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    Jeff Howe
    It’s time to revisit On Texas Football's “One Burning Question,” where we ask a question about the Texas Longhorns heading into a game.
    Entering Saturday’s 27-24 loss to Florida, the burning question was:
    Can Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning get on the same page?
    They didn’t. It was bad enough that Sarkisian must at least entertain a quarterback change.
    Sarkisian is ultimately to blame for the Texas (4-2, 1-2 SEC) offense woefully underperforming.
    He assembled a roster he believed could execute his offense at a championship level. After Saturday’s loss to the Gators, the Longhorns rank among the worst offenses in the country in total offense (93rd), yards per play (tied for 104th), rushing offense (102nd), 10-yard plays from scrimmage (tied for 81st) and 20-yard plays from scrimmage (tied for 126th).
    Nevertheless, things came to a head in Sarkisian’s 19th consecutive game with Manning as his starting quarterback. Another week of blown opportunities, missed assignments, poor decision-making and Manning’s catastrophic mistakes overshadowing his positive plays might force Sarkisian to make a move that seemed unfathomable a few weeks ago.
    Sarkisian had hot routes to help Manning handle blitzes. He simplified his quarterback’s reads. There were run-pass options where Manning could've used his legs to jumpstart the offense.
    Manning, however, didn’t execute enough of those things to keep the offense from another feast-or-famine outing. Whether Manning isn’t confident enough to pull the trigger, can’t process what’s unfolding in front of him or is locked onto a predetermined read at all times, Sarkisian can no longer field an offense in which the starting quarterback needs training wheels.
    Manning’s inability to get rid of the football on time cost the offense time and again against Florida, most notably on Myles Graham’s strip-sack that ended Texas’ comeback bid. Manning appeared to have Emmett Mosley V open on an out route, but he held the ball too long and succumbed to pressure, for the fifth and final time (the Longhorns have allowed 17 sacks in three games and are tied for 117th in FBS by allowing 2.83 sacks per game), resulting in a game-clinching turnover.
    On second-and-3 from the Gators’ 16-yard line in the second quarter, Manning appeared to miss a pull read on a run-pass option. Had he pulled the ball instead of handing it off to Hollywood Smothers for a 4-yard loss, Manning could’ve either run for the first down or flipped the ball to Nick Townsend, who was open after leaking into the flat and had a chance to score.
    Instead of taking a two-touchdown lead, Texas settled for a field goal.
    Manning doesn’t appear capable of getting the offense out of a bad play (multiple rushing attempts into an outnumbered box and waves of unblocked defenders coming free on blitzes) or changing protection with a pre-snap check at the line of scrimmage. He’s incapable of making those decisions or doesn’t have Sarkisian’s trust to do so, either of which would be a serious indictment of Manning’s development (or lack thereof).
    There’s no question now that Manning has regressed. Attributes that were his strengths (pocket awareness chief among them) have become weaknesses that are holding the offense back.
    Whether Manning’s confidence has eroded to the point that he can’t regain or rebuild it is a legitimate concern.
    Is he broken?
    Can he fix what’s ailing him?
    If he does, will it happen before the house of cards collapses?
    The Sarkisian-Manning era was on a championship trajectory after last month’s comeback win over Ohio State.
    Five weeks later, Sarkisian might be closer to pulling the plug and starting anew than he is to riding it out, waiting for Manning to get back on track.
    Jeff Howe
    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.
    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 welcoming Florida to Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday (11 a.m., ABC), the question is:
    Can Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning get on the same page?
    For all of the talk about personnel packages, the lack of an identity, play-calling concerns, offensive line issues and whether the Longhorns can count on the running game in 2026, the Texas offense won’t go anywhere until there’s synergy between the play-caller and the quarterback.
    When the Longhorns turned over a new leaf offensively in the second half of the 2025 season, it felt like Sarkisian understood what he had in Manning, whose playmaking ability became the identity of the offense. By the end of the season, Manning looked primed to take the next step, which led to grandiose expectations for the Texas offense this season, Manning’s fourth in the program and his second full season as QB1.
    Unfortunately, the ascent hasn’t happened through five games.
    Whether Manning has regressed is subjective. What’s clear is that he hasn’t taken off as expected, eroding Longhorn fans' patience and turning questions about Manning’s development and potential into legitimate concerns.
    Late last season, Sarkisian tailored the offense to maximize Manning's skill set. He doesn't fit the mold of the quarterbacks who’ve succeeded in Sarkisian's system, but things were trending upward by the time Manning accounted for 376 yards and four touchdowns in a Citrus Bowl win over Michigan.
    Sarkisian’s offense works best when rhythm and timing are keeping things on schedule. Considering the links Sarkisian has to Don Coryell (through Norv Turner), Bill Walsh (through Norm Chow and Pete Carroll) and Kyle Shanahan (who he succeeded as the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator), Sarkisian’s offense blends the discipline and precision of the West Coast offense with Air Coryell’s vertical passing game, topping it off with the running game, RPO and pre-snap elements he picked up from his time in the NFL and when he ran Nick Saban’s Alabama offense.
    Manning can do some of those things, but he’s at his best when he can use his athleticism and instincts to thrive in chaos. Down the stretch last season, Sarkisian called more quarterback runs and gave Manning the green light to scramble when opportunities presented themselves, which helped bring balance to an offense that couldn’t rely on a traditional running game.
    Coming into 2026, Manning had to improve within a structured offense. Manning's mastery of the offense would make him an extension of Sarkisian on the field. He'd be trusted to get the offense out of bad plays and articulate what he likes and what doesn't in certain situations. Manning's legs and ability to ad-lib when things break down around him would further elevate the offense, with impossible-to-defend aces up Sarkisian’s sleeve, capable of making college football’s best defensive minds wrong on any given snap.
    Needless to say, that hasn’t been the case through five games. After last Saturday’s 27-24 loss to Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout, the program is at an offensive crossroads.
    Will Sarkisian scheme up easy completions to get Manning into a rhythm early against the Gators? Simpler, quick-developing reads, including deep shots that don’t take as long to develop, could help Manning get his feet underneath him.
    Does Sarkisian need to trust Manning to make good decisions before the snap? Or does the quarterback need to do more to show the play-caller he can handle more responsibility than what he appears to have now?
    That extends to Manning running the ball. Yes, Manning’s legs are a weapon Sarkisian must incorporate into the offensive play more often, but Manning has to be smart when he takes off and protect himself when he’s vulnerable in the open field.
    It also means that when Sarkisian does scheme things open with advantage throws for Manning, he must make his layups.
    At some point, Sarkisian and Manning need each other at their best to become the kind of offensive team Sarkisian believes the Longhorns can be. But doing what they’ve done will result in more of what they've produced.
    Something has to change.
    We’ll see what those changes are in a few hours. When the dust settles, we’ll have a better idea of whether the offense can truly turn the corner in the second half of the regular season.
    Jeff Howe
    AUSTIN, Texas — The elixir for what’s ailed the Texas passing game through the first five games of the 2026 season could be facing Florida’s secondary.
    The Gators will roll into Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium to take on the seventh-ranked Longhorns on Saturday (11 a.m., ABC), with the nation’s 131st-ranked pass defense in tow. In addition to allowing 268.7 yards per game through the air, opponents have torched Jon Sumrall’s defense for 10 touchdowns and 22 completions of 20 yards more, tied for 118th in FBS.
    If Texas (4-1, 1-1 SEC) is going to turn a corner offensively after Steve Sarkisian’s unit wilted in the second half of a 27-24 loss to Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout, it must produce against Florida (4-2, 2-2). A critical stretch of three October home games for the Longhorns begins with their third game in as many seasons against the Gators, who are 90th nationally in yards per play allowed (5.64), are ranked 121st in third-down defense (46.7 percent conversion rate allowed) and are tied for 87th in FBS in red-zone touchdown rate allowed (63.6 percent, with 14 red-zone touchdowns tied for 109th in the country).
    Sarkisian said during his Thursday pregame Zoom meeting with the media that the running game is closer to becoming something Texas can count on, “than maybe we're getting credit for.” Even though the offense started clicking late in the loss to the Sooners when the Longhorns operated out of 10 personnel (four wide receivers, one running back and no tight ends) with Jermaine Bishop Jr. on the field, Sarkisian wants a balanced offense.
    “Don't get me wrong, our 10 personnel is really good to us. It's grown as the season's gone on and it's been effective, but you have layers to that,” Sarkisian said. “Your run game can get limited, your pass protections can get limited, so you have to have other things to offset that if people are trying to attack that aspect of your game.”
    No matter which personnel packages Texas utilizes against Florida, Arch Manning will look to pick up where Austin Simmons and LaNorris Sellers left off against the Gators. Simmons completed a season-high 76.7 percent of his passes (23-for-30) and threw for 340 yards (one yard shy of tying his career high) in Missouri’s 45-17 rout of Florida on Oct. 3. Sellers threw 279 yards and a season-high four touchdowns last Saturday, helping South Carolina deliver a 38-19 smackdown at the Swamp.
    To shine against the Gators, who picked Manning off twice and sacked him six times in last season’s 29-21 win over Texas in Gainesville, Manning must reverse a couple of unsavory trends.
    Manning, who has an 11-0 record as a starter at DKR, has thrown five interceptions in five games, including two critical misfires against Oklahoma. According to Pro Football Focus, 56 of Manning's pressured dropbacks have resulted in 12 sacks, a 21.4-percent pressure-to-sack rate that’s pacing well ahead of his 13.3-percent mark in 2025 (22 sacks on 165 pressured dropbacks).
    If Manning gets rid of the football quickly and protects it, the Longhorns can build on what went right against the Sooners. The list includes a season-high four completions of 20 or more yards, Cam Coleman’s first 100-yard game as a Longhorn (110 yards and a touchdown on five receptions) and Bishop’s first-career touchdown catch (a 15-yard strike from Manning in the fourth quarter).
    Beyond whatever numbers the passing game produces on Saturday, Sarkisian wants to see the offense start to look like a unit that’s making strides “to a point to where we can beat the elite teams, knowing that that's who you have to beat if you want to have a really good record at the end of the year.”
    “I look more at our execution, our level of consistency, knowing the quality of players and the quality of coaches and the environments that we play in,” he said.
    OTHER STATS AND MATCHUPS TO WATCH WHEN THE LONGHORNS FACE THE GATORS
    — According to PFF, Manning has been blitzed on 40.3 percent of his dropbacks this season (73 of 181). Florida enters the game with a season-long blitz rate of 30.6 percent, according to PFF. Expect the Gators to dial up pressure with extra pass rushers against Manning like UTSA (blitzed Manning on 22 of 42 dropbacks) and Tennessee (blitzed on 13 of 30 dropbacks) did in recent weeks.
    The matchup between Manning and Brad White, however, extends beyond the six- and seven-man pressures the Florida defensive coordinator is expected to throw at the Texas quarterback.
    While Sarkisian wants Manning's legs to be a weapon, Manning has to pick his spots wisely. Manning has scrambled out of a clean pocket 15 times among 22 total scrambles this season, according to PFF. That helps explain why Manning's average of 7.5 yards per scramble is down from last season (10.9 yards per scramble) and why he hasn't been as effective on the move as he was in 2025.
    — Whether Aaron Philo plays or Tramell Jones Jr. makes his first career start at quarterback for the Gators, Vernell Brown III’s return will test the secondary in the deep part of the field.
    Brown, who missed Florida’s losses to Missouri and South Carolina with a knee injury and is considered a game-time decision, has been targeted 11 times this season, six of them on attempts of 20 yards or more downfield, according to PFF. Brown has caught three of the six deep shots, which have accounted for 97 of his 133 receiving yards.
    If Brown and Eric Singleton Jr., who has been working his way back from an ankle injury he suffered in the Gators’ 66-21 season-opening win over Florida Atlantic, are in the lineup alongside Dallas Wilson and Bailey Stockton, the Florida wideouts might be the most talented group of wide receivers the Longhorn secondary will face in 2026, other than Ohio State.
    — A healthy Florida team on the perimeter means Will Muschamp can’t devote all of his resources to slowing down Jadan Baugh, who ran for 107 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries against Texas last season.
    The lack of viable threats in the passing game helped Missouri and South Carolina focus most of their attention on stopping Baugh. Both defenses kept him from getting loose and taking over the game, which will be one of Muschamp's primary objectives. The Tigers held Baugh to 13 yards on 12 carries, while the SEC’s third-leading rusher (112 yards per game and 6.1 yards per carry) finished with 59 yards on 15 carries against the Gamecocks.
    Muschamp’s defense hasn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher this season. Currently, Bo Jackson’s 74-yard outing in the Longhorns’ 24-23 comeback win over Ohio State on Sept. 12 is the best performance an opposing running back has had against Texas in 2026. Georgia and South Carolina are the only two SEC defenses to allow fewer 10-plus-yard runs than the Longhorns (15) this season, with only Mississippi State allowing fewer 20-plus-yard runs than Texas (three).
    After the Gators ran for 159 yards (4.3 yards per carry) against the Longhorns at the Swamp last season, Saturday’s game is an opportunity for the Texas defense to send a message that it isn’t the same unit that lost the line-of-scrimmage battle in a landslide when the two clubs met more than a year ago.
    Jeff Howe
    AUSTIN, Texas — As is the case with virtually every aspect of the Texas offense, Steve Sarkisian’s running game is at a crossroads.
    In last Saturday’s Red River Shootout loss to Oklahoma, the Longhorns final numbers were pedestrian: 122 yards on 13 carries, with the longest coming on a 16-yard run by Derrek Cooper in the second quarter.
    When considering Texas (4-1, 1-1 SEC) faced a stout Sooner front, however, the running game was more effective than the raw numbers indicate.
    Texas finished the game with 132 yards on 30 non-sack rushing attempts, matching Georgia’s non-sack rushing yards (132 yards on 25 carries) in its 41-13 dismantling of Oklahoma on Sept. 26. Only the Bulldogs averaged more sack-adjusted rushing yards per carry (5.3) against the Sooners than the Longhorns (4.4) this season, with Oklahoma’s season-high in 10-plus-yard rushing attempts against a Power Four foe coming against Texas (four).
    Immediately after the loss, Sarkisian described the running game as “a little hit and miss for us today.” The Longhorns have “been OK” running the football through five games, Sarkisian said, openly questioning whether his current schemes can generate the consistency he wants on the ground.
    But after Sarkisian reviewed the rushing attack on film ahead of Monday's meetings and practice to start the week of preparations for Florida coming to town on Saturday (11 a.m., ABC), he felt Texas “ran it pretty good” against the Sooners.
    “What you're hoping for is that you can find consistency and then, ultimately, pop one,” Sarkisian said. “I think historically, when we've ran the ball well against OU, we've popped a couple runs that have created a 40, 50, 60-yarder. All of a sudden, your number goes from 125 yards rushing to 175 or 200. We just didn't pop that big one Saturday, but I actually thought, from an efficiency standpoint, we were pretty good against a defense that thrives on negative plays in the run game.”
    The Longhorns had success against Tennessee utilizing duo, insert and zone concepts. Jim Knowles’ defense created a lot of penetration up front, which blew up Texas’ counter and power schemes, but Sarkisian eventually got the running game untracked.
    Against Oklahoma, the Longhorns found success through their zone running game. Ultimately, the result might've been different if Sarkisian had stuck with it, which could've kept the offense from spiraling in the second half (the Longhorns’ first five second-half possessions included three three-and-outs, a four-play drive that ended with a punt and a two-play drive that ended with an interception).
    After analyzing 28 of Texas’ 30 non-sack rushing attempts against the Sooners (two Arch Manning scrambles were omitted), here’s what worked and (maybe more importantly) what didn’t:
    — The Longhorns ran the ball well out of 11 personnel. Using Emmett Mosley V as the motion man (either as an escort blocker or to get the defense flowing away from the play) helped open things up. Texas ran the ball for 93 yards (5.2 yards per attempt) out of 11 personnel. Three of the Longhorns’ explosive runs (the aforementioned 16-yard run and an 11-yard run by Cooper and a 14-yard run by Hollywood Smothers) came with 11 personnel on the field.
    — Texas didn’t get the bang for its buck running the ball out of 12 personnel. Two-tight end sets generated 25 rushing yards on eight attempts, none longer than five yards. Right now, Nick Townsend is the only tight end who can be considered a two-way threat as a blocker and a receiver. Any tight end combination that doesn't include Townsend makes the offense more predictable (even though Michael Masunas and Spencer Shannon were effective in their roles).
    — Sarkisian’s counterpunch to defense wanting to take away the wide zone is one of two things: either the Longhorns are running more mid zone, which means the running back’s aiming point is the B gap between the guard and tackle, or Cooper’s feel for where the crease will develop and ability to hit it hard is just that good. The running back’s tighter aiming point forced Brent Venables to adjust. That's when Cooper creased a couple of off-tackle runs late in the first half. Regardless, Cooper needs more carries. Cooper’s violent twitch with the ball in his hands is something the running game hasn't had since CJ Baxter showed flashes of it late in the 2023 season. 
    — Texas had four mid-zone runs for 21 yards (5.3 yards per attempt) on Saturday without split flow from the tight end. Three basic inside zone runs netted one yard and two outside zone runs (without split flow) went for 17 yards (including Cooper’s 16-yarder). Sarkisian still calls a lot of split-zone runs (the tight end blocks back across the formation to seal the backside), with 11 of those going for 46 yards. The Longhorns ran split zone out of 11 personnel with mixed results (gains of five, nine and seven yards and negative plays that lost three and five yards, respectively), but split-zone runs out of 12 personnel didn’t set the world on fire (five for 22 yards)
    — Sarkisian called one counter run on Saturday and it was one of the offense's best plays of the game. It was on the fourth-quarter drive that ended with Gianni Spetic’s missed field goal. Still, Brandon Baker’s kickout block and Masunas' block to get a piece of Owen Heinecke, who shot a gap while hunting a negative play, got Smothers free for a 14-yard gain. It was a well-executed, tendency-breaking play the offense needed while trying to mount a game-winning drive.
    — Sarkisian might want to look at running the ball more often out of the pistol. The Longhorns averaged 5.4 yards per attempt out of the pistol; it was 6.8 yards before Cooper was stuffed on an ill-fated crack-toss. The pistol might make the running game less predictable than the running back set to one side of the quarterback in the shotgun (especially since Manning rarely pulls the ball at the mesh point to run it, eliminating a threat for the defense).
    — There’s a tendency to put the blame entirely on the offensive line when the running game isn’t clicking on all cylinders. Kyle Flood’s group had its issues, especially on a third-and-1 in the third quarter, when Cooper got stuffed after the Sooners caved in the right side of the line. Still, a few of the runs Sarkisian wanted to see pop might've popped if the wide receivers had collectively blocked better. There were numerous instances when a minimal gain could've turned into the 20-plus-yard run Sarkisian likely needed to stay dedicated to the running game if a block had been held a little longer or if the wideouts and won more battles against Oklahoma's defensive backs.
    — Texas is 24-2 under Sarkisian when recording 40 or more official rushing attempts in a game, including wins this season over Ohio State and UTSA. When Sarkisian makes it a point to run the football, the Longhorns can do it effectively enough to stick with it. For an offense that currently has the highest rate of three-and-out drives in the SEC, a running game that can set up manageable third downs and move the chains (according to CFBStats.com, the Longhorns have the sixth-best rushing offense in the SEC on third-and-3 or less, with 86 yards, 14 first downs and three 10-plus-yard runs on 16 attempts) would be a godsend.
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