Season Outlook for Texas After the Loss

 Head coach Steve Sarkisian pointed out last week that going undefeated to win the championship is no longer an entirely realistic expectation, given the expanded playoffs and nine-game conference schedules.

Instead, a couple of losses throughout the journey to postseason play is more reasonable. He also provided last year’s Ohio State, which won the national championship after going 10-2 in the regular season and missing its conference championship.

While that may be true, it is unlikely that teams will prevail and get their opportunity in postseason play if they lose more than two games, and that’s exactly where Texas is at right now: two losses.

The season-opening loss against Ohio State wasn’t too worrisome, as the Longhorns were led by a new quarterback, while multiple factors played a part in the loss. But now, Texas is 3-2 after a loss to an unranked 2-3 Florida team.

Concerns are growing as Texas is now unranked after a very disappointing loss to the Gators, and next up on the schedule is No. 6 Oklahoma, and then two more weeks on the road against SEC teams.

From that point on, Texas will still have three more Top 25 teams in Vanderbilt, Georgia and Texas A&M on the schedule. With that being said, it’s looking like it might be time to reevaluate where the Longhorns are headed.

However, head coach Steve Sarkisian doesn’t think so.

“We’re a one-loss team in the SEC. There’s a lot of football left to be played,” Sarkisian said after the loss to Florida. “We’ve got 7 conference games to be played. I’m not going to sit here and give the poor me’s and the woe is us. We’ll get back ready to go.”

Sarkisian also mentioned how they can’t sit and look at the big picture; they must focus on what’s next and put their best foot forward for the game this weekend. That is true, to an extent.

Florida has a great defense; there’s no debating that. But the thing is, Florida is nowhere near the best team that the Longhorns have already or have yet to face, considering that Texas has faced No. 1 Ohio State and has yet to face No. 5 Texas A&M.

This isn’t to say that Sarkisian and Texas need to go and reevaluate the entire season and their goals right now. But this is to say that if these persistent issues on offense and defense don’t get resolved, then that will have to happen.

As it stands, Texas has the benefit of facing Oklahoma at a neutral site, and Texas A&M and Vanderbilt at home. Meanwhile, the Longhorns still have to travel to Athens to face the No. 10-ranked Bulldogs.

As much as Sarkisian may hold comfort in the fact that Texas is a one-loss SEC team, it has two losses overall, so realistically, winning out will be the only way to preserve any playoff hopes now.

If the Longhorns continue to perform like they have, then it’s fair to say that there are at least three to four more potential losses on the schedule. If they can right their wrongs, winning out is not unreasonable, considering the talent this team possesses.

Next up for Texas: A trip to Dallas for the Red River Rivalry against the No. 6 Sooners on Saturday. We’ll see what happens when the game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC.