Over the years, Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian has consistently cautioned reporters that he doesn’t speak in hypotheticals. He wasn’t about to start Monday.
Ranked 17th in the College Football Playoff rankings, Texas (8-3, 5-2 SEC) closes out the regular season Friday with a home game against No. 3 Texas A&M (11-0, 7-0). Sarkisian was asked Monday if he thought that a win over the Aggies should catapult the Longhorns into the postseason.
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“I’ll talk about that after the game,” Sarkisian said. “If we’re fortunate enough to win the game, I’ll talk about that after the game. I think that would be the better platform.”
Nov 30, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko, left, shakes hands with Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian after the game. The Longhorns defeated the Aggies 17-7. at Kyle Field.
Maria Lysaker/Imagn Images
He didn’t mind talking to reporters about the job done by Mike Elko at Texas A&M this season, Arch Manning’s development and resolve or Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed. He didn’t mind defending the idea of Texas and Texas A&M playing on Black Friday instead of in its one-time traditional Thanksgiving slot.
MORE: 5 things to know about the Longhorns’ Lone Star rival Texas A&M
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Then there was the topic of third downs.
Texas is running an average of 65 plays per game. On average, the Texas A&M defense is on the field for 61.1 plays each week. That’s a lot of first and second downs. However, Friday might come down to how the Texas offense plays against the Texas A&M defense on third down.
Nov 30, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) is sacked by Texas A&M Aggies linebacker Taurean York (21) in the third quarter of the Lone Star Showdown at Kyle Field.
Sara Diggins/American-Statesman
Texas A&M isn’t allowing much to happen on third down
NO. 17 TEXAS VS. NO. 3 TEXAS A&M
When/where: 6:30 p.m. Friday at Royal-Memorial Stadium.
TV/radio: ABC; 1300 AM, 1370 AM, 98.1 FM, 105.3 FM (Spanish)
This season, A&M has been one of college football’s toughest defenses to face on third down. No team has a better stop rate than A&M, which has given up a first down on just 31 of 141 third-down attempts. That 22.0 percentage ranks first nationally, besting the third-down conversion rates of No. 2 Indiana’s 26.4%, No. 19 Virginia’s 28.5% and No. 1 Ohio State’s 28.6%.
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Texas A&M has yet to let an opponent convert half of its third-down attempts in a game. Four SEC foes — Auburn, Florida, LSU and Mississippi State — went a combined 4-for-46 on third downs and Auburn was shut out on its third-down tries in a 16-10 loss Sept. 27.
“There’s a couple real factors that are problems,” Sarkisian said. “One, they’ve got a great scheme, and coach Elko is notorious for his third-down packages. We’ve gone against each other a few times now over the years, and every year, it’s always the same scouting report of they’re really good on third down. To go along with that, they’ve got really good players.”
MORE: As Texas football’s playoff window closes, No. 3 Aggies should take notes
Texas has converted 40.8% of its third downs. That ranks 62nd nationally. Earlier this month, Texas was 7-for-11 on third downs against Vanderbilt. Last week, Texas went 8-for-12 against Arkansas. Not surprisingly, the Longhorns won both of those games.
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Texas is 10-for-37 on third down in its three losses against Ohio State, Florida and Georgia.
Sarkisian said this week that the key to third-down success is to “be sound in our schemes. But then two, we’re going to have to win one-on-one battles.” Texas quarterback Arch Manning said Texas needs to “be in manageable third downs.”
Texas Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner (26) carries the ball under pressure from Texas A&M Aggies defense in the second quarter of the Lone Star Showdown at Kyle Field in College Station, Nov. 30, 2024.
Sara Diggins/American-Statesman
Texas, Texas A&M combined for just 24 points in last year’s meeting
Texas comes into this weekend on the heels of a 52-point performance against Arkansas. Texas A&M, on the other hand, just recorded a 48-0 win over Samford. For the season, UT is scoring 29.8 points per game while Texas A&M is surrendering 21.5.
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Last year, Texas and Texas A&M met for the first time in 13 years and the reunion was a low-scoring affair. Texas ran for 240 yards in a 17-7 win. The Longhorns, by the way, were 7-for-15 on third down in that 10-point win.