OTF Premium Snap Judgments: No. 1 Texas ends non-conference play with a sloppy win over UTSA

[GDI]

I see very little criticism on this board that isn’t justified.
That’s what these forums are for,  to express opinions. 

[TJS5015]

2023,2024 we were clamoring for a QB who could move and avoid sacks. Well we have that , but he doesn’t see the field or hit layup touchdowns. Texas has had receivers running wide open the last two years. Bobby, Gerry and most of OTF anointed this group as possibly the best set of WRs in the country.  I don’t believe they have regressed. Arch hasn’t threw for more than 200 yards in the past two games(with protection). So at some point we have to be honest about who/what he is. If we are honest there are a number of “decent” QBs when given the talent Arch is surrounded by who would look like day 1 draft picks. If we see it then his teammates have to. I’m hoping that Arch can take a long look and realize what he is good at and play his game. Because if not Siani, Coleman, Smothers , and Brown will be wasted money. His last name has given him grace his play hasn’t earned. 21 point 4th quarter comeback!! Great; but if he read the field better we would have never been down 21 points. Not just on Arch Sark has to play receivers who can beat man coverage!! Forget a circle of trust. If he can’t get out of his own way and play the talent he has regardless of class then Sark will

build a winner that someone else takes to the mountain top. 

[AusMOJO]

7 hours ago, CJ Vogel said:

Wooooof

We play Miss.State, LSU, Florida, Tenn, Missouri, Ole Miss and Texas A&M just from that picture alone. That's going to be tough on our D. 

[Texbevo]

Is Arch just a great athlete/competitor but an average QB?

[HornsUpThumbsDown]

9 hours ago, Jeff Howe said:

Through the 11:26 mark of the second quarter in Saturday’s 30-6 win over UTSA, No. 1 Texas picked up where it left off in the fourth quarter of last week’s 24-23 comeback win over Ohio State.

The Longhorns led 17-3 after Arch Manning’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Cam Coleman capped a seven-play, 57-yard drive. Steve Sarkisian’s offense averaged 5.5 yards per play, with Manning’s 9-for-12, 102-yard effort and two touchdowns balancing a rushing attack that churned out 57 yards on 11 carries.

Unfortunately, it was downhill from there. The offense lacked cohesiveness, consistency and flow until Derrek Cooper ended an eight-play, 66-yard drive in the fourth quarter with his first career touchdown (a 1-yard run over the right side of the line).

Manning completed seven of his final 20 pass attempts. Texas (3-0) went 4-for-13 on third down the rest of the way and failed to move the chains twice on fourth down (0-for-2).

Obviously, if the Longhorns execute at a similarly forgettable level against Tennessee in their SEC opener next Saturday (11 a.m., ABC), it’ll be a different story on the scoreboard. While Saturday’s clunker came in a lopsided win, Monday’s film session will show a lot of meat on the bone against Jeff Traylor’s scrappy Roadrunners.

***

Manning wasn’t good on Saturday. There’s no sugarcoating his struggles.

He's still unable to hit the crossing routes in Sarkisian’s offense. While the Longhorn receivers either couldn't get open against man coverage or dropped his on-target throws, Manning either misfired or didn’t pull the trigger on plays that could’ve gone for big yardage.

For now, it’s fair to put Manning’s performance (16-for-32 for 161 yards and two touchdowns, with 50 yards rushing on nine official attempts) in the column of a bad night. It’s too early in the season (and too soon after his late second-half outing against the Buckeyes) to hit the panic button. Nevertheless, Manning looked more like he did when he struggled throughout the first half of the 2025 season on Saturday, not like the guy who played as well as any quarterback in the country down the stretch.

***

UTSA deserves credit for crossing up the Texas offensive line with various blitzes, games and stunts and making the Longhorns play behind the chains. That led to Manning bailing out of the pocket more than anybody wanted him to, which exposed him to too many hits in a game Texas won comfortably.

***

Late, hard-charging runs by Cooper (44 yards on 11 carries), Hollywood Smothers (10 carries for 54 yards) and Michael Terry III (seven carries for 39 yards) helped Texas finish with a season-high 228 rushing yards (4.8 yards per attempt). Still, the Longhorns did a solid job running the football; only seven of the 39 carries by the running backs were stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage and seven of the team’s 47 non-sack rushing attempts went for 10 or more yards.

***

Sarkisian doesn’t need to call a jump ball in the red zone for the rest of the season unless it’s going to Cam Coleman.

***

The most disappointing aspect of the offense’s performance was that they wasted outstanding field position. Five drives that started at their own 43, 45, 48 and 49 and the UTSA 39-yard line resulted in Texas only scoring 13 points.

***

Maybe Saturday’s offensive performance will be in 2026 what the Wyoming game was in 2023.

After the Longhorns went on the road and handed Nick Saban his largest margin of defeat in Tuscaloosa, Texas was tied with the Cowboys, 10-10, going into the fourth quarter; a 44-yard touchdown pass from Quinn Ewers to Xavier Worthy kickstarted a 21-point surge, leading to a 31-10 victory.

Time will tell. Still, if we’re judging this offense against the offseason expectations of it potentially being Sarkisian’s best on the Forty Acres, Saturday’s effort fell woefully short.

***

I’ve dissected the offense long enough. The Longhorns’ overall margin for error was significant because Will Muschamp’s defense put the clamps on UTSA (2-1).

After the Roadrunners kicked a field goal at the end of a 13-play, 59-yard drive, one on which Will Henderson III had success running off-tackle, Muschamp’s adjustments suffocated Henderson, Owen McCown and the rest of the Roadrunners’ offense. From the 7:05 mark of the first quarter, UTSA had 146 yards of total offense (3.04 yards per play), three first downs and went 0-for-9 on third down.

Although the offense looked as unappealing as possible, Texas played championship-caliber defense.

***

The game was so tightly officiated (both teams combined for 20 penalties) that I don’t know what to make of the Longhorns finishing the game with eight penalties for 88 yards. It was a sloppy performance, but the SEC officiating crew contributed to the clunky flow.

 

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Opposing defenses will deploy this gameplan against Arch. His mid range pass game is terrible, period. 

[HookEm]

2 minutes ago, Texbevo said:

Is Arch just a great athlete/competitor but an average QB?

Yes. With a cannon of an arm that has one speed and very unpredictable  precision. 

[LonghornFan4Ever]

8 minutes ago, Texbevo said:

Is Arch just a great athlete/competitor but an average QB?

Manning is just a rich man’s Mateer, Reed, and KJ Jackson.  Difference between Manning and those other three QBs is he has a more competent coaching staff and supporting cast than those programs.

[Jeff Howe]

10 hours ago, HudGar1922 said:

so your saying our qb isn’t consistent and our head football coach/offensive genius aren’t firing on all cylinders.  

 

yes sark can recruit but we honestly can have a lot of head football coaches with our payroll potential.  sark simply cannot seem to produce an overpowering offense, which he was hired to do.  defense has been much better in his time on the 40 acres. 

Last night was bad, but I'm not ready to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Sark can only do so much when his quarterback isn't hitting open receivers.

[.45s]

I agree with the poor offense performance, but am surprised that the defense only had one sack and the interception was based on a tipped ball.  I thought there would be a bit more havoc.

[LonghornFan4Ever]

16 minutes ago, .45s said:

I agree with the poor offense performance, but am surprised that the defense only had one sack and the interception was based on a tipped ball.  I thought there would be a bit more havoc.

Agreed.  While they’ve been the strongest of the three units so far, I thought you would see more splash plays from them at this point.  They’ve whiffed on quite a few of those so far.  Have to complete those splash plays to get through the SEC schedule with two or less losses.

[MarkInAustin]

I think the Arch comments deserve a bit more nuance.  I have seen him play well against tough opponents.  This was the worst game I have ever seen him play; from after the helmet-to-helmet hit it was his worst game by far.  A coaching decision to play KJ after Arch's helmet was separated from his head might have been in order.

[Freehorn]

8 hours ago, jhookem91 said:

The play calling made absolutely so sense unless you look at it like a scrimmage.  Sark could have run the ball and RPO’d them to death all day.  Instead, he had things he wanted to work on with long developing plays.  He knew with his D he was going to win regardless.  The problem is when you are playing against a very well coached (even if completely outmanned) team, they are not going to play along.  Once he got the offense and Arch completely frustrated, he just ran the ball which he could have done at will all game.  Sark does this stuff vs lesser opponents, and Arch looks like hell as a result.  I expect a bounce back next week, especially now that the rat poison is gone after that offensive stink bomb.  Maybe Sark is a chess master (for eliminating the rat poison before SEC play), maybe he is over confident.  Maybe both.

Good post! 

[HDub1995]

43 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

Last night was bad, but I'm not ready to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Sark can only do so much when his quarterback isn't hitting open receivers.

Yes, but he didn’t help Arch either. He completely abandoned the easy stuff (like the screen game), which could’ve gotten Arch back into a rhythm. He’s a stubborn play caller sometimes and needs to go with the flow of his quarterback. 

[Jordan91]

The fact that we are talking about it means he’s inconsistent. Not being able to see the field is mind boggling. The Manning family definitely worked with him on that long before he got to Texas.  Three years here and it’s still an issue. There is enough evidence to show he’s inconsistent than consistent. With Arch there always seems to be a qualifier before criticism. He had an “off game.” “I don’t mean to be harsh…..” He can’t be inconsistent and still get Texas to the national title game. It’s on him this year. We can’t blame, the line, the receivers or the running backs. All the pieces are there. No point in paying for Cam Coleman if he can’t get him the ball. The schedule will tells us from now on. I am hoping the light comes on for the rest of the season because it has to be. Only other option is a dominant running game every game. He was struggling long before he started running instead of passing. Sark was just covering for him with that comment.