Texas football: Realistic expectations for the Longhorns in 2023

Texas football wasn’t “back” in 2022, by any means. But an 8-5 record and a near-win over Alabama had to have fans believing that the program was headed back in the right direction.

Steve Sarkisian is recruiting at an elite level and he’s putting a decent product out on the field. He just needs to start competing for Big 12 titles. Not just Big 12 titles actually, he needs to be pushing for the College Football Playoff every year, especially if he continues to recruit like he has been.

Texas finished No. 25 in the AP Top 25 and should open the season as one of the best teams in the country and a likely favorite to win the Big 12 in its final season as a member of the conference.

Quinn Ewers is back at quarterback, Arch Manning is coming in to compete for the starting job, and the offense should have no problem being explosive. The defense, however, needs to continue its improvement. If that happens, 2023 could be a special season in Austin.

What are the realistic expectations for this team?

Realistic expectations for Texas football

With Ewers and Manning battling it out for the starting quarterback job, I don’t think Texas could go wrong with either one of those uber-talented passers. In the backfield, the Longhorns will have Jonathon Brooks and Keilan Robinson but also an incoming five-star in Cedric Baxter.

At receiver, the Longhorns will have a plethora of top targets, including Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell.

The defense, too, should be better with guys like Anthony Hill and Jalen Catalon coming in.

Looking at the schedule, Texas should start the season with a win over Rice before coming back down to earth against Alabama the following week. The Longhorns will reel off three straight wins before facing Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry and picking up another big win. They’ll win at Houston and then beat BYU and Kansas State at home. I could see them stumbling at TCU before winning out against Iowa State and Texas Tech.

A realistic finish to the season would be 10-2 while I could see 11-1 as the ceiling for this team. I don’t see a scenario in which Texas finishes with less than nine wins unless 2023 is a disaster.