The burnt orange train eventually ground to a halt at a scarlet-red stoplight. It was actually losing steam down the stretch anyway, but it finally met its match. Zoom out, and the Texas Longhorns’ overall season is a difficult one to assess. Zoom in, and the same stands true for this particular loss in the CFP semifinal loss too. One glaring mistake on a certain 2nd and goal in the dying embers stands out. However, there was more to why Steve Sarkisian and Co. lost to the Buckeyes and fell short of their ultimate goal than meets the eye.

College football is perpetually spreading its footprint but is still an echo chamber for the most part. An opinion can quickly reverberate across all corners of discourse. One such opinion, maybe a bit off-base and getting a bad rap, is back in the spotlight. After Ohio State won the National Championship, everyone jumped on the bandwagon. It’s the notion that they mainly won because they paid $20 million for their roster. But money does not convert to success with linearity. The Longhorns are an example of this.

This has been curiously glossed over throughout the season, but Texas’ roster cost $22 million in NIL. This was relayed by a legend of the program as he called Steve Sarkisian, for all of his offensive wizardry, into action for one aspect of his system.

Texas alum and former defensive coordinator Vance Bedford appeared in an interview with Bobby Burton of “On Texas Football.” In the midst of the discussion, the buck stopped at Steve Sarkisian’s playstyle. Burton mentioned how Sarkisian “has this notoriety as a wide open, Pro-style coach [with a] West Coast offense.” He asked Vance Bedford his opinion on Sark as a coach and his offensive scheming. Bedford was largely positive but pointed to one facet that Sark needs to incorporate more in order to compete for championships.

“Steve [Sarkisian] has done a tremendous job. You talking about culture, getting players [to Austin]. He’s done a tremendous job of recruiting and [then] keeping players there,” said Vance Bedford. He brought to light that “When you look at their roster, they had the number 1 rated NIL pay in the nation this year, 22 million.”

Bedford implied that he didn’t think it was an indictment on Sarkisian and that he came up short despite this spending. However, he did say, “I love how they play defense. Offensively, [Sarkisian] does a lot of window dressing.” Bedford proceeded to bring his main gripe with Sark to the forefront.

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Well no one wants to remember that UT’s no 1 and no. 2 backs sustained season ending injuries the week...more

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Debate

“I’m old school guy. When you can’t run the football downhill, it’s tough to win a Championship,” remarked Vance Bedford. He was sure to back his chat up with experience: “I have two national championships, one at Michigan, one with Urban [Meyer at OSU]. You know what both of those teams did? They hit people in the mouth. Steve Sarkisian does a tremendous job scheming things up. But to get over the hump and get to the next level, they need to be a little bit more physical running downhill.”

That horrendous call on the aforementioned 2nd and goal aside, Sark’s generally considered a great offensive coach, and Bedford concurs with this. So did he not build a good enough rushing attack, even after leveraging $22 million? Or is this a blindspot in his playbook?

Steve Sarkisian’s offense needs fine-tuning, not restructuring

The interviewer Bobby Burton himself prefaced his take on Sarkisian with some facts that add an interesting wrinkle to things. Burton said, “[Sarkisian] is all about complimentary football and running…he’s had a 1000-yard rusher I think his last 10 seasons as a head coach. He runs the football. I mean, that that’s proof in the pudding right?” He brought forth one more reason why Texas’ backfield was not as potent as a championship-caliber team demands.

He said, “Steve Sarkisian didn’t even start the new running back until the Oklahoma game this year. [Quintrevion Wisner] didn’t get a start.” Texas played Oklahoma in week 7, and Wisner still managed to conjure a 1000-yard season. Albeit only if you include the 2 playoff games. To be fair to Sark, though, Jaydon Blue also put up comparable production. Perhaps the issue is not at all convoluted, but very conspicuous and straightforward indeed.

Steve Sarkisian does in fact run the football. However, not as much as requisite on the collegiate level. In addition to this, he didn’t find the right balance in the backfield. Unlike usual, this iteration of the Texas team leaned heavily on their defense rather than offense. Even against Ohio State, it was the defense that kept them in the game. Sark needs to rediscover his mojo, his winning ‘bag.’

His side of the football cannot let his team down. He’d hope a new quarterback and the learning experience of this season, their first post-realignment, will serve his team well. Vance Bedford’s discernment is based on truth. Sarkisian needs to embrace tradition a little more going forward and air it out a little more sparsely. With Arch Manning, he’s got the perfect archetype of QB for a complementary rush attack. Not quite at the same level, but think Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. The signs bode well.