Texas eliminated from bowl contention

With a host of 5-6 teams winning on Saturday, including upsets by schools like the LSU Tigers and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, the Texas Longhorns were eliminated from bowl consideration when enough teams reached six wins to fill all the available spots.

So head coach Steve Sarkisian’s first season on the Forty Acres officially ends with a 5-7 record, marking the first year the Longhorns haven’t gone to the postseason since Charlie Strong was fired in 2016. Former head coach Tom Herman won a bowl game in each of his four seasons.

The season’s official end keeps Sarkisian from having to make any difficult decisions about accepting a bowl bid for his banged-up team, which features a host of players dealing with injuries, including junior quarterback Casey Thompson (thumb), redshirt freshman quarterback Hudson Card (ankle), and sophomore running back Bijan Robinson (elbow).

So now Sarkisian can get started conducting exit interviews with his players without worrying about bowl practice. The most important discussions will occur with seniors who have the chance to return for an additional year of eligibility or turn pro, like senior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, and those who may not be fully bought in to Sarkisian’s vision for the program.

With Sarkisian intent on a culture overhaul, expect more attrition than normal over the coming weeks — for a host of programs around the country it’s bowl season, but for the Longhorns it’s attrition season until the returning players start winter conditioning in January.