No. 3 Texas Takes Aim at Championship Aspirations

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When Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian arrived in Austin, Texas, in January 2021, the Texas Longhorns had suffered through more than a decade of disappointment and mediocrity, spending 11 years outside of national championship contention.

It was a far cry from the glory days of Mack Brown, and the questions and dissatisfaction continued throughout Sarkisian's first two seasons at the helm. Yet, the Longhorns righted the ship with a College Football Playoff appearance last season and enter the final week of the 2024 regular season with a chance to contend again by earning a berth in the Southeastern Conference Championship game.

Little Milestones

No. 3 Texas (10-1, 6-1 SEC) has now won at least 10 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. The 2009-10 season ended with a loss in the national championship, and Texas has not returned to the title game since. While the double-digit win seasons are a good sign of progress, the Longhorns still have work to do to get back to where they once were.

"I don't think in my opening press conference I said 'I came to the University of Texas to win 10 games,'" Sarkisian remarked as he spoke with the media on Nov. 25. "We came here to win championships. That's been our goal, that's been the standard and that's what we'll keep striving for."

Nonetheless, Sarkisian acknowledges the 10-win seasons are a sign of progress within the program. But with the opportunities ahead, he and his team are hungry for more and excited for the challenges.

"We touched on a couple little milestones," Sarkisian added. "Back-to-back 10-win seasons for us now, which is a nice little milestone. Think we've got 10 straight road wins now heading into this road opportunity that we have, which is exciting."

Next Challenge for No. 3 Texas

To reach the SEC title game, Texas will have to go through archrival No. 20 Texas A&M (8-3, 5-2) on the road as the two renew their long-standing rivalry as SEC foes for the first time. The road success that the Longhorns have had is a tremendous asset, and it has added confidence to an already skilled team.

"We turn these away games into home games almost," senior linebacker David Gbenda told the media. "Not in the sense of the atmosphere but in the sense how we play in the environment. It's just a different type of energy that we bring into those games. It's just so much more fun on the road because there's a bunch of people heckling us, talking down on us and it lights a fire under us to prove everybody wrong."

That approach will be greatly challenged on Nov. 30 as the atmosphere at Texas A&M's Kyle Field is one of the most hostile and unique environments in college football. The Longhorns know they are in for a challenge, but they are also eager to embrace the history of the rivalry and complete the task at hand to take another step in the right direction

"It's special being a part of history," Gbenda said. "Being in the program a long time, coming in the goal was to turn it around, and obviously, being in the position that we're in and being able to experience games like this is just amazing."

"[It's an] Exciting time to revive the rivalry with A&M," Sarkisian added. "To go to College Station Saturday with an opportunity to play in the SEC Championship game on the line. College GameDay being there, definitely exciting."