Is 2023 the year of the Texas Longhorns?
Prior to every upcoming college football season. most fan bases are either talking themselves into why their favorite programs can win it all, or why they are just a certain piece away from reaching the pinnacle.
For Texas fans that discussion is becoming a tad more real this offseason, as Steve Sarkisian and company have appeared to figure things out. After a tumultuous first season that revealed that the roster was thin at all of the wrong places, Sarkisian has continued Texas’ recruiting success. However, the main difference between the current and prior regime is the development.
Sarkisian is appearing to get the most out of his recruiting classes with freshmen starring on the offensive line and young pass catchers producing immediately, whereas Tom Herman’s staff either misevaluated players or did not develop them properly.
With Texas going into their final season of being a Big 12 member, the stars seem to be aligning for the Longhorns to make a run to the playoff. Texas returns one of the most experienced rosters in the country, and when you look around the Big 12 there are a lot more programs in an in-between state rather than programs pushing to be competitive.
If Texas is able to get an improved performance from Quinn Ewers at quarterback, who was essentially turned into a glorified game manager by year’s end this past season, it is hard to imagine what could slow them down. They have the talent on offense, key pieces on defense, and the perfect schedule to build up their resume.
Assuming Texas can end up on the right side of the scoreboard in their Week 2 matchup at Alabama, and not have any hiccups along the way, they will certainly find themselves amongst the top four teams in the country. With a move to the SEC and what will be a tough 2024 schedule looming, the Longhorns absolutely need to take advantage of the fact that all of the perennial powers in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, and even Oklahoma are in somewhat of a reloading stage. They all have talented pieces, but none of them are as surefire as they have been in years past.
This could be Texas’ clearest path to contention in the past 10 years, but whether they can live up to the growing expectations is to be determined.
