Texas-Clemson marks the Longhorns’ latest mission to prove they’re back

On By Littum

  • JJ Post, ESPN21 December 2024 at 11:04 a.m. ET

The inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff brings a plethora of potential storylines. Some teams are looking to build on already historic seasons, while blue bloods look to once again reclaim the sport’s summit.

Belonging to the latter category are the Texas Longhorns, whose struggles in recent years have made them an easy target for derision by the college football community.

The derision of the Longhorns is often summed up in three sarcastic words: “Texas is back.” The phrase has been repeated countless times since 2016, when ESPN’s Joe Tessitore first used it during his call for Texas’ game-winning touchdown in their season opener against Notre Dame.

The question of whether Texas is back — or not — quickly took on a life of its own on college football social media, with Longhorns fans and haters alike rushing to write those three words after every big win or loss. At one point there was even a website, istexasback.com, devoted to the rhetorical question.

Texas hosts the Clemson Tigers on Saturday as they begin their playoff quest to claim their first national title since 2005. Here are some of the most notable moments of the last eight years when it looked like Texas really could be back.

The moment: Sep 4, 2016. Tyrone Swoopes Departs From Notre Dame In Double Overtime To Start 2016 Season

What happened next: Texas finishes the fall 5-7 and Charlie Strong is fired at the end of the season

The origin of the statement dates back to 2016, when the Longhorns and Fighting Irish delivered an instant classic in Week 1 of that season. After a pair of losing seasons in Charlie Strong’s first two years as head coach, he turned to freshman quarterback Shane Buechele to spark the team ahead of his third campaign, with Buechele becoming the first freshman quarterback to start a season opener for Texas since 1944 .

An extra period wasn’t enough to separate the two blue bloods. In the second overtime, Tyrone Swoopes dove into the end zone to send DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium into a frenzy and prompt Tessitore to proclaim “Texas is back, folks.”

However, the excitement quickly turned to taunting as the season progressed. The Longhorns would go on two different three-game losing streaks that fall, including one to end the campaign, with each defeat punctuated by plenty of “are they still back?” jokes on social media. Strong was fired after the last game of the season.

The moment: Jan 1, 2019. Sam Ehlinger proclaims “we’re back” in postgame interview after winning Sugar Bowl

What happened next: Texas goes 8-5 over the next two seasons and Tom Herman is fired at the end of the 2020 season

After a 7-6 debut campaign, Longhorns’ incoming coach Tom Herman struck a chord in his second fall to the tune of a 9-win regular season – highlighted by a thrilling 48-45 win over rival Red River, then-ranked No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners.

The Sooners would get their revenge in the Big 12 title game, but another top-ten victory in the Sugar Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs gave Texas momentum heading into the offseason. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger took the opportunity to capitalize on the momentum and reclaimed the taunt as an extended rallying cry to Longhorn fans after the game.

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Texas’ Ehlinger decrees ‘we’re back’ after Sugar Bowl win

Texas QB Sam Ehlinger discusses beating Georgia in the Sugar Bowl before stirring up the crowd with a brief message about the Longhorns’ future.

However, things would slowly unravel under Herman as a pair of underwhelming seasons in 2019 and 2020 led to his own exit.

The moment: September 9, 2023. Steve Sarkisian pilots Longhorns to road win over No. 3 Alabama

What happened next: Texas finishes 11-1 and wins the Big 12, but loses to Washington in the College Football Playoff semifinals

Growth under Herman’s successor – Steve Sarkisian – proved to be linear, with the Longhorns winning 5 games in 2021 and 8 games in 2022. 2023 proved to be a breakout year, with their biggest statement coming in early September when they moved Sarkisian’s former boss. Nick Saban in a 34-24 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Unlike some of Texas’ other recent highlights, their win over the Tide was not the precursor to a humiliating crash. The Longhorns lost in the Red River Rivalry to Oklahoma, but finished the season 12-1 with a Big 12 title win. Texas fell to the Washington Huskies in the College Football Playoff semifinals, however, preventing the Longhorns from capturing the ever-elusive national title.

The moment: November 30, 2024 The Longhorns win the first Lone Star Showdown in football since 2011 to advance to the SEC Championship

What happened next: Georgia beats Texas 22-19 to claim SEC title

Texas’ inaugural regular season in the SEC was a decidedly successful one, with the Longhorns earning a trip to Atlanta as a result of their victory at Kyle Field over in-state rival Texas A&M in the Lone Star Showdown’s return to the gridiron.

Entering the SEC title game as the No. 2 team in the country, things did not go as planned for Texas in its attempt to win the conference in its first season. Georgia prevailed in overtime, costing Sarkisian and Co. a bye in the 12-team playoff bracket. The Longhorns have instead turned to their opening-round game against Clemson as the start of their quest to silence their haters and prove once and for all that Texas is back.