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Mississippi State is, IMO, our last chance at bowl eligibility. They are the easiest team left on the schedule.

Hopefully we can continue to get better in all phases. The next two games are tough but winnable. Georgia…that’s a scary one.

Just when we thought that the offense had found its footing and an identity against blOwU they show how undisciplined and inconsistent they are the next game.

The on-field product, or “the results” or “facts” as you like to call them, have evolved just fine and took us from 5-7 to back to back top 4 finishes, big wins over our rivals, conference titles, etc. Something Herman could only dream about at this point in his career. You keep doing you. I know you will always have a response to everything and nothing will ever change your mind about this program. You constantly bagged on Herman, you constantly bag on Sark and you will drag whoever the next guy is too. Same in basketball. Same in baseball. That’s your DNA. Negativity and being contrarian. You are most active on here after any type of negative outcome, whether it be recruiting or on the field. It’s like clockwork.

It’s frustrating to hear stuff like we’ve got to do a better job getting him easy completions…from the play caller. Earth to Sark, call plays that do that. It’s like we’re not scouting teams on offense and attacking weaknesses it looks like we just go out and gameplan after the game has started. He fact arch hasn’t gotten hurt is still astounding to me and a testament to his toughness. It’s almost criminal to do that to him.

In other words, he is his own worst enemy. And that doesn't work.

We get it Jeff sark is a mastermind 😭😭 kidding. Great article btw mute Howe 🤘🏼🤘

The product on the field hasn’t evolved?? They went 5-7, then 8-5 followed by back-to-back college football playoff appearances. Please explain to me how having a bad season two what is a new standard is not evolving could it simply just be a bad season? You’re clearly letting a bad start to a season cloud your judgment about the progress of this program or for whatever reason your not being very fond of its head coach.

Have to add that Brad Spence was shot out of a cannon on this play.

I didn't write this with the intent to pour salt into the wound or beat a dead horse. I wanted to point out three things: 1. The offensive performance against Kentucky was historically bad. To be cast in the same light as a Shawn Watson offense is as bad as it gets for a Texas play-caller. 2. Even with the bar lowered to just asking for efficiency on offense, it didn't come close to getting cleared on Saturday. Sark even mentioned at the postgame that at some point, the dam will break if the offense keeps putting everything on the defense and kicking game. 3. I don't think anyone is asking the offense to suddenly light it up and be elite. However, it can't put up another performance like that and expect to win.

I want to look forward to watching. I want to think it was a blip. I want to think Sark will adapt. I want to do those things.

Sark the HC is not coming to an end. He’s a great HC. Terrible OC. That needs to come to an end

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Texas won a football game on Saturday. That’s almost the full extent of the positives from a sobering 16-13 overtime win over a lowly Kentucky squad at Lexington’s Kroger Field. A team shouldn’t apologize for winning a road game in the SEC. Still, Steve Sarkisian’s offense put up a putrid performance, so much so that it nearly wasted an outstanding night on special teams and a defensive effort that, while not dominant, saw the Longhorns dig deep enough on the 86th official snap they defended to finish off a goal-line stand. “I always feel like, once a year, you have a culture win where the game is not pretty, but the team — because the team is so close — finds a way to win the game,” Sarkisian said. “Tonight, these guys found a way to win when the game was sliding in the wrong direction. So, absolute credit to our defense. What a tremendous goal-line stand in overtime. What a tremendous job by our special teams — Mason [Shipley], Jack [Bouwmeester], Ryan Niblett, that punt return unit — and the way they played in that phase of the game.” The 179 yards of total offense Texas (5-2, 2-1 SEC) posted is the lowest single-game total for the program since a 2015 season-opening loss to Notre Dame. Shawn Watson’s offense tallied 163 total yards in the first game of Charlie Strong’s second season, finishing a woeful night in South Bend with an average of 3.1 yards per play with only eight first downs to their credit. Tyrone Swoopes slugged his way to a 7-for-22 night, throwing the football for 93 yards. The Longhorns averaged 3.3 yards per play on Saturday. The offense’s anemic production matched the per-play output in a 2022 loss to TCU for the second-worst for a Sarkisian offense on the Forty Acres, trailing only the 3.2 yards per play Texas averaged in a 2021 loss to Iowa State. Furthermore, after a low-penalty game against Oklahoma, the offense had two critical infractions late in the game. Those errors contributed to 24 of the Longhorns’ 55 plays coming on passing downs (second-and-8 or longer and third and fourth down with a to-go distance of five or more yards) and 12 plays from scrimmage (not counting two kneel-downs by Manning) that went for no gain or lost yardage. “We do some things that are, obviously, very frustrating,” said Sarkisian, whose offense faced six third downs with nine or more yards needed to convert (5-for-16 on third-down attempts). “You get a hold on the first play of overtime. You get a false start in the fourth quarter when we're trying to put the game away. We catch a pass with a minute to go and we go out of bounds without getting the first down, or stay in-bounds and make them use the other timeout. There's little things that we're not doing offensively. We miss open throws. Clearly, I'm not calling enough stuff for our guys to feel good about what we're doing." On Saturday, Sarkisian’s offense had half as many three-and-outs (4) as first downs (8). Arch Manning, who has been sacked 13 times in four games against Power Four competition, had to try and make something out of nothing too often while, once again, facing an absurd amount of pressure. The Wildcats harassed Manning in 15 of his 32 dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus, accounting for a 46.9 percent pressure rate. When he had time to throw, Manning’s 12-for-27 outing (132 yards) was eerily reminiscent of his performance against UTEP earlier in the season, making this game another that was marred by poor execution and numerous missed opportunities. “We've got to find ways to get him more completions,” Sarkisian said of Manning, who was 4-for-9 for 51 yards on third down. One of Manning’s four third-down completions was a 9-yard strike to DeAndre Moore Jr. on a third-and-7 en route to Shipley’s game-tying field goal late in the fourth quarter. “There’s some good things there, but there’s some layups that we’ve got to hit for him, too, and that he needs to hit,” Sarkisian said. “We need to find more of those opportunities for him.” After the 2015 loss to the Fighting Irish, Strong stripped Watson of play-calling duties and Swoopes was benched in favor of Jerrod Heard. Sarkisian isn’t going to demote himself and he admitted afterward that he didn’t entertain the idea of sitting Manning for a stretch and going with Matthew Caldwell. Still, comparing Saturday’s offensive showing against a Kentucky (2-3, 0-3) defense that came into the game allowing 192.7 rushing yards per game in SEC play side by side with a 38-3 bludgeoning at the hands of Notre Dame, a team whose two regular-season losses came to top-12 opponents on the road by a total of four points, frames the historically horrific nature of the offense's attempt to build on their efficient, productive afternoon in last Saturday’s win over Oklahoma. Thankfully, Texas continues to put up a united front. The defensive leaders chose to prop the offense up rather than throw the other side of the ball under the bus. Even when Sarkisian said the Longhorns’ identity is centered around the defense and kicking game, Colin Simmons, who had three sacks and a forced fumble in the win, felt his coach must've misspoke. “We're a team. We're a whole team,” Simmons said. “It ain't just defense and special teams. It's defense, special teams and offense. We've got the offense's back. The offense has got our back and the special teams got both of our backs.” Anthony Hill Jr., who had a game-high 12 tackles and notched his first interception of the season, said the defense understands how much it must help the offense right now. Hill indicated the defense is comfortable carrying the load, specifically because Pete Kwiatkowski’s group has the talent, experience and leadership to get the job done. “We know we're very young on that side,” Hill said of the offense. “We've got a lot of older guys on defense, so we want to help them out and just keep lifting them up and keep pushing them because we know their time is coming.” Even though the Texas offense’s ceiling is significantly lower than anyone expected, a repeat of Saturday’s performance will all but guarantee another loss, especially with the upcoming uptick in competition. The offense can't be expected to evolve into a juggernaut. Still, an identity in which winning the field position battle and counting on the defense to keep the opponent’s point total down is the path to victory won’t get Texas anywhere if the offense continues to drag the other two phases down. The defense and the punt team could’ve secured one of Kentucky's four combined fumbles. The Wildcats' 7-for-18 night on third down extended too many drives in which the Texas defense had a chance to get off the field. Nevertheless, the offense was so bad on Saturday that the Longhorns needed the defense to be elite and the kicking game to be virtually flawless to win. While the bar doesn’t appear to be set very high for what the offense must do to carry its weight, their ability to clear it (and by how much) will determine what becomes of the 2025 season. “If our style of game and our style of play is that we're going to play hard-nosed football and we're going to play great on defense and great on special teams, we need to be more efficient on offense with the opportunities that we get,” Sarkisian said. “That's what we need to do offensively, is we've got to minimize the self-inflicted wounds and become more efficient. “We just… We weren't efficient enough tonight.” View full news story

In the NFL, and just the start… you probably wanted arch to play last year lol

Calling it “my opinion” doesn’t make it less true and you don’t have to get it for it to still be a fact. Herman coached under a four team playoff, no NIL, no transfer portal, and no way to instantly fix roster holes. Those are verifiable realities, not feelings. Sark’s had all those advantages for five years yet the on field product hasn’t evolved. That’s not debate, that’s data.

Sure is lots of dumbassery in this thread yet they will be right back on the “sarks our guy” train once we’re back to double digit wins and a CFP appearance next year.

I have no idea what any of that means, but it is certainly your opinion that Herman was “limited” here.

Honestly @Gerry Hamilton I think sumrall to Kentucky an golesh to ole miss? That will leave James Franklin would that just be norvell 1.0

The Texas Longhorns have made back to black college football playoff appearances. This season they are certainly underwhelming with a horrific offensive line and mediocre quarterback and wide receiver play. They have a spectacular defense and an above average special teams. That’s where we are. Come on man this program is light years ahead of where it was under Herman if you’re upset Sark so be it what to even compare. The two is not the route to take.

Great Q. I hear Sumrall at Tulane and Golesh at USF will be on the list

Nope, the clear #1 problem with this offense is Arch Manning. There is more than enough evidence of him having clean pockets and wide open WRs and him delivering uncatachable passes consistently. He also has no idea how to read a defense post snap which causes him to hold onto the ball which allows the pressures to get home. His ability to make off platform throws is elite, but it's hard to say the WRs can't get separation when the opposing defense knows what we are doing and they aren't concerned with our QB or running game. Seriously, he completed 3 passes in the 2nd half of the game last night. It's clearly him, and that's not excusing other things that are fundamentally wrong with the offense, but everything starts with him. Wisner may not be a top 3 round RB in the NFL draft, but he's clearly the best player on offense and was the only returning 1K SEC RB. He also won the last two games against OU nearly by himself. He's clearly a net positive for the offense, which is more than I can say for the only guy you actually refuse to blame completely.

What Sark wants the offense to be and what it needs to be are very far apart

Recruiting got worse every year and the 2021 class was barren. Those results?

So your answer is to fire everyone?