The eyes of Texas– and the rest of the college football world– are on Longhorns’ first year coach Steve Sarkisian after an uncharacteristic five straight defeats, including a 57-56 loss last week to perennial Big 12 bottom dweller Kansas in overtime at Austin.
This is the worst stretch for Texas football in 65 years.
the Longhorns are 4-6 and a three point underdog for this week’s road trip to West Virginia. The only way to finish above .500 is to win out.
This is not what the Texas Exes had in mind when they brought in Sarkisian, the creative, former Alabama offensive coordinator, to take the program to the next level. Fans weren’t satisfied with Tom Herman, who offered the program stability and led it to four straight bowl games and a Sugar Bowl win over Georgia in 2018.
They are desperate to be part of the national championship mix. So the administration axed him and gave Sarkisian a six-year, $34 dollar deal.
So how’s that working out.
The Longhorns hit rock bottom against Kansas, which Kansas had lost 18 straight Big 12 games and 56 straight conference road games. The Jayhawks not only torched Texas’ defense but their defense knocked running back Bijan Robinson, the Longhorns’ best player who had rushed for 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns, out for the season. Texas will try to win its final two games against West Virginia and Kansas State just to be bowl eligible.
The Longhorns, who have not won a Big 12 title since 2009, are going through a period of self examination after the Kansas debacle. There has been high attrition from the 2018 and 2019 recruiting classes. There was also a leaked video of assistant coach Bo Davis who went on an expletive laced rant that lit up the players for laughing and joking around on the team bus following a 31-7 loss to Iowa State the first weekend of November. Davis said any players who do not take losing seriously were welcome to leave. Wide receiver Joshua Moore, a former team standout, left the team at midseason after reportedly arguing with coaches at practice. the losing streak includes three blown double digit leads in the second half.
But nothing hit home like the meltdown against Kansas.
The Jayhawks jumped out to a 35-14 lead at half after scoring three touchdowns in the space of 86 seconds. Jalon Daniels scored on a nine-yard run. Then Texas quarterback Hudson Card was stripped and 21 seconds later, Kansas jumped out to a 28-14 lead on a 19-yard TD pass from Daniels to Devin Neal. Then Card threw a pick six with a minute to go in the half.
Texas has a problem at quarterback.
Sarkisian, who built a reputation as a quarterback whisperer as an assistant at USC and Alabama, turned to Card in place of benched Casey Thompson against Iowa State in an attempt to find a spark against Iowa State, Both played against Kansas. Card completed 3 of 5 passes for 52 yards and a touchdown. But Thompson got most of the snaps. Sarkisian keeps flipping the switch, searching for answers but it is hard to compete at the highest level without a dependable QB1. To Texas credit, the Longhorns got back in the game against Kansas with Thompson, who threw for four touchdown passes including a 25 yard touchdown to Cade Brewer with 22 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. But the Longhorns defense allowed Kansas an average 5.58 yards for play.
I actually thought Sarkisian was the answer at Texas. He may still be. But the topics right now don’t look good.
