Jeff Howe

Oh, he has a choice. Personally, I don't trust him to make it. We'll see. I'm not holding my breath.

It's beyond the name on the back of his jersey. These are rudimentary things a quarterback with his level of experience should be able to diagnose pre-snap. Getting the offense out of bad plays was one of Quinn's best qualities as a quarterback.

Some of that is scheme and you're not going to win all of your battles. I think Sark needs to stick with things this group can execute, even if it means less variety in blocking schemes. I think the lost battles are magnified because they're happening in critical situations.

You laid out the situation pretty well. I don't think Sark has done right by Arch, but Arch hasn't done himself any favors lately. Arch has something. I think he was more of a raw athlete and a good football player trying to figure out how to be a quarterback, as opposed to a finished product, than anyone (myself included) expected. Patience was going to be required with Arch, but he's getting worse. This is close to Garrett Gilbert in 2010. The train is so far down the tracks that you can't get it back. Arch hasn't improved from last season and he's regressed. Sark is responsible for things getting to this point because he's the head coach and in charge of the offense, but he can only do so much to help Arch. The whole situation feels closer to being irreparably broken than it does to getting fixed.

The worst part is, from what I see, it's more mental than physical. When they get vertical and get fitted up on defenders, they can move people. But it's so disjointed that it rarely happens without someone blowing an assignment.

It's getting worse every week. There's no excuse for the offense to be this bad, much less regress every week.

This is the RPO I mentioned. If it's a predetermined give, it's a terrible call. If it's a true read, it's a terrible decision:

Bingo.

To the point of the article, after rewatching the game and breaking things down as best as I could, that might be the worst I've seen Arch look. Sark isn't off the hook by any stretch (and neither is the offensive line), but it was indefensible. Calling for a quarterback change is usually a last resort for me and I'm closer to that point than I should be.

I didn't know where else to put this, so I'll mention it here: In my opinion, the offensive line's performance was the worst of the season. Too many missed assignments, poor communication and too many instances of guys losing one-on-one battles decisively in high-leverage situations. It's more than just guys getting beat. Sometimes, when I'm watching the All-22 copy, I can't tell who missed an assignment because the whole group looks out of sorts.

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. View full news story

Jake Majors made his second consecutive start for the Eagles at center, FWIW.

The Eagles elevated him from the practice squad to the active roster for Sunday's game against the Panthers.

Aaron Ross, Jordan Shipley, Wane McGarity... Texas has a history of very good return specialists.

Outside of guys inherited from the previous regime (Hayden Conner and Jake Majors turned out to be NFL players) and the 2022 recruiting class (DJ Campbell was drafted, albeit later than expected), I’ve been disappointed. Interior offensive line play should be markedly better than it was last season. You can argue that it’s worse.

None. They'll evaluate him tonight and early tomorrow.

It’s a parody account.

Nope.

I’m here. I’ll be hosting the Hangout at 6 p.m.