Steve Sarkisian believes Texas is back on track to make a College Football Playoff run after beating Vanderbilt in Week 10.
The Longhorns entered the week ranked No. 20 and welcomed the No. 9 Commodores the Austin with their backs against the wall. While many already wrote them out of the National Championship conversation, Sarkisian believes his team has turned a corner in recent weeks and is right back in the mix.
Sarkisian specifically believes that Texas' recent road trip helped them grow as a team.
“I think we're very hungry,” Sarkisian said, via On3 Sports. “I think this team has grown very close together. I didn't love our schedule, the fact that we were going to be gone for 42 days from home. In the end, it was probably the best thing for us. It was probably the thing we needed, this group to really grow together, lock arms, battle, compete, and fight for one another with a common goal. They know the work's not done.”
Week 10 marked Texas' first home game since Sept. 20, when it hosted Sam Houston State in Week 4. The Longhorns have played three road games since then and one neutral site game against Oklahoma in Dallas.
Texas entered the 2025 college football season as the preseason No. 1-ranked team but plummeted out of the rankings after a 3-2 start. Since suffering an upset loss to Florida in Week 6, they have rattled off four consecutive victories, including two over top-10-ranked opponents.
Texas gets back on track with win over Vanderbilt
Texas' win streak has not all been pretty, but the Longhorns have undeniably been one of the hottest teams over the last month. They have battled injuries to quarterback Arch Manning and star safety Michael Taaffe to likely return to the top 15 in the Week 11 rankings.
Texas appeared to be dead in the water after losing to Florida, but it could not have rebounded in a better way. Sarkisian's team is now shockingly back in the SEC title game conversation and subsequently back in play for the playoffs.
The Longhorns' 4-1 conference record has them tied for third in the SEC, pending the results of Ole Miss and Georgia. The conference title game race will come down to the final weeks once again, with Texas now holding the valuable tiebreaker over Vanderbilt and Oklahoma.
Once it returns from its bye, the Texas will end the 2025 college football season against Georgia, Arkansas and Tennessee.
