Texas' close calls reveal resilience. Their dominant Vanderbilt performance proves they're a playoff contender, not just lucky survivors.
It's been a roller coaster season for the No. 11 Texas Longhorns (7-2) this season. The Longhorns have displayed a wide range of performance that has netted a ranking just outside of the College Football Playoff.
Texas has been great in two games, against then Top 10 foes in Oklahoma and Vanderbilt. Save for those games, the team has experienced its fair share of bad and underwhelming play. Yet despite their inconsistency, Texas has managed to stay above water at 7-2.
Outside of a loss to the Florida Gators and sputtering performance against the UTEP Miners, the team's most concerning performances came before last week's win over Vanderbilt. Texas narrowly escaped against Kentucky and Mississippi State in overtime on the road.
Neither Kentucky nor Mississippi State are bad teams. However, they aren't the caliber of team that should have Texas' back against the wall at the end of regulation.
Both opponents outplayed Texas in several respects despite what the scoreboard reflects. The Kentucky defense forced Texas into one of its worst offensive performances of the century. The Mississippi State offense cruised past Texas defenders.
Despite the poor showings from the Longhorns, the team found a way to win each game. And the response to surviving those contests said plenty about their character.
Exiting the Mississippi State game, some wondered how the Longhorns would respond to playing subpar football and still winning. They asked if Texas would learn from the mistakes they made and correct them, or think that "good enough" against Mississippi State would be good enough against Vanderbilt.
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian and corner back Jahdae Barron (7) react after a pass interference call in the third quarter against the Georgia Bulldogs at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Brett Patzke-Imagn ImagesInstead, Texas gave its best performance of the year against the Commodores, building a 34-10 lead and making a statement that they aren't to be taken lightly in the College Football Playoff race.
The Longhorns are far from a perfect playoff candidate. The team's 3-2 start included nearly getting shut out against Ohio State, allowing 29 points in a loss to Florida and looking near inoperable offensively against UTEP. Texas looked on its way to sweating its bowl eligibility prior to the Oklahoma game.
Since losing to Florida, Texas has managed to simply do what was required to win. The Longhorns dominated the Oklahoma Sooners with defense, played enough defense to beat Kentucky, played enough offense to defeat Mississippi State and gave their most complete performance against Vanderbilt. The Longhorns have gone from a 3-2 record to a 7-2 record with a tough November stretch ahead.
Texas has been knocked down twice this year, but its response to winning games it shouldn't have might be more telling about the squad. The Longhorns will look to embrace their second chances with a fifth straight win after the bye week.