‘Georgia before they became Georgia’ is premature for Texas

The hype for the Texas Longhorns football program is explosive. Fox Sports host RJ Young and The Athletic writer Andy Staples have stoked the fire this offseason.

Young and Staples discussed Texas’ potential on RJ Young’s college football segment of The Number One College Football Show. In it, both bought in to the concept that the Longhorns are similar to Kirby Smart’s Georgia before the Bulldogs won their first national title.

There’s “proof of concept” in Austin, Andy Staples suggests. The Longhorns have won a conference title and 12 games, including a double-digit road win over fellow playoff team Alabama. They made their first College Football Playoff last season.

Few teams can claim the same success with their current coaches staff. Albeit, there is still more to prove for Texas as it looks to take the next step.

The talent and depth is there for head coach Steve Sarkisian’s team heading into a fourth season on the Forty Acres. The majority of those that naysay that assertion have allegiance to the team in Norman or College Station. They were the loudest to reject Texas’ ability to win a Big 12 title or 10 games, much less 12, only a season ago. They struck out swinging.

The question for Sarkisian’s program is year-to-year consistency.

Consistency has been an issue for starting quarterback Quinn Ewers, though it has improved. Andy Staples’ hesitation on Texas revolves around whether or not Ewers can take a step to the next level. It’s a fair question.

Texas’ ability to elevate to a national title contender hinges on Ewers improving at a rate similar to last year’s trajectory. You might know the statistical improvement he made last season. Ewers improved from a 58.1% completion rate to 69% in 2023. That’s a playoff caliber mark. So, too, was Ewers’ 8.8 yards per attempt a season ago. Even so, playoff caliber and title contending production are two different things.

Ewers passed for just 22 touchdowns last season. That’s a…