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Friday's SEC availability report for Texas vs. Arkansas

Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. was downgraded to doubtful for Saturday’s home game against Arkansas (2:30 p.m., ABC) on Friday’s SEC student-athlete availability report.
The good news for the Longhorns is that wide receiver Ryan Wingo, who has been dealing with a thumb injury he sustained in the team’s 34-31 win over Vanderbilt on Nov. 1, was off the report. He was listed as probable on Wednesday and Thursday.
The bad news, however, is that Texas (7-3, 4-2 SEC) could have to face an explosive Razorback offense without one of the top defensive players in the country if Hill can’t go. Steve Sarkisian said on Thursday that Hill had been limited in practice after suffering a hand injury in last Saturday's 35-10 road loss to Georgia.
"We're kind of taking this day-by-day with him to see kinda how he feels towards the end of the week," Sarkisian said. "The beauty of it for Ant — he's played so much football for us that you can get a lot of reps done throughout a walkthrough to see if he's healthy enough to go. The walkthrough reps, I think, can carry over into a ballgame."
Jeff Howe

Texas faces a tough challenge trying to slow down an explosive Arkansas offense

It’s been a tough second half of the season for the Texas secondary. What has perhaps been most disappointing regarding Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense on the back end is the number of explosive plays the Longhorns have allowed through the air over their last three games.
In wins over Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, along with last Saturday’s loss to Georgia, No. 17 Texas (7-3, 4-2 SEC) has surrendered 28 completions of 15 or more yards, five of which have gone for more than 30 yards. The Longhorns only allowed 27 explosive pass completions through the first six games of the season, with the number of 30-plus-yard pass plays by their last three opponents matching the output of their first six.
“We have got to get that number back down,” Steve Sarkisian said on Monday. “Explosive passes don't always occur when they throw it over your head. Now, we've got a couple of those, but to me, it's more about our ability to get people on the ground when they get completions. When you start talking about playing in space, you start talking about leveraging [the football] when you're tackling, when you start talking about populating the ball, when you start talking about using proper angles when you have a second tackler to force the cutback or using the sidelines, those are things that we've got to improve upon.”
It will be easier said than done to clean things up against an Arkansas offense that enters Saturday’s game (2:30 p.m., ABC) with the fourth-most pass completions of 20 or more yards (42) and 30-plus yards (19) in the SEC. Still, a defense that’s tied for the fewest pass breakups (17) in the SEC during conference play must be around the football more often to maximize the impact of a pass rush that’s one of the best in the country.
Texas averages 3.6 sacks per game, which is No. 3 nationally. The Longhorns boast Pro Football Focus’ fourth-highest-graded FBS pass rush and, according to CollegeFootballData.com, are No. 9 in the country in front-seven havoc rate (a per-snap percentage of a defense’s tackles for loss, sacks, pass breakups, interceptions and forced fumbles recorded by front-seven defenders).
Whatever was tweaked behind the scenes heading into the penultimate game of the regular season must result in better synergy between the pressure and coverage elements of the Texas defense for the Longhorns to keep one of the nation’s most explosive offenses from running up and down the field.
***
Especially if Anthony Hill Jr.'s hand injury limits him or forces him to miss the game with the Razorbacks, the conundrum Kwiatkowski faces is not having the luxury of utilizing additional resources to defend the Arkansas (2-8, 0-6) passing game.
While Bobby Petrino’s offense is sixth in the country in rushing yards per attempt (5.89) and 19th in rushing yards per game (205.4), the metric that shows where Texas will be challenged is line yards per carry, which calculates the amount of rushing yardage attributed to the offensive line using weighted percentages. The Razorbacks lead the SEC and rank sixth in the FBS with an average of 3.468 line yards per carry, meaning the Longhorns can’t count on defending the run with a light box against one of the nation’s most efficient and impactful run-blocking offensive lines.
***
Furthermore, Hill’s availability could significantly impact how Texas defends Taylen Green.
Green’s season-long PFF grade as a runner is 92.3, the highest among FBS quarterbacks, a category in which he ranks fourth in rushing yards gained (911) and sixth in yards after contact (473). Green is tied for 12th among FBS quarterbacks in missed tackles forced (26) while leading the country in gains from scrimmage of 10 or more yards (38) and ranking second in yards gained on scrambles (431).
Green’s yardage gained is split almost evenly between scrambles and designed runs (480 yards, which ranks 11th among FBS quarterbacks). Petrino incorporated a slew of quarterback runs within a traditional pro-style offense when he coached Lamar Jackson to a Heisman Trophy-winning season at Louisville in 2016, something he continues to do.
“He's doing the same thing with Green,” Sarkisian said on Thursday. “You talk about a coach's versatility and [being] willing to evolve, I give him a ton of credit on that because he was not stuck in his ways.
“He forces you to defend a lot of different things.”
Jeff Howe

Steve Sarkisian on his future at Texas: 'I’m not going anywhere'

Before he addressed his football team’s upcoming home game against Arkansas, Steve Sarkisian addressed his coaching future at the University of Texas.
Less than a month after Diana Russini of "The Athletic" reported that Sarkisian’s camp had expressed interest on his behalf in potential NFL head coaching openings, ESPN college football analyst Desmond Howard said in a video posted on social media that Sarkisian and the Longhorns could be headed toward a mutual parting of ways.
The following is Sarkisian’s statement on the rumors surrounding his job, in its entirety:
“I’d like to comment on something before I get into our team, something that has been bothering me now over the past few weeks, and that is people reporting that — or insinuating that — there’s a possibility I could leave the University of Texas. And that is absolutely false and untrue. I’m not going anywhere. Never do I do this because I never want to be a distraction, so I never address these things. But, at the point now, I feel like that it’s important that I do do this because it’s important for our team, it’s important for our university. I’ve had no discussions — not with my agent, not with the university, not with any other school, not with any NFL team — about ever going anywhere else. I came here to win championships. I’ve got two kids enrolled at the University of Texas, one in law school and one on our team. I’ve got a third that, hopefully, decides to enroll at the University of Texas next fall, and my wife and I just had our son here in Austin. This is our home. We came here to win championships. We’ve built a damn-good football program over the five years we’ve been here. We’ve been to two College Football Playoffs, we won a Big 12 championship, we went to the SEC Championship Game in Year 1, we’ve had 23 players drafted the last two years, which is more than any other school in the country and our team GPA is at an all-time high. So, can we please stop putting things out there that you have absolutely zero evidence on? And then, can we please stop retweeting, putting it back out there as if it’s true, as if it’s the gospel? It is not true. If you have a question about my future, call me or call Chris Del Conte — our athletic director — and we can set the record straight for you ... [inaudible comment] so, moving forward, when some Joe Blow decides to put something on social media out there, we all don’t run with it like it’s the gospel. Can we all agree on that on this call? And, if you have a question about my future with the University of Texas, ask me on one of these calls, ask Chris Del Conte — he’ll be more than happy to take your call — so that we can set the record straight, so that we can focus on our football team, which is really what we should be doing. Everybody good with that?”
Texas (7-3, 4-2 SEC), which came in at No. 17 by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee in Tuesday’s rankings reveal, will look to rebound from a 35-10 road loss to Georgia when the Razorbacks visit Austin for the first time since 2008.
The Longhorns and Arkansas (2-8, 0-6) will kick off at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium at 2:30 p.m. on ABC.
Jeff Howe

Snap Judgments: Another showdown with Georgia, another humbling loss for Texas

Texas was positioned to get the ball back with under four minutes to go in the third quarter of Saturday’s 35-10 loss to Georgia.
The Bulldogs lined up for a fourth-and-1 from their own 36. With the Longhorns poised to seize momentum, the championship pedigree of Kirby Smart’s program took it back and held onto it en route to a third win over Steve Sarkisian’s club in 13 months.
Texas (7-3, 4-2 SEC) cut the Georgia (9-1, 7-1) lead to four points when Arch Manning found Ryan Wingo in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown with 5:27 left in the third quarter. After Gunner Stockton and Chauncey Bowens connected for a 10-yard gain for the first of two fourth-down conversions on a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown drive, a surprise onside kick recovery and a 9-play, 53-yard march to another Bulldog touchdown, Manning and the offense faced a 28-10 deficit when it got back on the field at the 8:49 mark of the fourth quarter.
Whether it was losing the line of scrimmage battle, a failure to execute in critical situations, dealing with one self-inflicted wound after another or Smart’s staff winning the chess match against Sarkisian and his assistant coaches, Georgia was better than Texas, across the board, for the third time in as many meetings as SEC foes.
For the Longhorns to ascend to the next level as a program, they’ve got to get through the Bulldogs. With Georgia off the regular-season schedule until 2028, the only way Texas will get another crack at the Bulldogs over the next two years is if it reaches the SEC Championship Game.
As the fourth quarter unfolded, one in which Texas was outscored (21-0), outgained (119-64) and outclassed, the preseason promise of the Longhorns competing for the SEC title and a national championship faded with every body blow the Bulldogs landed. As things stand, Texas won’t be back in Atlanta and, unless it benefits from a lot of unforeseen good fortune down the stretch, it won’t make a third consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff.
***
One of the reasons why Georgia is a bad matchup for Texas is the athleticism and length the Bulldogs possess up front. Once again, the Bulldogs won the battle at the point of attack in a landslide.
Georgia sacked Manning three times, recorded seven tackles for loss and held the Longhorns to just 23 net rushing yards on 17 carries. Even when adjusting rushing yards to exclude sack yardage, 39 yards (2.8 yards per carry) wasn’t close to what Texas needed to achieve much-needed balance on offense.
In their three losses to the Bulldogs over the last two seasons, the Longhorns have given up 16 sacks and 32 tackles for loss while mustering just 83 net rushing yards on 72 official attempts (1.15 yards per attempt). Georgia rushed for 128 yards (3.7 yards per attempt), 67 of which came in the fourth quarter, as the Bulldogs once again owned the line of scrimmage.
***
The chatter regarding Sarkisian’s struggles against Smart won’t die down. In fact, after Smart pushed all of the right buttons in the second half while Sarkisian’s offense sputtered and the Texas defense wore down, it’ll be louder than ever.
Sarkisian has done a lot of good in his five seasons on the Forty Acres. Nevertheless, his head-to-head win over Nick Saban in 2023 is starting to be overshadowed by Sarkisian’s combined 0-7 record against Smart (0-3), Kalen DeBoer (0-2) and Ryan Day (0-2), which account for his seven losses against top-five opponents while leading the Longhorns (1-7 record).
Sarkisian’s success over the last two seasons has raised the bar to a championship standard. With that as the backdrop, Saturday’s loss adds even more importance to the regular-season finale against a Texas A&M team expected to roll into DKR with an unblemished 11-0 record.
If Sarkisian’s Texas squad goes 0-3 against top-five opponents in 2025 while the Aggies and Oklahoma advance to the CFP (a realistic outcome after the Sooners’ 23-21 road win over Alabama on Saturday), it’ll be a long offseason with a lot of tough questions to answer throughout 2026.
***
For the third consecutive meeting between the Longhorns and Georgia, the Bulldogs’ best players outpaced Texas’ top dogs.
Manning wasn’t bad (27-for-43, 251 yards, one touchdown and one interception), but Stockton was better (24-for-29, 229 yards, four touchdowns, one interception and a rushing touchdown). Although Anthony Hill (six tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss and an interception) and Colin Simmons (three tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack) made plays, they didn’t dominate the game the way they needed to for the Longhorns to win.
***
The final score isn’t a direct reflection of how far Texas is from reaching Georgia’s level as a program. Still, until the Longhorns can hold up better in the trenches, avoid shooting themselves in the foot (nine penalties for 58 yards) and play better situational football (a combined 4-for-15 on third and fourth down; the Bulldogs also went 4-for-4 in the red zone with four touchdowns), they’ll likely continue to suffer the same fate in games of this magnitude.
Jeff Howe

Early thoughts on No. 11 Texas traveling to No. 5 Georgia

When No. 11 Texas faces fifth-ranked Georgia in Athens next Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC), it will do so on the heels of the Bulldogs’ most complete performance of the season.
Kirby Smart’s team rolled up a season-high 567 yards of total offense in Saturday’s 41-21 dispatching of Mississippi State. Georgia (8-1, 6-1 SEC) ran for 303 yards and averaged 7.7 yards per play on an afternoon in which Gunnar Stockton (18-for-29 passing for 264 yards and three touchdowns) led five consecutive touchdown drives after a first-quarter fumble in the red zone.
A defense entered Saturday’s game with a Power Four-low eight sacks recorded through eight games. After allowing a 14-play, 75-yard drive to open the game, the Bulldogs forced two three-and-outs, four total punts, a fumble and a turnover on downs to help Georgia build a 38-7 lead by the 9:58 mark of the third quarter.
The Longhorns won four consecutive SEC games after losing to Florida. Texas (7-2, 4-1) has earned the opportunity to position itself as a threat to get back to the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff if it can hand the Bulldogs their second conference loss.
With Georgia’s trip to Starkville out of the way, the countdown to the third meeting between the Longhorns and the Bulldogs in 392 days is officially underway.
— Along with a healthy running back room (Nate Frazier’s 59-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter highlighted a 12-carry, 181-yard performance against Mississippi State), Georgia’s offensive line looks just as good, if not better than the group Stacy Searles put on the field last season.
Texas will come into the game with arguably the best run defense in the country. It should be a hellacious trench battle next Saturday.
— The tight end position is a significant piece in Mike Bobo’s offense, which is why Lawson Luckie’s departure after he was leveled on a hit that led to safety Jahron Manning’s ejection for targeting is a significant development.
Smart said after the game that Luckie wanted to get back on the field after he was ruled out, providing hope of a positive prognosis. Regardless, Luckie’s availability is one of the early health-related storylines to monitor, along with the status of Ryan Wingo (thumb) and Jelani McDonald (concussion protocol), both of whom suffered injuries in the Longhorns' 34-31 win over Vanderbilt.
— Zachariah Branch and Noah Thomas both hauled in touchdowns from Stockton on Saturday. The Bulldogs have upgraded at wide receiver since the last time Texas saw Georgia, with the transfer wideouts responsible for two of Stockton’s completions against Mississippi State that were explosive in nature (gained 15 or more yards), including Thomas’ 64-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.
— The toughest task the Longhorns have in front of them is figuring out how to run the football with some level of consistency against a defense that came into the weekend as a top-15 unit against the run (94.1 yards per game and 3.01 yards per attempt allowed). Even though Texas is last in the SEC in rushing yards per game in conference play (84.1), Quintrevion Wisner has a track record of getting the job done in big games.
Wisner’s most productive games this season have come against Ohio State (80 yards on 16 carries), Oklahoma (22 carries for 94 yards and five receptions for 35 yards) and Vanderbilt (75 yards on 18 carries and 28 yards on two catches), the seventh, eighth and 17th-ranked FBS run defenses heading into the weekend. With Wisner running behind an offensive line that might've found its best combination with Cole Hutson at left guard and Connor Robertson at center, the Longhorns have at least a puncher’s chance to move the ball on the ground.
— Georgia is elite in the kicking game.
While turnovers doomed Texas in the first meeting with Georgia last season, Brett Thorson’s ability to flip the field and help the Bulldogs dominate field position was a significant factor in the Longhorns’ struggles. Texas is much improved on special teams from last season, but it needs its best game of the season to match or top Georgia's kicking game, which might be the best in the country.
Jeff Howe

Arch Manning must keep thriving against pressure when Texas faces Georgia

Before he parlayed his red-hot finish while leading Texas to an overtime road win over Mississippi State into a banner performance in last Saturday’s 34-31 triumph over Vanderbilt, Arch Manning proved he could handle pressure.
According to Pro Football Focus, Manning has been pressured 122 times through nine games, tying him with South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers for the second-most pressures faced among FBS quarterbacks. He’s produced when the heat has been on him; the 11th-ranked Longhorns hit their second bye week of the regular season with Manning carrying a PFF season-long grade of 68 when facing, tied for the eighth-best grade in FBS among quarterbacks who’ve been pressured on at least 20 dropbacks.
With only 18 of those pressures resulting in sacks, Manning’s 14.8 pressure-to-sack percentage is tied for 60th among 171 qualifying FBS quarterbacks and sixth out of 17 qualifying quarterbacks in the SEC. To give Manning’s ability to avoid sacks more context, Jackson Arnold has the worst pressure-to-sack percentage in the SEC, with him getting sacked on 32.6 percent of the pressure Auburn has allowed.
While Manning’s legs (specifically, his ability to extend plays) have been one of the elements of the offense that Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC) has been able to count on throughout the season, he’s becoming a top-notch quarterback at beating pressure with his arm.
According to PFF, no SEC quarterback has completed more pass attempts against pressure than Manning (43). Manning has the second-most passing yards of any FBS quarterback against pressure (676) and his five touchdown passes when facing pressure are tied for the seventh-most in the country (the seven touchdown passes against pressure by Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar lead the SEC, with Manning, Taylen Green of Arkansas and Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed right behind him).
This is a positive trend for the Longhorns that needs to continue against a Georgia defense that’s found it tougher to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks organically this season. Steve Sarkisian and the offensive staff should expect Kirby Smart and Glenn Schumann to throw the kitchen sink at Manning when Texas heads to Athens next Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC), even though Kyle Flood’s offensive line is coming off of arguably its best outing of 2025.
According to PFF, Manning was pressured on just seven of his 34 dropbacks against the Commodores. Whether Clark Lea and the Vanderbilt defensive staff intended to blitz more coming into the game, or the Commodores shifted gears on the fly, the Longhorns made Vanderbilt pay for blitzing Manning 19 times.
Manning had a 15-for-19 day against the blitz last Saturday, throwing for 248 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers committed or sacks allowed for a PFF grade of 91.6, Manning’s best of the season against the blitz and a perfect NFL passer rating (158.3). On the 50 combined blitzes he's faced in his last two games, Manning is completing 67 percent of his passes (30 of 45) for 508 yards with five touchdowns, no interceptions, no fumbles and four sacks allowed.
In two meetings with Georgia last season, the Bulldogs blitzed Manning and Quinn Ewers on 41.4 percent of their combined dropbacks (46 of 111). Those 46 blitzes led to 20 pressures and six sacks, with Manning and Ewers combining to go 22-for-40 through the air for 256 yards with one touchdown and four turnovers (one interception and three fumbles).
For Texas and Sarkisian to slay the dragon and get over the hump against Smart and the Bulldogs, Manning must continue his positive trend of delivering when opposing defenses bring the heat.
Jeff Howe

Texas is making strides in areas that matter down the stretch

What shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle of Texas coming uncomfortably close to squandering a 24-point lead in last Saturday’s 34-31 win over Vanderbilt is the way the Longhorns put the Commodores in a four-score hole through three quarters.
Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC) won the line of scrimmage battle in a landslide, something it hasn’t done consistently in 2025. Steve Sarkisian might’ve said it best during his weekly news conference on Monday when he pointed out how the Longhorns minimized Vanderbilt’s strength “and made it a strength of ours.”
The remarkable effort by Clark Lea’s organization to turn a perennial SEC doormat into a contender for a berth in the College Football Playoff has centered around winning in the trenches.
The Commodores came into the game with the third-best rushing offense in the SEC (203.4 yards per game, ranked 24th in FBS) while allowing only 26 tackles for loss (3.25 per game, ranked fourth nationally) and seven sacks (0.88 per game was tied for the top spot in the SEC and 11th in the country) through eight games. Vanderbilt was a top-25 defense nationally in tackles for loss (6.8 per game) and sacks (2.63 per game) and boasted a top-20 ranking against the run (101.9 yards per game allowed).
Facing a formidable opponent up front, Texas dominated the game at the point of attack.
“That's why I didn't think the score was indicative of how the game went,” Sarkisian said. We’ve got to play better in the fourth quarter, don't get me wrong, but we're playing better football right now.”
The Longhorns kept Arch Manning upright, preventing the opponent from recording a sack for only the second time this season. The Commodores ended the game with one tackle for loss, tying Ohio State for the fewest tackles for loss allowed by Texas through nine games.
Only four of the Longhorns’ 27 official rushing attempts were stopped for no gain or netting negative yardage. The 15 percent stuff rate allowed is the second-best mark Texas has recorded in 2025, topped only by a five percent stuff rate by the Buckeye defense (just two of 37 official rushing attempts in the season opener failed to get back to the line of scrimmage).
The line of scrimmage play on offense came as close as it has to matching the continued excellence displayed by the defensive front. After sacking Diego Pavia six times (Vanderbilt allowed only seven through eight games) and recording 10 tackles for loss (one shy of a season high 11 notched in a road win over Kentucky on Oct. 18), Texas has racked up 23 sacks and 37 tackles for loss during its four-game SEC winning streak.
The Longhorns currently own the top-ranked run defense in the SEC (78.2 yards per game allowed, No. 2 in FBS) and their 34 sacks lead the conference and the country (No. 2 in FBS with 3.78 sacks per game). Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense is also 18th nationally and fifth in the SEC in tackles for loss per game (6.8).
The team's trench success came on a day in which the offense enjoyed a 7-for-11 performance on third down (tied for the season high with an identical 7-for-11 effort in a 55-0 win over Sam Houston on Sept. 20). Combine those aspects of the win with Mason Shipley’s 39-yard field goal in the first quarter on the heels of a strip sack and fumble recovery by Colin Simmons and Sarkisian is excited about the momentum Texas will look to capitalize on coming out of the bye week. Specifically, Sarkisian wants to see his club build on what he described as "a level of confidence right now with our team of, ‘Man, we're getting better.'"
"We're taking care of the ball better. We're creating turnovers. We're stopping the run. We're starting to run the ball better — we need to
run it better. We're converting third downs. We're doing a lot of things really well," Sarkisian said. "We're playing better at the line of scrimmage now on both sides of the ball.
“There was a lot of things to point to in that game where it's like, ‘OK, we're starting to hit our stride a little bit more,” he added. “There's some things to clean up, we're not a finished product, but we're getting better."
Jeff Howe

Snap Judgments: No. 20 Texas hangs on for a 34-31 win over No. 9 Vanderbilt

Let’s start with what’s objectively fantastic about Texas hanging on for a 34-31 win over No. 9  Vanderbilt, and that’s the start of the game.
The season-saving closing moments of last Saturday’s 45-38 overtime win over Mississippi State carried the Longhorns into a game at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium for the first time in 42 days. With those two factors colliding, I would’ve been disappointed if we didn’t see the most inspired, ready-to-go-from-the-jump version of Steve Sarkisian’s team through nine games.
And Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC) came out like a house of fire.
Less than four minutes into the game, Arch Manning (25-for-33, 328 yards and three touchdowns) and Ryan Wingo (89 yards on two catches before exiting the game with a thumb injury) connected on a 75-yard touchdown, Colin Simmons forced a Diego Pavia fumble on a strip sack and the Longhorns had a 10-0 lead.
I wanted Sarkisian to take the ball first (he didn’t get the choice since the Commodores won the toss and deferred their option to the second half). The opportunity to be the aggressor and set the tone the right way could get Vanderbilt (7-2, 3-2) on its heels.
That’s exactly what happened. The Longhorns never trailed in the latest must-win game of the 2025 season.
I couldn’t have envisioned a better start to a victory that keeps the team’s goals of a berth in the SEC title game and a third consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff alive.
***
Manning achieved back-to-back 300-yard passing games for the first time in his career with the most complete sampling of throws we’ve seen from him this season.
On quick throws, screens, intermediate passes and the occasional shot down the field beyond 20 yards, Manning completed 10 consecutive passes at one point. While connecting on 22 of his final 27 attempts, Manning was 7-for-9 for 81 yards on third down and six of his completions moved the chains.
Manning led Texas to points on six of the offense’s first seven drives, with the Longhorns failing to score only on a two-play drive at the end of the first half.
***
Until the end of the game, when Texas was trying to drain the clock and make the Commodores use their timeouts, Sarkisian called the game he needed to call to position the Longhorns for a win. While I might be a prisoner of the moment, I'll say that the vast majority of the Vanderbilt game is up there with last season’s road win over Michigan and the 2023 road win over Alabama as games in which Sarkisian seemed to push all the right buttons on offense at a consistently high level.
One of the things I liked was how Sarkisian helped the offensive line, which benefited from the return of Cole Hutson from injury.
With Hutson in the lineup at left guard, Texas had the athleticism between Trevor Goosby and Connor Robertson that wasn’t there with either Nick Brooks or Connor Stroh. Sarkisian’s decision to maximize the Longhorns’ advantage on the perimeter with the quick passing game, well-executed screen passes to the running backs and the utilization of pre-snap movement to create a numbers advantage in the running game led to Quintrevion Wisner (75 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries) and C.J. Baxter Jr. (22 yards rushing and a receiving touchdown) rushing for a combined 97 yards on 25 carries.
With only one tackle for loss allowed (Clark Lea’s defense came into Saturday’s game averaging 6.8 tackles for loss per game, which ranked 21st nationally) and the defense sacking Pavia six times (only seven sacks allowed through eight games) to go along with 10 tackles for loss, Texas dominated the line of scrimmage against a team that prides itself on winning with a physical, methodical brand of football.
The hard-to-stomach final few minutes of the game could push the winning trench effort aside. It shouldn’t, but it’s understandable if it’s hard to see it through the muck of an almost catastrophic fourth quarter.
***
The game turned on a play that nearly put the nail in Vanderbilt’s coffin.
Manning’s 33-yard touchdown strike to Emmett Mosley V (69 yards and a touchdown on seven catches) was correctly overturned and ruled an incomplete pass. However, the officiating crew failed to call defensive pass interference or defensive holding on cornerback Kolbey Taylor, who had a handful of Mosley’s jersey, restricting his left arm from helping him complete the play.
Instead of a touchdown that would’ve put Texas up 40-16 (extra point pending) with 4:09 to go, effectively ending the game, Mason Shipley’s failed field goal try from 51 yards out on the next snap put into motion a forgettable end to an otherwise strong outing.
***
Two things are true about the end of the game.
I try as hard as I can to leave the officials out of the discussion of how things played out. With that said, I don’t know what else Simmons (five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack, two hurries and a forced fumble) has to demand more holding calls. Even though Trey Moore (three tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss and two hurries) drew one on Vanderbilt’s last possession, it’s hard for me to believe that Simmons’ constant disruption and the Vanderbilt offensive line’s inability to block him couldn’t get him more calls (and I don’t have the that's without getting into the Commodores’ two-point conversion, which was upheld after a review with a flimsy explanation from the replay booth to the ABC crew working the game as to why it stood).
Still, there’s no excuse for the breakdowns on the back end, which helped the Commodores nearly pull off an upset that would’ve dashed the Longhorns’ postseason hopes. Pavia, who threw for 365 yards, rushing for 43 and accounted for four touchdowns (three passing and one rushing), went 12-for-16 through the air in the fourth quarter, racked up 205 yards and threw two touchdowns.
Vanderbilt averaged 11.3 yards per play in the fourth quarter, went a combined 4-for-5 on third and fourth down and converted a fourth-and-19 from its 2-yard line on a 12-play, 89-yard touchdown drive.
Yes, Texas missed Michael Taaffe and Jelani McDonald. But the absence of the two veteran safeties can’t singularly account for the egregious breakdowns in the fourth quarter, which helped make the game closer than it should’ve been.
***
While the closing minutes are ripe for criticism, the Longhorns have a top-10 win in their pocket heading into the bye week.
Manning seems to be hitting his stride, Sarkisian might’ve found something to help the offense click with AJ Milwee’s move to the press box and the offensive line should come out of Saturday’s win with a little confidence.
The most concerning thing coming out of the game is that for two consecutive games against two different passing attacks, the pass defense has been shredded. Texas needs Taaffe and McDonald back in a bad way, but things need to tighten up and get cleaned up.
The Longhorns have looked exploitable in SEC play. With Gunnar Stockton (Georgia), Taylen Green (Arkansas) and Marcel Reed (Texas A&M) left on the schedule, the issues on the back end must get resolved with an extra week to prepare for a highly anticipated trip to Athens on Nov. 15.
Jeff Howe

Steve Sarkisian Postgame Press Conference | Texas Beats Vanderbilt 34–31

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is speaking with the media following the Longhorns' 34–31 victory over Vanderbilt.
The game was tight down the stretch, but ultimately it was a big resume boosting win and the best offensive performance of the season.
Texas now has a bye week coming up, but before hear from the Texas head coach.
 
CJ Vogel

What might the Texas offense look like if Matthew Caldwell is QB1 against Vanderbilt?

Whether Arch Manning is out of concussion protocol in time to start at quarterback for No. 20 Texas against No. 9 Vanderbilt at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday (11 a.m., ABC) or Matthew Caldwell makes his Forty Acres starting debut, don’t expect Steve Sarkisian’s offense to change much, if at all.
“We haven’t changed anything that we’ve done,” Sarkisian said on a Zoom call with reporters after Thursday’s practice. “Our system has been our system.”
It’s true that Sarkisian’s attack has looked largely the same, no matter which of the five quarterbacks he’s called upon to start in his tenure (Manning, Hudson Card, Casey Thompson, Quinn Ewers and Maalik Murphy) have run the show. Nevertheless, none of those quarterbacks operated the offense the same.
Manning, who practiced on Thursday but remains in concussion protocol, Sarkisian said, is making progress toward getting back on the field. If he can’t go, however, Sarkisian remains steadfast in his belief that Caldwell’s coaches and teammates “have the utmost confidence and respect” in the Troy transfer to get the job done.
Regarding how the offense will function with Caldwell at the controls, it’s to Sarkisian’s benefit to play coy and avoid revealing his hand to Clark Lea and the Commodores. Everybody outside the Moncrief Complex has a limited viewing sample of what Caldwell can do, Sarkisian said, “but he gives us a ton of confidence in the way that he practices every day, the way that he works.”
Between Caldwell’s 2023 season at FCS Gardner-Webb and what he did in five starts with the Trojans in 2024, there are two areas in which he could help Texas (6-2, 3-1 SEC) move the football through the air.
Five of Caldwell’s seven touchdown passes in 2023 came on pass attempts behind the line of scrimmage. Caldwell earned a 74.3 season-long grade from Pro Football Focus on those throws, going 43-for-47 for 250 yards, which is better than Manning’s 2025 grade on pass attempts behind the line of scrimmage of 70.2 (52-for-54 for 371 yards and no touchdowns). 
Caldwell had more success on intermediate throws (pass attempts 10-19 yards down the field) at Troy last season, recording a PFF grade of 85.7 (28-for-46 for 433 yards and seven touchdowns against three interceptions). Caldwell’s overtime touchdown pass to Emmett Mosley V in last week’s win over Mississippi State was an intermediate-range throw, a part of the field in which he’s 3-for-4 for 44 yards (a PFF grade of 86.8) and where Manning hasn’t been at his best this season (27-for-54 for 431 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions).
Caldwell’s ability to execute screens and quick throws behind the line of scrimmage, along with the intermediate throws that Sarkisian’s play-calls can scheme open, can stabilize an offense that otherwise couldn’t lean on Manning extending the play with his legs, be a factor in the running game or hit chunk-yardage plays on deep balls (on 60 career pass attempts thrown 20 or more yards down the field, Caldwell has completed just 19, throwing two touchdowns against seven interceptions). The Longhorns shouldn’t be expected to run either quarterback much; Manning wouldn’t be asked to run more than necessary for obvious reasons and in addition to Caldwell fumbling seven times (48 official rushing attempts, including sacks) in 2024, his elevation to QB1 would put KJ Lacey one play away from the first meaningful action of his true freshman season.
The closest thing Texas has had to a recognizable identity on offense is when it relies on Manning’s athleticism to extend plays. Manning's legs have taken pressure off the offensive line and created explosive plays down the field.
Even if Caldwell can’t do those things, Sarkisian is confident in the offense putting a winning brand of football on the field with the well-traveled veteran at the wheel.
“The game plan is the game plan,” Sarkisian said. “I think all of his teammates have a ton of confidence in Matt if it’s his time to go.”
Jeff Howe

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