No. 1 Texas putting the Golden Hat away with a focus on bigger trophies after a perfect SEC start
AP Sports Writer
DALLAS (AP) — The Texas Longhorns are perfect halfway through their first season in the Southeastern Conference, and have plans for that coveted trophy they got back with another rout over their Red River rival that switched leagues with them.
“Two years ago when we won the Golden Hat, you might have thought we won the Super Bowl,” fourth-year Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said after a 34-3 win Saturday over now-unranked Oklahoma. “This year was like, OK, we got the Golden Hat back, but let’s put it in the trophy case and let’s keep grinding, let’s keep going. So I think that’s the mentality of our team.”
At 6-0 for the first time since 2009, when finishing as the national runner-up, No. 1 Texas has itself on track for even bigger trophies a year after making the College Football Playoff for the first time as the Big 12 champion.
These Longhorns already have a win this season at defending national champion Michigan. They went home from the State Fair of Texas for next Saturday’s game against No. 5 Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC), the back-to-back champs before the Wolverines took the crown.
“The journey is far from over,” said Sarkisian, whose teams have won 18 of 20 games since going 13-12 his first two seasons.
Receiving 56 of 62 first-place votes Sunday, Texas strengthened its hold on No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll. That was four more first-place votes than last week and their most since being the unanimous No. 1 in October 2008.
“The first half of the season, I don’t see a lot teams that have played as well in all three phases as they have,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said when asked about the Longhorns as a No. 1 team. He was part of national titles as defensive coordinator with the Sooners and Clemson.
“They’ve got a good team and they’re good in the right places: quarterback, offensive line and they’ve got explosive playmakers. They’ve got a really good defense, and they’ve got good experience,” he said. “So a veteran team that’s got good players.”
This is their fourth poll this season on top, the most for the Longhorns in a single season since 1977, when they were undefeated for the final six polls of the regular season before a loss to Joe Montana-led Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl.
Texas has allowed only 38 points, the fewest through six games since 30 during the 1964 season, when the only loss was to national champion Alabama in the Orange Bowl. Two of the three touchdowns against the Longhorns have come late in games that were already decided.
Quarterback Quinn Ewers was back from an abdomen strain after standout redshirt freshman Arch Manning won both of his starts. After the Longhorns had 13 yards on 10 plays without a first down in the first quarter against Oklahoma, they finished with 406 total yards. Ewers threw for 199 yards with the go-ahead touchdown and had a 1-yard scoring run.
The Longhorns’ plus-221 points differential is their highest through six games since 1915. They have trailed only once this season, for less than four minutes before Ewers’ 7-yard TD to tight end Gunnar Helm on the drive after Oklahoma’s field goal for a 3-0 lead.
As for the defense, Sarkisian said it has “assumed a real kind of swagger” and confidence. And it’s a unit that doesn’t seem satisfied even when leading the nation, allowing only 6.3 points and 229.7 total yards per game.
“Our best ball is yet to come,” junior cornerback Michael Taaffe said confidently after the 120th Red River game. “Everybody around outside the locker room might say, ‘Wow, this is such a complete defense.’ But everybody in the locker room knows that the offense gets after our butt a lot during the week of practice. … That gives us the confidence, the preparation.”
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