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    Jeff Howe
    Colin Simmons committed one of the most inexplicable penalties ever committed by a Texas player in the No. 1-ranked Longhorns’ 20-17 road win over No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday.
    The Volunteers didn’t score on the drive, one of their 11 possessions that failed to put points on the scoreboard. Will Muschamp’s defense put Josh Heupel’s offense in a vice, with the opponent’s only offensive touchdown coming with 1:22 left in the game.
    Still, Simmons’ 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for "simulating using the restroom” after sacking Faizon Brandon in the second quarter was a microcosm of the self-inflicted mistakes that plagued Steve Sarkisian’s team.
    Texas (4-0, 1-0 SEC) committed 11 penalties for 115 yards and lost the turnover battle, 1-0 (Arch Manning’s second-quarter interception was the lone turnover for either side). Officials nullified Jermaine Bishop Jr.'s 22-yard punt return in the third quarter after ruling that Ryan Niblett made a hand motion indicating a fair catch. The kicking game gave up a Tennessee (3-1, 0-1) touchdown on a 57-yard punt return by Qua Moss.
    The Vols mounted a furious comeback, cutting the deficit to a field goal before recovering an onside kick. Thankfully, the Longhorn defense stepped up and put the kibosh on what would've been an improbable come-from-behind win.
    Rasheem Biles sacked Brandon and Hero Kanu forced a holding penalty, leading to two 10-second runoffs on Tennessee’s last possession. Jelani McDonald knocked down Brandon's desperation heave to the end zone on the final play of regulation.
    The offense slipped gears all day, but Simmons recovered from his forgettable moment when his team needed him. Simmons led a historic defensive charge to get Texas out of Neyland Stadium with a win.
    Simmons’ five sacks tied Shane Dronett’s school record for a single game, which the late Longhorn great set against Texas Tech in 1990. The 10 sacks Muschamp’s defense racked up are the second-most ever in program history and, even with Brandon leading a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, the Vols only mustered 221 total yards (2.9 yards per play), went 4-for-17 on third down (2-for-4 on fourth down) and kicked a field goal on their only trip to the red zone.
    Sarkisian’s offense heads into the bye week with more questions than answers after an erratic showing. Other than Gianni Spetic’s leg (2-for-2 on field goals, including a 44-yarder in the third quarter), the special teams can’t be considered a strength right now.
    Nevertheless, Saturday further proved Muschamp’s defense is championship-caliber. The Longhorns needed every bit of Saturday's performance to head back home with an undefeated record intact.
    ***
    Other than Tennessee’s fourth-quarter touchdown drive, Muschamp’s defense did what he was hired to do.
    Texas threw a lot of different looks at Brandon (17-for-29, 145 yards and a touchdown; two net rushing yards on 23 official carries), making it impossible for the Vols to get the passing game going.
    Tennessee's best vertical throws were Brandon chunking the ball and hoping for a defensive pass interference call (Bo Mascoe was flagged twice). Brandon’s only completions of 15 yards or more were to Mike Matthews on the Vols’ touchdown drive, including a 30-yard touchdown, with Matthews getting position on Mascoe near the front pylon.
    The Longhorns suffocated Tennessee’s ground attack, which finished with 70 net yards on 44 official rushing attempts (1.6 yards per carry). The Vols had 143 sack-adjusted rushing yards (4.2 yards per attempt), well below their three-game season average (298.7 yards per game and 6.7 yards per carry).
    Entering the game with an FBS-leading 29 10-plus-yard runs from scrimmage, Muschamp’s defense limited Tennessee to four. It's longest gain was 16 yards on a scramble by Brandon on the touchdown drive.
    ***
    Muschamp brought pressure and played tight man coverage on the back end. A healthy portion of the defense’s success, however, was the defensive line winning in the trenches against the Tennessee offensive line.
    Simmons’ redemption arc saw him finish with eight tackles (six solos), a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble. If Zina Umeozulu hadn’t grabbed Brandon’s facemask on the Vols’ last possession, Simmons would’ve had the half-sack he needed to break Dronett’s record.
    Simmons, Kanu, Umeozulu, Maraad Watson and Alex January tallied nine of the 10 sacks. Even when Brandon got loose and escaped pressure, Biles (13 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and a quarterback hurry) and Justin Cryer (nine tackles and a pass breakup) were on top of him.
    Ian Geffrard had one hurry in the box score. Regardless, the Arkansas transfer made an impact when he was on the field, helping clog the middle of the line to stymie the Tennessee running game.
    There shouldn’t be two happier coaches on the team’s flight home than Kenny Baker and LaAllan Clark. Their guys delivered a dominant performance.
    ***
    It’s unrealistic to expect the Texas offense to do what it did on its two touchdown drives over a four-quarter game.
    On those two drives, which ended with Raleek Brown (17 carries for 67 yards)rushing touchdowns, the Longhorns were the high-powered, balanced unit everyone expected them to be coming into the season.
    — 15 plays
    — 135 total yards (9 yards per play)
    — Eight first downs
    — Manning: 5-for-5 for 87 yards
    — 2-for-2 on third down
    — 10 carries for 42 yards (4.2 yards per attempt)
    — Four explosive plays (Emmett Mosley V’s 43-yard catch, Ryan Wingo’s 18-yard catch on a critical third down and two 10-yard runs by Brown)
    — 2-for-2 in the red zone with two touchdowns
    — No turnovers
    Then, there’s the offense's other 10 possessions:
    — 40 plays
    — 127 total yards (3.2 yards per play)
    — Manning: 9-for-14 for 114 yards
    — 1-for-10 on third down
    — 26 carries for 19 yards (0.7 yards per attempt)
    — Five explosive plays
    — 1-for-1 in the red zone with a field goal
    — One turnover (an interception thrown by Manning)
    ***
    When the offense was good on Saturday, they met the defense's standard.
    Sarkisian, who had another tough outing trying to move the ball against Jim Knowles’ defense (six sacks and 10 tackles for loss), finally ditched the long-developing pass plays that made it hard for Manning to scan the field and pivoted away from pulling linemen in the running game. Texas moved the football when Sarkisian dialed up more quick-hitters on the ground and used hard play-action passes off the run and quick throws (like a 14-yard screen to Wingo on the fourth-quarter touchdown drive) to open windows for Manning.
    But when the offense was bad, it was putrid.
    If the Longhorns had lost, two scoreless second-quarter drives that started with great field position while the Tennessee medical staff was examining Brandon for a possible shoulder injury might’ve been the Vols’ stay of execution. A two-play drive ended with an interception was followed by a three-and-out, a drive that opened with a 12-yard loss on first down when Manning couldn't handle Connor Robertson's high snap.
    The offense wasn't good enough on Saturday. On a day when Texas hoped to find an identity, Sarkisian instead has a slew of inconsistent moments, out-of-sorts play calls, poor execution and self-inflicted wounds to sort through when he deconstructs his team's first regulation road win since the 2024 regular-season finale against Texas A&M.
    At least the Longhorns get a bye week to sort things out before heading to Dallas to face Oklahoma.
    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.
    Jeff Howe
    AUSTIN, Texas — Steve Sarkisian knows the Texas offense must create more explosive plays than it did in the non-conference portion of the 2026 schedule.
    The No. 1-ranked Longhorns enter their SEC opener against No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday (11 a.m., ABC) with nine 20-plus-yard plays from scrimmage. Texas A&M has generated only seven 20-plus-yard plays from scrimmage, the only SEC offense that’s been less explosive than Texas (3-0).
    The issues have been most noticeable when going to the air. Things just haven’t clicked when Arch Manning has pushed the ball down the field. 
    The Longhorns have completed six passes of 20 or more yards this season, which also ranks 15th in the conference. According to Pro Football Focus, Manning is 3-for-11 on pass attempts of 20 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage through three games.
    Sarkisian likes that his squad has shown signs of playing more efficient situational football than it did last season. The Longhorns are second in the SEC with a 56.3-percent conversion rate on third down and were 10-for-11 in the red zone with nine touchdowns and 4-for-5 on fourth down before last Saturday’s 30-6 win over UTSA (4-for-5 in the red zone with two touchdowns and 0-for-2 on fourth down).
    Still, Sarkisian knows he and the Texas staff can’t throw in the towel on trying to hit big plays down the field.
    “If we're not going to get the explosives because people are deploying people in a way to try to minimize those, you have to be efficient on third down and in the red area to maximize those opportunities,” Sarkisian said during his weekly news conference on Monday. “On the flip side of that, we have got to continue to exhaust ourselves as a staff to find those explosives, to create opportunities for explosives and then, hopefully, the players — put them in position to trust why and when we're calling those explosive-type plays to take advantage of them.”
    Thankfully, while big plays have been hard to come by on offense, Will Muschamp’s defense has helped the Longhorns win the explosive-play margin in each of the team’s first three games.
    Texas’ official in-game statistics feed tracks big plays, which are running plays from scrimmage that gain at least 10 yards and pass completions of 15 yards or more. The Longhorns were plus-7 against Texas State, plus-2 against Ohio State and plus-9 against UTSA.
    Muschamp’s defense is tied for 38th in FBS in 10-plus-yard plays (29) and 20-plus-yard plays allowed (nine) from scrimmage and is coming off a performance in which none of the Roadrunners’ 14 pass completions went for more than eight yards. After surrendering two 12-yard runs on UTSA’s second possession (a 13-play, 59-yard drive that ended with a field goal), the Longhorns didn’t allow another 10-plus-yard gain on the ground for the rest of the game.
    The irresistible force meets the immovable object in Knoxville on Saturday, with Muschamp’s defense trying to stymie the Volunteers’ rushing attack, which is currently the best in the SEC (298.7 yards per game). Tennessee (3-0) leads FBS with 29 10-plus-yard runs from scrimmage, while the Vols’ nine 20-plus-yard runs are tied for ninth-most in the country.
    A quarterback who ran Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense at Oklahoma in 1999, Josh Heupel’s veer-and-shoot offense has the trademarks of the system Art Briles made famous (Kendal Briles and Jeff Lebby run their versions of the veer-and-shoot at South Carolina and Mississippi State, respectively). Heupel, who coached alongside Kevin Wilson with the Sooners for five seasons (2006-10), has developed one of the top rushing offenses in the SEC in Knoxville; the Vols led the league in rushing offense in 2023 and 2024, finishing no worse than eighth in the conference since Heupel took over the program after the 2021 season.
    The struggles Texas has had trying to hit big plays through the air might continue on Saturday against Jim Knowles’ three-safety defense, which is designed to take away the deep ball. Tennessee is tied for 29th in FBS in 10-plus-yard pass completions allowed (18); only Penn State has allowed fewer 20-plus-yard completions than the Vols (two).
    On the flip side, there isn’t enough evidence to show Tennessee can lean on freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon’s ability to connect on deep balls. The Vols have 18 pass completions of 10-plus yards this season, the fewest in the SEC; only Texas and Texas A&M have fewer 20-plus-yard completions than Tennessee’s eight.
    Ultimately, Sarkisian’s commitment to running the football and the Longhorn offensive line winning at the point of attack could determine which side wins the explosive-play battle. Although Texas is in the middle of the pack of SEC offenses in rushing attempts that have gained at least 10 (17) and 20 (three) yards, the Volunteers have allowed the most 10-plus-yard (17) and 20-plus-yard (six) runs in the SEC (tied for 116th and 121st in FBS, respectively).
    The Longhorns’ willingness and ability to sustain a ground attack could come down to the health of key cogs who appeared on Wednesday’s SEC availability report.
    Jordan Coleman's absence means Sarkisian and Kyle Flood must find someone else for the six-offensive lineman package Texas rolled out for the Ohio State game. If Nick Townsend misses his second game in a row, the Longhorns will be without their top lead blocker and tone setter when they want to pound the rock.
    According to PFF, only six SEC players have forced more missed tackles than Hollywood Smothers (11), whose 140 rushing yards after contact rank 11th in the conference. If Smothers can’t go or is limited, Sarkisian will look to Raleek Brown and Derrek Cooper to carry the load.
    Even if Smothers is cleared for Saturday’s game, Sarkisian could turn to Manning as a threat on designed quarterback runs.
    Sarkisian wants Manning to be smart when he’s on the move. He's also “fearful of making a living going down that road."
    Nevertheless, Manning’s running ability can benefit the quarterback and the offense as a whole if he's unleashed.
    “There will be designed runs and we've had designed runs in previous weeks; we just haven't called them,” Sarkisian said. “You use them when you think you need them most.”
    Jeff Howe
    For the second consecutive week, the Texas Longhorns are the No. 1 team in the country.
    Texas (3-0), which remains atop the AFCA Coaches Poll after Saturday’s 30-6 win over UTSA, is still No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25. With 58 first-place votes, the Longhorns edged out No. 2 Georgia for the program’s 52nd all-time No. 1 appearance in the AP Poll.
    Notre Dame (No. 3), Ole Miss (No. 4) and reigning national champion Indiana (No. 5) round out the latest top five.
    Tennessee, a 42-9 winner over Kennesaw State on Saturday and Texas’ opponent in the SEC opener in Knoxville next Saturday (11 a.m., ABC), is No. 14 in the latest AP Top 25. After a 24-23 comeback win over then-No. 1 Ohio State on Sept. 12, the Longhorns improved to 18-14 against AP Top 25 opponents, with an 8-13 record against top-15 opponents.
    The victory over the Buckeyes was Texas’ fourth in its last six games against top-15 foes. None of those wins, however, happened in a true road game.
    The Longhorns went 2-3 in true road games last season, including losses to No. 3 Ohio State and No. 5 Georgia. Texas' last true road win over a ranked opponent came in a 17-7 victory over Texas A&M at Kyle Field in the 2024 regular-season finale.
    Before falling to the Buckeyes in last year's season opener, the Longhorns had an FBS-leading 11-game winning streak in true road games. Last season's true road victories were overtime wins over Kentucky and Mississippi State, the latter of which saw the Longhorns mount a furious fourth-quarter comeback.
    Returning to top form on the road is easier said than done against the Volunteers, who will welcome Texas to Neyland Stadium for the first time. ESPN's College GameDay will be in Knoxville, marking the second time in three weeks that GameDay will be on location for a Longhorn game.
    Since Darrell Royal's 1969 team took their No. 1 ranking on the road and beat No. 2 Arkansas, Texas has won four of its last six true road games as the No. 1 team in the AP Poll. The Longhorns suffered a 39-33 loss to No. 7 Texas Tech in the program's most recent true road game as the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25.
    Jeff Howe
    Through the 11:26 mark of the second quarter in Saturday’s 30-6 win over UTSA, No. 1 Texas picked up where it left off in the fourth quarter of last week’s 24-23 comeback win over Ohio State.
    The Longhorns led 17-3 after Arch Manning’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Cam Coleman capped a seven-play, 57-yard drive. Steve Sarkisian’s offense averaged 5.5 yards per play, with Manning’s 9-for-12, 102-yard effort and two touchdowns balancing a rushing attack that churned out 57 yards on 11 carries.
    Unfortunately, it was downhill from there. The offense lacked cohesiveness, consistency and flow until Derrek Cooper ended an eight-play, 66-yard drive in the fourth quarter with his first career touchdown (a 1-yard run over the right side of the line).
    Manning completed seven of his final 20 pass attempts. Texas (3-0) went 4-for-13 on third down the rest of the way and failed to move the chains twice on fourth down (0-for-2).
    Obviously, if the Longhorns execute at a similarly forgettable level against Tennessee in their SEC opener next Saturday (11 a.m., ABC), it’ll be a different story on the scoreboard. While Saturday’s clunker came in a lopsided win, Monday’s film session will show a lot of meat on the bone against Jeff Traylor’s scrappy Roadrunners.
    ***
    Manning wasn’t good on Saturday. There’s no sugarcoating his struggles.
    He's still unable to hit the crossing routes in Sarkisian’s offense. While the Longhorn receivers either couldn't get open against man coverage or dropped his on-target throws, Manning either misfired or didn’t pull the trigger on plays that could’ve gone for big yardage.
    For now, it’s fair to put Manning’s performance (16-for-32 for 161 yards and two touchdowns, with 50 yards rushing on nine official attempts) in the column of a bad night. It’s too early in the season (and too soon after his late second-half outing against the Buckeyes) to hit the panic button. Nevertheless, Manning looked more like he did when he struggled throughout the first half of the 2025 season on Saturday, not like the guy who played as well as any quarterback in the country down the stretch.
    ***
    UTSA deserves credit for crossing up the Texas offensive line with various blitzes, games and stunts and making the Longhorns play behind the chains. That led to Manning bailing out of the pocket more than anybody wanted him to, which exposed him to too many hits in a game Texas won comfortably.
    ***
    Late, hard-charging runs by Cooper (44 yards on 11 carries), Hollywood Smothers (10 carries for 54 yards) and Michael Terry III (seven carries for 39 yards) helped Texas finish with a season-high 228 rushing yards (4.8 yards per attempt). Still, the Longhorns did a solid job running the football; only seven of the 39 carries by the running backs were stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage and seven of the team’s 47 non-sack rushing attempts went for 10 or more yards.
    ***
    Sarkisian doesn’t need to call a jump ball in the red zone for the rest of the season unless it’s going to Cam Coleman.
    ***
    The most disappointing aspect of the offense’s performance was that they wasted outstanding field position. Five drives that started at their own 43, 45, 48 and 49 and the UTSA 39-yard line resulted in Texas only scoring 13 points.
    ***
    Maybe Saturday’s offensive performance will be in 2026 what the Wyoming game was in 2023.
    After the Longhorns went on the road and handed Nick Saban his largest margin of defeat in Tuscaloosa, Texas was tied with the Cowboys, 10-10, going into the fourth quarter; a 44-yard touchdown pass from Quinn Ewers to Xavier Worthy kickstarted a 21-point surge, leading to a 31-10 victory.
    Time will tell. Still, if we’re judging this offense against the offseason expectations of it potentially being Sarkisian’s best on the Forty Acres, Saturday’s effort fell woefully short.
    ***
    I’ve dissected the offense long enough. The Longhorns’ overall margin for error was significant because Will Muschamp’s defense put the clamps on UTSA (2-1).
    After the Roadrunners kicked a field goal at the end of a 13-play, 59-yard drive, one on which Will Henderson III had success running off-tackle, Muschamp’s adjustments suffocated Henderson, Owen McCown and the rest of the Roadrunners’ offense. From the 7:05 mark of the first quarter, UTSA had 146 yards of total offense (3.04 yards per play), three first downs and went 0-for-9 on third down.
    Although the offense looked as unappealing as possible, Texas played championship-caliber defense.
    ***
    The game was so tightly officiated (both teams combined for 20 penalties) that I don’t know what to make of the Longhorns finishing the game with eight penalties for 88 yards. It was a sloppy performance, but the SEC officiating crew contributed to the clunky flow.
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