concludes.”
Just to back up what he said, a source recently told me Ewers is expected to enter the NFL Draft after this season. Those close to the situation believe Ewers could benefit by having another year of development in college, but the plan behind the scenes is for Ewers to turn pro after this season, followed by an Arch Manning vs. Maalik Murphy battle next year.
2. Speaking of entering the NFL Draft after a junior season, keep an eye on Byron Murphy II. I was told Murphy will consider entering the draft after this season. It may take a lucrative NIL package to keep Murphy in Austin. File that nugget away.
3. Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian said one of their goals during the bye week was to get healthier and having Ja’Tavion Sanders as close to 100 percent as possible will help this team run the table. We saw what Sanders at less than 100 percent looked like against Oklahoma.
4. Texas junior receiver Xavier Worthy has 34 receptions for 453 yards and three touchdowns this season. He is currently on pace for 906 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Is it possible that Worthy could be a three-year starter who enters the NFL draft without ever having a 1,000-yard season? Team success is more important than individual accomplishments, but hopefully Worthy can eclipse that benchmark.
5. ICYMI
6. I am old enough to remember when there was a Hudson Card vs. Casey Thompson debate. I am also old enough to remember when Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian passed on the opportunity to endorse either quarterback and eventually landed Quinn Ewers. In addition, there was a time when some Longhorn observers believed Hudson Card should have started in 2022 as opposed to Ewers. Card completed 13 of 32 passes for 126 yards, one touchdown, and finished with an 84-passer rating during a 41-7 loss against Ohio State on Saturday. Thompson tore his ACL and MCL in September. Ewers finishes first in this debate, Thompson cannot stay healthy, while Card has yet to live up to the high expectations placed upon him at Texas.
7. Brett Yormark should consider skipping his trip to Austin in November.
8. Texas A&M is stuck with Jimbo Fisher, which is probably a good thing for Texas when it enters the SEC next season. The best way to assure success when the rivalry is renewed is with Fisher on the headset.
9. The Colorado story was fun for a few weeks, but this is the second embarrassing loss for Deion Sanders’ team (a blowout loss against Oregon was the first gut punch). This is the perfect example of the saying, “There are no shortcuts to success.”
10. Got to love our southern football analogies
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