Concerning SEC Trend Could Spell Doom for Texas Longhorns

Since 2019 (not including the 2020 COVID season), only four SEC teams have won true road games in back-to-back weeks, and they're some pretty elite teams. The list is as follows:

• 2019 LSU (defeated Alabama 46-41, Ole Miss 58-37; won national championship)
• 2022 Georgia (defeated Mississippi State 45-19, Kentucky 16-6; won national championship)
• 2023 Georgia (defeated Tennessee 38-10, Georgia Tech 31-23; SEC runner-up)
• 2023 Alabama (defeated Mississippi State 40-17, Texas A&M 26-20; SEC champion, CFP participant)

Some great teams have also had their title hopes dashed by having back-to-back true road games, including Alabama in 2022 and Ole Miss last year.

Needless to say, the Longhorns have a massive challenge ahead of them heading into Saturday's game against Mississippi State, especially considering that they just barely squeaked by Kentucky last week. Leading up to the game, head coach Steve Sarkisian made sure to point out the challenge of not just the back-to-back road games, but not playing at home for an entire month.

"This stretch has been difficult, too, from a mindset perspective," Sarkisian told reporters. "And so I know we've got other games down the road that everybody's looking to, man, we've got a bullseye on this one, because this is the most important game of the season for us. Because it's the next one. And we've said all along, the SEC is a very daunting task when you work your way through our conference.

"And Michael Taaffe reminded me in the locker room after the game the other night, the SEC champs of last year went to that same stadium and won 13-12. And so it's not always about how pretty wins are in our conference. Sometimes you just got to find a way to win. And we were able to do that, and now our focus is on by any means necessary, we got to find a way to win Saturday in Starkville, Mississippi. And it's going to be to be a challenge. It's going to be a tough game."