The best case/worse case scenarios for the Texas Longhorns in 2022.
Similar to every offseason of the past decade and beyond, there are growing expectations around the Texas football program.
Whether second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns can meet these often lofty expectations held by the fanbase is yet to be seen, as year one under Sarkisian did not go nearly as expected. The team had another down year, this one worse than any season under the previous head coach Tom Herman.
Sarkisian had to clean house in a way, as there were some players who transferred this offseason that seemed to not be the best influence on team morale and the locker room. On the bright side, Texas was able to upgrade at almost every position thanks to a top-five recruiting class, and bringing in some of the best transfers out of the transfer portal headlined by Ohio State quarterback transfer Quinn Ewers and Wyoming receiver transfer Isaiah Neyor.
The offseason additions have many optimistic about the program again, but there is also a nagging fear that the season could end in an utter disaster again. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football released what they viewed as the best and worst-case scenario for Texas in 2022, which should be quite a familiar topic for a fan base who often has high hopes, but is humbled by reality.
Here is the best-case scenario for Texas in 2022:
Texas hopes an influx of talent from the transfer portal and in the 2022 recruiting cycle helps Steve Sarkisian creep the Longhorns back into conference title contention. An upset win over Alabama early in the year could catapult this program back into national relevance. The quarterback position appears to be addressed by the arrival of former five-star Quinn Ewers. Bijan Robinson is the best running back in college football. The defense added Gary Patterson to help against Big 12 offenses. Baylor proved last year that a team can rise from the ashes to win the Big 12 and Texas is plenty talented on both sides of the football to make a real run. A Big 12 championship and an early season win over Alabama, or even a close defeat, places the Longhorns in the discussion for the College Football Playoffs which leads to Texas dominating the 2023 recruiting cycle in the same fashion Texas A&M pulled off last cycle.
Sounds like a dream season for Texas, so naturally, we must know what the alternative is:
Sarkisian continues to struggle as a head coach as the offensive and defensive line again prove underwhelming against top-level competition. A blowout loss to Alabama erases any confidence built in the offseason and the Longhorns limp into Big 12 play with the same second-half issues that plagued the 2021 version of the Texas football program. Ewers doesn’t pan out in Austin and Robinson shifts his focus to being healthy for the NFL Draft rather than the late part of the 2022 season. Defensively, no improvements take place with the pass rush or at linebacker.
For the past couple of seasons, it seems as if the success Texas has is often dictated by one game. Whether it be LSU a couple of years ago and the huge blown lead against Oklahoma in 2021, if Texas can either avoid that loss altogether or figure out how to handle adversity better, they should be in good shape in 2022 with all the added talent.
