It’s Sunday morning and I’m just staring at my computer screen thinking about Steve Sarkisian’s Longhorns.
In the immediate aftermath of Steve Sarkisian’s most lopsided loss in five seasons as the Texas head coach, it’s kind of impossible to know where to start. So, I’m just staring at my screen, waiting for some sort of direction to occur.
I can feel all of the snark inside of my body both waiting to escape and recoil at the same time. There’s so much random snark that I just want to paint the keyboard red with. For instance, did you know that Texas has rushed for a grand total of 83 yards against Georgia through last night? No, not in Saturday’s game … in all three games that Texas has played against Kirby Smart’s championship program. Combined.
Oh, the smart-*** inside of me wants to be wicked in my written disdain for so much of what we’ve watched from the 2025 Longhorns.
Reality sinking in…
We’re 10 games into what will be historically remembered as an all-time tank job for a pre-season No. 1. It’s not too early to start talking about what this season has become, which is a fully wasted opportunity, barring some real rabbits jumping out of Steve Sarkisian’s hat in the final weeks of the season. It’s a Texas team that played its best game of the season in Dallas, another good 45 minutes at home against Vanderbilt and then …
Wait? If OU is No. 1 and the first three quarters at home against Vanderbilt is No. 2 … what is this team’s third-best performance of the season?
Good grief, I honestly don’t know how to answer the question, especially if Sam Houston and San Jose State can’t count because it’s Sam Houston and San Jose State…
See … the snark wants to escape. It wants to lash out. Hell, it might even be begging to be released.
On the other hand…
Then another part of my brain raises its hand and requests that some perspective be provided. Yes, Kirby Smart owns Sark, but that’s better than the days of Gary Patterson owning Texas, right? It wasn’t that long ago that Orangebloods everywhere would have killed for the first-world problems of trying to solve Sarkisian’s 1-7 record against top-5 teams. We’re less than four years removed from Texas losing to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas and West Virginia … in order.
There are levels to misery and whatever happens in these final couple of weeks of the season. We have to remember that this is still a program loaded with as much young talent as any team in America. It has its quarterback. It brings back Colin Simmons in 2026. A lot of wins against ranked teams have been accumulated in the last few seasons. This is a program that knows success.
We can’t allow ourselves to live in the extremes when we discuss the Texas Football program. This season is an unmitigated failure at this point, but that doesn’t mean that Sark’s tenure is a failure. This is what happens when a program approaches what it believes is the final step and doesn’t clear the bar.
Peeking at a peer…
Two seasons ago, Ohio State was 11-0 going into the Michigan game. Somehow it ended its season outside of the playoffs with back-to-back losses. That included one to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl when it only mustered three pathetic points. The Buckeyes won the national title less than 13 months later.
For the Buckeyes, the bottom line is the bottom line. 2023 was a failure. 2024 was what it looks like to reach the bar. If the Buckeyes don’t win the national championship this season, it’ll go down as a failure. Same with Georgia. Same with Alabama.
You don’t hang banners in college football for almosts. Of course, what possibly stings some the most is that the Longhorns aren’t in the land of almosts this season. Still, it counts the same as an almost season, which is to say that it counts for nothing. If we’re being honest, this team making the playoffs, winning a game and then getting knocked out in the quarterfinals would have been labeled a failure a few months ago. That’s how high the bar is.
Texas hasn’t even hit its head on the bar this season, but we shouldn’t ignore that the bar is being set very, very high. It’s critically important to keep some perspective in these discussions.
You can be snarky. Just don’t be blinded by it.
