Texas, Oklahoma, and what it takes to be successful in the SEC

When they were both at the Manning Passing Academy earlier this summer, Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold asked Georgia’s Carson Beck about Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Sooners will play their first road SEC game in Auburn on Sept. 28, and the Tigers’ home stadium has quite the lore around the league.

For this generation of player, the Kick 6 is one of the most iconic moments in college football history. But Auburn’s fortitude in front of its fans goes beyond just that 2013 game. An unranked Auburn team took Alabama to quadruple overtime in 2021. Over the last 10 seasons, the Tigers are 10-7 against the spread as a home underdog. An Alabama offensive lineman told The Next Round last year that some of his teammates believed Jordan-Hare gave Auburn players “superpowers.”

And when Arnold asked Beck about the grounds, the Georgia quarterback called the place “cursed.”

Georgia took a 21-game win streak into Jordan-Hare last season. It was favored by 2 touchdowns. A 42-yard field goal from Alex McPherson tied the game at 20-all with 6:21 to play in the game. Georgia trailed 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. It never led by more than 7 points over an Auburn team that would finish the season 6-7 with one of college football’s most inefficient passing attacks.

“The atmosphere is insane,” said Beck.

Added Kirby Smart: “Auburn is one of the hardest places to play in the world. I know that from 25 years being a common opponent at Georgia and Alabama. When you step in that stadium you better be laced up, strapped up, and ready to go regardless of their record, regardless of the expectation, regardless of what the people in Vegas say.”

Vegas expects somewhere around 7 wins for Auburn in 2024. (DraftKings has the win total at 7.5, with most of the action on the under.) A far cry from the conference’s elites. But the notion that Oklahoma — a preseason top-15 team in both FPI and SP+ — might walk into Auburn and leave with a loss seems perfectly reasonable.

Such is life in the SEC.

“In the SEC, humility is a week away,” Smart said.

As Texas and Oklahoma prepare for their debut seasons in the SEC, the conversation for months has been dominated by questions of preparedness. Can the newcomers hold up on the line of scrimmage? Are they prepared for the depth of their new league? Is a slip-up waiting for Texas at Arkansas or Texas A&M? Is a first-year starting quarterback ready for the rigors of the toughest conference in football?

At the SEC’s annual media conference, almost every coach said some version of the same thing: there are no off weeks.

“The difference in this league is why you want to be in this league,” Tennessee’s Josh Heupel said. “Top to bottom, it’s got the best coaches, the best rosters, talent level, road games are real road games every Saturday in every venue. You look at the NFL Draft, how that’s unfolded by conference. You look at all the statistics, it’s why you want to be in the league. You’ve got to be ready every single Saturday.”

I asked players what their coaches have harped on to build successful, sustainable programs. DNA traits were a popular answer — toughness, consistency, etc. In the best circumstances, the coach sets the table but it’s on the players to keep it going.

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I asked Kentucky’s Mark Stoops what it took to build a sustainable program. As the longest-tenured coach in the SEC, Stoops didn’t get to where he is without building something that works. He’s the winningest coach in Kentucky football history, set to begin his 12th season this fall. He pointed to alignment and support.

“You’ve got to have great support. You’re not going to do this alone,” Stoops said. “The resources have to be there. You have to have great people around you, great administration, great fanbase.”

Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte is widely regarded as one of the best in the business. And he’s been in the Lone Star State for nearly 2 decades, first at Rice and then at TCU from 2009-17 — a key figure in moving the Horned Frogs from the Mountain West to the Big 12. Now at Texas, he has been instrumental in restoring the football program to an elite level.

Earlier this year, he was named Athletic Director of the Year by the Sports Business Journal. In 2023, the UT athletic department reportedly brought in a record-breaking $271 million in revenue — the most in NCAA financial reporting history. An analysis of NIL data from On3 revealed that Texas had secured the second-most NIL deals for its student-athletes of any school in the country. In February, the school approved a raise for coach Steve Sarkisian that pushed his annual salary north of $10 million and made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the country.

Texas is doing just fine when it comes to program support.

And Oklahoma doesn’t have any issues, either. Athletic director Joe Castiglione has been in place since 1998. When it comes to stability, it doesn’t get much better than that. The Sooners had a president-athletic director-coach trio in place from 1998-2016 when Bob Stoops retired, and that no doubt helped to foster what has been one of the most consistent programs of the last 20 years.

President Joseph Harroz told Castiglione he was committed to helping OU compete for national championships in every sport. The national championship-winning softball program opened a new stadium last March. A new basketball arena is in the works — with a price tag north of $300 million.

Alignment isn’t an issue.

What about on the field? Everyone agreed; there’s no success without a strong offensive and defensive line.

“We always believe it starts at the line of scrimmage,” Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz said. “You have to have competitive depth on both lines of scrimmage in order to have success long-term and play for an SEC Championship Game.

“I also know that you have to have good quarterback play. And that doesn’t necessarily always mean strong statistics. … And then the last thing is recruiting has to be at an elite level. You have to recruit NFL players. This league is full of NFL players.”

Texas lost 2 huge defensive linemen to the NFL in the 2024 Draft, both of them top-40 selections. Oklahoma will have 5 new starters on the offensive line this season.

This is where the newcomers will be tested. There are promising pieces on both lines for both teams — Trey Moore and Kelvin Banks for Texas; Branson Hickman and David Stone at Oklahoma — but their ability to win against average SEC lines will go a long way in determining their seasons.

Oklahoma has a first-year starter at quarterback — and a young one at that. Yes, Jackson Arnold was a 5-star recruit and, yes, he got his feet wet in the Alamo Bowl last season against Arizona. But if Oklahoma can’t protect him, none of the potential will matter. Turnovers are born out of pressure.

Texas has the same issue going the other way. The pass defense was a mess last season in part because Texas was only average at getting to the quarterback. The Longhorns produced 2.3 sacks a game to rank 54th in the country.

Byron Murphy led the Big 12 in quarterback pressures, and T’Vondre Sweat was equally effective as an interior lineman, letting the Longhorns muck things up without relying on blitzing. But UT has to replace both and be better off the edge.

Both schools hit the portal heavy in the trenches.

“The physical part is the physical part. We’re probably going to have some more injuries. We’re probably going to have to play more players. All that stuff is fine. We’re built for that. Like, we’ve built a team that is ready to go do that,” Sarkisian said. “It’s having the mental fortitude week in and week out to make sure we’re focused on the task at hand and then put forth the right preparation to get ourselves prepared to play on Saturdays.”

That, as Sarkisian and Brent Venables ready for the SEC, is the key point to get across.

“For us, as it pertains just to the SEC, I would probably say it’s the week-to-week (challenge). And I don’t know if ‘grind’ is the right word. It’s having the mental fortitude to re-focus again because there aren’t any off weeks. You’re going against the elite coaches in America. You’re going against the elite players in America. … So how do you put forth the same level of preparation, the same practice habits? Not thinking, ‘I’m good now.’ That’s the task.”

Texas is viewed as one of the favorites to win the SEC this season, priced at +325 at ESPN Bet. Only Georgia has shorter odds. The Texas win total is 10.5, with FPI giving it a 7% chance of going unbeaten. Oklahoma (+3500) is much more of a darkhorse. Still, plenty of action is coming on the over for Oklahoma’s win total (7.5, priced at -115).

Time will tell. Finally, though, that time has come.