OTF Premium Snap Judgments: A hard dose of reality in No. 7 Texas' 27-24 loss to Florida

[4thandFive]

I’m hurt that we just wasted the Arch Manning years at Texas. It stinks.

[FHS Mr B]

1 hour ago, Jeff Howe said:

If you can’t win your get-right game, then you’re the get-right game.

That’s what No. 7 Texas was for Florida in Saturday’s 27-24 loss, a defeat that drove home a few realities about where the Longhorns are halfway through the 2026 season:

— The offense is broken and I don’t think Steve Sarkisian can fix it.

It’s beyond sticking with the running game or dialing up high-percentage throws to get Arch Manning into a rhythm. Outside of the opening script and a late touchdown drive highlighted by Manning’s desperation fourth-and-7 heave to Emmett Mosley V, Texas (4-2, 1-2 SEC) was abysmal offensively against one of the worst defenses in the SEC.

There’s no identity. There’s no flow or rhythm.

The only thing the Longhorns do consistently is fail to execute in critical situations and put the defense in bad spots.

The whole operation is a disaster and was every bit of one on Saturday.

Almost half of the 272 yards the offense gained were on the first two drives. After that, nothing went right.

When Sarkisian made calls that could've worked, Manning either missed open receivers, missed reads, misdiagnosed blitzes or put the offense behind the chains.

— Sarkisian’s game management has regressed.

Saturday’s loss looked a lot like the losses the Longhorns suffered in 2021 (which, by the way, is the last time Texas lost back-to-back regular-season games). According to Chris Hummer of CBS Sports, the Longhorns are the top-10 team in the Associated Press Top 25 since 2003 to blow a double-digit lead in back-to-back games.

When Texas got up 17-3, the Longhorns put it in neutral. The offense lacked urgency until the Gators took a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and the defense (a unit that's not without blame) was gassed

The game flipped when Sarkisian went for it on fourth-and-1 from midfield with 3:23 left in the first half. A defense that had held its own finally cracked when asked to defend a short field (two of Florida’s three touchdown drives started in Longhorn territory).

Florida (5-2, 2-2) ran 81 plays against Will Muschamp’s defense. Buster Faulkner followed the same plan that worked for Oklahoma, with Tramell Jones Jr. making his first career start: short, high-percentage passes to set up manageable third downs, which activated the play-action passing game thanks to Jadan Baugh being a threat in short-yardage situations (all eight of the Gators’ third-down conversions came with a to-go distance of seven or less).

Jon Sumrall’s team kept chopping wood, just like Sooners did in the Red River Shootout last Saturday. The tougher team found a way to win, and for the second week in a row, it wasn't Sarkisian's squad.

— It’s seriously time to look at moving on from Manning.

I’ve been hesitant to buy into the Longhorns changing quarterbacks. But Manning isn’t making enough plays to offset catastrophic mistakes.

Either Manning doesn’t have a feel for when to make a pull read on RPOs or read options or Sarkisian doesn’t trust him to make the read and the pull read isn’t a part of the play. Beyond that, Manning looked gun-shy, held onto the ball too long and for the second week in a row, turned the ball over on the offense’s last possession of regulation.

The main question regarding Manning isn’t whether he’s regressed. It’s whether Manning can get to a point where he can be trusted to manage the game. If that can’t happen, Sarkisian has to look long and hard about what's best for the Longhorns.

— The defense will have issues if Colin Simmons, who was carted back to the locker room in the fourth quarter with an apparent lower leg injury, is out for an extended period of time.

Right now, Muschamp doesn’t have another defender who can take over a game like Simmons can. Whether Simmons was on the field or not, it’s hard to know how much of the defense’s issues are because of the lopsided play differential or Faulkner out-scheming Muschamp with an inexperienced quarterback and an offense that won the line-of-scrimmage battle.

— We can stop talking about the College Football Playoff. We need to start talking about whether this team can pull the nose up offensively to qualify for a bowl game.

Yes, it’s that bad right now.

Saturday was a chance to get right. Instead, the loss reinforced everything that’s wrong with Texas.

That there are too many questions and concerns to count at the halfway point is disturbing, especially since Sarkisian doesn’t have any obvious answers.

 

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Yep, that's all the facts in a nutshell   trash can...  not ready to say dumpster fire yet and hoping I don't have to say that. 

[Califashorn75]

Someone check on Jeff. 

[General Grant]

NFL usually doesn’t wait too long. Pull the plug end of year. Not talking qb

[Jeff Howe]

16 minutes ago, Califashorn75 said:

Someone check on Jeff. 

I’m here. I’ll be hosting the Hangout at 6 p.m.

[SB21]

1 hour ago, QuanCosbysBurner said:

One was a preseason Heisman hopeful, the other two weren’t even a thought

Sellers throwing 5 TD’s against them to Arch barely getting 1 is embarrassing all on its own when you have the weapons we have here. 
 

sad. Straight up sad

[SB21]

1 minute ago, Jeff Howe said:

I’m here. I’ll be hosting the Hangout at 6 p.m.

Good write up Jeff. Agree on all points. 
 

Cant believe our offense is as bad as it is but I’m definitely not counting on us making it to the playoffs playing the way we have been and even worse if we lose Colin for a couple of big weeks ahead of us now

[NTX_Horn]

2 minutes ago, SB21 said:

Good write up Jeff. Agree on all points. 
 

Cant believe our offense is as bad as it is but I’m definitely not counting on us making it to the playoffs playing the way we have been and even worse if we lose Colin for a couple of big weeks ahead of us now

Don’t make me pull out the Jim Mora gif again.

[SB21]

9 minutes ago, NTX_Horn said:

Don’t make me pull out the Jim Mora gif again.

Sadly that’s exactly how we all probably feel right about now

[Longhornlove]

2 hours ago, Levester White said:

Pssssh, you’re too nice. They are lucky if they make The 7-11 Toilet Bowl. 

Can we win two games on the remaining schedule?

[_everyoneshere]

Major Applewhite is 4-2 at South Alabama. Lost big 45-21 to Kentucky but put all 21 in the 2nd qtr. S Bama is still the top of the Sun Belt West

Sark is 4-2 with 3 TDs in both losses spaced out between the 1st, 2nd, 4th. Both losses were 27-24. Texas will plummet from #1 in the FBS to unranked in only 2 weeks time

[Levester White]

3 minutes ago, Longhornlove said:

Can we win two games on the remaining schedule?

You know we ARE a championship-level practice team, and don't you forget it!

Edited 1 hour ago by Levester White

[Tres Comas]

1 hour ago, Thanos72 said:

He didn’t bench Ewers.

He’s ever benching arch or himself.

He did for a couple series against UGA

[Tres Comas]

57 minutes ago, 4thandFive said:

I’m hurt that we just wasted the Arch Manning years at Texas. It stinks.

I’d phrase that differently. Arch, and to a larger extent Sark, are wasting years of highly talented Texas rosters.

[_everyoneshere]

18 minutes ago, Longhornlove said:

Can we win two games on the remaining schedule?

If Arkansas doesn't have an OU/FL game, then maybe that's a win. A&M..hope for Marcel Reed to do his best Arch Manning impersonation to get a win.

[TXFF]

Let's stop with the over generalizations. This team is not trash. There's only one group of players that is playing poorly and have been for years...the OL. Everything with the offense starts there, and this group is perhaps the least skilled in Sark's tenure.  I don't know if it's recruiting or development or both, but the common thread is Flood. Sark will have to dig deep to pull the plug on him, but it's time. Hire a top OL coach and a proven OC so Sark isn't spread too thin and we'll be fine. 

[watty7796]

I think the last 2 weeks may land Sark on the hot seat.  Good to vreat teams show improvement week to week.  That is so.ething this offense has not done.  Special teams finally had a decent game but have been a liability most of the season.  I love the Muschamp defense but may loose a team leader and probably the best player on the team thus regress.  The only coach I would retain on the offensive side is Juluke.  Banks Flood would be gone.  Jackson should get a few more weeks to evaluate.  Sark should not be an oc thus a new hire would be needed there.  Jason Beck if youre looking for a run centric offence or Petrino if you want the pass to be the priority would be good fits.  Personally I would go with Beck for the physical road in SEC conference play.  Just my 2 cents but im not paid 11 million a year to look clueless.

[Thanos72]

38 minutes ago, Tres Comas said:

He did for a couple series against UGA

That isn’t a benching and you know it. 

[watty7796]

Hudibras:  Also Biblocal concept tho not written word for word

Spare the rod spoil the child.

Michael Hopf.

"Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard time"

Alana McKnight

/ / If you don't let people experience the consequences of their actions towards you, you will remain a safe space for their worst behavior.

 

Cross posted but definitely speaks to the " culture" at Texas.  Discipline; accountability, effort.  That should be a given from the very top of the program to equipment giys and waterboys..its a given at this point that does not exist in this locker Room

[SuperDave0805]

Auburn just beat Georgia and Tenn beating Bama SEC is crazy this year

[Tres Comas]

16 minutes ago, Thanos72 said:

That isn’t a benching and you know it. 

It’s more than has occured with Arch and he’s earned a sit down, even for a series, just as much.

[TXFF]

2 minutes ago, SuperDave0805 said:

Auburn just beat Georgia and Tenn beating Bama SEC is crazy this year

NIL has enabled a level playing field for every team that can raise the cash. Top teams can no longer stack and develop depth like in the past. 

[FGH080254]

It’s time to quit drinking the Kool-Aid!! We have drunk from the fountain since the transfer portal window. I assume there’s plenty of talent but no chemistry no connection. Arch loves the deep ball. It’s like he has made up this mind and heshell bent- no matter the consequences. The first drive should have set the tone a real confidence builder but it was all down hil. I wonder if the players have drunk whatever they were told and think everyone is going to roll over for them!

[birdlaw5895]

Ohio State beat IU

Tennessee beat Bama

Auburn beat UGA

and we lost to Florida at home