When No. 24 Texas honored its seniors during pregame festivities prior to the last game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, senior running back Roschon Johnson was the last to be celebrated.

In a back-and-forth affair against Baylor, Johnson scored what proved to be the final blow. His 11-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter gave the Longhorns a double-digit lead with less than four minutes to play, effectively sealing the game. Texas didn’t let Baylor score another point, ultimately defeating the Bears 38-27.

After the game, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said he let Johnson address the locker room after the victory. Johnson later said he used the locker room speech to express his gratitude to the team.

“Today means a lot just from looking back on it,” Johnson said. “Just realizing all the stuff I’ve been through, from position changes to winning and losing, it’s been a ride. I’m just thankful for it all.”

The senior day win concluded a rollercoaster regular season for the Longhorns. While hanging tough against then-No. 1 Alabama and rolling Oklahoma 49-0, Texas lost to both Texas Tech and Oklahoma State despite having significant second-half leads. 

Given the way Texas lost some of its games, it feels like the Longhorns left some meat on the bone this year. Regardless, the Longhorns reached eight wins for just the second time since former head coach Mack Brown’s departure in 2013.

“This program has made tremendous progress,” senior defensive lineman Moro Ojomo said. “You just see the way this program battled back in some games and finished games. That was really cool to see.”

Texas also kept itself in the conversation for an appearance in the Big 12 championship game with Friday’s victory. If Kansas State drops its game to Kansas on Saturday, the Longhorns will head to Arlington on Dec. 3 to face TCU.

While Texas surely would have liked to have a few more wins on its record, the fact that the Longhorns played meaningful football on senior day is a welcome sight for a team that finished 5–7 a year ago. 

“It’s easy to quantify the season with victories and losses,” Sarkisian said. “Clearly, 8–4 is a heck of a lot better than 5–7, but I think our style of play is finally coming to fruition. We’re playing a physical brand of football.”

Texas’ turnaround suggests improvement within the program, but Sarkisian will lose a lot of his roster when the offseason rolls around. In total, 26 players were listed in Texas’ senior day celebrations, including multiple starters in the defensive line, secondary and skill position players. 

One such player, senior defensive back Anthony Cook, said after the game that he hopes the senior class leaves behind a legacy of leadership.

“I want them to say that we left the program better than we found it,” Cook said. “I feel good about where this program is headed, and we had a hand in that as seniors. This program will do amazing stuff in the future.”

For now though, Texas can still put the task of roster and leadership replacement to the side. It still has a possible Big 12 championship game and a bowl game to look forward to.