For the first time in over a month, Texas fans have been able to breathe a little bit.
Texas survived its gut check against Ole Miss and saved its season, remaining in contention for the College Football Playoff, especially as the Southeastern Conference basically eats itself alive.
But the Longhorns are far from smooth sailing from here on out. In fact, Texas is in a pretty weird place. The Longhorns boast three ranked wins and two top-10 wins, giving them one of the most impressive résumés in the country. But that resume is undoubtedly hindered by arguably the worst two-loss stretch a remaining contender has taken this season.
Simply put, one moment the Longhorns look destined for the College Football Playoff. The next, a team bound for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
After the Ohio State win, head coach Steve Sarkisian noted that a team’s narrative can drastically shift week to week. Before beating the Buckeyes, Texas couldn’t win a big game. Afterward, the Longhorns were the best team in the country. He stressed the importance of ignoring the media-created target on the team’s back and flushing past results.
While adopting a next-game mentality is important, a month ago I didn’t understand what he meant when he talked about the polar-opposite opinions about his team. In the majority of cases, the media’s opinions are reflective of how hot and cold the Longhorns have been.
But when I opened Instagram Reels on Monday morning and saw a podcast clip of a well-known college football personality saying Texas is going to win the national championship, I understood Sarkisian, especially when people questioned Sarkisian’s place as head coach just seven days prior.
Slow down, everyone.
I know social media clips and podcasts thrive on hot takes and controversial opinions, but that prediction is a bit egregious given how messy a game Texas played against Ole Miss. Senior quarterback Arch Manning turned over the ball three times, the Longhorns committed 14 penalties for 134 yards and the third quarter remained problematic. Those sore spots almost landed Texas in a three-game losing streak, and the Longhorns cannot afford to overlook their own flaws. As Sarkisian noted, it’s become about enduring and surviving week to week in this conference.
But as the losses against Florida and Oklahoma proved, there is a point when the margin between survival and collapse is uncomfortably narrow. Last year against Mississippi State, Texas barely beat the Bulldogs in overtime after falling behind by more than two scores. Despite the win, the performance argued against Texas’ year-long quality in the playoff evaluation.
Texas needs to do more than scrape by if it wants to remain in legitimate contention. Now, it’s imperative that the Longhorns win out, and they can’t keep giving games away. The problem is they have shown how quickly things can unravel, sometimes within a mere 10 minutes.
The Longhorns don’t need to sit in either extreme. They don’t have to look like the most dominant team in the country every week, but playing like 2016 Texas, struggling to stay afloat at points, makes things unnecessarily harder.
Texas plays better when its back is against the wall. While Texas fans’ nervous system wants the Longhorns to close things out before the literal last play and hold onto their two-score leads, I think the constant chip-on-the-shoulder mentality is valuable.
The Longhorns can keep that edge without needing a crisis to bring it out. It’s the same narrative every week. Texas is its own worst enemy, but starting with Halloween night against Mississippi State, it’s time to change that.
