Is the 2024 Red River Showdown a must-win for Steve Sarkisian?
No. Thanks for reading.
Steve Sarkisian is 1-2 versus the Oklahoma Sooners as head coach at Texas. I’ve seen it mentioned a few times that he can’t afford to drop to 1-3. Texas should win next Saturday because it’s the better, more complete, and deeper team, but if the Sooners upset the Horns, like last year, it will have zero impact on Sarkisian as Texas’ head coach.
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A loss wouldn’t even mean Texas is out of the SEC title race. As of now, every team in the conference has a loss, save Texas. And if Texas is still in the conference title race, it would certainly remain in the thick of the expanded college football playoff hunt. After all, Alabama is still alive for both conference title and playoff hunt after its loss to Vanderbilt.
A loss to OU would be disappointing on the heels of last year’s game where the Sooners outplayed Texas and earned the victory. I think everyone can agree, even Sooners and Longhorns fans, that Texas is better than it was last year while OU is worse.
Another loss could also marginally impact recruiting, at least in theory.
If you look at the first three games Sark has been a part of, his teams have punched above their weight. Texas amounted a large lead in 2021 before Caleb Williams came in and saved the day. That ended up being a 5-7 Texas team. In 2022, Texas destroyed OU 49-0, though there’s plenty of context to explain the Sooners poor performance, at least on offense. Still, an eventual 8-5 Texas showed up and did what it was supposed to do. Last season, OU came out hot before Texas settled in and took a late lead only to give it up at the last minute. It was a frustrating loss but the better team that day won the game.
What happened after that loss? Texas didn’t lose again until the College Football Playoffs and finished the year one play away from competing against Michigan for the national championship.
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The main reason it isn’t a must-win is because Sark is the man of the present and future at Texas. His career won’t be judged for years and his performance against OU, barring some uncharacteristic blowout losses (Texas has one blowout loss in Sark’s time in Austin — Arkansas 2021) he won’t be judged by what he does against OU. This isn’t Mack Brown.
Kirby Smart, owner of two National Championships at Georgia, is 1-6 against Nick Saban and Alabama.
You know what would be the must-win for Sark? If he faces Kalen DeBoer in the postseason again. But the reason that would be a must-win wouldn’t be because he’s 0-2 against Alabama’s new coach, it would be because he’d need to advance in the playoffs.
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By early Saturday evening I suspect Sark will have evened out his record against OU. It’s testament to the job he’s done that Texas is the No. 1 team in the country, or it will be in an hour when the AP Poll comes out. But if he drops to 1-3, other than reducing some margin of error, it changes nothing for the season or his budding legacy.
