Kirk Herbstreit 'buying in on this new Texas' after Alabama win

Coming off a massive win over Alabama, Texas has done enough to convince many analysts that it’s the real deal and ready to compete for not only a Big 12 championship, but also a College Football Playoff berth.

ESPN College GameDay host Kirk Herbstreit is a believer, but he still wants to see a little more proof.

“The two teams after two weeks that I think are the two that you have to say are real are Florida State and Texas, based on what we’ve seen and what they’ve been able to do,” Herbstreit said. “That win last week now, on the back end, how does (Quinn) Ewers and Texas handle it? Old Texas, they’re going to show up flat today. Old Texas is going to stumble against a team they shouldn’t.”

Texas has a decent chance to regroup this week, taking on Wyoming.

It’s a game that the Longhorns can’t afford to lose if they’re a legitimate playoff contender. So how the Longhorns handle prosperity this week and beyond will be key.

“I’m buying in on this new Texas, another team that has suffered and been through some pain,” Herbstreit said. “They’ve got the quarterback. I just hope they use this as a springboard, not a game they say, ‘yeah’ and then just go back down.”

Joel Klatt a believer in Texas

Chalk up FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt as another believer in Texas early in the 2023 season. He explained his reasoning on his show this week.

“Texas, you just did something. You just did something that basically nobody does,” Klatt said on The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast. “In fact, the only team that has in the last 54 games in Tuscaloosa is the Joe Burrow–LSU Tigers who went on to win the national championship, and that’s beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

“I have thought Texas is really good since the summer. I didn’t want to talk about it. I really didn’t. Why? Because they constantly play to the level of their competition. And candidly, we’ve seen that in both of the games this season in their sloppy and sluggish performance against Rice, in particular on the offensive line. And then, their incredible performance on the road against Alabama.”

Klatt said he believes Texas is an ‘elite’ team this year.