Your Team Can Win a National Championship: Texas Edition

Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns are the only program in this year’s 12-team CFP that was in the playoff last year. That sounds pretty impressive, but even more so when you factor in that last year was a 4 team playoff. This is a huge milestone for the Longhorns, because it has been over a decade since they’ve had sustained success of this magnitude. However, I’m not ready to say that Texas is back just yet, for a program filled with rich tradition and accolades just making the playoffs is not the goal. When/If Texas wins a National Championship with Sark, I will then officially deem them as “back”. Is this the year that happens?

Texas can win a national championship because they are a top 4 team in the playoff in the Blue-Chip Rating. Blue-Chip Rating (BCR) is the amount of 4 and 5 stars you have on your team divided by the overall number of players on your team. Now, we have learned stars don’t mean everything when it comes to performance, but there is a direct correlation between the most successful programs and their BCR. Texas’s roster is the most complete it’s been in over a Decade, thanks to Sark who saw first-hand how to build a roster, Texas has the beef on the lines, the playmakers on the outside, and the depth (at least as much depth you can have in the transfer portal era). There is not a single program they will face that can outclass their athletes, and after what we say tonight with Indiana vs Notre Dame, that is half the battle.

Texas can win a national championship because of their defense. Texas has a top 10 defense by every metric, and it is only ranked behind the Buckeyes in PPG, allowing just 12.5 points. The Longhorn’s defense allowed over 20 points only 3 times this year, 2 of which came in their 2 losses to Georgia. Their Defense is stout all over but where they really shine is their secondary. Led by Jahdae Barron at corner, who was just awarded the Jim Thorpe award for the best defensive back in CFB, Texas’s defense recorded 20 interceptions, 17 forced fumbles and 38 sacks this year. DC Pete Kwiatkowski, who has had success at every one of his stops, has a plethora of talent outside of Barron to work with. Andrew Mukuba and Michael Taaffe play the safety positions and are arguably the best safety pairing in all of college football. Then Anthony Hill Jr. leads the team in tackles with 90, and is second in sacks with 7.5, and he anchors the middle of the defense. If Texas’s defense can hold a team to under 20 points, which statistically is likely, there’s a good chance they can make a run for the title.

Texas can win a national championship because of their path and their head coach. it is no secret that the Longhorn’s offense has struggle this year, which comes as a surprise to many, due to the fact that Head Coach Steve Sarkisian is one of the best offensive minds in all of College Football. But what really sets Sark apart from other coaches, is adapting in game and willingness to make changes on the fly. I think we see a little more of that during the playoffs as well, specifically with the Ewers Manning controversy we have brewing. Texas earned the 5 seed which gave them the draw of the sole 3 loss team in the playoffs, Clemson, and then a matchup with Arizona State in the second round. Their path would strengthen, more than likely facing Oregon in the semi-final, but I like Texas’s chances against the ducks. Texas’s only losses this year came from Georgia, who has a very similar roster make-up as Texas. I think Texas might have the best roster to compete with Oregon in a one game showdown so that’s why I like their chances.

Texas CAN’T win a national championship because Quinn Ewers is in a slump. Anyone that has played baseball knows that slumps are infuriating, because there’s no rhyme or reason to them, and you have no idea when you’ll break out of it, or how you’ll break out of it. Now, behind Ewers, Arch Manning is patiently waiting to be called upon for his team in the spotlight. The Manning name carries a lot of weight, and so does his on-field abilities, but Arch has had limited game experience and the idea of him being thrusted into the CFP during the middle of a game doesn’t seem like the best situation for him. Texas is a perfect example of the saying that, if you have 2 quarterbacks, you don’t have 1. So regardless of who Sark decides to ride with (which is Ewers at the moment), he can’t flip flop back and forth, he has to commit and let the team rally behind them.