After an underwhelming 5-7 record to kick off his Texas tenure last season, all eyes will be on Steve Sarkisian in 2022.
That’s not to say that it’s a championship or bust mentality, but his team must showcase significant improvements. The Longhorns certainly have the talent on the roster to compete for a Big 12 title, and anything fewer than four losses this year should be considered a step in the right direction.
Texas will be tested early on prior to starting conference play, and each of their three nonconference games will fortunately be played at Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium in Austin.
Mike Huguenin of On3 recently ranked the best nonconference matchups on the schedule for the 2022 college football season. Texas was mentioned twice among the top 25 games mentioned.
Up first is one that many wouldn’t initially expect to be on a list of this nature. At No. 25, Huguenin put Texas vs. UTSA on Sept. 17 as one to watch.
This will be the first meeting between the schools, and it comes a week after Texas will have played Alabama. Will there be any kind of hangover for the Longhorns? UTSA won 12 games and the Conference USA title last season; while the Roadrunners don’t figure to be as good as they were in 2021, this is a solid program filled with players who weren’t recruited by Texas. Thus, think of it as a chance for the little guy to stick a finger (or maybe even a fist) in the eye of the bully on the block.
Much higher on Huguenin’s list at No. 4 is a matchup that most of the college football landscape is excited to see, Alabama at Texas on Sept. 10. This will serve as a good measuring stick for the Longhorns.
This will be just the 10th meeting all-time between these storied programs — and the first-regular-season game since 1922. Yep, 100 years. The most recent meeting was the BCS Championship Game following the 2009 season, and that is the Tide’s lone win over the Longhorns. This will be Game 2 in Steve Sarkisian’s second season at Texas, and everyone knows how Nick Saban treats his former assistants. Texas has some interesting offensive pieces, but how good is the Longhorns’ offensive line? And can Texas’ defense slow Alabama’s offense?
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