Ranking the Texas Longhorns' wins from the 2024 season

ESPN’s Bill Connelly believes two games that featured the Texas Longhorns during the 2024 campaign were a couple of the 100 best college football games of the entire 2024 season. His reasoning is hard to argue with, as a game that will forever go down in Longhorn lore earned top-five billing.

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First, the bad news. Texas’ loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship game was the No. 27 game of the 2024 season. Texas fell to the Bulldogs for the second time in the 2024 campaign, losing in overtime on a Trevor Etienne rushing touchdown.

But now, the good news. The Longhorns’ thrilling double-overtime win over the Arizona State Sun Devils as part of the College Football Playoff’s quarterfinals at the Peach Bowl was ranked as the third-best game of the 2024 season.

Here were Connelly’s thoughts on the 39-31 Texas win that advanced Steve Sarkisian‘s program to back-to-back CFP semifinals.

This year’s best playoff game came in the first-ever quarterfinal round. Texas, having seen off ACC champion Clemson with relative ease, looked like it was going to advance pretty comfortably past Big 12 champ Arizona State in Atlanta. The Horns bolted to an early 14-3 lead after a DeAndre Moore Jr. touchdown catch and Silas Bolden punt return score. They led 17-3 at halftime after ASU went scoreless on a trio of second-quarter trips into Texas territory.

A safety and a field goal bought ASU some time, but the Sun Devils still trailed 24-8 with 10 minutes left. And finally the ASU offense kicked into gear. Cam Skattebo‘s 42-yard touchdown pass to Malik McClain (and a two-point conversion) made it 24-16. Then Javan Robinson picked off a Quinn Ewers pass, and a 62-yard reception by Skattebo — who was reported to be “vomiting profusely” on the sideline earlier in the quarter — set up Skattebo’s game-tying touchdown and two-pointer. Texas drove into field goal range, but Bert Auburn missed a 48-yard field goal with 1:39 left, and after a controversial targeting no-call on ASU’s ensuing drive, Ewers again drove Texas into position for a game-winning field goal, but Auburn missed again at the buzzer.

In overtime, ASU suddenly had the dagger in its hand. Skattebo scored from three yards out — he would finish with 143 rushing yards, 99 receiving yards and 42 passing yards — and ASU quickly forced a fourth-and-13 on Texas’ OT possession. But Ewers fired perfectly to Matthew Golden for a 28-yard score, then rang in the second OT with an immediate TD pass to Gunnar Helm and a successful two-point conversion. Andrew Mukuba picked off a third-down pass on ASU’s possession, and somehow, after both teams had the game all but won, Texas got to advance.

The win was the Longhorns’ first bowl victory of the Sarkisian era, and advanced UT into the semifinals where they squared off against eventual national champion Ohio State.

The No. 2 game according to Connelly was Alabama’s 41-34 win over Georgia in September. The No. 1 game of the year? Vanderbilt’s 40-35 upset win over the Crimson Tide.

The two games picked by Connelly were undoubtedly thrilling affairs. But what were the best games of the Longhorns’ season?

This exercise will exclude the three losses, thrilling though they were, because of their end result. Let’s rank those wins.

13. Colorado State – 52-0

A win against a solid team that ended up 8-4 in the regular season, but not a ton to write home about as domination was expected. However, the run of stingy scoring defense that would carry on throughout most of the rest of the regular season started during the opener, especially when looking at interceptions recorded by Jahdae Barron and Wardell Mack.

12. UL-Monroe – 51-3

Arch Manning‘s first start in the wake of Ewers’ injury wasn’t perfect, but it mattered little because of what the Longhorn defense was able to do. Texas kept the Warhawks out of the end zone, and limited ULM to just 111 total yards. Texas was all over a feeble opponent and set itself up well for SEC play.

11. UTSA – 56-7

Not only did Texas handle success well after the win over Michigan the week prior to this matchup, but the Longhorns also topped a bowl team in the process. It wasn’t all perfect, as Ewers was injured, but that injury’s blow was softened by Manning’s immediate impact. Manning was 9-for-12 with four touchdowns, plus a 67-yard rushing score.

10. Kentucky – 31-14

Thought to be a potential trap game ahead of the 2024 season, this one was clinical save for one bad play from Ewers that resulted in a fumble six. Texas didn’t panic, however, and notched win No. 10 after giving up 21 yards on the ground. There were 11 combined fumbles in this game, and Texas had the only two recovered by the opposing team.

9. Mississippi State – 35-13

Mississippi State finished winless in conference play, but this one is notable because it was Texas’ first SEC win and Manning’s first career start. The Longhorns poured it on in the second half with 21 points in the final two quarters, a run sparked by Manning’s perfect pass to Moore just before time expired in the first half. Manning did his job as Texas’ QB2 to keep winning ways going ahead of Ewers’ return for the Red River Shootout.

8. Vanderbilt – 27-24

Vanderbilt entered this game on a rare three-game winning streak that started with its upset of top-ranked Alabama thanks to Diego Pavia. The Longhorns knew they’d be facing a challenge despite the mostly burnt orange crowd in Nashville. The Commodores played their game, capitalizing on two Texas turnovers to record two touchdowns and make this a battle. However, the Longhorn defense held when it needed, and Texas’ much-maligned special teams recovered Vanderbilt’s last-gasp onside kick attempt to leave with a road SEC victory.

7. Florida – 49-17

The Gators were beaten up, down the top two quarterbacks on their depth chart plus a number of other key pieces. What places this game in the No. 7 spot is just how on point Texas was during this November affair. The Horns were up 35-0 at halftime, tallied 562 total yards, and forced three turnovers. Most of Florida’s successes occurred with the game well out of reach. Ewers passed for five touchdowns, while Jaydon Blue and Jerrick Gibson added rushing scores. Mukuba and Ty’Anthony Smith had interceptions, while Trey Moore forced and recovered a fumble.

6. Arkansas – 20-10

Rivalry wins are always nice, especially at the place where Texas was reminded in 2021 just how far it had to go to measure up with other SEC teams. The Longhorn defense was magnificent, holding the Razorbacks to 10 points and forcing two turnovers. Barron recorded a key interception, Alfred Collins forced a late fumble recovered by Michael Taaffe and the Longhorns’ earned a gritty and game-clinching first down thanks to Ewers’ legs.

5. Michigan – 31-12

This was the moment where it became clear Texas was going to be able to go toe to toe with anyone in the nation. Yes, Michigan was a flawed team, but early season games in stadiums with 110,000-plus fans against the defending national champions are never easy wins. Texas set the tone from the beginning, starting with Helm’s touchdown catch and continuing with a key fourth-down stop of Alex Orji by Vernon Broughton. Michigan’s only score was a late pass when the game was easily in hand. The Longhorns dominated the No. 10 Wolverines and kicked off their run to the College Football Playoff.

4. Oklahoma – 34-3

There was a little trouble early, as Ewers threw an interception during his first series back from injury. But from that point on, it was all Longhorns. Texas played a cleaner game on offense, defense, and special teams, and gave more effort than the then-No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners. Bolden’s 50-yard dash to jump on a loose ball in the end zone will remain one of the best memories from this game, as will Texas’ holding the Sooners out of the end zone for the second time in three seasons.

3. Clemson – 38-24

The unique nature of Texas emerging victorious from the program’s first win-or-go-home held at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium has real significance. Never had a game been played in Austin so late in the calendar year, and certainly not with the season on the line like it was against Clemson. Texas battled a game Tiger program, but Blue and Quintrevion Wisner accounted for 256 yards and four touchdowns, including Blue’s electric 77-yard score after Clemson made it a one possession contest late. What cannot be forgotten is Texas’ fourth-down stop of Clemson at the goal-line, made possible by Bill Norton, Jermayne Lole, and Barryn Sorrell.

2. Texas A&M – 17-7

Another instance where A&M fell short.

The return of the Lone Star Showdown between the Longhorns and the Aggies was as hyped up as a game could get, and was arguably the biggest game in the state of Texas in 2024. Kyle Field was as loud as it has ever been, and an Aggie team that was looking to knock Texas off its pedestal, out of the SEC title race, and possibly even out of the playoff was hyped by the 105,000+ in College Station. It didn’t matter to the Longhorns. A suffocating defensive performance that saw A&M fail to reach 100 yards rushing and fall short of 150 yards passing didn’t allow a single point. The trying time for the Texas defense resulted in the lasting image from this game, when Ethan Burke wrapped up the Aggie ball-carrier in the backfield to stuff A&M at the goal line on fourth down.

Texas A&M’s only score was of the defensive variety, and it came off a batted ball when the Longhorns were about to make the game 24-0. The final score of 17-7 indicates a close contest, but this was never a close one. Texas topped the Aggies to advance to the SEC title game, and let the A&M program know that the decade-long head start it enjoyed in the SEC had evaporated.

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1. Arizona State – 39-31

The race between No. 1 and No. 2 was close. But this game had it all as Connelly noted by ranking it as the No. 3 game in college football in 2024. The Longhorn defense made important tackles when needed, including yet another fourth down stop, but the game went to overtime after Texas’ special teams failures. The season looked lost when the UT offense faced a 4th and 13 in the first overtime trailing by seven, but Ewers’ miraculous pass to Golden kept the season going and the title dreams alive. Another touchdown pass to Helm, a conversion to Golden, and Mukuba’s clutch interception helped the Longhorns advance into mid-January in one of the all-time classic Texas games.