The Kansas Jayhawks are coming to town and they’re packing their top-25 ranking with them, which means the Texas Longhorns won’t be taking them lightly.
“They’re 4-0 for a reason, it’s not by a fluke,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “They’re playing very good football.”
This is exactly the type of game that has given the Longhorns problems in the past. In fact, Kansas beat Texas 57-56 in overtime the last time they visited Austin in 2021.
“That game definitely broke me,” said right tackle Christian Jones. “Yeah, broken, so broken afterwards.”
Jones has since rebuilt himself into one of the best tackles in the Big 12 and a future NFL player. But the memories of the loss still haunt him – and fuel him.
“I want to say that was also a turning point in my career here, and for the rest of the team not wanting to experience that again,” Jones said. “Yes sir, definitely, definitely broke me though. Man, I gave up a sack fumble and they scored on that and I always think about that and have to live with that.”
It stands to reason that the 2023 version of the Longhorns, which are a much better team now, won’t be taking the Jayhawks, who are also a much better team, lightly.
And that’s a good thing because this Texas team is already thinking about the college football playoffs even if they won’t admit it. But it’s entirely possible that Texas needs to win the rest of its games if it wants to be in the playoffs this year.
There can be no repeats of Kansas from 2021.
The college football playoff race this year may be the tightest ever. As of now, there are ten teams atop the Galey Poll (the only poll that matters) that are undefeated and legitimate playoff contenders. The next three teams all have one loss but would also have a legitimate claim to the playoff should they win out. Which makes it all one big muddled mess.
Let me try to clear up the picture for you.
