OTF Premium Two things Texas can do in 2026 to maximize a potentially historic offense

[Jeff Howe]

En route to a 12-2 record, a conference championship and the program’s first trip to the College Football Playoff, Steve Sarkisian fielded his most well-rounded, productive Texas offense in 2023.

Through Sarkisian's five seasons, his third offense is the most prolific Longhorn attack in points per game (35.8), yards per play (6.67) and total offense (477.5 yards per game). Texas also tallied 244 explosive plays in 14 games (the fourth most in FBS), matching the 2024 offense’s 16-game total of plays from scrimmage that netted 10 or more yards.

That’s the standard the 2026 offense is chasing. The current group has the tools to break the mold and establish a new bar for Sarkisian’s offenses on the Forty Acres.

Nevertheless, two things must happen for the vision to come to fruition. If they do, the results the Arch Manning-led offense generates should surpass that of an offense that got the program to the cusp of playing for a national championship.

— The beauty of the 2023 running back room is that even when Jonathon Brooks was lost for the season with a knee injury in a November road win over TCU, CJ Baxter and Jaydon Blue picked up the slack. The Longhorns had a top-25 running game nationally in yards per game (25th with 188.4) and yards per carry (20th with 5.01), avoiding a statistical decline without Brooks, who appeared on his way to All-American honors as a legit candidate for the Doak Walker Award at the time of his injury.

Baxter (117 yards on 20 carries against Iowa State) and Blue (121 yards on 10 carries against Texas Tech) both recorded 100-yard rushing games after Brooks’ injury. Texas averaged 200.8 yards per game and 5.54 yards per attempt over the last four games of the season, including a 180-yard effort against Washington in the Sugar Bowl.

The conditions are ripe (a revamped offensive line that’s created a push at times this spring against a stout defensive front) for Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers to run the ball with the kind of consistency the Longhorns have been missing over the last two years. What the offense needs from the overhauled backfield beyond that is for the trio of Brown, Smothers and Derrek Cooper (who, by all indications, has had a tremendous spring) to be the three-headed monster Sarkisian almost had in 2024.

Tre Wisner emerged as an unlikely 1,000-yard rusher, but Baxter’s preseason knee injury resulted in Texas missing the between-the-tackles thumper to pair with Wisner and Blue.

Can Brown and Smothers surpass the 2,473 scrimmage yards and 20 touchdowns that Blue and Wisner combined for that season? If they’re anywhere close to that level of production and are consistently effective enough to let Cooper’s role grow as he gains more experience, the Longhorns will have the goods to be the top backfield in the SEC.

— Sarkisian detailed during his post-practice press conference on Tuesday how Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo can mutually benefit by sharing the field.

“Both of those guys are so accustomed to always having the safety cheating towards them,” Sarkisian said. “If you're only going to play with one safety, you can only cheat so many ways. If you're going to play with split safeties, surely that helps the run game."

In December, I wrote about Wingo’s sophomore season production mirroring the numbers Xavier Worthy put up in 2022. While nobody should expect Wingo to get the same kind of target share as a junior that Worthy did (26.7 percent of the team’s targets went to Worthy in 2023), it’s possible that Wingo and Coleman taking advantage of the opportunities they get against favorable coverage could allow them to match or exceed the production of Worthy (75 receptions for 1,014 yards and five touchdowns) and Adonai Mitchell (55 catches for 845 yards and 11 touchdowns).

Coleman and Wingo can definitely force defenses to play more two-high safety looks than they want. Still, a potent Texas running game, especially one in which opponents have to respect the run threat Manning presents, means opposing defensive coordinators would, at some point, have to devote an extra defender to stop the run.

In 2023, defenses had to pick their poison when trying to slow down the Texas offense. The 2026 offense can present those same issues, but the personnel upgrades Sarkisian’s organization made during the transfer portal window could make the current offense even tougher to defend.

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[Jeff Howe]

The discussion throughout the season and into the winter about Texas needing to improve the offensive line is valid. You won't hear me argue otherwise.

Still, the Longhorns have a backfield capable of maximizing runs when things aren't blocked perfectly and the kind of playmaking potential on the outside to be more consistently reliable targets for Manning. For a variety of reasons, Texas lacked both of those things last season.

[Jeff Howe]

It's also about creating favorable matchups. I've said that this could be the best RPO offense Sark has ever had and I truly believe that because of the weapons around Arch, along with Arch's ability to run the football.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I want to see Arch improve in the RPO game. He also needs to improve his touch on short and intermediate throws, like RB screens. He and Quinn are almost inverses in that regard. If Arch can improve in those areas, it would give Sark the ability to maximize the talent at RB and WR. But in general, I agree with your assessment, Jeff. Thanks for the awesome work as always.

[watty7796]

Great article.  In addition Texas will have to stop shooting themselves in the foot with stupid penalties.  The biggest thing I would like to see Texas improve on is accountability with proper correction throughout the season.  Texas has the pieces barring injury.

[Jerky]

Good stuff Jeff.

Arch got more comfortable and leveled up in the 2nd half of the year. As good as he was in the end, he still has more upside. Believe he will have an outstanding year if our line does its job, especially if he is processing at an elite level with a bit more short and intermediate accuracy.

 

This summer, I would like to read Arch is using VR at faster speeds to enable him to process even quicker while he is coming back from his foot injury. 

AI...

VR for Processing and Young QBs

Jayden Daniels (Commanders): Used Cognilize VR to read defenses 80% faster and improve decision-making under pressure, notes Yahoo Sports.

Repetition Without Wear: Allows quarterbacks to experience hundreds of game scenarios, such as moving in the pocket and scanning defenses, without physical wear and tear.

Youth & College Adoption: Rookie QBs such as Jalen Milroe are adopting this technology to adapt faster to NFL-level speeds. 

 

VR for Injury Recovery and Vets

Mental Reps During Rehab: Players like Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy have used VR to maintain mental sharpness while recovering from physical injuries.

Cognitive Rehab: VR is used to treat concussions by testing tracking and cognitive skills in a controlled environment,, as explored in Johns Hopkins Engineering.

Reducing Fear: It helps reduce kinesiophobia (fear of movement/re-injury) post-injury, according to research shared in PubMed Central. 

Companies like StriVR and Cognilize are leading this, turning training into 360-degree immersive experiences. 

Edited 23 minutes ago by Jerky