Build a championship-caliber national team – The Daily Texan

The No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs have been the gold standard of college football for the past few years. They have won two consecutive national championships and have been favorites in every game since September 4, 2021.

This week, No. 1 Texas is a five-point favorite, according to BetMGM. As the Bulldogs head to Austin for one of the busiest weekends in the city’s history, head coach Steve Sarkisian is there lets his team tune out all the noise and focus on one thing: winning.

Sarkisian attributes his team’s success to the culture he has built over the last three years.

“I believe culture beats talent, and I’ve said this before when we may not have been the most talented team, but culture beats talent,” Sarkisian said. “I also said that culture and talent together are really dangerous, and I think that’s why we’ve become a dangerous team, because we’ve built a culture, but we’ve picked up talent along the way, and that’s a problem. “Thanks to our players and the belief in the culture and the character that they brought to that culture and made it better than it ever was.”

The team’s culture has allowed it to become a complete team, which is necessary if it wants to compete for championships. Through six games, Texas dominated on both sides of the ball.

Defensively, Texas ranks first overall in both points allowed per game at 6.3 and yards allowed per game at just under 230 yards. The Longhorns have only given up three touchdowns all season.

Offensively, the Longhorns rank seventh overall, averaging just over 495 yards per game. They also rank seventh in total points per game with an average of over 43.

All of these statistics prove Texas’ success on the field, and even though they just look like numbers, Texas makes these numbers look dominant in games. Sarkisian said that while those statistics are impressive, it is more important that his team plays well on the field to prepare for the championships.

“I liked the fact that we didn’t play our best football offensively (last) Saturday, especially early in the first quarter,” Sarkisian said. “When we talked about being a diverse and complete team, I think that showed on Saturday.”

In a 34-3 win over Oklahoma, Texas failed to score in the first quarter and gave up a field goal to the Sooners, putting them behind for the first time this season. But that didn’t last long as Texas scored 34 straight points and held Oklahoma scoreless for the rest of the game, showing how dominant this team is.

Although junior quarterback Quinn Ewers says he won’t change anything heading into this week’s game, he knows Georgia will be his team’s biggest challenge this year.

“We try to go into each week without changing our mentality of how we approach games,” Ewers said. “But we are human. We understand two really good teams coming together and I know our team is excited for the opportunity.”

Ewers is no stranger to playing in big games, but as Sarkisian said, winning that game isn’t the end goal of this team, winning national championships is.