Texas football suffered a disappointing loss in its season opener vs. Ohio State, but Steve Sarkisian is still a believer that the Longhorns can make it back to the College Football Playoff.
Following the 14-7 defeat, in which preseason Heisman favorite Arch Manning struggled, Sarkisian spoke on the impact of the CFP's expansion from four teams to 12 before last season and how it affects a loss like last weekend's.
“I do think it gives you a little breathing room to be willing to play those games,” Sarkisian said, according to Inside Texas on X, formerly Twitter.
Last season, Texas started 6-0, reaching No. 1 in the country before a decisive defeat against new conference foe Georgia in mid-October. The Longhorns, despite the loss, recovered and rattled off five straight wins, including road victories over ranked Vanderbilt and Texas A&M, to reach the SEC Championship Game, where they fell just short of exacting revenge on Georgia.
Still, the 11-2 Longhorns qualified for the CFP, earning No. 3 in the final rankings and the fifth overall seed in the inaugural 12-team playoff. Texas would go on to beat Clemson and Arizona State in the first round and quarterfinals, respectively, before losing to eventual national champion Ohio State in the semifinals.
This season has not been like last season. Texas will not be starting the season 6-0 and entering SEC play spotless. Instead, they'll have to weave through the tough conference slate without many hiccups or risk being like Alabama and Ole Miss last year — on the outside looking in.
The Longhorns are expected to slice through the remainder of their nonconference opponents, all of which come to Austin and none of which are in a Power 4 conference, before kicking off their SEC schedule in Gainesville vs. Florida.
The road game against the Gators is followed by the Red River Rivalry vs. Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl, and then two away games at Kentucky and Mississippi State. Texas returns to Austin to begin November and a stretch in which UT plays three home games — vs. Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and Texas A&M — out of its final four to close the regular season. The one road game, however, is in Athens against Georgia, the team that beat the ‘Horns twice a year ago and was the team aside from Ohio State to hand them a loss.
But first, Sarkisian, Manning, and the rest of the Longhorns look to rebound against 0-1 San Jose State this weekend.
