Has Sark skirted by?

[charlie990]

Just going down memory lane about how many unlikely or very close wins Sark has had under his tenure. Many with a very similar outline as the Florida/OU games. If any or most of these are L's how does that change his approach or is he even around right now? How long have we been waiting for this "evaluation"?

• 2023
  • Texas 33 - Kansas State 30 (OT): 4th down stop in OT to seal it; Texas led 17-0
  • Texas 31 - Houston 24: (sketchy) 4th down stop on the final drive to seal it; Texas led 21-0
  • Texas 29 - TCU 26: Adonai Mitchell catch to seal it on 3rd and long; Texas led 26-6
• 2024
  • Texas 39 - Arizona State 31 (2OT): Converts 4th and 13 to stay alive in OT; Texas led 24-8
• 2025
  • Texas 16 - Kentucky 13 (OT): awful offsenive performance; Texas led 10-3
  • Texas 45 - Mississppi State 38 (OT): 24 fourth quarter points to tie the game for OT; Texas did not lead outside of the first quarter
• 2026
  • Texas 24 - Ohio State 23: 3 touchdowns in the 4th quarter to get the lead; Texas never led in the game outside of the final drive for OSU

 

Any others?

[TexasLonghorns]

2024: Texas 27, Vanderbilt 24. Texas led 21–7 at halftime but failed to put Vanderbilt away. They pulled within three late, and Texas recovered the onside kick to preserve the win.

2024: Texas 20, Arkansas 10. Struggled to generate offense. Arkansas cut the lead to 13–10 in the fourth quarter, and Texas needed a late touchdown to put the game away.

2025: Texas 34, Vanderbilt 31. Texas had 34–10 lead before Vanderbilt scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Another game that looked comfortable before becoming a three-point finish.

2026: Texas 20, Tennessee 17. Texas needed to survive a recovered Tennessee onside kick and a Hail Mary attempt on the final play.

What’s concerning is how long this pattern has existed. Blown leads, disappearing offense, questionable situational football, and games that should’ve been put away coming down to the final possession. We’ve seen it repeatedly. A handful of plays go differently and the entire perception of Sark’s tenure changes. At what point do we acknowledge these aren’t isolated performances, but recurring problems that still haven’t been corrected in year six?

Edited 40 minutes ago by TexasLonghorns

[LECHorns]

All of this is true. I’m not defending it, but for a lot of these, I think the game played out like Sark intended. He wants to build leads, then suffocate you with power running and great defense. It’s not dumb. It’s what Georgia has done for years, and I do think modern defenses are starting to play conservatively and restrict the vertical passing attacks. But it is stubborn because his teams don’t have the personnel to do what he wants - and right now his scheme is literally the worst at converting 3rd downs (sort of critical with this strategy). And I also think his job as HC takes away in terms of OC later in the game when the script has been run and it’s time for real-time adjustments.

But…

1. If you dissect every coach like this, I bet a lot will have similar stories.  And btw, that’s a lot of W’s.

2. Do the same for his losses - with the exception of @Georgia (excl Year 1), which L’s did he not have the ball with a chance to tie and/or win at the very end (2023 OU Quinn did win, only to let the lefty go down the length of the field in 40 seconds)? I didn’t run through them all, but I know it’s the case for OU x2, tOSU x2, SECc, Washington, Florida x2, Bama - I’m leaving out UGA at home, but what else?