OTF Premium Thoughts on No. 7 Texas' surprisingly sloppy 38-7 win over San Jose State

[horns96]

6 minutes ago, Jonas Peterson said:

Our running game is ass. Central Michigan Chippewas ran for 236 yards against this team, we ran for 86. The stats don't lie.

155 yds.

[DanielOnorato]

3 hours ago, Jeff Howe said:

Seventh-ranked Texas opened the 2025 home schedule by checking a lot of boxes in Saturday’s 38-7 win over San Jose State.

Arch Manning threw for 295 yards and accounted for five touchdowns (four passing and one rushing), quarterbacking an offense that racked up 472 yards (7.3 yards per play). Parker Livingstone recorded the first 100-yard game of his young career (128 yards and two touchdowns on four receptions) and CJ Baxter Jr. (13 carries for 64 yards) paced the running game, which averaged 5.2 sack-adjusted yards per attempt (162 yards gained on 31 non-sack rushing attempts).

Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense forced four turnovers (two fumbles forced by Anthony Hill Jr., one forced by Ty’Anthony Smith and an interception by Jaylon Guilbeau), which the offense turned into 21 points. The Longhorns limited the Spartans to a combined 4-for-17 effort on third and fourth down (4-for-15 on third down) and held them under 100 yards on the ground (85 total, 2.9 yards per attempt).

With that said, the undisciplined, sloppy nature that clouded the 31-point margin of victory is best summarized by how the offense bookended the game.

DeAndre Moore Jr.’s 28-yard gain on a flip pass from Manning on the first play from scrimmage was negated because of a holding penalty. Jerrick Gibson fumbled at the end of a 6-yard gain in the closing seconds of the game, marking the offense’s second turnover near the red zone.

The toughest opponent Texas faced on Saturday was itself, and the Longhorns couldn’t get out of their way for long stretches of the game.

— There’s no way to sugarcoat 12 penalties for 115 yards. 

Whether the infractions were committed before or after the snap, Texas has proven itself to be a sloppy, undisciplined team eight quarters into the season. The Longhorns wanted to put a cleaner product on the field than what it showed against Ohio State, but the mission wasn’t accomplished on Saturday.

— Along with penalties, Texas must be better situationally.

Manning’s most egregious mistake of the game was trying to throw a ball away late in the first half, which was intercepted near the goal line. While Gibson’s fumble didn’t count as a turnover in the red zone, the Longhorns have scored three touchdowns on six red-zone possessions through two games.

Texas is now 7-for-26 on third down on the season. The offense was 2-for-12 on third down (average to-go distance of 9.7 yards), including 0-for-6 on third-and-9 or longer.

Manning’s interception, a situation in which he’ll hopefully take the sack and live to fight another down in the future, came with 38 seconds left in the second quarter. For the second time in as many games, the Longhorns failed to get points in a two-minute situation with the opponent set to receive the second-half kickoff.

— I usually don’t mind the aggressiveness to come after a punt, but in a scoreless game, and with an offense in desperate need of confidence, the 15-yard penalty Texas was assessed for roughing the punter brought the defense back on the field instead of the offense opening its third possession on the plus side of the field.

— Manning (19-for-30 throwing the football) had moments where he played with confidence, stood his ground in the pocket and delivered the ball where it needed to go. The redshirt sophomore was by no means perfect, but the chemistry he’s building with Livingstone and Jack Endries (52 yards and a touchdown on two receptions) can go a long way toward laying the 2025 passing game's foundation.

— Moore, who left the game with an undisclosed injury, and Ryan Wingo combined to catch eight balls for 60 yards on 12 targets. While Moore’s longest gain of the day was wiped out due to a penalty and Wingo dropped what could’ve been a long third-down conversion on a ball Manning put on the money, the attention Wingo drew on a post/corner combination route and Moore’s motion near the goal line opened windows on Livingstone’s two touchdown receptions.

— San Jose State’s tight defensive alignment made it tougher for Texas to run the ball than it should’ve been against a defense that was gashed on the ground by Central Michigan (236 yards allowed).

Still, it seemed like the Longhorn offensive line lacked a sense of urgency in the running game, and the Spartans won their share of one-on-one battles, which resulted in four tackles for loss and more pressure on Manning (six hurries) than expected. Saturday’s performance by the offensive line didn’t measure up to the effort in Columbus.

— After two games, the identity of the offense remains a mystery.

Going into the season, there was expected to be a shift away from the quick-game-heavy offense Quinn Ewers operated. The short game was largely a non-factor on Saturday, the intermediate game has been erratic and the offense hasn’t connected on enough vertical shots to lean on the deep ball.

The passing game is more of a work in progress than I expected it to be, even this early.

— For the most part, the defense seemed willing to let San Jose State run the football and connect on short passes.

Kwiatkowski’s plan to rely on a light box to defend the run while trying to limit yards after the catch got the job done. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t expect Texas to be as bland as it was on Saturday against the better offenses it’ll face in the SEC.

— Whether the Longhorns' miscues can be chalked up to growing pains or not, the most frustrating aspect regarding the seemingly endless series of self-inflicted wounds is what the on-field product looked like when Texas had everything clicking.

The Longhorns scored 28 points between the 4:10 mark of the first quarter and when there was 12:56 left on the clock in the second quarter, 21 of which came off turnovers. Unfortunately, the time surrounding the 7:14 blitzkrieg was riddled with mistakes that Texas must eliminate to be the type of team it wants to be by season’s end.

 

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Arch is playing like a home run hitter. Great ability to hit bombs but need to work on simple things to truly maximize the talent.

[Jonas Peterson]

18 minutes ago, horns96 said:

155 yds.

Still.

[Kevin C]

Great perspectives Jeff.   My questions / concerns are:

1) OL and DL through two games look extremely undisciplined with all the stupid penalties.   Gotta clean up quickly.   Collin Simmons, wtf with the stupid penalties through 2 weeks?   

2) Arch appears to have regressed in past 12 months on fundamentals/ mechanics.   What is AJ Milwee teaching our QBs?   Concerningvtrend with the way Quinn seemed to regress his final year?   Way too many examples through 2 games where Arch not seeing wide open receivers down field, poor mechanics, sloppy footwork. 

3) Wide receivers dropping very catchable balls (Wingo drop inexcusable) and holding call on Livingstone was crushing in the moment.   Those kill momentum. 

4) DBs getting burned too often.   With a better QB, several additional TDs get scored against us today.   

5) Jerrick Gibson gonna be sitting a lot this year if he can’t hold the f’ing ball.   Like Christian Clark A LOT.   So good to see Baxter building momentum.   Feels like our running game could be a real strength this season. 

6) Punting seemed off today compared to last week.   

7) I heard Sark talk this week about how much he loves blocked punts but good Lord, that is a nut crushing stupid penalty on 4th down to get roughing the punter.   Same as a turnover but it’s self inflicted to give free 1st down.   

8. We won by 30+ but for much of the game, it didn’t feel good.   Very sloppy, erratic.   We easily could lose upcoming games against OU, Georgia, A&M, staring at 8-4 if we don’t make big strides in lots of areas quickly. 
 

The good news is lots of good tape to highlight areas to improve.   No part of the team should be overconfident.   Long season.   Lots of time to improve, just cannot afford to lose games we’re favored. 
 

Hook em! 🧡🤘🏼🐂

[Kevin C]

1 hour ago, Jonas Peterson said:

Our running game is ass. Central Michigan Chippewas ran for 236 yards against this team, we ran for 86. The stats don't lie.

Actually your stats do lie.  We ran for 155 yards and averaged 4.8 ypc.   Not great but in most games, I’ll take 5 ypc.   
 

[SuperDave0805]

After today I would say Florida will be less of a challenge then we thought and Zero U is much better than last year

[Bunk Moreland]

Here’s a bit of perspective: Quinn played 37 college games. In all of those games, he only had a higher passer efficiency rating FOUR TIMES than Arch had in this game (183.3). We are all being extremely critical of Arch, and he certainly left a lot of meat on the bone. But let’s not act like he’s a scrub. He is oozing potential and still extremely inexperienced. And despite all that, his mediocre game against SJSU still resulted in a PER that was the equivalent of Quinn at his peak.

[AusMOJO]

18 minutes ago, Bunk Moreland said:

Here’s a bit of perspective: Quinn played 37 college games. In all of those games, he only had a higher passer efficiency rating FOUR TIMES than Arch had in this game (183.3). We are all being extremely critical of Arch, and he certainly left a lot of meat on the bone. But let’s not act like he’s a scrub. He is oozing potential and still extremely inexperienced. And despite all that, his mediocre game against SJSU still resulted in a PER that was the equivalent of Quinn at his peak.

My only complaint about Arch or several, is that he needs to start seeing the field better and I think more game time will help with that and he needs to be more consistent on drives and not just go for the big plays. 

We'll see how he progresses these next couple of weeks. My concern is those around him, too many WR drops and poor play there, etc. We had penalties from the OL and WR that brought plays back. 

Tons to clean up, but I'm certain the coaches know that. 

[Dallas Horns Fan]

Golden didn't even start for us until game 3 last year and ended up WR 1 by year end and a 1st round pick.

Who's to say Livingston can't do the same? 

 

[Hashtag]

3 hours ago, DanielOnorato said:

Arch is playing like a home run hitter. Great ability to hit bombs but need to work on simple things to truly maximize the talent.

Juan Soto?

[Hashtag]

22 minutes ago, Dallas Horns Fan said:

Golden didn't even start for us until game 3 last year and ended up WR 1 by year end and a 1st round pick.

Who's to say Livingston can't do the same? 

 

Right now Wingo needs the be in the depth chart place of Nibblett and Livingstone is clear #1. Nibblett just needs to focus on punt returns and catching them so we don't lose yardage and hurt the offense. I really think we need to give some of the young pups their opportunity and see how they perform in meaningful game situations. 

Edited 5 hours ago by Hashtag

[CoachBobbyFinstock]

It was an uneven performance. Texas just hasn’t been what I thought they would be.

Texas is and will be a work in progress. The Oline wasn’t impressive and the WR spot leaves something to be desired at the moment. Texas doesn’t have a running back that can do damage. 
 

I’m not impressed with this team. They better get it together because I just don’t see them being where they or we want them to be.

Edited 5 hours ago by CoachBobbyFinstock

[Here for the Wins]

1 hour ago, AusMOJO said:

My only complaint about Arch or several, is that he needs to start seeing the field better and I think more game time will help with that and he needs to be more consistent on drives and not just go for the big plays. 

 

Don’t fall for this bs.  I’ve been thru the 3rd quarter.  There are 3 plays in which Jesse chirped up.  The first deep throw to Wingo.  If you watch closely, you’ll see one WR had 3 bodies near him, Baxter was covered, another WR with two guys on him.  Wingo had single coverage, got knocked off his route then did who knows what.  The second one showed Livingstone getting knocked off his route so him hitting him off the break became pretty difficult.  The third was a miss, but he got a completion.  And we scored that drive.

Theres been a hyper focus on this for whatever reason..  Nussmeier I’d wager, once again, is turning down open opportunities down the field but not much criticism.

Penalties and drops were far more impactful.

[Burnt Orange Horn]

At least Niblett showed he could field a punt when allowed.

[AusMOJO]

2 hours ago, Dallas Horns Fan said:

Golden didn't even start for us until game 3 last year and ended up WR 1 by year end and a 1st round pick.

Who's to say Livingston can't do the same? 

 

Well so far, he seems to be the only WR doing much of anything and most people certainly didn't have that penciled in to start. Moore has been pretty unimpressive so far. Though he did go out injured in this one, I believe. Wingo last week had some pretty bad passes thrown his way and then turned around and didn't help his QB out in this one. 

It's going to take a while to switch on for some of these guys (not just the WR either). I have to agree with Bobby's assessment before the season, that this team will look completely different the 2nd half of the season.

The question is, will they still be in a position to play for the SEC championship/playoffs? I believe they will be. 

[AusMOJO]

2 hours ago, Here for the Wins said:

Don’t fall for this bs.  I’ve been thru the 3rd quarter.  There are 3 plays in which Jesse chirped up.  The first deep throw to Wingo.  If you watch closely, you’ll see one WR had 3 bodies near him, Baxter was covered, another WR with two guys on him.  Wingo had single coverage, got knocked off his route then did who knows what.  The second one showed Livingstone getting knocked off his route so him hitting him off the break became pretty difficult.  The third was a miss, but he got a completion.  And we scored that drive.

Theres been a hyper focus on this for whatever reason..  Nussmeier I’d wager, once again, is turning down open opportunities down the field but not much criticism.

Penalties and drops were far more impactful.

Sorry, I didn't mean my comment to mean he played bad. I actually thought he was much improved from a week ago. Went through his progressions properly, etc. You're right that penalties and drops were much more impactful today. But there is some clear progression there. I'd love to see the younger WR's like McHutcheon, Lockett and Ffrench get some run. We need to see what we've got and no better time than the next few weeks. 

Plus Wingo needs to snap out of this fuzz he has himself in. Hope Moore is okay, too. Livingstone has been a bright spot, despite a few things from him (believe he had a penalty or two). 

Also, when I say see the field, I don't mean he needs to force plays down the field. I just think he needs more game experience, which is obvious. He's making the progression that we and I'm sure Sark wants. He's getting better and that's all you can really ask. By the mid point of the season, I think he's going to be humming really well.