How Texas has gotten bigger, better under Steve Sarkisian
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Dave Wilson, ESPN Staff Writer
Steve Sarkisian had one key piece of feedback for athletic director Chris Del Conte when he studied his potential roster while interviewing for the Texas coaching job.
“We need bigger humans in our program, and we need more of them,” he recalled at Big 12 media day in 2022. “The numbers weren’t the way I would’ve liked it and the body structure … there’s just a lot to it.”
Sarkisian’s first year seemed to bear that out. The Longhorns finished 5-7, and he said multiple times there needed to be a lot of new faces on the roster. And there was a reason: The Longhorns’ highly touted recruiting classes in 2018 and 2019 brought in nine offensive linemen. But by Sarkisian’s first year, four were no longer on the roster.
Now, as No. 3 Texas sits at 5-0 heading into the annual Red River Rivalry showdown against No. 12 Oklahoma (noon ET, ABC/ESPN App), it’ll be the biggest test to date of Sarkisian’s project to return Texas to glory.
Last year, Texas won the golden hat for the first time since 2018 in devastatingly dominant fashion, handing Oklahoma its biggest shutout loss in school history (49-0). It was the highest-scoring game for Texas in the 118-game series. But inconsistency plagued the Longhorns the rest of the season, going 4-3 from then on, en route to an 8-5 finish.
So far, those big humans are making their presence felt in Texas’ strong start (its first 5-0 start since making the national title game in 2009). On defense, 6-foot-4, 362-pound T’Vondre Sweat is a run-stopping force who has helped the Longhorns allow just 3.07 yards per carry, their fewest in their first five games since 2010, according to ESPN Stats & Information. On the other side, an offensive line that returns all five starters from a year ago averages just over 6-4 and about 325 pounds. Texas is one of seven teams nationally to average more than 190 rushing yards (191.8) and allow fewer than 95 (94.6) per game.
Sarkisian’s offense has always been the star attraction. It attracts talent, with his first recruiting class headlined by Ja’Tavion Sanders and Xavier Worthy, who instantly became two of Texas’ best and flashiest offensive weapons. He added some strength the next year with DJ Campbell and Kelvin Banks, two of those offensive linemen, who were the most highly rated recruits in the ’22 class, according to ESPN Recruiting.
But the biggest difference in this year’s success over past years has been the defense, which will be tested by a Sooners offense that is No. 3 nationally in scoring (averaging 47.4 points) and No. 7 in passing (352.4 yards).
The Longhorns have added big pieces on that side of the ball. In 2023, linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. was a five-star signee who ranked behind only quarterback Arch Manning in the Texas class. He has already made a big impact with two sacks on third-down plays against Alabama, including on the Tide’s final offensive drive to help Texas seal the win. Senior transfer Jalen Catalon came from Arkansas and has provided a physical presence at free safety, making seven tackles against Alabama and a big hit on Saturday against Kansas that led to a fumble.
Plugging newcomers in alongside stars like Jaylan Ford, the preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, has allowed the Longhorns the luxury of newfound depth to rotate heavily.
“I think it’s been huge,” Sarkisian said this week of the defense. “We’ve gone through first halves of games where we played upwards of 30 guys. Sometimes you don’t feel the effect of that rotation in the first half. But naturally, you look at some of these fourth quarters we’ve been having now. … I think we’re more fresh physically. We’re more fresh mentally.”
As a result, the defense is stifling opponents. Compared to their first five games over the past 20 years, the Longhorns are allowing the fewest yards per game since 2010 (290.8). They’re pressuring opposing QBs on 37% of plays, best for the Longhorns since ESPN has been tracking the stat in 2011. Opposing QBs are off target on 18% of their passes and have completed just 53.5% of their passes.
Senior Jahdae Barron said the players can trust that whoever is in the game can get the job done.
“When we look to the left and right of each other, we know that we are all brothers, and we’ve all been through so much throughout the summer, and we know that we are a family,” Barron said. “We’ve built a bond on and off the field so we know how to play for one another and we just keep playing.”
It also has allowed the offense to keep from panicking. On Saturday, the Longhorns led Kansas just 13-7 at halftime. By the end of the game, it was 40-14.
A year ago, it was likely either running back Bijan Robinson or receiver Worthy would be the stars quarterback Quinn Ewers had to lean on in key moments. On Saturday, Georgia transfer Adonai Mitchell had a career day, catching 10 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown, with Worthy adding seven catches for 93 yards.
Sophomore running back Jonathon Brooks has eclipsed the 100-yard mark in three straight games, including a 218-yard, two-touchdown performance against Kansas. Sanders, who was injured against the Jayhawks, should return and already has two 100-yard receiving games this year as a rare talent at tight end, with five catches for 114 yards against Alabama.
Mitchell was quick to say how much having Worthy on the other side helps him.
“It’s crazy how much attention he gets and how the defense just has to respect who he is,” Mitchell said. But Sarkisian said the presence of Mitchell is a difference-maker for Worthy, too.
“For Xavier to catch seven balls last year, it would take about 14 or 15 attempts in his direction because everybody knew we have to throw it there,” Sarkisian said after the Kansas game. “Now all of a sudden, when you have a complementary receiver on the other side, sooner or later people are going to start paying more attention to No. 5 [Mitchell] and with JT [Sanders] and with Jordan [Whittington] and now the running game with Jonathon the way he’s running, now we’ve got a really good variety of players that the ball can get spread around to.”
Of course, all of that helps Ewers, who has an embarrassment of riches and doesn’t have to do it all. He’s averaging 271 passing yards per game with 10 touchdowns to just one interception. Opponents have gotten pressure on just 24% of his dropbacks, Texas’ lowest rate since 2016.
Ewers also has started to trust his running ability when all those offensive threats attract coverage, rushing for 30- and 29-yard touchdowns in the past two games, two of his four rushing scores this year.
“He’s figured out, ‘Man, maybe I’m a little faster than I thought.'” Sarkisian said.
It’s all part of what Ewers said was a new dedication this offseason to getting in better shape.
“This is where I want to be,” Ewers said. “I think I took a lot of time analyzing myself last year and I want to be able to do stuff like this and I think I really worked on it this offseason. For it to start working out, it’s pretty cool.”
Sarkisian said on Monday he’s preparing for a bit of a chess match against Oklahoma’s Brent Venables, who he said has “been doing it too long at too high of a level to think they weren’t going to get that thing fixed” after last year’s 6-7 meltdown, in which they finished 122nd in total defense, allowing 461 yards per game.
“They’ve got a lot of defense,” Sarkisian said. “They’ve got a lot of coverages. They’ve got a lot of pressure packages. So you know, it’s definitely challenging on that front. Especially when it’s all on the same accord and working well together.”
But Texas has been building for this moment. In the two titans’ final season in the Big 12, they’re both 5-0 for only the third time in the rivalry’s history.
“We know it’s going to be a great challenge,” Sarkisian said. “We’re looking forward to it, looking forward to seeing our fans in Dallas for, in my opinion, the best setting in college football. This is going to be an awesome environment.”
Sports
Ranking the top 50 players in the Stanley Cup playoffs: Where do Hellebuyck, MacKinnon, Kucherov land?
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Neil Paine
As the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs began, a number of storylines dominated the conversation: Can Connor Hellebuyck turn his historic regular season into a Dominik Hašek-esque postseason run for the ages for the Winnipeg Jets? Will the Colorado Avalanche–Dallas Stars showdown be a quasi-Cup Final right away in Round 1? Is it finally the year for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to win it all, after the Edmonton Oilers came so close last season?
But beyond the matchups and narratives, it’s also a good time to take stock of which players bring the most value into the postseason.
That’s where goals above replacement (GAR) comes in — my evolved spin on earlier all-in-one value stats like Tom Awad’s goals versus threshold and Hockey-Reference’s point shares. The core idea of GAR is to measure a player’s total impact — in offense, defense or goaltending — above what a generic “replacement-level” player might provide at the same position. It also strives to ensure the league’s value is better balanced by position: 60% of leaguewide GAR is distributed to forwards, 30% to defensemen and 10% to goaltenders.
To then assess who might be most valuable on the eve of this year’s playoffs, I plugged GAR into a system inspired by Bill James’ concept of an “established level” of performance; in this case, a weighted average of each player’s GAR over the past three regular seasons, with more emphasis on 2024-25. And to keep the metric from undervaluing recent risers, we also apply a safeguard: no player’s established level can be lower than 75% of his most recent season’s GAR.
The result is a blend of peak, recent, and sustained performance — the players on playoff-bound teams who have been great, are currently great or are still trending upward — in a format that gives us a sense of who could define this year’s postseason.
One final note: Injured players who were expected to miss all or substantial parts of the playoffs were excluded from the ranking. Sorry, Jack Hughes.
With that in mind, here are the top 50 skaters and goaltenders on teams in the 2025 playoff field, according to their three-year established level of value, ranked by the numbers:
Five series of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and two more will begin Monday. Meanwhile, the two matchups in the Central Division are on to Game 2.
Here’s the four-pack of games on the calendar:
What are the key storylines heading into Monday’s games? Who are the key players to watch?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down last night, and the Three Stars of Sunday Night from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals
Game 1 | 7 p.m., ESPN
You might’ve heard about the 2010 playoff matchup between these two teams a time or so in the past week.
In that postseason, the overwhelming favorite (and No. 1 seed) Capitals, led by Alex Ovechkin, were upset by the No. 8 seed Canadiens, due in large part to an epic performance in goal from Jaroslav Halak. Halak isn’t walking out of the tunnel for the Habs this time around (we assume); instead it’ll be Becancour, Quebec, native Sam Montembeault, who allowed four goals on 35 shots in his one start against the Caps this season.
Washington’s goaltender for Game 1 has yet to be revealed, as Logan Thompson was injured back on April 2. But there’s no question that there is a disparity between the offensive output of the two clubs, as the Caps finished second in the NHL in goals per game (3.49), while the Canadiens finished 17th (2.96). Can Montreal keep up in this series?
St. Louis Blues at Winnipeg Jets
Game 2 | 7:30 p.m., ESPN2
The Blues hung with the Jets for much of Game 1 and even looked like the stronger team at certain times, so pulling off the series upset remains on the table. But getting a win on the unfriendly ice at the Canada Life Centre would be of some benefit in shifting momentum before the series moves to St. Louis for Game 3. The Blues proved that Connor Hellebuyck is not invincible in Game 1, and they were led by stars Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas, who both got on the board.
The Jets have a mixed history after winning Game 1 of a playoff series, having gone 3-3 as a franchise (including the Atlanta Thrashers days) on such occasions. Like the Blues, the Jets were led by their stars, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele, but the game-tying goal came from Alex Iafallo, who has played up and down the lineup this season.
Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars
Game 2 | 9:30 p.m., ESPN
The Stars might like a redo on Game 1 after the visiting Avalanche essentially controlled the festivities for much of the contest. Stars forward Jason Robertson missed Game 1 because of an injury sustained in the final game of the regular season, and his return sooner than later would be excellent for Dallas; he scored three goals in three games against Colorado in the regular season. Also of note, teams that have taken a 2-0 lead in best-of-seven series have won 86% of the time.
Slowing down the Avs’ stars will be critical in Game 2, which is a sound — if perhaps unrealistic — strategy. With his two goals in Game 1, Nathan MacKinnon became the third player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to score 50 playoff goals, joining Joe Sakic (84) and Peter Forsberg (58). In reaching 60 assists in his 73rd playoff game, Cale Makar became the third-fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach that milestone, behind Bobby Orr (69 GP) and Al MacInnis (71 GP).
Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings
Game 1 | 10 p.m., ESPN2
This is the fourth straight postseason in which the Oilers and Kings have met in Round 1, and Edmonton has won the previous three series. Will the fourth time be the charm for the Kings?
L.A. went 3-1-0 against Edmonton this season, including shutouts on April 5 and 14. Quinton Byfield was particularly strong in those games, with three goals and an assist. Overall, the Kings were led in scoring this season by Adrian Kempe, with 35 goals and 38 assists. Warren Foegele — who played 22 playoff games for the Oilers in 2024 — had a career-high 24 goals this season.
The Oilers enter the 2025 postseason with 41 playoff series wins, which is the second most among non-Original Six teams (behind the Flyers, with 44). They have been eliminated by the team that won the Stanley Cup in each of the past three postseasons (Panthers 2024, Golden Knights 2023, Avalanche 2022). Edmonton continues to be led by Leon Draisaitl — who won his first Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal scorer this season — and Connor McDavid, who won the goal-scoring title in 2022-23 and the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs last year, even though the Oilers didn’t win the Cup.
Arda’s Three Stars of Sunday
For the last several seasons, much of the postseason narrative for the Leafs has been the lack of production from the Core Four. So this was a dream Game 1 against Ottawa for Marner (one goal, two assists), Nylander (one goal, one assist), John Tavares (one goal, one assist) and Matthews (two assists) in Toronto’s 6-2 win over Ottawa.
Stankoven’s two goals in the second period put the game out of reach, with the Canes winning 4-1 in Game 1. Stankoven is the second player in Hurricanes/Whalers history to score twice in his first playoff game with the club (the other was Andrei Svechnikov in Game 1 of the first round in 2019)
Howden had two third-period goals in the Golden Knights’ victory over the Wild in Game 1, including a buzzer-beating empty-netter to make the final score 4-2.
Sunday’s results
Hurricanes 4, Devils 1
Carolina leads 1-0
The Hurricanes came out inspired thanks in part to the raucous home crowd and took a quick lead off the stick of Jalen Chatfield at 2:24 of the first period. Logan Stankoven — who came over in the Mikko Rantanen trade — scored a pair in the second period, and the Canes never looked back. On the Devils’ side, injuries forced Brenden Dillon and Cody Glass out of the game, while Luke Hughes left in the third period but was able to return. Full recap.
0:44
Logan Stankoven’s 2nd goal gives Hurricanes a 3-0 lead
Logan Stankoven notches his second goal of the game to give the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead.
Maple Leafs 6, Senators 2
Toronto leads 1-0
The first skirmish in the Battle of Ontario goes to the home side, as the Leafs never let the Senators get very close in this one. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Mitch Marner scored in the first, John Tavares and William Nylander tallied in the second, while Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies put the game away in the third. Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig — scorer of a controversial empty-net goal against Toronto in 2024 — scored for Ottawa. Full recap.
0:42
William Nylander zips home a goal to pad the Maple Leafs’ lead
William Nylander zips the puck past the goalie to give the Maple Leafs a 4-1 lead.
Golden Knights 4, Wild 2
Vegas leads 1-0
In Sunday’s nightcap, the two teams played an evenly matched first two periods, as Vegas carried a 2-1 lead into the third. Then, Brett Howden worked his magic, scoring a goal to pad the Knights’ lead 2:28 into that frame, and putting the game to bed with an empty-netter that beat the buzzer. The Wild were led by Matt Boldy, who had two goals, both assisted by Kirill Kaprizov. Full recap.
0:31
Brett Howden buries Wild in Game 1 with buzzer-beating goal
Brett Howden sends the Minnesota Wild packing in Game 1 with an empty-net goal for the Golden Knights in the final second.
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