Texas exits Big 12 with title, makes case for CFP
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Dave Wilson, ESPN Staff Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas ended its Big 12 tenure the way it began in 1996: with a conference championship.
The No. 7 Longhorns ended a 13-year conference title drought — the longest in the program’s history — with a 49-21 win over Oklahoma State behind the right arm of Quinn Ewers on Saturday. The sophomore quarterback completed his first 12 passes en route to setting the Big 12 championship game record for most yards (452, also third-most in a game all-time at Texas) and tying the mark for touchdown passes (4). In the first half, he threw for the most yards (346) by any player in a half in any conference championship game in the past 20 years, putting on a show for the College Football Playoff committee watching 20 miles away in Grapevine. Ewers exited the game in the fourth quarter, giving way to Maalik Murphy — and later, Arch Manning — after completing 35 of 46 passes.
“I thought Quinn was lights out today, man,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said, later saying it was part of their game plan to be aggressive on offense. Texas had six plays for 20 or more yards, including two for a touchdown.
“We wanted to come out and start fast,” he said. “We really wanted to come out and throw our best punches. This was not a game that we wanted to throw jabs and feel it out. We wanted to go for it.”
The Longhorns’ title-clincher was the culmination of a breakthrough season for Sarkisian, who won five and eight games in his first two seasons in Austin before going 12-1 this year, eclipsing 10 wins for the first time in his decade as a head coach and putting Texas in contention for a CFP berth.
“Hopefully when people kind of look at the totality of the body of work, it’s not just about the record, it’s about the quality of the team,” Sarkisian said. “I think that’s the intent of the College Football Playoff is putting the four best teams in that playoff. Do we think we’re one of those? For sure we do. But this isn’t this isn’t a vote. We don’t want to get to the election booth and vote, so it’s in their hands.”
From the beginning of the season, Sarkisian told the Longhorns to “embrace the hate” on the way out the door before heading to the SEC next season. His team responded, beating every team they’re leaving behind but suffering the one loss at the hands of SEC-bound Oklahoma, which drove 75 yards in 1:17 to beat Texas 34-30 on Oct. 7.
In three of the next four weeks, the Longhorns survived tight games at Houston (31-24), home against Kansas State (33-30) and at TCU (29-26) before a 10-point win on the road over Iowa State. But last week, Texas demolished Texas Tech 57-7, and followed it up with a dominant win over the Cowboys.
“We’ve been talking about being champions since this summer,” Sarkisian said. “We haven’t backed off of it and I challenged them. I made it very known publicly that’s what the season was about. … We probably played our best football in the last two weeks and we played two really good complete games.”
The Longhorns led from wire to wire, rolling up 662 yards of offense and holding Oklahoma State to 281 yards, including holding Ollie Gordon II, the nation’s leading rusher who came into the game with 1,580 yards and 20 TDs, to just 34 yards on 13 carries, an average of 2.6 yards per carry.
Two different receivers — Ja’Tavion Sanders (8 catches, 105 yards and a TD) and Adonai Mitchell (6-109-1) — went over the 100-yard mark. Texas star Xavier Worthy added six catches for 86 yards, but he went out with an injury in the second half and came back on the field on crutches and in a walking boot.
Sarkisian said after the game that Worthy’s X-rays were negative and he feels good about the time he has to recover before Texas plays another game.
The Longhorns even through a touchdown to 6-4, 362-pound defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat who celebrated with a Heisman pose.
“We did it Thursday, and coach told me that it was gonna be our first play we call when we get in goal line,” Sweat said. “And he wasn’t lying, he did it. It was amazing.”
Sweat had been openly lobbying his coaches this season for a chance at a touchdown, and Sarkisian said it was always part of the plan. But there was one small concern.
“He bobbled it yesterday in practice. I said, ‘Man, do not mess with me,” Sarkisian said. “Then I said don’t get a penalty. Get your behind to the sideline and celebrate to the sideline. Very cool moment.”
At the end of the game, Sarkisian put Jonathon Brooks, who suffered a season-ending injury in Texas’ Nov. 11 win over TCU after running for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns this year, in at running back with a large brace on his knee. After Manning kneeled down for the final play, he turned around and handed the ball to Brooks.
While the final seconds ticked away, Texas fans at AT&T Stadium chanted “SEC!” But for today, the Longhorns claimed their fourth Big 12 title, second to Oklahoma’s 14, to end an era for the league.
As Sarkisian and his players awaited the trophy presentation, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark was drowned out by boos and chants from the Texas fans as Sarkisian tried to quiet the crowd. Amid the booing, Yormark told the crowd that he thought Texas had proven it was worthy of being in the CFP field.
Sarkisian said regardless of if they get in or not, this season has been a success.
“I didn’t want this win and I didn’t want this championship to be about the College Football Playoff,” Sarkisian said. “This is this is an accomplishment in and of itself, us winning a championship.”
But he still said, however, that his team will “play anybody in the country… If we get into this tournament, we’ll play anybody and we’ll find out if we’re good enough or not.”
But first, he has to wait on the committee.
“Hopefully we put in their minds, man, what would it look like if Texas was in a four-team playoff?” Sarkisian said. “I think it would look pretty good. We’ll see what they think.”
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Chris Low
Auburn wide receiver Malcolm Simmons, an expected starter this season, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of domestic assault with strangulation or suffocation, according to Lee County (Alabama) Sheriff’s Office records.
Simmons was booked into Lee County Jail at 7:20 p.m. ET. His bond was set at $20,000.
An Auburn spokesperson said in a statement, “We are aware of the situation, are gathering the facts, and will address the situation.”
As a freshman last season, Simmons was second on the team with 40 receptions, including three going for touchdowns. He also returned a punt for a score.
He is one of the players Hugh Freeze mentioned at SEC media days earlier this week, when the Auburn coach said he thinks this can be his best receiving corps since he was at Ole Miss.
Simmons is the second Auburn player to be arrested this month. Linebacker D.J. Barber was dismissed from the team last week while facing multiple drug charges, including trafficking marijuana.
MADISON, Wis. — The status of Wisconsin cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean for this season is now unclear after a federal appeals court overturned a preliminary injunction that had granted him another year of NCAA eligibility.
In a 2-1 decision rendered Wednesday, Seventh Circuit judges reversed the ruling by a lower court, after the NCAA appealed.
Fourqurean, a fifth-year senior, had argued that his first two college seasons at Division II Grand Valley State should not count toward his eligibility.
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia is expected to play again after winning his court case last year on the grounds that his two seasons at a junior college do not count. The NCAA is appealing that decision but granted a blanket waiver that will allow Pavia and other athletes who played at non-NCAA Division I schools prior to enrollment an extra year of eligibility if they were going to exhaust their eligibility this year.
The path forward for Fourqurean, a projected starter, is less clear with Wisconsin’s season opener against Miami (Ohio) on Aug. 28 just over six weeks away. Messages sent to attorneys listed as his representatives in court documents, as well as spokespeople for Wisconsin football, were not immediately returned.
The NCAA released a statement after Wednesday’s ruling, noting it “will continue to work together to provide unparalleled opportunities for student-athletes and future generations.”
“The member-approved rules, including years of eligibility, are designed to help ensure competition is safe and fair — aligning collegiate academic and athletic careers to provide high-level opportunities and benefits to hundreds of thousands of student-athletes,” the NCAA said. “We are thankful the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals today reversed the district court’s decision.”
Fourqurean testified during a U.S. District Court hearing in February that he would make “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in name, image and likeness compensation if he were to play this season. After judge William Conley granted him the preliminary injunction, Fourqurean pulled out of NFL draft consideration and took part in spring practices.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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