OTF Premium The Texas offense isn't broken, but right now, the Longhorns are bad

[Jeff Howe]

The Texas offense is bad.

I won’t declare it broken. I believe it can be repaired and that the Longhorns can put a product on the field capable of helping them win games in the SEC.

But Steve Sarkisian’s offense regressed from a middle-of-the-road performance against San Jose State to a clunker in Saturday’s 27-10 win over UTEP.

After three games, Texas is 12-for-42 on third down, 5-for-12 on fourth down and 8-for-13 in the red zone with six touchdowns, two field goals, two interceptions and three turnovers on downs.

The Miners outperformed the Longhorns on first down (5.3 yards per play for UTEP to 4.5 for Texas), committed fewer penalties (six penalties for 34 yards for the Miners, while the Longhorns were docked 81 yards on seven penalties), got a more efficient day throwing the football from Malachi Nelson (24-for-36, 209 yards and two interceptions) than the one Texas got from Arch Manning (11-for-25, 114 yards, one touchdown and one interception) and averaged more yards per play (4.4 to 4.2 for the Longhorns).

Scotty Walden and his staff deserve a lot of credit for showing up ready to play. UTEP wasn’t intimidated by Texas, came to town with a sound game plan and made the Longhorns work for 60 minutes.

The 4.2 yards per play by the Texas offense marked the fifth-worst single-game output under Sarkisian. The only games in which the Longhorns have been worse under Sarkisian were losses to Arkansas (4.0 yards per play) and Iowa State (3.2) in 2021, TCU (3.3) in 2022 and last season's regular-season meeting with Georgia (3.4).

The issues on offense exist beyond failing to play to a standard or the personnel Texas didn’t have (Quintrevion Wisner, DeAndre Moore Jr. and Emmett Mosley V were out and C.J. Baxter Jr.’s day was done after one carry). Sarkisian’s attack lacks an identity and whether it was Manning’s erratic afternoon (10 consecutive incompletions at one point), the times the offensive line lost the battle at the point of attack (the Miners didn’t record a sack, but they had five tackles for loss and 12 of the Longhorns’ 56 official rushing attempts either lost yards or went for no gain) or poor situational execution, the Texas offense found different ways to stumble throughout the day.

The week leading up to the Sam Houston game next Saturday (7 p.m., SEC Network+) will be a time when Sarkisian must look in the mirror and determine a course of action on offense.

The offense Sarkisian wants (and the one a lot of other people, myself included) isn’t one the Longhorns can have right now. With one non-conference game left, Sarkisian must take the information he’s gathered so far and try to build confidence across the board by building on what the offense can do well.

It might mean that Manning runs the ball more than what Sarkisian initially expected (he ran for two touchdowns, and he and Matthew Caldwell had the longest runs from scrimmage on Saturday, both recording 14-yard gains).

It could mean figuring out which portions of the short passing game can get Manning in a rhythm early in the game so that the defense doesn’t automatically play coverage to prevent the deep ball, rendering the passing game helpless, which is what it was for almost the entirety of the UTEP game.

Sarkisian and Kyle Flood could examine personnel along the offensive line and try a different combination.

Whatever answers Sarkisian comes up with, Texas can’t have a repeat performance of Saturday’s debacle the rest of the way. Even though the defense held up their end of the bargain (six tackles for loss, sacks by Hero Kanu and Zina Umeozulu and interceptions by Jelani McDonald and Graceson Littleton while holding the Miners to a 4-for-13 performance on third down and an 0-for-3 effort on fourth down) and the kicking game is showing signs of growth (Jack Bouwmeester got back on track with a 47.8-yard net punting average, Mason Shipley went 2-for-2 on field goals and Ryan Niblett had a 49-yard punt return), the offense is operating at a level so far below a championship standard that it’s hard to look beyond the next game on the schedule when envisioning the trajectory on that side of the ball.

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[Jeff Howe]

I'm not throwing in the towel, but I'm worried. Very worried.

[Joe Zura]

4 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

I'm not throwing in the towel, but I'm worried. Very worried.

Na throw is the towel this is worse than a high school offense and the fact sark isn’t being held accountable is pathetic 

[Roy Hinojosa]

Of course UTEP came ready to play, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Texas was supposed to get right this game and we came away looking for answers. Sark needs to right the ship and in a hurry.

[DanielOnorato]

Arch is playing like a guy who shouldn't be starting or a future draft pick. Quite the surprise. While I'm not throwing in the towel, I don't know what the hell the kids doing out there. 114 yards on utep is atrocious. 

[DanielOnorato]

12 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

The Texas offense is bad.

I won’t declare it broken. I believe it can be repaired and that the Longhorns can put a product on the field capable of helping them win games in the SEC.

But Steve Sarkisian’s offense regressed from a middle-of-the-road performance against San Jose State to a clunker in Saturday’s 27-10 win over UTEP.

After three games, Texas is 12-for-42 on third down, 5-for-12 on fourth down and 8-for-13 in the red zone with six touchdowns, two field goals, two interceptions and three turnovers on downs.

The Miners outperformed the Longhorns on first down (5.3 yards per play for UTEP to 4.5 for Texas), committed fewer penalties (six penalties for 34 yards for the Miners, while the Longhorns were docked 81 yards on seven penalties), got a more efficient day throwing the football from Malachi Nelson (24-for-36, 209 yards and two interceptions) than the one Texas got from Arch Manning (11-for-25, 114 yards, one touchdown and one interception) and averaged more yards per play (4.4 to 4.2 for the Longhorns).

Scotty Walden and his staff deserve a lot of credit for showing up ready to play. UTEP wasn’t intimidated by Texas, came to town with a sound game plan and made the Longhorns work for 60 minutes.

The 4.2 yards per play by the Texas offense marked the fifth-worst single-game output under Sarkisian. The only games in which the Longhorns have been worse under Sarkisian were losses to Arkansas (4.0 yards per play) and Iowa State (3.2) in 2021, TCU (3.3) in 2022 and last season's regular-season meeting with Georgia (3.4).

The issues on offense exist beyond failing to play to a standard or the personnel Texas didn’t have (Quintrevion Wisner, DeAndre Moore Jr. and Emmett Mosley V were out and C.J. Baxter Jr.’s day was done after one carry). Sarkisian’s attack lacks an identity and whether it was Manning’s erratic afternoon (10 consecutive incompletions at one point), the times the offensive line lost the battle at the point of attack (the Miners didn’t record a sack, but they had five tackles for loss and 12 of the Longhorns’ 56 official rushing attempts either lost yards or went for no gain) or poor situational execution, the Texas offense found different ways to stumble throughout the day.

The week leading up to the Sam Houston game next Saturday (7 p.m., SEC Network+) will be a time when Sarkisian must look in the mirror and determine a course of action on offense.

The offense Sarkisian wants (and the one a lot of other people, myself included) isn’t one the Longhorns can have right now. With one non-conference game left, Sarkisian must take the information he’s gathered so far and try to build confidence across the board by building on what the offense can do well.

It might mean that Manning runs the ball more than what Sarkisian initially expected (he ran for two touchdowns, and he and Matthew Caldwell had the longest runs from scrimmage on Saturday, both recording 14-yard gains).

It could mean figuring out which portions of the short passing game can get Manning in a rhythm early in the game so that the defense doesn’t automatically play coverage to prevent the deep ball, rendering the passing game helpless, which is what it was for almost the entirety of the UTEP game.

Sarkisian and Kyle Flood could examine personnel along the offensive line and try a different combination.

Whatever answers Sarkisian comes up with, Texas can’t have a repeat performance of Saturday’s debacle the rest of the way. Even though the defense held up their end of the bargain (six tackles for loss, sacks by Hero Kanu and Zina Umeozulu and interceptions by Jelani McDonald and Graceson Littleton while holding the Miners to a 4-for-13 performance on third down and an 0-for-3 effort on fourth down) and the kicking game is showing signs of growth (Jack Bouwmeester got back on track with a 47.8-yard net punting average, Mason Shipley went 2-for-2 on field goals and Ryan Niblett had a 49-yard punt return), the offense is operating at a level so far below a championship standard that it’s hard to look beyond the next game on the schedule when envisioning the trajectory on that side of the ball.

 

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The offensive struggles as well as the overall penalties is a recipe for disaster against any team with a pulse. 

[ccarreon]

I have a feeling the QB run game will NEED to be incorporated more than Sark probably wants. 

Arch's accuracy NEEDS to get better. He had time and receivers were open. Hopefully next week we see some improvement.

[Bobby Burton]

6 minutes ago, Joe Zura said:

Na throw is the towel this is worse than a high school offense and the fact sark isn’t being held accountable is pathetic 

What do you mean, not being held accountable?

How exactly do you propose we do anything about that other than write the article above?

[Joe Zura]

Arch couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat in the ocean something is wrong and it’s not being addressed but let’s keep pumping the sunshine 

[TexasLonghorns]

Imagine being tabbed a QB guru and offensive genius, then submarining third year Arch Manning’s development while scoring 27 vs UTEP at home with a top-5 roster. 

 

[RodBismyspiritanimal]

Jeff appreciate all you do. Sark reminds me of the old saying about insanity, you keep doing the exact same thing and expect different results. I’m no football guru but sarks offense has gotten so predictable. If he truly is holding onto the “special” bag of tricks for SEC play, then he is really good at staying with that strategy. 

[Joe Zura]

Just now, Bobby Burton said:

What do you mean, not being held accountable?

How exactly do you propose we do anything about that other than write the article above?

Do you want my honest answer because you will end up banning me?

[Roy Hinojosa]

We're all underwhelmed and disappointed, so I'm just going to adjust expectations since they were so lofty this past off-season.

Serious question to the OTF crew, are we being vanilla on purpose or are we just this bland on offense because we need time to cook? I hope it's the former, but why are we still being vanilla? Why not bust out the playbook? Sark is losing the fans at this point.

[rgvhorn80]

Have a feeling manning may not be ready to play at a high level until next year if at all.

[Bobby Burton]

6 minutes ago, Joe Zura said:

Arch couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat in the ocean something is wrong and it’s not being addressed but let’s keep pumping the sunshine 

That’s just untrue. I just spent time on the post game discussing it at length. 

[Jordan91]

7 minutes ago, Joe Zura said:

Arch couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat in the ocean something is wrong and it’s not being addressed but let’s keep pumping the sunshine 

Did you read what Jeff said?

[Bobby Burton]

1 minute ago, Roy Hinojosa said:

We're all underwhelmed and disappointed, so I'm just going to adjust expectations since they were so lofty this past off-season.

Serious question to the OTF crew, are we being vanilla on purpose or are we just this bland on offense because we need time to cook? I hope it's the former, but why are we still being vanilla? Why not bust out the playbook? Sark is losing the fans at this point.

I don’t know if Texas is being overly vanilla/bland on purpose.

[Jordan91]

Just now, Bobby Burton said:

That’s just untrue. I just spent time on the post game discussing it at length. 

I watched it. 

[Joe Zura]

Just now, Bobby Burton said:

That’s just untrue. I just spent time on the post game discussing it at length. 

I apologize I wasn’t there to hear it I’ll watch it in the morning and come with the smoke than lol 😭

[Mike Gosnell]

Bobby what can be fixed quickly and what can’t?

It seems there’s some stubbornness by Sark on playcalling but it doesn’t help when Arch sails makeable throws. Won’t ever thrown in the towel on Texas but it’s not good

[stephanie]

If Arch’s problem is in between his ears, that’s going to be tough to break through. There’s been professional athletes that became head cases & never played the same after. 

[Joe Zura]

1 minute ago, Jordan91 said:

Did you read what Jeff said?

No because I’m salty let me be salty darn it 

[JMarquette]

3 minutes ago, Bobby Burton said:

I don’t know if Texas is being overly vanilla/bland on purpose.

We should be able to be vanilla and drop 50 on UTEP

[Hookem72]

The Film Guy made a comment that a number of scouts do not believe Arch can make touch throws and cant make the short and intermediate throws consistently.  I didnt want to believe that but it looks like it is true.  

[snugsie]

Sark: Anybody still want to come catch passes from Arch Manning?

 

Lol