Texas Football Should Be Good This Year

College football season is once again upon us, which means the return of America's most dysfunctional sport at arguably the most dysfunctional time in its 150-year-plus history. Universities continue to swap conferences like swingers at an orgy while the runaway train of NIL (name, image, and likeness) has reduced recruiting to a competition to see which schools are most desperate to throw millions at football to suppress their deep-seated inferiority complexes (looking at you, Aggies).

Who are we kidding? There's not an interscholastic varsity football program in the nation more starved for success than the Texas Longhorns. The Fightin' Bevos haven't seriously competed for a national title since year one of the Obama administration and have racked up more losses in the last 12 years than it did in the previous 21. And yet, hope springs eternal on the Forty Acres, as it has every August since the game with the oblong ball made its way south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Usual hoopla aside, Texas enters the third season under head coach Steve Sarkisian in somewhat of an awkward position. A highly anticipated move to the Southeastern Conference beckons in 2024, but first, the Horns must trudge through one more season in a mutated version of the Big 12, a league Texas hasn't won since 2009. Because of the new additions to the conference – namely, Houston, BYU, UCF, and Cincinnati – Texas' schedule looks unrecognizable from seasons past and, generally speaking, pretty tame. Aside from a supersized September 9 date with the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, there isn't a ton on the docket that scares you … which may be the most terrifying notion possible for scarred and weary UT fans.

Vegas has Texas as an even-money favorite to win the Big 12 on its way out the door, handicapping the Longhorns to win double-digit games for just the second time in the past 14 seasons. Sarkisian rolls into the season off the back of consecutive top five recruiting classes, and his team should boast a stark talent advantage almost every time it lines up on Saturday. The only question: Is this finally the year that any of that actually matters?

"I think we're plenty talented enough. There's a lot of good football players on our team," Sarkisian said in his press conference to open training camp. "We can win a variety of ways this fall, you know? We can win high-scoring games, we could win low-scoring games ... which, I think, as a championship team, that's what you have to have."

One would think that Sarkisian, who has yet to top nine wins in any season of his head coaching career, would be a bit more hesitant to put the words "we" and "championship team" in a sentence that doesn't also include the words, "probably aren't a." But "Sark" does have a point. On paper (where UT rarely loses), it's hard to spot a weakness.

Sure, transcendent superstar Bijan Robinson has moved on to the NFL, where the Atlanta Falcons made him the highest-drafted running back in five years, while bruising running mate Roschon Johnson also landed in the fourth round. Despite those losses, the Longhorns' new-look backfield is primed to be among the deepest and most talented units in the nation, led by redshirt sophomore Jonathon Brooks. Brooks impressed in limited action a year ago, turning 30 total carries into five touchdowns, including a memorable 70-yarder against Kansas. Behind Brooks, Keilan Robinson will reprise and likely expand his change-of-pace role, while five-star freshman CJ Baxter begins what could be the next legendary career for a Longhorn tailback. All three backs should benefit from an offensive line that's a year better and more experienced than the one Robinson and Johnson ran behind. Sophomore left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. is arguably the best player on the entire team.

Meanwhile, Texas' biggest strength on the roster this season is likely its wide receiver room, which is absolutely loaded. Xavier Worthy is a Biletnikoff Award favorite, while security blanket Jordan Whittington returns for his fifth campaign in Burnt Orange. They'll be joined this year by Georgia transfer Adonai "AD" Mitchell, coming off back-to-back national championship victories, as well as a talented group of backups that most Power Five schools would trade in their starters for. Throw in athletic tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders and Texas' pass catchers will have a chance to dominate any defense they line up against.

Of course, receivers are only as good as the quarterback throwing them the football … which is where the most intrigue lies in this Texas offense. Yes, super-recruit Arch Manning is on the roster for his freshman season, but he's not expected to see the field apart from garbage time. Instead, it'll be the Quinn Ewers show under center for what's shaping up to be one of the most fascinating years for a Texas starting quarterback in recent memory. Ewers, who played great in moments last season but lacked consistency and health, has all the talent and pedigree to play lights-out this season and waltz into the top 10 of next year's NFL draft. Alternatively, he could also find himself benched before midseason. Somehow, both outcomes seem equally likely, especially with the talented and physically impressive Maalik Murphy lurking in the backup spot.

"I learned a whole lot about myself last year and really how much this sport means to me," Ewers said. "It showed me what I need to be for this team and for myself."

The Longhorn defense is less star-studded than the offense and lost many more starters in the offseason, including DeMarvion Overshown and Keondre "Snacks" Coburn. Still, defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski's unit, anchored by star middle linebacker Jaylan Ford, should be able to contain most offenses it will come up against this season.

"Should" really is the operative word for the 2023 Texas Longhorns. They are, on paper, a great team that's scheduled to play a lot of average-to-bad teams. That should translate to a lot of wins. It should lead to a Big 12 championship. It should end with tons of momentum and excitement surrounding next season's migration to the SEC. But this is Texas. Where nothing is quite what it should be.

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The University of Texas Longhorns kick off the season against Rice on Saturday, Sept. 2, at 2:30pm at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.

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2023 Football Schedule

Sept. 2, 2:30pm, vs. Rice
Sept. 9, 6pm, at Alabama
Sept. 16, 7pm, vs. Wyoming
Sept. 23 at Baylor
Sept. 30 vs. Kansas
Oct. 7 vs. Oklahoma (Red River Showdown at Cotton Bowl)
Oct. 21 at Houston
Oct. 28 vs. BYU
Nov. 4 vs. Kansas State
Nov. 11 at TCU
Nov. 18 at Iowa State
Nov. 24 vs. Texas Tech