9-1! Steve Sarkisian must be a happy man. After losing to Georgia, the Longhorns have displayed some impressive games. College football is in week 12, and with playoffs around the corner, they have no other option but to win. Now, after taking on a big team like the Florida Gators, they played against Arkansas this week and secured a 20-10 victory. No doubt their defense is exceptional, but do they need help on the other side? In the past few weeks, Loghorns’s offense has been struggling. Although their performance is not that bad, we cannot ignore the victories, which would be very difficult without their support. However, now the question is, have they produced enough to help the team secure a spot in the playoffs?

On November 20, Greg McElroy, an American football commentator,

discussed who deserves to be in the CFP. He tried to explain that things are not going to be easy moving forward for the Longhorns. “Texas is in a position right now where they’re number three in the country according to the College Football Playoff Committee, but if you really look at their resume, they haven’t really earned that spot.”

So, what’s the whole fuss about? It’s the strength-of-schedule. Where does Texas stand? As per ESPN’s SOS rankings, the Longhorns are in the 38th position (134 total) for the games played so far. Compare that to their SEC rivals. Georgia is at the No. 1 position. Alabama is at the No. 16 rank. Josh Heupel’s Tennessee is 18th, and Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss is at 29th. All above the Longhorns.

“That’s almost exclusively on the eye test. Yes, and if they were to win against Kentucky this week, which is expected, there are three-touchdown favorites and then lose to Texas A&M next week, their best win might very well be a six-and-six Vanderbilt team. And that’s not going to be enough to unseat an Ole Miss or a Tennessee or another team in the SEC that’s 10 and two with a much stronger resume.”

Moving ahead, he clearly mentioned that he could smell danger for Steve. “I think Texas needs to play well down the stretch because I think next week becomes a playoff game if they don’t play well and if they lose.”

If we go by McElroy’s calculations, a Longhorns loss against the Texas A&M would mean a mayhem in the SEC, with at least six teams ending up with the 10-2 record. Unfortunately for Sarkisian, his team is unlikely to survive that mayhem.

What is it that they can work on? Texas has converted just 43 per cent of its third downs. If we go back to last year, they faced the same problem. Do you know their offense averages more than 400 yards per game? But it still looks like something big is missing. CFB will enter its 13th week, and no one is going to listen to the complaints. Steve Sarkisian and the offense need to pull off their socks.

Steve Sarkisian takes pride in his defense

Can the No. 3 team finish the season with No. 1 defense? Steve and his players are trying so. Coming to stats in ten games, the Longhorns are giving only 249 yards per game, which is not bad at all. On the other hand, Indiana, who is the second undefeated team, surprisingly gives 255.5, and the Ohio State (N0.2) gives 250.8, which makes them the only team in the nation that allows less than four yards per play.

“I love it,” head coach Steve said. Three words are enough for him to express his pride in the team. However, he is very happy and cannot stop acknowledging them, so he added, “I think it’s a mentality, right? And it’s the way that we go about our business.” Do you know when Texas fans witnessed their worst defense? It was in 2010. Things started improving in 2015.

Steve Sarkisian should be applauded of the way he is handling the team this season. Further talking about his relationship with the players, he said, “I don’t just gravitate to the offense, and that’s easy to do, right? I’m over there. I’m calling the plays and whatnot. But really, I probably have better, to some degree, better relationships with the defensive players on our team than sometimes the offensive players, because I go overboard to make sure that I have those relationships.”

Steve, now it is time to spend some quality time with your offense; they need you more before it is too late.