{"id":32428,"date":"2025-11-02T23:17:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T23:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/32428\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T23:17:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T23:17:08","slug":"the-texas-longhorns-aced-their-first-november-test-but-more-await-everybody-is-hungry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/32428\/","title":{"rendered":"The Texas Longhorns aced their first November test but more await: \u2018Everybody is hungry\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN \u2014 The seven-spot climb that Texas took in Sunday\u2019s AP Top 25 poll<\/a> suggests that voters believed an almost-perfect win vs. a ranked opponent was enough to recertify the preseason title favorites as legitimate contenders<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The man in charge considers it a box that the Longhorns are now required to check in order to survive. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all statement wins right now,\u201d Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said after Saturday 34-31 win vs. Vanderbilt<\/a>. \u201cWe put ourselves in this position.\u201d<\/p>\n

The position that the No. 13 Longhorns<\/a> (7-2, 4-1 SEC) are in is a precarious one. They\u2019re one of a baker\u2019s dozen teams with multiple ranked wins this season and, per ESPN, own the nation\u2019s ninth-best strength of resume and a 54% chance to reach the College Football Playoffs for a third consecutive year. Their performance in conference play \u2014 which includes a loss to lowly Florida and overtime wins against two teams that are winless in the league \u2014 raised questions of the team\u2019s mettle. The schedule they have left to play is among the toughest any postseason hopeful will face and they likely cannot afford another loss if they hope to remain one. <\/p>\n

Sports Roundup<\/p>\n

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So, to Sarkisian\u2019s point, Saturday\u2019s win at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium was a statement that the Longhorns aren\u2019t yet out of the fight. It was only the first test<\/a>, though, in a November slate that will determine the team\u2019s immediate future. <\/p>\n

\u201cI addressed what the month of November is going to be with the team, but then we got into why [the Vanderbilt game] is so important if the month of November\u2019s going to be that important,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cThat\u2019s going to be the next one, too, and we\u2019ve got to pour all of our energy and focus and intent into the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next game, at No. 5 Georgia (7-1, 5-1) in two weeks after a bye, will test Texas with a program that beat it twice last season and has won 33 of its last 34 games at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga. Arkansas \u2014 winless in conference play and without a permanent head coach \u2014 offers a reprieve before No. 3 Texas A&M<\/a> (8-0, 5-0) travels two hours west for the final game of the regular season. The Aggies own the best resume in college football, per ESPN, and may very well have a trip to the conference championship game to play for against their in-state rivals. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we can\u2019t lose,\u201d cornerback Malik Muhammad said. \u201cWe know we have no room to lose. We\u2019ll always be motivated. Everybody is hungry because we don\u2019t breed losers; we breed competitors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarkisian believes that the team which played Saturday afternoon is a far more mature unit than the one that loss to Ohio State at the start of the season or even the one that beat Kentucky only by a hair. He credits the 42-day span between home games, the continued growth of their prodigious signal caller<\/a> and their past experiences of do-or-die late-season games in each of the last two seasons. <\/p>\n

The win vs. the Commodores showcased that and the brand of Texas football that can hack it with the conference\u2019s best. Quarterback Arch Manning played arguably his best game against a serious power conference opponent yet. The reconfigured offensive line didn\u2019t allow a sack vs. an above-average pass rush. The run game was a benefit, not a negative, and the defense largely bottled up a dual-threat quarterback before a fourth-quarter lapse. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing on the road for four weeks straight and being able to come home, in front of our fans, and show our dominance at a high level and be able to enjoy the game at a high level [shows growth],\u201d running back Quintrevion Wisner said. \u201cEveryone\u2019s understanding what it\u2019s going to take to get to the SEC championship where we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next four weeks will determine if they can get there. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know what the goals are this season,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cWe can be real with them about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a>College football poll (Nov. 2): Texas Tech jumps into top 10 after Kansas State takedown<\/a><\/p>\n

Texas A&M is still in the top five, while UNT and SMU received votes for this week\u2019s AP Top 25 poll.<\/p>\n

\"Vanderbilt<\/a>Steve Sarkisian breaks down what went wrong for Texas in fourth quarter vs. Vanderbilt<\/a><\/p>\n

Sarkisian touched on the officiating and some defensive breakdowns in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Find more Texas coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN \u2014 The seven-spot climb that Texas took in Sunday\u2019s AP Top 25 poll suggests that voters believed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3230,3688,154,3231,27,260,29,537,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-32428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-arch-manning","9":"tag-colleges","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-steve-sarkisian","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-texas-am-aggies","14":"tag-texas-headlines","15":"tag-texas-longhorns","16":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}