There is so much hype around Texas in July that we're already talking about how the Longhorns are going to be in 2024.
Credit Texas coach Steve Sarkisian for, at minimum, recognizing that the 2023 season comes first.
"I know that there has been so much talk about the SEC and what is happening in 2024," Sarkisian said at Big 12 Media Days on Wednesday. "I think the thing about this team that we have this year; they're focused on 2023 and this opportunity we have here in the Big 12."
from you, it doesn't really matter. We don't shy away from that. We accept it."
The Longhorns are the preseason favorites to win the Big 12 on its farewell tour – one last chance to live up to the "Texas is back" slogan that is less mantra and more meme material for the last decade. Since the Big 12 championship game came back in 2017 after a six-year hiatus, Texas has made it just once - and lost."You guys are the ones who decide who gets picked where, quite frankly," Sarkisian said. "Not to take anything away
Quarterback will not be the issue this season. Quinn Ewers looked more comfortable in the spring game in his second year as a starter, and Arch Manning and Maalik Murphy form what has to be considered one of the most talented QB rooms in the FBS.
Sarkisian lauded Ewers' leadership by providing two examples from postgame press conferences in 2022. Ewers' deflected the credit to teammates after leading the 49-0 victory against Oklahoma and shouldered the blame after the 41-34 loss to Oklahoma State. Ewers improved across the board this offseason, and that has next-level attention.
"If things go like we think they can go, the pundits are probably right," Sarkisian said. "He is a first-round draft-pick quarterback."
Talent will not be an issue either. Receiver Xavier Worthy, tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders, tackle Kevlin Banks Jr., defensive tackle Byron Murphy and linebacker Jaylen Ford all made the Preseason All Big 12 team.
The Longhorns didn't have a player drafted in 2022 – a program embarrassment that Sarkisian fixed. Five players were drafted in 2023 – and that should be a minimum quota for the next few seasons. Sarkisian said this team has "competitive depth."
"There is a lot of focus on the new players that have come into our program," Sarkisian said. "There should be a lot of focus on the players that are in Year 3 with me, now. These are all guys that I inherited when I got here."
Dare we say Texas hype is justifiable – perhaps for the first time since the Longhorns advanced to the BCS championship game under Mack Brown in 2009?
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy was one of the detractors.
"Are we basing that on history or the last five years or the last 50 years?" Gundy asked at Big 12 Media Days.
We can find the issue for the last 13 years. It's all about one-score games. Texas has flopped with a 2-5 record in one-score games each of the last two seasons.
This isn't a new trend. Texas is 31-40 in one-score games since 2010. Brown maintained a winning record in those games from 2010-13 at 8-7. Since then, Charlie Strong (5-10), Tom Herman (14-13) and Sarkisian (4-10) have combined for 33 one-score losses in nine seasons.
| YEAR | RECORD | ONE-SCORE RECORD |
| 2010 | 5-7 | 1-4 |
| 2011 | 8-5 | 2-1 |
| 2012 | 9-4 | 3-2 |
| 2013 | 8-5 | 2-0 |
| 2014 | 6-7 | 1-2 |
| 2015 | 5-7 | 1-3 |
| 2016 | 5-7 | 3-5 |
| 2017 | 7-6 | 1-4 |
| 2018 | 10-4 | 7-3 |
| 2019 | 8-5 | 3-3 |
| 2020 | 7-3 | 3-3 |
| 2021 | 5-7 | 2-5 |
| 2022 | 8-5 | 2-5 |
| TOTALS | 91-72 | 31-40 |
It's no secret that in the wide-open Big 12, one-score games are the X-factor. TCU was 5-1 in one-score games last season, including a 17-10 victory against Texas. Kansas State – the Big 12 champion – was 3-2 with a 34-27 loss to the Longhorns.
Texas' best season in that stretch was 2018 – when they finished 7-3 in one-score games under Tom Herman. That resulted in a berth in the Big 12 championship game and a 28-21 victory against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Of course, Sam Ehlinger said you-know-what afterward.
The Longhorns have lost an average of four one-score games per season since. That included the 20-19 loss to Alabama and 27-20 loss to Washington in the Alamo Bowl outside the Big 12 in 2022.
Texas is ranked No. 14 in Sporting News' Top 25 – a ranking that likely will be higher in August in the AP and Coaches polls. The Longhorns travel to Alabama on Sept. 9 in a rematch from last year's classic before that farewell tour that includes in-state road games against Baylor, Houston, TCU and Texas Tech – which no doubt will be hostile crowds not-so-sorry to see the Longhorns leave.
Sarkisian expects to see everybody's best shot in 2023.
"It won't be awkward for us," Sarkisian said. "I can't speak for anybody else. We've got a roster full of players, quite frankly, who came to the University of Texas to win a Big 12 championship. We've got one more opportunity to do that."