OTF Premium One Burning Question: Will Texas start to form an identity on offense against Tennessee?

[Jeff Howe]

It’s time to tackle “One Burning Question,” an On Texas Football in-season feature where we’ll examine a question facing the Texas Longhorns as they enter a game.

On Sunday, we’ll revisit the question to see whether Steve Sarkisian’s team answered it successfully.

This week, with No. 1 Texas traveling to No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday (11 a.m., ABC), the question is:

Will the Longhorns start to form an identity on offense against the Vols?

It’s easy to identify the symptoms currently plaguing Sarkisian’s attack. The Longhorns can’t rely on big plays; the passing game hasn’t clicked as expected; and while the offensive line has met or exceeded early-season expectations, Texas doesn't have what could be described as a dominant running game.

Remedies include Arch Manning’s decision-making and Sarkisian’s willingness to establish and stick with a capable ground attack.

However, a lack of identity could be the root cause of what’s ailing the Longhorn offense.

The 2023 offense was rounding into a unit capable of producing Sarkisian’s ideal version of balance when Jonathon Brooks suffered a season-ending knee injury in November. Still, Texas rode an offense that was a top-25 unit nationally on the ground (25th with 188.4 rushing yards per game), through the air (17th with 289.1 passing yards per game) and on the scoreboard (15th with 35.8 points per game) to within one play of playing for a national championship.

The 2024 Longhorns tied a school record with 13 wins thanks to an explosive offense. No offense in FBS had more plays from scrimmage of 20 yards or more than Texas, which racked up 108 in a 16-game season en route to a second consecutive College Football Playoff semifinal berth (the Longhorns tied Ohio State for the fourth-most plays from scrimmage with 244 that went at least 10 yards, tied for fifth in the country in 30-plus-yard plays and ranked seventh in 40-plus-yard plays).

Last season, the offense’s identity could be best described as snap the ball to Manning and hope for something good.

When Manning was dialed in and dealing (wins over Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Michigan), the offense put a winning product on the field. When Manning struggled or didn’t get enough help from the pieces around him (losses to Ohio State, Florida and Georgia), the offense played a significant role in the team coming up short.

Even if Hollywood Smothers (lower leg) is limited or misses Saturday’s game in Knoxville, Sarkisian’s organization acquired enough pieces around Manning to lighten the load. While the Texas offenses in 2024 and 2025 threw the football to set up the run, the 2026 group showed in a 24-23 comeback win over the Buckeyes that they can win being a run-first unit.

Until the big plays become something the Longhorns can rely on, Sarkisian might be better served leaning into the running game, which could limit possessions for an explosive offense like Tennessee's. While it’s unrealistic to expect any offense to execute as well as Texas did down the stretch of the Ohio State game, ending regulation with 15, 13 and 12-play touchdown drives, entering Saturday’s game ranked No. 10 nationally in third-down conversion rate (56.3 percent) is proof that the current offense has the potential to be arguably Sarkisian’s best at executing in critical situations.

Running the football downhill with a fast, physical mentality is a sure-fire way to attack the structural integrity of the three-safety defense Jim Knowles took from Oklahoma State, Ohio State and Penn State to the Vols as Josh Heupel’s defensive coordinator.

Establishing a consistent, productive running game will go a long way toward the Longhorns leaving Neyland Stadium with a win. Texas is 24-2 under Sarkisian when recording 40 or more official rushing attempts in a game, which it didn’t do the last two times Sarkisian’s offense went up against a Knowles-coached defense (a 2021 loss to Oklahoma State and a 2024 loss to Ohio State), averaging 2.7 yards per attempt.

At the same time, Sarkisian's offense executing in critical situations against Knowles’ defense would be a significant step in the right direction for the Longhorn offense. In Sarkisian’s two head-to-head losses to Knowles, his offenses combined to go 10-for-33 on money downs (9-for-30 on third down and 1-for-3 on fourth down), turned the ball over four times and went 4-for-6 in the red zone, scoring three touchdowns on six chances inside the 20.

Sarkisian's goal is to call the game however he needs if it ends with Texas staying unbeaten heading into the upcoming bye week. Beyond that, however, boarding the return flight to Austin with something to hang their hat on offensively would ease concerns about the Longhorns' offensive trajectory.

View full news story

[Jeff Howe]

No better week for the offense to come together than the SEC opener on the road against a Jim Knowles defense.

[Joe Z]

3 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

No better week for the offense to come together than the SEC opener on the road against a Jim Knowles defense.

Manifest it Jeff 

[BurntOrangeHorn]

I think this team's offensive identity is that they will do whatever they need to do to win. They are not tied to being a passing team nor running team nor a dunking team. 

They will take whatever the opponent's defense is giving them and use that weakness to win!!

🤘🏻🤘🏼🤘🤘🏽🤘🏾🤘🏿

[LonghornFan4Ever]

The theme for this season so far seems to be exercising demons.  Sark already passed one test by beating Ryan Day.  This is the next of many tests going up against Knowles and that 3-high safety look.

[903Horn]

A team's identity is closely related to their mentality.  Offensive talent isn't an issue.  The overall scheme has been shown to work.  Strong leaders can will themselves to win and be successful and that can elevate the people around them.  I have seen that with the Texas defense from multiple players so far.  I saw it from Arch in the 4th quarter of Ohio State.  The offense seems to need some others to step up and and help will that group to success.  I think Goosby can be one of those guys.  Vince was an extremely gifted athlete, but his will to win may have been his most important trait.