A win is a win is a win is a win is win.
That's what we have to keep telling ourselves.
The No. 6 Texas Longhorns just eked out yet another victory with a 22-21 dub over the No. 21 LSU Tigers, but once again it came in ugly fashion.
Afterward, the team was in complete elation, and even head coach Steve Sarkisian had quite a few words of praise for his squad:
"We just talked all week about being great in special situations when they came up, "Sarkisian said right after the thrilling win over LSU. "I thought our guys had great poise and composure in that final drive to execute, and showed a lot of guts by Arch, for sure."
And, while all of that may be true, a team that expects to compete for things like SEC and National Championships cannot continue to rely on its quarterback to "show guts" or any of the rest of its players to "execute" in win-or-go-home situations.
Steve Sarkisian needs to bring the offense up to level of Will Muschamp's defense
While the Longhorns' offense continuously struggles, even if you include their game-clinching drives as the clock reaches zero, the Texas defense answers the call every single week.
All season long, the defense has been credited with not only keeping the Horns in these big-time games, but also being the biggest reason that Texas keeps walking away from the matchups victorious.
A lot of that credit can be given to defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who has elevated a defense that was already one of the best in the nation.
Sarkisian needs to get his offense to meet that level of intensity, ferocity, and drive, or the Longhorns will continue to look as shaky as they did against LSU in Week 11 or against Ole Miss in Week 9 (I'm not even going to get into the performances we saw against Oklahoma and Florida).
The expectation and the standard at the University of Texas are that the Longhorns are a National Championship-caliber team. That applies every year to every program on campus. Right now, even with all of these wins, the Texas football team doesn't look like a natty-winning squad.
It is time for the offense to start stepping up to the plate and carrying their part of the weight through all four quarters, not just on the first and final drives of every game.
Over the next two weeks, the Horns will face the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Texas A&M Aggies, giving Texas two opportunities to nail down any issues that continue to rear their ugly heads.
After that, the Horns could very well be heading to the last-ever SEC Championship game, and then are nearly guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff (barring any more unranked losses).
It's time for Sarkisian to get his offense right, no matter how "poised," how gutsy, or how thrilling the last few victories have been.
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