This One Hurts. Time to Eat Some Crow.
First off, let me say it: this one hurts.
I woke up around 3 a.m. because I had way too many thoughts bouncing around my head after that game.
CJ probably spoke for a lot of us last night when he called this one of the worst losses of the Sarkisian era. Oklahoma was undermanned. Texas had the talent advantage. And yet, once again, Texas could not get out of its own way.
I talked a lot of crap going into this game, so it’s time to eat some crow.
But I’m putting some sauce on it first.
1. Jeff Banks
At some point, we have to have the conversation.
I understand Sark protecting his guy. I understand loyalty. But this is a results business, and special teams have been involved in too many moments that have either cost Texas games or unnecessarily kept opponents alive.
Oklahoma 2026. Tennessee 2026. Ohio State 2026. Vanderbilt 2025. Georgia 2025.
At some point, it stops being bad luck and starts becoming a trend.
I understood Sark getting irritated when the media pressed him immediately after the game, but eventually somebody has to answer a pretty simple question:
What exactly are we getting from this unit?
2. Arch Manning — and the Quarterback Development Question
This is the hard one, because at some point the kid gloves have to come off.
I’m not saying bench Arch. This team was built around him being the guy. But it’s Year 4, and we cannot keep grading him like he’s a young quarterback who just needs more time.
The processing has to be faster. The pressure recognition has to be better. We cannot keep seeing throws into triple coverage, receivers being stared down, or pressure creeping toward the line without Arch checking, killing or audibling into something that gives the offense a chance. Those were some of the frustrations that stood out most to me against Oklahoma.
But I also think this conversation has to go beyond Arch.
At some point, AJ Milwee has to be questioned too.
We just came out of the Quinn Ewers era feeling like Texas never completely maximized what Quinn could have been. Now we’re watching Arch Manning — one of the most talented quarterback prospects Texas has ever signed — and we’re having some of the same conversations about development.
That cannot just keep being blamed on the quarterback.
Milwee has been talked about as someone who could eventually become a head coach. Maybe he will. But if that’s the trajectory, then one of the first things I need to see is the ability to develop quarterbacks into leaders and complete players. That is always going to be a crucial part of being a head coach.
And while we’re at it, I’m ready to retire the whole “QB whisperer” label with Sark.
I don’t even know where that started.
To me, quarterback development is taking a player and making him substantially better at the position: processing, anticipation, pocket management, decision-making, leadership and understanding defenses.
What Texas has done too often feels like something different.
Sark is brilliant at surrounding a quarterback with answers.
Elite receivers. Talented running backs. Formation advantages. Motion. Play-action. Schemed-open throws. NFL concepts. Talent everywhere.
And there is nothing wrong with that. Good coaches are supposed to make life easier for their quarterbacks.
But building a bigger safety net around a quarterback is not the same thing as developing the quarterback.
That’s the distinction I keep coming back to.
If you take someone who should be an elite quarterback and constantly have to protect his weaknesses with everything around him, eventually you’re left with an average quarterback who possesses elite talent.
That isn’t development.
That’s compensation.
And Texas cannot afford to do that with Arch Manning.
The talent around him should absolutely help him while he develops. But eventually Arch has to become the reason the offense works — not someone Sark has to continually build around just to keep the offense functioning.
Some of that responsibility belongs to Arch.
Some belongs to Milwee.
And some absolutely belongs to Sark.
Because after Quinn and now the questions surrounding Arch, I think it is fair to start asking whether Texas is actually developing quarterbacks or simply giving talented quarterbacks enough weapons to survive their shortcomings.
3. The Defense
This is where I’ll give some credit.
The defense wasn’t perfect.
There were offsides. Encroachment. A roughing-the-passer penalty. The PI issues continue to show up, and with how physical this secondary plays, teams are going to keep testing that.
But Will Muschamp and that defense did almost everything they could to give Texas a chance.
And that might be what frustrates me the most.
We could be watching one of the most talented defenses in the country get wasted because the offense cannot consistently stay on the field.
We saw shades of this last season too.
The defense plays great football early. Then they keep getting sent back onto the field. Eventually they get leaned on, fatigue sets in and mistakes start happening.
At some point, that isn’t solely a defensive problem.
The offense has to help them.
Last night, the defense deserved better.
4. Steve Sarkisian
I’m saying this calmly, but understand there is a whole lot of irritation behind it.
How much more do you need?
The money is there.
The facilities are there.
The recruiting is there.
The talent is there.
At some point, the results have to match the resources.
After Ohio State, Sark talked about how all that ultimately mattered was having one more point than the other team.
Fine.
But there is a difference between winning close games and playing not to lose them.
When Texas kicked that field goal instead of going for it, I immediately had a bad feeling.
And then hearing afterward that there wasn’t a fourth-and-2 call the staff trusted?
That’s a problem.
Because if the head coach, offensive architect and play caller does not have a play he trusts with the game hanging in the balance, what are we doing? That was one of the biggest frustrations in my notes after the loss.
Sark is a great game planner.
I still believe that.
But maybe it is finally time to seriously discuss bringing in a true offensive coordinator and another voice on game day.
You cannot call yourself one of the best offensive minds in football and then repeatedly have no answer for the same pressures beating your offense.
Oklahoma’s strength was always going to be its defense.
Sark knew that.
Texas knew that.
Everybody knew that.
So why did it look like Texas was surprised when Oklahoma attacked them exactly where Oklahoma is strongest?
And for what it’s worth, I’m not killing the offensive line for this game.
They got beaten at times, but several of those pressures came because Oklahoma simply brought more bodies than Texas had available to block. That was exactly how I saw the line’s performance afterward.
That isn’t always an offensive-line failure.
Sometimes the quarterback has to recognize it.
Sometimes the play caller has to give him an answer.
That’s why, for me, this one falls primarily on Sark and Arch.
And now, after looking at the quarterback-development picture more broadly, I’m adding Milwee to that conversation too.
Final Thoughts
I’m going back to bed after this.
But the sun is going to rise burnt orange again.
And so are we.
This team has to rally. It has to reenergize. And maybe — hopefully — this loss becomes the wake-up call this team desperately needed.
I’m not saying Texas is suddenly going to become 2024 Ohio State.
But the talent is here to be better than what we just watched.
A lot better.
Every issue I just mentioned has to improve, though.
Because I said it before the Oklahoma game, and unfortunately I feel even stronger about it now:
If Texas couldn’t beat Oklahoma, there are more teams on this schedule capable of beating Texas.
And now they have to prove this loss woke them up instead of exposing who they really are.
Because the sun will rise burnt orange again.
The question is whether this team will rise with it.
