As bad as Georgia loss feels, Texas football still controls its destiny with Vanderbilt next and big SEC games ahead

Texas is no longer undefeated and, come midday Sunday when the polls are updated, will no longer be ranked No. 1.

Neither of those things matter to coach Steve Sarkisian, though. Nor should they matter to Longhorns fans.

Texas (6-1, 2-1 SEC) is still in contention for the SEC championship game and the 12-team College Football Playoff. That’s the beauty of the rugged SEC. The Horns still control their own destiny with more big games ahead. The journey keeps going next week with a road trip to Vanderbilt (5-2, 2-1).

“I think the good thing for us is one, we’re not dead. You know, the sun’s going to come up tomorrow. We’re going to get up tomorrow. We’re going to get back to work,” Sarkisian said. “Everything we want in this season is still in front of us. You know, whether it’s an SEC championship, College Football Playoff and a national championship, it’s still all there for us.

“And what a bounce-back game looks like is bouncing back on Monday when we come into that team meeting and being coachable and learning from the film from tonight, getting the game plan for next week's game, preparing the right way, practice in the right way, put ourselves in the right frame of mind to go out and compete on the road in the SEC which is always challenging.

“So if we can do all that, that's what a bounce-back game looks like, because we'll go play well next week in Nashville.”

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The Horns have plenty to work on this week. The offense looked dreadful in netting just 259 yards against the Bulldogs. Quarterback Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning both lost fumbles while Ewers also threw an interception in the 30-15 loss.

The running game didn’t get much traction. Quintrevion Wisner had a team-high 52 yards on 15 carries. As a team, Texas tallied just 29 rushing yards total.

The longest pass play of the night went for 34 yards to Matthew Golden. Otherwise, it was a non-descript night for the receivers, who struggled to get open.

Texas went 2-for-14 on third down after putting up a 50% conversion rate in the first six games. The offensive line also allowed seven sacks. The Horns had allowed six sacks total in the first half of the season.

“Let’s be present this week. Let’s be present today,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve got a big game next Saturday with a bye after that. So let’s pour all of our energy and our focus into this week and make sure that we're tapping in the right way to do that.

“I’m not really so concerned about what’s down the road, but I know down the road if we handle our business the right way, one week at a time, like I said everything is still in front of us.”