Longhorns 'Culture Win' Shows Difference Under Steve Sarkisian In Year 3

Texas football's late win over Houston proves changes under Steve Sarkisian from past seasons.

Let's get the main message out of the way: Texas found a way to win Saturday in a dogfight against Houston. 

Never mind the status of the two programs. The Cougars, shipped to the wayside for two decades following the disbandment of the Southwest Conference, have aspirations of putting together a roster that can compete at the Power 5's highest level. The Longhorns, a preseason favorite to win the Big 12, have dreams of winning the College Football Playoff.

Yes, fans on the Forty Acres should be agitated with a sluggish third quarter. They have a right to be annoyed that perhaps Steve Sarkisian took his foot off the gas, thus allowing Donovan Smith to channel his inner Red Raider and bring a three-touchdown spread to the brink of the biggest upset in the conference. 

But remember the Texas roster in 2021 when Sarkisian arrived from Alabama? That team would have let the Cougars complete the comeback. Even last year's squad that nearly defeated Alabama in Austin would have likely had to fight for the win in overtime. 

They might have lost altogether, depending on the coin flip. 

Good teams figure out ways to win, and while the Longhorns are far from perfect, they found a way to leave TDECU Stadium with a victory under one arm and hopes of making it to Arlington for a potential Red River rematch under the other. 

“I think there’s a resiliency of this group,” Sarkisian said postgame. “I think there’s a fight on this team that’s real. It’s genuine.”

Sarkisian teeters the line of compliments and criticism for Saturday's 31-24 victory. He called a game plan that gave the No. 7 Longhorns (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) an early 21-0 advantage. When Quinn Ewers left in the fourth quarter with a shoulder injury, he didn't put pressure on Maalik Murphy to play hero ball, but instead trusted his ground game of Jonathon Brooks and C.J. Baxter. 

Still, Sark wasn't without his faults. He botched a fake field goal that would have extended Texas' lead by 17 in the second quarter. The play-calling was stale out of halftime, allowing Houston to tie the game at the start of the third quarter. 

Yet still, this was Houston's national championship. Dana Holgorsen could sell his players that the Cougars could be this year's TCU, but the public knew better than to double down on red. A win over the Longhorns before their departure for the SEC, however, would serve as a building block for years to come. 

Houston threw Texas the kitchen sink for 45 minutes. They gave the Horns everything they had and never lost faith that a victory was within reach. 

It was, but just for the Horns. Baxter's 16-yard run with five minutes remaining proved the difference between surviving or suffocating. 

Texas fans remember those chock job seasons, right? They don't have to look far. Turn back to a weekend in Lubbock last September or the Cotton Bowl circa 2021. 

“We’re not there yet, but championship teams find a way to win games that are ugly, and we found a way to win an ugly game today," said Sarkisian. 

Texas running back C.J. Baxter (No. 4) crosses the goal line for a touchdown in the fourth quarter against Houston at TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas.  / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Fighting ugly isn't recommended, nor will it award any brownie points to any program. It didn't for Texas, who moved up one spot in the AP Poll this week, but mainly due to Penn State's putrid loss on the road to a red-hot Ohio State team with a pair of top-10 wins. 

Oklahoma, which pulled off the improbable comeback thanks to a Heisman-worthy moment from Dillion Gabriel, needed a prayer and failed two-point conversion to survive a scare in Norman against Central Florida. Were they rewarded for their efforts? The same spot at No.6 would say no. 

But living to fight another day comes as advertised: another day. Another game for the Horns to prove this season is different. Another Saturday to stockpile wins that will keep them within spitting distance of the Sooners. 

Another week to show voters they are one of football's finest four in a season filled with parity and missing a clear-cut top program. 

Texas will need to play pristine football moving forward, especially if Ewers misses time. A close call on the road brings a sigh of relief to the locker room for now, but it means little if the same blunders happen next week at home against BYU. 

Or in two weeks against Kansas State.

Or three weeks from now against national champion runner-up TCU in Fort Worth. 

You get the idea. 

But Texas is built to survive. If that's the biggest takeaway you want to hold on to from Saturday's scare, so be it. Sarkisian has everyone believing internally they will cross the finish line each week with a dub, even if the path to the checkered line takes longer than expected. 

Jaylan Ford was finishing up interviews with reporters postgame when T'Vondre Sweat gave him a shoutout. Ford asked him point blank if they would have gotten the win three years ago after allowing Houston to claw it way back. 

“Man, we would have lost,” Sweat laughed. 

Jokes aside, is he lying?