Steve Sarkisian: Texas has makeup 'to be champions this fall'

Texas goes into the 2024 season feeling fully ‘back’ after nearly a decade and a half of top-level futility in college football.

The team reached the College Football Playoff for the first time in 2023, and coach Steve Sarkisian feels like his team now has the make-up for a repeat trip this season, albeit in the expanded edition of the playoff.

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“We’ve got great leadership on this team,” Sarkisian said Wednesday on an SEC teleconference call. “We’ve got a lot of veteran players that have been in this program for three or four years that have an idea of what it takes to get back there. They’ve done a great job of leading our younger players, which are very talented younger players, of what the demands are and how we hold people accountable and the discipline that it takes and the mental and physical toughness and the commitment that it takes.”

Texas has a returning starting quarterback, which is usually a pretty important piece to maintaining play at a high level. And Quinn Ewers isn’t just good, he’s potentially great.

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Ewers threw for 3,161 yards and 21 touchdowns last season, while rushing for five more scores. If he can take a step forward, the Longhorns should pick up right where they left off.

Of course it isn’t all on Ewers.

A talented skill position group must be retooled, and the Longhorns have suffered some major injuries in the backfield already this season. Still, the mindset is there for Sarkisian.

“All of those things add up to I feel very comfortable with the fact that our team is hungry and working toward trying to be champions this fall,” Sarkisian said.

Paul Finebaum picks Texas No. 2 in SEC

At least one ESPN analyst doesn’t see Texas taking the top spot in the SEC this fall. That’s Paul Finebaum, who voiced that opinion recently on an episode of Get Up.

“I don’t,” Finebaum said, regarding if he believes Texas can win the SEC. “I think they’re good enough to contend. Steve Sarkisian told me a couple of weeks ago he’s thrilled with his depth. I mean, they have a great quarterback. They’ve lost a key player or two though, in the running back room. That worries me.

“I think Georgia is too good. Texas could conceivably play in the SEC Championship Game, but I think Georgia — even though Georgia has to go to Texas on Oct. 19, they could even lose that game, I still think Georgia wins the SEC.”

Texas will open its season — with the chance to start proving Finebaum wrong — on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET against Colorado State. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.