The joy of suiting up and stepping into Darrell K Royal-Memorial Stadium was palpable when watching this Texas football team that traveled over 8,000 miles across 42 long days away from home.
“We’re back in the f—ing crib!” redshirt sophomore Arch Manning said to a camera, seconds before the Longhorns ran out of the tunnel and defeated then-No. 9 Vanderbilt 34-31 on a brisk, rainy November morning.
Texas played in a way that made the overblown preseason hype look somewhat valid, and woke up to a No. 13 AP Poll ranking Sunday morning. Manning threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns on a 76% completion rate, while the defense sacked Heisman-campaigning graduate quarterback Diego Pavia six times for a loss of 39 yards.
Vanderbilt had just one touchdown and a field goal throughout the first half, attempting to make a comeback in the last quarter but ultimately falling to a 3–2 conference record.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian quickly pointed out the reason why this Texas team looks so different from just a few weeks ago during its crushing conference-opening game against Florida. The past month may have been nothing short of a trial for the Longhorns, but it was also a stepping stone.
“I didn’t love our schedule, the fact that we were going to be gone for 42 days from home. But in the end, it was probably the best thing for us,” Sarkisian said. “It was probably the thing that we needed, for this group to really grow together, and this group to really lock arms and battle and compete and fight together for one another, with one another, for a common goal. And they know the work’s not done.”
Over a month on the road has knit this team together. It forced the young players — and there are a lot of them — to grow up and mature quickly. This developing team was thrown into the crucible, but the Longhorns came out on the other side stronger and ready to prove themselves worthy of a playoff berth.
“It’s been a long month, I’ll tell you that,” Manning said. “But I think we’ve all grown closer together and it’s helped us in the long run. We’ve just got to continue to press forward. This month in November is gonna be no joke, so just got to continue to get better and stay connected.”
This offensive line, with four underclassmen, one true freshman and just one returner, allowed seven sacks just a week ago against Mississippi State and a season-worst 35 quarterback pressures against Florida.
This Saturday, Manning was pressured on just six dropbacks. According to Sarkisian, it was the best protection he’s received all year.
Senior Cole Hutson, playing at left guard instead of center upon his return from a leg injury, noted that the adversities faced on the road helped the team to get to know each other’s “why’s”.
“This whole thing is bigger than us. This whole thing is bigger than you. And so this gives chances for people to go and do things with their life that they never thought they could,” Hutson said. “We have Culture Wednesdays, and you get to learn people’s ‘why’s’. And so whenever the first young guys came in and told us they’re ‘why’s’, we tell them to make sure that, ‘Hey, this is why you do it.’ You’ve got to know that this is a big thing about your life.”
As one of the younger teams in college football, the Longhorns had a lot of hurdles to jump over on their journey through conference play. Those hurdles looked more like mountains after not performing to preseason standards, but with an upset and three more opportunities for statement wins, Texas is looking to insert itself back into the conversation.
