This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Yes, No. 2 Texas’ win on the road over defending national champion Michigan last Saturday was uber-impressive and more than passed the eye test.
But the Longhorns are determined to keep their collective focus on a much bigger prize — a repeat spot in the College Football Playoff and more — heading into Saturday’s game against Texas-San Antonio in Austin.
The Longhorns (2-0) dominated Michigan 31-12 and were rewarded with a move up in the latest AP poll from third to second behind Georgia. Texas swamped the Wolverines behind Quinn Ewers’ 246 passing yards and three TD tosses, Gunnar Helm’s seven catches for 98 yards and a score and Matthew Golden’s six receptions including a touchdown.
Texas could have easily been ahead 35-0 at halftime but settled for a 24-3 lead. The Longhorns turned over things to their defense after the break and held Michigan to just 284 total yards of offense.
“As good as we think we played, in my humble opinion, we’re going to need to play better to go try to accomplish some of the goals that we have for the season,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday.
The Longhorns have scored on all 11 of their trips to the red zone through their first two games, including 10 touchdowns, and are plus-4 in turnover margin.
“There are things that we need to clean up still, too,” Sarkisian said.
Sarkisian added that his goal is to make sure his team is not complacent, showing the Longhorns players a clip of Northern Illinois’ upset win over Notre Dame last Saturday as a “good reminder that we’re entitled to nothing.”
“We’re capable of anything,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve got a really good team, but we’re entitled to nothing, and we’re going to have to earn everything we get.”
The Roadrunners (1-1) were waylaid in their annual I-35 rivalry game with Texas State, losing on the road 49-10 last Saturday.
UTSA had two quarterbacks combine to pass for 252 yards, with Owen McCown playing the first half and completing 10 passes for 105 yards. Eddie Lee Marburger got the call after halftime, racking up 170 combined yards (147 of those passing) and the Roadrunners’ only TD.
“You find out a lot about yourself when you play in a big game,” UTSA coach Jeff Traylor said Monday. “Obviously what we found out from the Texas State we did not like. But we like what we learned after the game and in the two days since. We have a culture here that we are proud of. We went right back to work.”
Traylor, a member of Texas’ coaching staff in 2015-16, remarked that there have been four instances in his five-year tenure with the Roadrunners that his team “had their teeth kicked in. We’ve responded well every time.
“But the difference is we didn’t have the University of Texas football team waiting for us,” Traylor added. “Texas is talented up and down the roster — they are massive and they are very fast. We will be facing the best team we’ve ever faced since I’ve been (at UTSA). We will have to be a lot better to compete on Saturday.”
The Longhorns won the only other previous meeting, rolling to a 41-20 victory in 2022 in Austin.
–Field Level Media
