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I am certain this will all be fixed with a great week of practice. If it isn’t well it really doesn’t matter because there is nothing really wrong anyway. They hired him because of his offensive capabilities. The ones that Kirby loves to just shut down and dance on the sideline in celebration.

Sark, as a recruiter and PR professional, is top-notch. Sark as an OC and HC leaves a lot to be desired.

I think there's probably some truth to both points, especially the running aspect. The Arch we saw against Michigan looked far more decisive because if his first read wasn't there, he'd tuck it and go. This year he seems determined to stay in the pocket and prove he's a passer, and I do wonder if that's making him play slower. Where I'd push back a little is that plenty of college offenses ask QBs to process complex passing concepts. At some point the quarterback has to be able to see the field and make the right decision. If a fourth-year player is still overwhelmed by the mental side of the position, that's not entirely on the play caller. To me, Sark deserves criticism if he's not tailoring the offense to what Arch does best. But Arch also deserves criticism if he's repeatedly missing defenders, forcing throws, or processing too slowly. The blame doesn't have to be exclusive to one side. The biggest mystery is that the decision-making looks worse, not better. That's the part I still can't reconcile. You can live with an occasional inaccurate throw. What's harder to explain is why a quarterback who protected the football so well a year ago is making so many costly mental mistakes now. That's what worries me the most.

Yikes. Those are pretty sobering stats. I knew it wasn’t good but that’s flat out bad. Mix that with suspect ST and we may lose 3 or 4 games. I’d like to think Sark sees that and adjusts. History tells me he won’t. Stubborn mentality may get him out on the hot seat.

We don’t have an identity. At all. Sometimes it’s long bombs. Sometimes it’s power run. Sometimes we throw screens and run to the sideline. We don’t have any consistent, definable strategy it seems. I’m sure Sark does (hope he does) but it’s not observable.

Those are Excellent questions. I'm not Gerry, but I think a lot of people are assuming we're looking at regression when we might actually be seeing exposure. Last year Arch played enough to flash talent, but not enough for defenses to spend months studying his tendencies or for him to carry the offense every week. The biggest positive was that he protected the football. This year he's been asked to be the centerpiece of the offense, and that's when some weaknesses have shown up. The interceptions don't bother me nearly as much as why they're happening. Too often it looks like he's locking onto a receiver, missing underneath defenders, or recognizing coverage rotations a beat too late. That's a processing issue more than an arm-talent issue. As for being a fourth-year player, experience doesn't automatically equal development. We've all seen guys make huge jumps after sitting, and we've seen others who never become elite field readers no matter how long they're in the system. The uncomfortable possibility is that Arch hasn't actually regressed. It may be that the second half of last year gave us an incomplete picture, and now that he's playing every meaningful snap, we're finally getting a clearer view of both the strengths and the limitations. To me, that's a more concerning explanation than simple regression because regression can be fixed. A quarterback struggling to consistently see the field is a much harder problem to solve.

Easy. One word - inconsistency.

Sark is running the Whodini scheme.......now you see it and now you don't.

I predict we will hear “we had a very good practice” everyday next week from Sark.

@Gerry Hamilton my biggest question is how Arch could have regressed so significantly from the second half of last year. The one thing he did NOT do was turn the ball over. Even at his best he was never a particularly accurate passer, so his inefficiency this year is not surprising aside from the fact that he has not seemed to improve his accuracy as a passer since he’s been at Texas. But what is surprising is how much worse his decision making has been this year compared to the second half of last year. How has he regressed so badly in that regard? And how is he so bad at seeing the field as a fourth year player?

During the Quinn era they had NFL running backs including one of the best in the NFL right now in Bijan. During the Arch era they've had jags (Baxter's been hurt). Quinn also had a better oline as well. That's not to excuse Arch, he's got his share of issues, but certainly doesn't help.

Sad but true.

Since we’re talking offense…. Interesting stat: since joining the SEC Texas home:away point differential on offense is 15 points! Perhaps Sark should have recruited an OC instead of (or at least in addition to) a DC in the off-season.

Gerry, As others have pointed out already, your analysis is spot on. I have an additional thought for you to consider. I think Sark has done a very poor job helping Arch in 2 facets. First it seems clear to me Arch is being told to refrain from running if at all possible. When left to his own instincts Arch killed Michigan in our bowl game - when things broke down he ran without hesitation. Second, Sark is a big advocate of a sophisticated passing tree, which requires a lot of quick reads and decisions by the QB. Arch is not making many easy quick throws, he’s over thinking every play. I don’t believe you can play at an entirely conscious thought process - the games is too fast. Anyway, I appreciate. Your honestly, and I too am hoping and praying for Arch - he’s a great person.

No, everything you said just doesn’t make sense.

If we’re being real and if Sarkisian is with himself, he would be fired as OC.

I have to go to the rr but don’t want to get out of bed. Why am I hungry? Why am I sm tired? Can I sleep longer? Do I work today? Exactly where am I?

Sarkisian's success with Flood at Alabama had little to do with them, and more to do with the talent that Saban had acquired. You aren't ever going to duplicate that talent level again in the portal and NIL era. This is the lesson Sarkisian seems incapable of learning. His arrogance thinks it was his scheme, when it was obviously the once in a lifetime talent he had to run it. Frankly, this is where you need Del Conte to put on his big boy pants, or if not him, because Sarkisian is likely on the same level as Del Conte in the Texas AD, then you need Eltife involved, if not him then the next head of the BOR that gets installed after Eltife's term is up in February. 10 wins is not what the stated goal inside the AD, it's competing for championships. You can't do that with a scheme that the college game has left behind, with an OL coach that can't probably pick the G-C-G, a STs team coach that has serious off the field problems and coaches historically bad STs play, a LB coach that gets a DUI during a game week, or a QB coach that has taken two 5-stars near perfect recruits and turned both of them into JAGs that have bad football IQ, fundamentals, and inability to process defenses at an elite level. Throwing the football was never a problem for either, but consistent ball placement 1000% is a problem.

I'm glad you and CJ are speaking the harsh truth. He has most of the attributes you want in a good QB but right now he lacks the most important one which is the one between the ears. His decision making is at freshman level in many ways right now. I don't know if it's the fault of his coaches (Texas and private) and their teaching styles (Quinn struggled too) or if it's just Arch not having the ability to process and pick up new things fast. He's been in Sark's system 3+ years and studied film (being a film junky) and the playbook but what he shows on the field really make him look like he doesn't have enough competency in the plays and system. His reads are slow and doesn't seem to have a high understanding of how certain plays fit with certain defenses. You can tell by where his eyes start and where they go in the first 2-3 secs of a snap. The reality is he is behind as a 4th year player and his window is closing fast. Sark can't waste the rest of the team waiting on something that may never happen. Sark hasn't done him any favors like he didn't set Quinn up well early on either. He struggles with rhythm and progressions at this level. I can't even imagine how much he'd struggle in the NFL . Unfortunately, I don't think Sark will even pull the plug on Manning even if it's necessary because he's too all in with the Manning family. Arch is likely to want to come back next season and create a scenario Sark avoided last year since Quinn opted to leave. Unfortunately the casualty in all of this maybe KJ Lacey. We'll all keep hoping some miraculous A'ha moment happens for him but at this point, it's fair to wonder if it will ever happen.

It wasn’t long ago we were all laughing and waiting for OU’s D to quit because of their horrible offense.

1 million percent, Gerry. For an offensive guru running the team… ironically defensively we have had no real problems.

We need more 10 personnel.

Thank you Gerry! Thank you for saying it now. Thank you for not continuing to defend the brand but coming back in two years and saying “yeah arch had problems” but would not acknowledge or address in realtime.