It\u2019s championship or bust for the Longhorns.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
And not even remotely close to being accurate. Neither is probably likely. It doesn\u2019t have to be that restricting scenario.<\/p>\n
Does Texas have a championship roster? Of course, it does. The best in Steve Sarkisian\u2019s six years without question.<\/p>\n
Would a non-championship season be a meltdown and doom Texas for the future? That\u2019s just stupid. Nobody believes that. Remember, it took Darrell Royal<\/a> seven years to win a national championship. Took Mack Brown<\/a> eight. And neither of them coached in the lion\u2019s den of the SEC.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n So what exactly would bust look like? And what would that mean going ahead if the Longhorns did miss the College Football Playoff<\/a> for the second year in a row?<\/p>\n Would Texas actually fire a head coach who has won 10 games or more three straight seasons before 2026? Highly, highly unlikely. It is true if the Longhorns fall to Ohio State (again) in Week 2, dejection in Austin will climb higher than gas prices.<\/p>\n Sarkisian has his faults but has shown he can win big, can beat rivals Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Arkansas consistently and deserves tremendous credit for turning the program around even if he can\u2019t beat Georgia<\/a> or Ohio State<\/a> or win the SEC to this point or score in the red zone.<\/p>\n ALSO SEE: 5 keys to Longhorns returning to CFP<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But if the program doesn\u2019t end its title drought extending back to 2005 soon, will Texas wilt in self-pity and look for an escape clause to leave the SEC and join the Sun Belt? Would Chris Del Conte<\/a> drop the football program and add women\u2019s flag football or rugby? Would the administration pave over DKR and turn it into the world\u2019s biggest outdoor pickleball arena and pour all its money into softball and swimming?<\/p>\n Of course not. Texas would go to the ACC. Just kidding.<\/p>\n But also, bust means nada. OK, maybe if disaster struck and Texas went 7-5 \u2014 yes, and that would qualify as a disaster \u2014 Longhorn fans\u2019 hearts would be busted and Sarkisian would have to make serious changes to staff and strategy.<\/p>\n But seriously the Longhorns aren\u2019t going away, no matter how this season plays out. Write that in stone.<\/p>\n Arch Manning and the Longhorns won 10 games in 2025 and are expeting more for 2026.<\/p>\n Dustin Markland\/Getty Images<\/p>\n If Texas does miss the College Football Playoff, it says here it will still have the makings of a championship roster for 2027. And 2028. And beyond. Have you seen the transfers and recruits Sarkisian has brought in? As a big-time franchise, it\u2019s all but recession-proof. Then again, USC, Nebraska, UCLA, Florida State, Arkansas and Penn State used to think the same thing.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But what would really change?<\/p>\n Texas would still be flush with money. Austin\u2019s still Austin. Recruits would still be tooling around in Lamborghinis and Mercedes. The coeds are still pretty. Players would still get a world-class degree if they bother to Zoom into their classes.<\/p>\n Another 9-3 regular season, however, would be monumentally disappointing. Monumentally, but not cause for catastrophe.<\/p>\n That said, even though this is probably the most talented roster on paper since Brown\u2019s salad days of 2004-09, I\u2019m not prepared to say Texas will win it all this fall\/winter because, well,\u00a0Sarkisian hasn\u2019t done it yet. I bought the hype last year and had the Longhorns No. 1<\/a> in August and Arch Manning poised to deliver a December speech<\/a> in New York.<\/p>\n Didn\u2019t happen. Not going down that road again. Let\u2019s see \u2018em earn it.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Texas hasn\u2019t proven it can win the big game lately and too often loses a little one (Florida)<\/a> now and then for me to go all-in.<\/p>\n So I\u2019m penciling in the Longhorns for a 10-2 record with losses to Ole Miss and Texas A&M but still land a CFP berth because of a win over the Buckeyes, leading to a run to the\u00a0semifinals where they will lose to Oregon. A strong season but hardly satisfactory.<\/p>\n With that in mind, here are my projections for this season. Gamble on them at your own risk.<\/p>\n Manning will look so much more comfortable with 15 starts under his belt and will come out firing. Expect him to throw for 3,745 yards \u2014 second behind Colt McCoy\u2019s 3,859 yards \u2014 and 31 touchdowns just behind McCoy\u2019s 34 against only six interceptions. Arch will also improve his accuracy from 61.4 to 68%. He will dial back his running because of a better offensive line and better backfield behind him but still run for 386 yards and eight scores. The Cam Coleman Show<\/a> will be electric. He\u2019ll catch 72 passes for 954 yards and eight touchdowns and make one acrobatic grab after another. Ryan Wingo, bulkier but with no loss of speed, will still specialize with the bubble screens and quick outs and jet sweeps and break five gains of more than 50 yards before finishing with 65 balls for 873 yards and nine touchdowns. Colin Simmons<\/a> will roar. The junior edge rusher will lead the SEC in sacks again and put up 15, the second-most in a single season in school history but still 7 \u00bd behind the immortal\u00a0Kiki DeAyala. He\u2019ll have another 12 quarterback hurries and terrorize opposing quarterbacks. He\u2019ll also have 61 tackles. Ryan Niblett<\/a> will return two punts for touchdowns for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n
\nKJ Lacey Jr. will assume the backup role as he should to prepare the team for Life After Arch. He won\u2019t get that many snaps but will throw for 189 yards and two scores and run for two more.
\nTexas will have a 1,000-yard runner after last year\u2019s anomaly, but it\u2019s really hard to pick between Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers. Smothers should be the starter and go for 1,138 yards and 12 touchdowns and will become a long-range threat and score four times from more than 40 yards. Brown will get more short-yardage carries and put up 823 yards and seven touchdowns. They\u2019ll combine to catch 66 passes for 359 yards and four touchdowns.
\nTrue freshman Derrek Cooper will get his shot and show a ton of promise with 212 yards and two scores.<\/p>\n
\nPut down Emmett Mosley V for 38 receptions and four scores. Look out as true freshman\u00a0Jermaine Bishop Jr.<\/a> will flash and score twice as the future at that position.
\nMichael Masunas, the transfer from Michigan State, has the heft to start at tight end but will be a threat in the short passing game and make 36 catches for six touchdowns. Defenses can\u2019t double-team every receiver.
\nThe offensive line, paced by junior offensive tackle and man-child Trevor Goosby<\/a>, will be much-improved and allow just 20 sacks. It had better be to answer the pivotal question about this team.<\/p>\n
\nSophomore Lance Jackson came on last year and will continue to impress at the other defensive end and show up large and have eight sacks as part of Will Muschamp\u2019s Sack Exchange that will have 44 quarterback putdowns to rank in the top five in college football. Brad Spence, a situational pass rusher, will have four sacks, and Hero Kanu and Alex January two apiece.
\nEdge rusher Richard Wesley will open a lot of eyes and make two huge plays as the freshman of the year.
\nBolstered by big body Ian\u00a0Geffard inside, the defensive line will once again devour opposing run games and allow just 120 yards a game on the ground to rank in the top 20 nationally.
\nLinebacker Rasheem Biles<\/a> will lead the team in tackles with 85, but Justin\u00a0Cryer<\/a> will also play well.
\nThe volatile Muschamp, no shrinking violet, will be flagged twice for wandering too far onto the field during games and will break a school-record four clipboards in defensive meetings.
\nSafety Jelani McDonald will replace Michael Taaffe as the voice of the secondary and crush it with 75 tackles and four interceptions.
\nGraceson Littleton will play several spots in the defensive backfield and have the biggest hit of the season.
\nGianni Spetic, the\u00a0kicker transfer from Memphis who has made just 46 of 62 field goals in three season, will connect on 16 of 20 field-goal attempts, make two 50-yarders and hit one game-winner.<\/p>\n
\nTexas will actually run back a kickoff for positive yardage.
\nThe special-teams warrior will be Warren Roberson.
\nSimmons, Coleman, Goosby and Niblett will be first-team All-Americans. Manning will make some second teams as will Biles and McDonald. All six of those will be first-team All-SEC selections. Littleton, Kanu, offensive tackle Melvin Siani will make all-conference second team.
\nTexas will hold off a feisty Texas State in the opener, finally beat Ohio State when Coleman and Wingo will outshine Jeremiah Smith but fall to Trinidad Chambliss and the Rebels at DKR and lose the turkey tilt to the Aggies and Mike Elko, who has to win that game<\/a> or risk exile from College Station.
\nTwo losses in the last six games will cost the Longhorns a spot in the SEC title game, but they\u2019ll get a CFP at-large selection and beat SMU in the first round and Texas Tech in the quarterfinals before falling to the Ducks in the semis to finish 12-3.
\nThe parade alas will be canceled. But 2027 looks promising.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN \u2014 The die has been cast. The perception of this year\u2019s Texas team has already been ensconced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-419221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419221","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=419221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}