The Texas football 2021 squad started off conference play with two wins. What followed, however, was a trail of losses as Texas finished the season 5–7. While that was head coach Steve Sarkisian’s debut season, in his time at Texas, he has built the program’s talent and culture using his “formula for success” that brought last year’s team to its first-ever playoff appearance. 

“We really believe in a formula for success around here,” Sarkisian said. “And that starts on Monday and continues Tuesday, then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, where they can be in a really good place. Knowing there’s going to be some adversity, but as long as we stick together, we can turn the corner.”

And adversity finally came for the Longhorns.

This season, No. 5 Texas conquered its first two conference opponents before falling to now-No. 2 Georgia with its lackluster performance on Saturday. This loss sparks debate on whether the team will rise from the ashes of its mistakes, or follow a similar pattern of the 2021 season, letting the errors weigh them down for weeks to come. 

During last Saturday’s matchup, the offense struggled immensely with junior quarterback Quinn Ewers unable to read open players, among other issues. The long time needed in the pocket created challenges for the offensive line that had to keep pressure on the Georgia defense for an extended amount of time, which resulted in seven total sacks. Turnovers were also a big issue, with the Longhorns giving up 17 points on Texas turnovers, all of which were in Texas territory.

However, despite Ewers’ subpar gameplay the last two weeks, Sarkisian said Ewers is still the starting quarterback and that while he can improve, so can other offensive players.

“Quinn definitely can play better,” Sarkisian said. “We got to continue to work his pocket presence and making sure that he’s capitalizing on the premier looks when we get them … But I also think we need to play better around him. You know, our offense isn’t about one player playing well. It’s about all 11 playing well.”

While being ranked No. 1 in the polls three separate weeks this season and with the exception of the Michigan game, Texas has yet to play a complete game, with the offense, defense and special teams performing well, falling short of the “cohesive unit” standard that Sarkisian envisions. 

So far, Texas has played lower-caliber opponents this season, allowing for these simple mistakes. But as SEC play intensifies, those errors could cost them, with every team left on the schedule having player talent, even teams that some may overlook, like Florida. Now preparing to face Vanderbilt, a surprising underdog, fans are anxious to see if Texas can rebound from last week’s loss.

Despite what others may think, the team is focused on bouncing back from last week. Junior defensive back Michael Taaffe believes what Sarkisian and legendary former Alabama coach Nick Saban say about losing and hopes to carry the lesson with him going into this weekend’s game.

“When our team had a bad game, I almost hated winning that game, because my team doesn’t get to see how heavy those mistakes were,” Taaffe recalled Saban saying. “Well, we lost this time. And so now we understand how big mistakes are, how good college football teams are and how hard it is to win in this conference, especially.”