DALLAS — Texas is back — together again, that is, preparing for its first fall in the SEC.

Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian described the Texas’ players desire to compete for a championship as an “obsession,” after having had its first taste of college football playoffs.

“It’s been a long time coming for Texas to get back to this stage,” said the 50-year-old Sarkisian, who has taken the Longhorns from 5-7 in his first year at the helm to 8-5 in 2022 and 12-2 last season.

“We fell short in the semifinals in the Sugar Bowl, coming off of being Big 12 champions,” Sarkisian said. “We set a school record with 11 players drafted in the NFL Draft, and that’s a real credit ….. "

Indeed, those would be the sort of numbers any self-respecting SEC school would aim for.

Amazingly, it was only the second season Texas won 10 or more games over the past 14 seasons.

An abberation?

Sarkisian, whose rich bio includes head coaching stints at Washington (2009-13) and USC (2014-15) along with time served under national championship coaches Pete Carroll (2005-08) and Nick Saban (2016, 2019-20), does not think so.

And neither do his players, according to the “All Gas No Brakes” head coach.

“There’s an idea of obsession going on in our locker room right now,” Sarkisian said. “They got a taste of what it can taste like, of being a Big 12 champion, playing in a College Football Playoff, and we fell short.

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“This idea of obsession, the obsession that our players have is one that really came from them. They couldn’t wait together back to work. They couldn’t want to get back in the weight room.”

And Texas quite likely can’t wait to get into a favorable schedule that opens with Colorado State before a trip to depleted Michigan and home dates with UTSA, Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State.

That’s when things change and the season is on the line, with the annual Red River rivalry game with Oklahoma in Dallas, followed by an Oct. 19 game against Georgia.

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“You know,” Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers said, “to be the best, you’ve got to play the best.”

And you’ve got to beat them, which the Longhorns did when taking down eventual SEC champ Alabama in Tuscaloosa last season.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart noted that contest proved Texas is ready to tangle with SEC teams, and Ewers agreed.

“Going into Alabama and playing one of the hardest stadiums to play in, and, against one of the greatest coaches ever, is definitely not easy to go in there and accomplish what we accomplished,” Ewers said.

“I think that shows what we are capable of as a whole …. ‚” Ewers said. “Now we have to really do it on a much more consistent level. Because week in, week out, we’re playing a tough opponent.”