Rick Neuheisel has kept close tabs on the Texas Longhorns for decades.
People forget he almost became the team’s head coach in the 1990s after Texas parted ways with John Mackovic. The Longhorns instead hired Mack Brown, but ever since, Neuheisel’s comments about Texas always perks up the ears.
This week on CBS, Neuheisel laid out his prediction about Saturday’s Texas-Michigan game and made it clear. “They’re not only going to win, they’re going to whip ‘em,” Neuheisel said of the 6.5-point favored Longhorns over the Wolverines.
Neuheisel’s prediction was eye-opening, no doubt. But his comparison of how Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has built his program in the model of Georgia’s Kirby Smart was also noteworthy.
“Texas is that much faster. They’ve shown they’re physical. They held Colorado State to less than 200 yards. It is not going to be close game,” Neuheisel said.
Related: Texas Longhorns’ matchup with Michigan Wolverines another test of Steve Sarkisian’s culture
He was just getting warmed up.
“Michigan has been decimated by attrition. We all know that,” Neuheisel said. “So (Michigan quarterback) Davis Warren, he’s a walk-on. I’m pulling for Davis Warren, but I can tell you that this is a mismatch and the way Sarkisian built them with the mindset is exactly what Kirby has done. They borrowed it from the GOAT, and now it’s being laid out and these guys are going about that.”
To drive the point home, Neuheisel said, “But what’s happened at Texas is what happened in Athens. Kirby Smart built Alabama in Athens. Steve Sarkisian is building Alabama in Austin.”
Sarkisian’s most successful move when he was hired in 2021 was to attack the roster makeup. Former Texas coach Tom Herman had too many skill position players and not enough monsters in the trenches. And there wasn’t anything wrong with that, per se. The Big 12 was a wide-open passing league for most of the 2010s.
But Sarkisian wanted more “big humans,” large linemen on both sides of the ball having learned that lesson as Alabama’s offensive coordinator from 2019-20.
Then in the summer of 2021, the Longhorns announced they were moving to the SEC. That only quickened Sarkisian’s pace to recruit more “big humans.” Landing quarterback Quinn Ewers in 2022 sure helped, as did getting five-star left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., a future first-round draft pick.
This season, the Longhorns had four out of five offensive line starters return from a team that won the Big 12 title and reached the College Football Playoff. The only “new” starter was veteran Cam Williams, who won the SEC co-offensive player of the week award after a 52-0 win over Colorado State.
Texas ran away with a 34-24 win at No. 3 Alabama last season in Saban’s final year. This season, No. 3 Texas clashes with No. 1 Georgia on Oct. 19 at Royal-Memorial Stadium.
Michigan lost 13 NFL draft picks in April, but Texas also lost 11. Still, the Horns are the ones favored going into this matchup. Neuheisel is stepping out there and believes it will be convincing, though.
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