Texas players, fans, still believe in a College Football Playoff berth after knocking off undefeated Texas A&M

Buck Ringgold

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Texas players, fans, still believe in a College Football Playoff berth after knocking off undefeated Texas A&M image

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AUSTIN, Texas - It was literally a Texas-sized postgame party on Black Friday at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

The vast majority of Texas fans never left their seats, and some were swaying to the music being played, whether it was from the Longhorns’ band or tunes from the PA system.

One of those tunes, in particular, happened to be the classic Journey tune from the early 1980s, “Don’t Stop Believin,” perhaps a metaphorical tune given the final results delivered by the home team.

With its 27-17 win against arch-rival Texas A&M, Texas not only spoiled the Aggies’ perfect season, the ‘Horns also denied A&M a berth in next week’s SEC title game. It will now be Georgia against either Alabama or Ole Miss (and a quick digression, would that be enough to convince Lane Kiffin to stay put in Oxford).

MORE: Texas trolls Texas A&M's Mike Elko over 'flagship' comments 

But the Journey tune being played Friday, and the Longhorn fans sticking around to sing it in unison, was just as much a plea as it was in rejoicing. Perhaps with the Longhorns’ performance against previously unbeaten A&M, the No. 3 ranked team in the country, it would be enough to get Texas - which entered Friday ranked No. 16 - into the College Football Playoff despite three losses.

Steve Sarkisian, the Longhorns’ coach, certainly thinks so. He was mum on the subject early on in the week, but more than stated his case in Friday’s postgame press conference when pressed on the subject.

“I think we're absolutely a playoff team,” Sarkisian said in Friday’s postgame press conference. “I’m glad you asked, as I didn't want to have to be part of my opening statement. There's a couple things in here that, to me, are really telling stats.

“We're the first team, since the 2019 national champion LSU team, to beat three top 10 ranked teams in the same season during the regular season (A&M, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt). (Also) I think we have the number five ranked toughest schedule in the country. We've played the number one, the number three and number four ranked teams in the country (Ohio State, Texas A&M and Georgia, in that order).”

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The Longhorns ended the regular season at 9-3. They lost to Ohio State and to Georgia, along with Florida, a team that eventually finished with a losing record and fired their coach. But Sark dwelled more not on that loss but the defeat to Ohio State, way back on Week 1.

“We went on the road to Ohio State in Week 1 and lost to them on a one-score game, and we have the ball at the end of the game,” Sarkisian said. “We out-gained them by nearly 200 yards, and no one else has been close to a one score game against them.

“But I think more importantly, it's the message that, what do we want to send to the head coaches and the athletic directors around the country? You want us not to schedule Ohio State? Because if we're a 10-2 team right now, this isn't a discussion. We're in the playoffs, but we were willing to go up there and play that game.”

And as for that stumble at Florida, Sark also cited recent history to state his case that - in the crazy, unpredictable world of college football - anything is possible.

“This whole idea that, hey, well, you lost to Florida,” Sark said. “Well, the team that played for the national championship last year (Notre Dame) lost to Northern Illinois at home. So you're going to punish us, and you don't want to punish them, but yet they still they were good enough to go play for a national title.

“So I have no doubt in my mind that the team we have in that locker room downstairs is a playoff football team and worthy of an opportunity to play for a national championship.”

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The Longhorn players also truly believe they are playoff worthy. Chief among them is arguably their most visible player, Arch Manning.

Though Manning may have fallen short of the massive preseason hype, anointing him as perhaps the favorite to win the Heisman, he definitely delivered on Friday, especially in the second half.

Manning threw a TD pass and helped engineer a Texas offense that generated 24 points and 285 total yards in that span, with running back Quintrevion Wisner also playing a vital role, gaining 155 yards for the game, including a tone-setting 48-yard run on Texas’ first play from scrimmage in the second half.

But perhaps the biggest play Manning made was not by his arm but by his feet. With A&M putting pressure on the Horns, cutting their lead to 20-17 in the closing minutes, Manning put the team on his back, leading them to respond with a four-play, 63-yard drive.

It ended on a third-down keeper from the Aggies’ 35, when Manning darted up the middle and proceeded to outrace the A&M secondary into the end zone. That put the Longhorns back up by 10, 27-17, with 7:04 left.

Two interceptions in the final minutes, from Michael Taaffe and Kobe Black, officially sealed the deal.

“Yeah, this team just, you know, never loses the fight, shows up every week. … We just keep fighting and keep continuing to get better,” Manning said. “It’s fun to be a part of celebration. That's awesome.

“You know, that's that's kind of why you do it, why you work so hard year-round, (for) moments like that. It's really cool.”

And Manning ended up giving Coach Sark the game ball in the locker room.

“I think it was correct to him; he had a really good halftime speech, just talking about pride and how we need some pride to go out and beat those guys in the second half,” Manning said.

But the ultimate question was posed to Manning afterward: Are the Longhorns deserving of a CFP berth?

“We're like, we're a good team, we play a lot of good teams,” Manning said. “We’re only getting better. And if you let us in, we can beat anyone.”

Looks like the Longhorns themselves will be joining their fans in knocking out a few renditions of “Don’t Stop Believin’” from now until Selection Sunday.

News Correspondent