Steve Sarkisian Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian reacts as the Longhorns lose the game against West Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021. Mlc Ut Wv Football 1687

On January 1, 2019, the Texas Longhorns pulled an upset, defeating the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl. When the game was over, then Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger told the Longhorns fans, “we’re baaaack.” While that game was only three years ago, it feels like a lot longer now.

For starters, the Longhorns have had three lackluster seasons. They won the Alamo Bowl in both 2019 and 2020, but did so with 8-5 and 7-3 seasons. Not terrible, but a long way from being “back” for a program that has historically been a consistent National Championship contender. In 2021, Texas went 5-7 and failed to qualify for a bowl.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the 2022 NFL Draft was completed without a single Longhorn player hearing his name called.

No, this wasn’t Texas’ best year and we’re a long way removed from the Longhorns winning the National Championship in 2005 or completing the 2000s with no seasons with more than three losses. But to have no players drafted? That’s stunning, especially when we look at some of the schools that did have players selected.

Furthermore, this isn’t an anomaly. Yes, the Longhorns had five players drafted in 2021. But over the last nine drafts, that’s been more of the outlier. The 2015 and 2021 drafts were the only ones in that timeframe with that many Texas players selected. Since 2014, Longhorns getting drafted has been a rarity.

But the real stark difference comes when we compare Texas to the team it beat in that Sugar Bowl, Georgia. Yes, the Bulldogs have been far better on the field over the three subsequent seasons, going 12-2 in 2019, 8-2 in 2020 and 14-1 in 2021, a season that ended with a National Championship. But the draft numbers show an even greater disparity.

In the four drafts that have taken place since that Sugar Bowl, the Longhorns have had a total of 10 players drafted — two in 2019, three in 2020, five in 2021 and zero in 2022. For comparison’s sake, the Bulldogs had 15 players drafted in 2022 alone. Overall, Georgia has had 38 players taken. Seven Bulldogs were drafted in both 2019 and 2020 and nine were selected in 2021.

The Longhorns may one day truly be “back.” But right now, that’s a long way from happening. The numbers show us that the Sugar Bowl win is more like a small oasis in a long desert than anything else.

[CBS Sports, Pick Six Previews, Above Average Peso, Stewart Mandel]

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