WATCH: Cedric Golden on Longhorns comprehensive throttling of Michigan
The Horns improved to 2-0 with a 31-12 win over Michigan.
Texas plays UTSA, Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State before opening conference play against Oklahoma.Steve Sarkisian said beating college football blue blood Michigan will not define Texas’ season.
Michigan was nice, but it’s time to move on.
UTSA won’t have the benefit of a home stadium filled with more than 111,000 yellow-clad fans, but the Horns are giving the Roadrunners some healthy respect.
After Saturday’s 31-12 road win over the defending national champions, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian made sure to keep things in the proper perspective.
“This win doesn’t define our season,” he said.
From the outside, it’s easy to deduce that a nonconference win, albeit over a fellow college football blue blood, isn’t likely to be the high point for a team that just rose to No. 2 in the country — the Horns remain No. 3 in the Associated Press’ Top 25 poll and moved up to second in the USA Today LBM Coaches poll — with the possibility of deep frying much bigger catfish down the road.
“I think what’s going to define our season is the totality of the body of work,” Sarkisian said Monday. “How do we eventually end up in the Southeastern Conference? Are we fortunate enough to make it to the college football playoff, and then what does that run look like?”
The Horns have been proficient in all areas through two games, particularly on defense where only five teams in the country have been stingier in the points-allowed department. Sarkisian added that winning in Ann Arbor will be part of the totality he mentioned, but it came with the understanding that even a loss to the Wolverines wouldn’t have killed Texas’ chances of doing special things.
“More importantly, this game, to me, should serve as a measuring stick of, ‘OK, here’s where we’re at against a quality opponent, in a tough environment on the road and here’s where we can improve,’” Sarkisian said. “And I think we identified those things with the team (Monday) morning, and we’re starting to work on those things, because as good as we think we played, in my humble opinion, we’re going to need to play better to go try to accomplish some of the goals that we have for the season.”
One big difference entering Saturday’s home game against 1-1 UTSA is the Horns have dispensed with having to prove their worth to the rest of the college football world. They know they’re good. An 83-12 scoring advantage after two weeks is an indicator. The Horns, to a man, are a self-contained unit hell-bent on not only living up to the gaudy ranking, but also matching or topping last season’s CFP appearance. Lots of football remains, though.
“This was a big step for us, for sure, and we’ll enjoy the moment, but now it’s time now to focus on what’s ahead,” quarterback Quinn Ewers said. “We’re all human beings, and we understand and know what we’re capable of. We’ll see where that takes us.”
“Far” sounds like the right answer.
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Publish date : 2024-09-10 03:22:00
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