The 2025 Texas football season has been marred by underachievement. Entering the year as the No. 1-ranked team in the country, Texas immediately dropped its season-opener in a tough-fought battle against Ohio State. The Longhorns did enough to climb back into the AP Top 10 after wins against the No. 8-ranked Oklahoma Sooners and the then No.9-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores. But the success was short-lived as Texas saw its College Football Playoff hopes dashed following a 35-10 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs.
The loss was crushing, but that has not stopped head coach Steve Sarkisian from defending his team and refraining from calling this season a disappointment.
When asked about Texas underachieving, Sarkisian quickly responded, “According to who?” via Anwar Richardson of Yahoo Sports.
The veteran head coach shifted focus to how hard his team has competed and the expectations placed on them entering the season.
“This team has competed their tail off,” Sarkisian said via OnTexas Football. “They've been faced with a lot of different adversities and injuries. And a lot of stuff has come across this team's plate. I've been very proud of them for their resiliency. At the end of the day at the University of Texas, we're held to a very high standard. And the standard is to compete for championships year in and year out. We're going to play the best teams in the country. We're going to schedule the best teams in the country. But by the end of the season, five of our 12 regular-season opponents will be top-10 teams when we played them. So, nearly half our schedule.”
Today #Texas HC Steve Sarkisian was asked if his team has underachieved.
“What I think is that this team has competed their tail off… a lot of stuff has come across this team’s plate.”
Sarkisian added that nearly half of the #Horns schedule was full of Top 10 ranked teams. pic.twitter.com/i4Tm26Pn0L
— OnTexasFootball (@ontexasfootball) November 17, 2025
Sarkisian continued by pointing out that Texas has the opportunity to be the first team since the 2019 LSU Tigers to beat three top-10 ranked opponents in the regular season before pushing back on the narrative that Texas has underachieved one final time.
“Have we been faced with a pretty difficult schedule? Have we been faced with expectations? Sure, but that's why we came here. So, we'll be okay.”
The Longhorns will end the season with an opportunity to shock the world by defeating Arkansas and then the No. 3-ranked Texas A&M Aggies in the regular-season finale. It may not be a perfect season for Texas, but there is room for a silver lining.
