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. 19 Texas (4-2, 1-2 SEC) welcoming No. 7 Ole Miss (5-1, 3-1) to Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC), the question is:
With the season on the line, can the offensive line come through?
There have been times throughout the first six games of the season when the offensive line has done its job. While the flashes have been few and far between, Kyle Flood’s group makes things happen when they’re on the same page and execute Sarkisian's calls.
The fleeting moments of quality trench play aren’t what Texas fans had in mind when Sarkisian and Flood set out to rebuild the offensive line after the 2025 season. Considering how the Longhorns overcame a rough start to the transfer portal cycle and landed two players targeted by other SEC programs (Melvin Siani and Dylan Sikorski) and added depth when Laurence Seymore was granted another season of eligibility, the situation up front is worse than it was last season.
Traditional statistics tell an unsavory story.
Texas is tied for 121st in FBS in sacks allowed (2.83 per game), is tied for 135th in tackles for loss allowed (7.8 per game) and is on pace for the program’s lowest output in points per game (30.2) and yards per play (5.45) since 2017. The 362.3 yards per game (No. 92 nationally) the Longhorns are averaging is on pace to be the worst season for total offense on the Forty Acres since 2014 (Shawn Watson’s offense averaged 337.3 yards per game).
Texas enters Saturday’s game against the Rebels ranked 101st nationally in rushing yards per game (136) and 120th in yards per carry (3.64). The Longhorns haven’t run the football with this little success since the 2002 offense averaged 135.5 yards per game on the ground, an average buoyed by Cedric Benson’s 1,293-yard sophomore season.
Advanced statistics don’t put the Texas offense in a flattering light either.
Line yards per carry measures an offensive line's effectiveness through weighted yardage. The offensive line is credited with 120 percent of the negative yards on running back carries stopped behind the line of scrimmage and 100 percent on carries that gain 0-4 yards.
Texas is 115th out of 138 FBS offensive lines.
The Longhorns are 97th nationally in stuff rate, which calculates the percentage of rushing plays stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage.
Power success rate is the percentage of third- and fourth-down runs with two or fewer yards to go that result in a first down or a touchdown. Texas is No. 98 in the country, with 69.4 percent of its runs moving the chains or reaching the end zone in those situations,
The offensive line isn’t solely to blame for the offense’s struggles. Still, things won’t improve if an ailing backfield that could be without Hollywood Smothers (shoulder) on Saturday doesn’t have room to operate and the quarterback (whether it’s Arch Manning or KJ Lacey) is under constant duress.
The group can’t fade in the second half as they did in last Saturday’s 27-24 loss to Florida. After racking up 114 yards on 18 non-sack rushing attempts in the first half, Texas netted just 14 yards on seven non-sack rushing attempts after halftime. Those seven carries included Smothers losing three yards on third-and-1 on the offense’s first possession of the third quarter, Raleek Brown getting dropped for a 2-yard loss on the first play of the next series and Manning losing three yards while trying to run for a first down on a fourth-and-2 at the 8:30 mark of the fourth quarter.
There’s a chance Sarkisian and Flood will make personnel changes for the Ole Miss game. They could stand pat and hope Saturday is the day when everything comes together.
Regardless, if the Longhorns can’t move the chains and limit the time that Trinidad Chambliss and the Rebels’ potent offense are on the field, things could get out of hand.
The offensive line is out of time to figure things out. It’s now or never for a unit that’s fallen woefully short of the most measured preseason expectations through six games.
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