College Football

Texas, Steve Sarkisian face huge stakes in final Big 12 game

Updated Nov. 28, 2023 11:08 a.m. ET

At practice on Monday morning, Steve Sarkisian delivered a message to his team:

"We didn't come this far just to come this far," the Texas coach told his players.

That's because the No. 7 Longhorns are on the cusp of a couple of things: winning their first Big 12 championship since 2009 and making their debut in the College Football Playoff. The latter goal is realistic, but not certain, even if Texas beats Oklahoma State on Saturday at AT&T Stadium for the league title, as a few other dominoes (i.e. the results in the Pac-12 and SEC title games) must fall in their favor.

After Texas dominated Texas Tech by a score of 57-7 last Friday to conclude the regular season, the team obviously celebrated. Videos of players dancing in the locker room went viral. The Horns had not won 11 games since 2009, which was the last time the program won the Big 12 and played for a national championship.

Sarkisian allowed his guys to enjoy the moment — with the game played on Friday, he even had the rare chance on Saturday to sit and watch the rest of the weekend's games like a college football fan.

But when the team convened to start this week, Sarkisian wanted to make something clear.

"There's more out there for us to accomplish," he told his players, adding that the commanding win over the Red Raiders was "just another checkpoint in the journey."

"Not every school do you really get these opportunities," Sarkisian continued. "And I feel like [this is] one of the places where you can. But it doesn't have to be a one-time thing. This isn't, ‘Hey, this year we [were successful] and I don't know what's going to happen in the next 5-10 years.'

"If we can do it right, I don't want to say it's routine, but hopefully it's a little bit more consistent where we are in these discussions, where we are competing for conference championships, that we have the pieces in place not only from a roster management standpoint but also a facility standpoint, a coaching staff standpoint, a support standpoint, from the administration to where this is what Texas football is."

Is Alabama or Texas more deserving of a CFP spot?

Saturday's championship game will be the Longhorns' final Big 12 game ever. The SEC awaits in 2024, and making routine trips to that conference title game means having to beat the likes of Alabama, Georgia and LSU regularly. But first, Oklahoma State stands in the way. The Cowboys beat Oklahoma earlier this month as a conference parting gift, and they hope to do the same to Texas.

While the Longhorns have had their own issues this season — struggling to score in the red zone, injuries to top playmakers, a failure to put teams away in the second half — they've also managed to win games in various ways, have an enviable amount of depth and boast one of the best defenses in the country.

Mike Gundy's Cowboys have been a little more perplexing. They lost to South Alabama — at home — in the third game of the season. And later, after upsetting a then-No. 10 OU in the final Bedlam, it turned around the following weekend and lost to UCF, 45-3. Oklahoma State has won seven of its last eight games, including wins over Kansas and Kansas State, but almost missed a chance to play for the Big 12 title because it needed double-overtime to defeat conference newbie BYU in Stillwater over the weekend.

It can be challenging to prepare for a team that's been so up and down, but Sarkisian said he knows "they're capable of being a very dangerous team and one that can play at a very high level and match the opponent."

The Cowboys' greatest weapon is sophomore running back Ollie Gordon II, who leads the country with 1,580 rushing yards this season. He's averaging 131.7 yards per game, has scored 20 touchdowns (second behind Michigan's Blake Corum, who has 22) and according to Sarkisian, is "one heck of a player."

"He really signifies who their team is," Sarkisian said. "I feel like he gets stronger as the game goes on, like a lot of big, physical backs do. A lot of his best runs come in the second half when teams wear down."

Gordon II can grind out yards between the tackles and also has the ability to make explosive plays. He has more rushing plays of 40-plus yards (seven) and of 70-plus yards (two) than any other player in the nation.

"And they've got a variety of schemes with him and do a heck of a job out of the pistol formation where they can get to all their runs and a lot of them look the same," Sarkisian said. "So your defensive linemen and linebackers have to do a great job of fitting those things, and then you've gotta tackle.

"And generally, with a guy like him, one guy is not enough."

Texas, meanwhile, has the fifth-best run defense in the country. It's holding opponents to 85.0 rushing yards per game and has only allowed seven rushing touchdowns through 12 games. It's also ranked No. 1 in getting off the field on third down and in holding opponents scoreless in the red zone. That starts with veteran defensive linemen T'Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy, who are two of the best at what they do and will be playing in the NFL a year from now.

Texas knows all it can do to ensure it lives up to Sarkisian's message is to take care of Oklahoma State on Saturday. Only then will Sarkisian allow himself to consider talk of reaching the CFP for the first time in his head coaching career.

"Why wouldn't I?" Sarkisian said when asked if he considered the Longhorns a playoff contender. "We're in a great position. But what I also know is we have to take care of our business.

"Then if that happens, there's another discussion to be had. The dust is going to settle where it's supposed to. So we'll see what happens."

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.