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(Gerald Goodridge) Florida 29, No. 9 Texas 21: Three things we learned

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The No. 9 Texas Longhorns looked outclassed in all facets of the game, dropping an embarrassing road game to a struggling Florida Gators team. While the Longhorns looked like they found some of their rhythm, they head into Red River reeling on one of the worst performances we’ve seen from Texas since Steve Sarkisian’s first year at the helm.

The offensive line has to improve

More than anything, this game served as a referendum on Kyle Flood’s unit. After refusing to dip into the portal to supplement an inexperienced offensive line, the unit stood pat and looked outmatched in its first conference game. The Texas running backs rushed for just 11 yards on nine carries, 1.2 yards per carry. Texas had 33 percent of its runs stuffed and seemingly abandoned the run quickly. Perhaps even more embarrassing is the 0.7 yards per carry on first down.

It wasn’t just the ground game — quarterback Arch Manning was never able to get fully comfortable in the pocket, getting sacked six times and hurried eight more times. His legs saved Texas from allowing even more sacks, bailing the line out when they missed assignments and got bullied. In addition to the struggles with their play, the offensive line was responsible for the Longhorns’ first six penalties of the game — four of which were pre-snap penalties.

Arch Manning has the tools, but can’t use them without help

We saw both the best and worst of Arch Manning in the game, finding open receivers for big plays, but also pressing and putting the ball in bad spots that led to turnovers. Manning had a run of 7-of-10 passing for 145 yards and two touchdowns, which was his best stretch of the game. He followed that with a string of bad balls, two of which Florida took the other way, letting them continue to bleed the clock.

He seemingly struggled with simulated pressures, with the Gators showing blitz and then bailing out, because of the Gators’ ability to generate pressure with minimal rushers. He failed to reach the six yards per dropback mark in the contest, and the Longhorns struggled to keep the ball moving in crucial situations.

The defense isn’t elite without good line play

Florida truly bullied Texas in the trenches, which put the defense at a disadvantage early and often. Florida averaged 5.7 yards per carry on first down, rushing the ball 15 times for 87 yards to set themselves up ahead of the chains early and often. Following that to its logical conclusion, five of Florida’s 13 third-down attempts came from four yards or closer, converting on four of those, rushing for an average of 4 yards per carry on third-down rushes. Texas was held without a sack yet again, managing just three tackles for loss and hurrying DJ Lagway just four times in the contest. They came up with a run stop in crunch time, getting Texas the ball back with a minute left to try and tie the game, but it was too little, too late.

Ralph Russo: Gators wreak havoc on Arch Manning to down No. 9 Longhorns 29-21

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With a five-star freshman receiver providing a lift to its super sophomore quarterback, Florida beat No. 9 Texas 29-21 on Saturday to change the trajectory of its season and hand the preseason No. 1 team its second loss. In a game matching two highly touted quarterbacks trying to put forgettable Septembers behind them, Florida’s DJ Lagway looked like the prospect that was promised.

The sophomore threw for 298 yards and two touchdowns to Dallas Wilson, including a spectacular 55-yarder to freshman Dallas Wilson, who ran through two Longhorns on the way to the end zone to make it 29-14 late in the third quarter. Wilson had six catches for 111 yards.

For Texas’ Arch Manning, it was more misery. The third-year quarterback passed for 263 yards and two touchdowns, ran for 37 yards, but was also picked off twice in the second half. The Longhorns came into the season off consecutive College Football Playoff semifinal appearances and as the preseason No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time in school history. An opening loss at defending champion Ohio State tamped down the hype for Texas and its famous new QB, the nephew of Super Bowl winners Peyton and Eli Manning.

The Longhorns cut the lead to eight, 29-21, with a 1-yard touchdown run by Quintrevion Wisner with 3:20 left in the fourth quarter. Florida had a chance to burn the clock down after the score, but some questionable clock management gave Texas and Manning one more chance with 54 seconds left at their own 31. The Longhorns managed to get past midfield, but Manning was dragged down with the clock winding and he couldn’t get to the line and spike it quickly enough to get Texas a chance for a Hail Mary.

“We’ve gotta play better and we just didn’t play good enough and that’s on me,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “This is where you find out about the culture that you have, and that’s what we just talked about as a team. We’ve gotta get tighter than we’ve ever been, we’re gonna have to quiet the noise because there will be plenty of noise coming out of this game.” Six weeks into the season, now just making the Playoff will be difficult for the Longhorns (3-2), who have yet to beat a Power 4 opponent.

An unrecognizable Florida offense

After throwing five interceptions against LSU and no touchdowns against Miami last month, Lagway looked confident and poised Saturday. The entire Florida offense was almost unrecognizable from the version that slogged through September. Heading into Saturday, Florida’s offense ranked No. 120th nationally of 136 FBS schools in yards per play (4.94) and hadn’t put up more than 20 points since Week 1 against Long Island.

But boy, did the Gators flip the script at The Swamp against a loaded Texas defense that was supposed to be the backbone of a national title contender. “That’s the football team I thought we had at the very beginning,” Florida coach Billy Napier said. Florida put up 457 total yards, with Jadan Baugh complementing Lagway and Wilson with 107 yards rushing on 27 carries. — Ralph Russo, college football writer

A disaster for Manning, Texas’ offense

Manning had two of the most impressive throws of his season late in the third quarter Saturday. The first came when he slipped past the pressure, stepped up and lasered a 38-yard touchdown to Ryan Wingo over the middle of the field. The second came with about 30 seconds left in the quarter when Manning faked the handoff, stayed disciplined with his feet and connected with DeAndre Moore Jr. for 19 yards as he was (again) falling to the turf after being drilled by a Florida defender.

Add into the mix a 36-yard run early in the fourth quarter, and it was clear Manning was doing everything possible to hang in, showing how dynamic he can be when he’s at his best and things are clicking. But then, with about 13 minutes to play, Manning threw a particularly bad interception, and any momentum Texas’ offense may have finally found was suddenly shattered. He threw another pick midway through the fourth quarter. Welcome to the Arch Manning experience?

Texas has plenty of talent, but holy smokes, it was a tough day to be Manning and the Texas offensive line after Florida’s defense wreaked havoc on them all day. Manning entered Saturday as the worst quarterback in the SEC for dropback success rate when blitzed, per TruMedia, and it was clear from the jump that Florida’s defensive plan was all about making life as miserable as possible for him. Mission accomplished.

Manning could never fully get comfortable as the Gators were in his face all day, using their speed and athleticism to eat Texas’ offensive line alive and wrap up No. 16 as quickly and physically as possible. The one time he had an open touchdown in the first half — on a big third-and-9 in the second quarter — he got the throw off cleanly with a Florida defender in his face, but missed a wide-open Emmett Mosley V.

The second half opened the same way the first half ended — with Manning being sacked for a loss of six yards on the second play of the half. The Gators somehow only finished with six sacks, despite it looking like Manning spent the whole afternoon on the turf. Saturday was far from being all Manning’s fault as Texas was exposed at the line of scrimmage (on both sides of the ball). And to his credit, he had some big-time throws and scrambles, particularly in the second half. But the reality is that after a season-opening loss to Ohio State, where he struggled with accuracy, we still haven’t seen Manning fully settle in and play a complete, consistent game.

It’s Week 6, and Manning still has no real identity at the quarterback position. So much of Saturday was an opportunity for him to show that he could keep things rolling after he dazzled against Sam Houston State following struggles against Ohio State and UTEP. But his first SEC win as the Longhorns’ full-time starter will have to wait, as Texas heads into another week trying to figure out what this offense is supposed to look like and what to expect from its quarterback. — Grace Raynor, college football writer

What now for Billy Napier?

Napier has been coaching for his job for most of the last two seasons. He was practically gone, it seemed, when the Gators started 3-3 last year, his third in Gainesville. It was after that Lagway became the starting quarterback as a freshman, and a strong finish with what looked like a solid roster convinced Florida administrators to run it back with Napier. Three straight losses in September had some wondering if Napier would make it to October. The reality was that Florida was not itching to make an early move on Napier, but still, the heat was rising.

A victory against the preseason No. 1 team in the country in front of a sellout crowd at The Swamp certainly makes the rest of the season look a lot different. Napier improved to 21-22 and, without question, had Gators fans fretting as Florida called an odd timeout late in the game when it should have been prioritizing killing the clock. That left Texas with a lot more time to pull off a comeback, but the Gators’ defense stepped up again.

The funny thing about facing a difficult schedule is that it gives a coach plenty of opportunity to change the trajectory of a season. Where Florida goes from here is anybody’s guess. The Gators have only lost one SEC game after being upset by USF and manhandled by Miami in nonconference play. The Gators go to No. 6 Texas A&M next week and then return home for Mississippi State. It might sound crazy, but there is no reason Florida can’t be a factor in what’s looking like a wide-open SEC race. — Russo

Texas’ postseason hopes dwindling

Texas opened the season as the No. 1 team in the country with legitimate national championship aspirations. The buzz around Austin was palpable with Manning stepping into the starting quarterback role and the Longhorns looking to build off last season’s CFP berth. But six weeks into the season, the Longhorns are most likely going to need to win out and/or get some major help around them if they’re going to have a shot at the Playoff. The Longhorns are sitting at 3-2 with almost no margin to spare… while not playing well, either.

After the Week 1 loss to Ohio State, the Longhorns weren’t in panic mode, given the Buckeyes’ status as the defending champs and one of the best teams in the country. But Texas needed to prove it could take care of business in the SEC, and melting down against a Florida team that just lost to USF at home last month didn’t exactly do the trick Saturday. The Longhorns have a manageable few weeks ahead against Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry (if OU quarterback John Mateer can’t play), at Kentucky on Oct. 18 and at Mississippi State on Oct. 25 to round out the month. But Texas goes to Georgia in mid-November and closes with a hot Texas A&M team.

For as hyped as this team was in the preseason, it’s hard to imagine this version of the Longhorns competing for it all come January. — Raynor

Manning is not a 2026 NFL Draft prospect

With below-average offensive line play and a quarterback who is trying to figure out his passing rhythm and anticipation in real time, the result is Texas’ offense. Young quarterbacks tend to be overly conservative, and we are reminded of Manning’s inexperience with every dropback. Against Florida, his lack of anticipation led to tardy decisions. And too often when he found the right read, he hurried his mechanics, which resulted in an inaccurate throw (or worse, an interception). It doesn’t help that the Gators consistently got pressure with only four rushers, and the Texas running game offered very little relief, which put an even heavier burden on the quarterback.

Manning’s best play of the day was his third-quarter touchdown toss. He was immediately forced off his spot (again, by a four-man rush), and he subtly shuffled to his left and found Wingo on the post for the touchdown pass. In the second half, Manning’s ability to keep plays alive with his legs was a major factor in Texas keeping it a one-possession game. While an inconsistent performance overall, there were several examples of progress to take away from Manning’s day.

Like with any college quarterback with single-digit career starts and an inconsistent supporting cast, any reaction to his play shouldn’t be an obituary. Is development guaranteed? Of course not. But how Manning looked in his first career SEC road start (Saturday against the Gators) will almost certainly look different when he makes his 20th career start. This is a quarterback figuring things out in the moment, which is why Manning shouldn’t be considered a 2026 NFL Draft prospect — he is a 2027 or 2028 NFL Draft prospect. — Dane Brugler, NFL Draft analyst

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Yeah, we aren't very good. Coaches botched the off-season thinking they had an all world QB for some reason.

And was arrogant not to portal in 2 experienced OL even from G6 schools. I’ve been saying that all offseason and I don’t make millions a year.
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Just now, David Dennison said:

Yeah, we aren't very good. Coaches botched the off-season thinking they had an all world QB for some reason.

And this shit isn’t that hard.  You lost two guys who ran 4.3 and scored TDs?  Well then you better fucking get two more like that.  You lost your two best playmakers in the secondary?  Maybe don’t rely on guys who rode the bench last year to fill those spots.

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1 minute ago, ClubWhatever said:

And this shit isn’t that hard.  You lost two guys who ran 4.3 and scored TDs?  Well then you better fucking get two more like that.  You lost your two best playmakers in the secondary?  Maybe don’t rely on guys who rode the bench last year to fill those spots.

I guess they figured next man up and stuff. Saban style. 

Oops.

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I appreciate the guys who spend a nickel shy of 10 bucks on this shit and posting it here, but these guys should be writing for Looch. Same shit every summer. Lies.

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1 hour ago, David Dennison said:

I guess they figured next man up and stuff. Saban style. 

Oops.

I mean, the failure to recruit and develop is the bigger take away than not bringing in portal guys to me.  You shouldn't have to portal in half a roster by year 4.

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Snap Judgments: Texas bullied up front in an SEC-opening loss to Florida: Jeff Howe (OTF)

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Snap Judgments: Texas bullied up front in an SEC-opening loss to Florida

 

Jeff Howe

By Jeff Howe

  • 2 hours ago
 
 

As Saturday’s 29-21 loss to Florida unfolded, it became clear that Texas has significant issues.

Some of those issues can be fixed over the seven remaining games on the regular-season schedule, but others will require changes after the season. Still, Saturday’s loss to the Gators came down to the Longhorns losing the line of scrimmage battle in a landslide.

From the jump, Florida (2-3, 1-2 SEC) punched Texas (3-2, 0-1) in the mouth up front and never let up.

The Gators finished the game with six sacks and seven tackles for loss. While the Longhorn offensive line might not be solely responsible for each of those negative plays, the fact that the Texas running backs ran for 15 yards on 11 carries on a day when the running game tallied 52 net yards on 26 official attempts is a direct reflection of how the offense was soundly defeated at the point of attack.

***

Nick Brooks briefly replaced Connor Stroh at left guard in the first half. The true freshman started the second half next to Trevor Goosby, with Steve Sarkisian and Kyle Flood searching for an answer to help generate a push.

Although he was flagged for consecutive false starts on a fourth-quarter drive, I could see Sarkisian and Flood giving Brooks another shot.

Whether Brooks is in the starting lineup against Oklahoma or not, Saturday’s performance made it clear that the starting offensive line mix — as it was through the first five games of the season — isn’t the answer to getting the offense untracked.

***

Offensively, everything Texas couldn’t afford to have happen did.

Unable to establish the run, the Longhorns had to put the fate of the offense on Arch Manning’s shoulders. The result was a mixed bag, with Manning (16-for-29, 263 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions; 37 net yards on 15 official rushing attempts) making his share of plays to keep Texas in the game, along with a few turnovers and a final possession of regulation he’d like to have back.

Operating a one-dimensional offense, moving the ball came down to Manning’s ability to make a play. It’ll require a more nuanced evaluation to determine if the mistakes down the stretch were things to worry about or a case of a quarterback trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Manning did enough positive things to believe he can truly trend upward in the not-too-distant future. Still, he’s not at a point of elevating everyone around him to the point where he can mask the offense’s deficiencies.

***

It doesn’t seem right that I’ve gotten this far into writing my postgame thoughts without talking about the defense.

It was disappointing that things played out for the offense the way they did, but it wasn’t a total surprise. I, however, was flabbergasted at how Florida gashed Texas on the ground (159 yards, 4.3 yards per attempt), negated the Longhorn pass rush and gave DJ Lagway (21-for-28, 298 yards, two touchdowns and one interception) enough time to hit six explosive plays (15 or more yards gained through the air).

Coming into the game, Texas allowed five rushing attempts to gain 10 or more yards. The Gators had five double-digit-yard runs in the first half (only 13 through their first four games).

Only Auburn had fewer 20-yard gains through the air than Florida (10) before Saturday’s game. Lagway connected on four such plays against a Longhorn defense that allowed only six through four games.

Jadan Baugh (107 yards and a rushing touchdown on 28 carries) and Dallas Wilson (111 yards and two touchdowns on six catches) made the kinds of plays the Longhorn skill players didn't or couldn't come up with on Saturday.

***

The 2021 Iowa State game (a 30-7 loss) is the last loss I can remember Texas suffering in which it lost the line-of-scrimmage battle as it did in the Swamp.

You’d have to go back to the Arkansas game that same season to find the last time a Sarkisian-coached Longhorn squad was bullied to the extent the Gators pushed Texas around from start to finish.

***

There’s a lot more to digest from the loss than these time-constrained thoughts.

Still, the following must be said: Talk of the SEC Championship Game or the College Football Playoff, at this point, is pointless. This is beyond a play-calling issue or a few personnel fixes for this team to become what it hoped to grow into by season's end.

Against a desperate team, coming off a bye and knowing the kind of road environment they’d be going into, the Longhorns lost a game in which they were soundly defeated in all three phases.

Considering the circumstances, and with Texas still unable to play disciplined (10 penalties for 70 yards) and/or complementary football, an argument can be made that this was the worst loss of Sarkisian’s tenure. While I have recently given Sarkisian credit for not suffering a head-scratching loss, my trust in the staff to avoid an unnecessary toe stub the rest of the way must be rebuilt after Saturday.

The Longhorns can still be a good team. But Saturday’s performance didn’t inspire any confidence that Texas can turn the corner any time soon.

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Edited by MuellerHorn
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(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: The Longhorns get gator-rolled in the Swamp

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As it turns out, the Florida Gators were not ready to give up on Billy Napier or their 2025 season just yet. Especially not after getting a bye week to get the offense going and to get 5-star wide receiver Dallas Wilson incorporated into the offense. That really ended up mattering.

Florida smacked Texas in the mouth right out of the gate and the Longhorns were absolutely staggered early. The comeback later in the game by Texas featured some grit before fizzling out. The team struggled to compete in the trenches throughout the game. Especially the Texas offensive line, which received the SEC baptism this week.

Texas got caught and embarrassed in the swamp today. The final score was 29 to 21 and it wasn’t really that close. Every attempt by Texas to make the game competitive was quickly demolished by a parade of both self-inflicted and Florida-encouraged errors. All of that was downstream of the Gators grabbing the Longhorns in their jaws early on and refusing to let go.

An attempt was made late in the game, but it fizzled out as well, owing partly to poor protection and also to a terrible play on the final Longhorn drive in which Arch Manning took a sack he could not afford to take and lost his helmet, eating up much of the remaining clock on a runout. That time would quickly prove crucial when Texas didn’t even have enough time to spike the football in order to make a final Hail Mary toss.

Quick thought no. 1: Texas was abused up front

We’re at Defcon 2 now. It’s possible next week in the Red River Shootout will feature the 4th different left guard of the season if Kyle Flood opts to try Connor Robertson at center and Cole Hutson at left guard. I’m not sure what the right answer is there and in all likelihood there isn’t a right answer available to Texas this season.

Florida absolutely demolished the Texas O-line. Manning was sacked six times and the Longhorn run game produced 53 yards on 26 carries for the day. The particular running back didn’t really matter, neither did the choice at left guard. Connor Stroh was repeatedly whipped early in this game before getting the hook for true freshman Nick Brooks. That didn’t go a lot better and also featured a number of false start penalties that thwarted Longhorn drives.

Texas was 3-11 on third downs, which is poor by any measure but is particularly bad when the opponent is going 7-14. When opposing teams are teeing off on Texas this offense has been pretty feeble all year. It’s hard to believe this offensive line can play well enough for the Longhorns to make a serious run at making the playoffs. There is a path forward for this team on offense but it’s narrow and not in accordance with Steve Sarkisian’s preferences. For the second year in a row, this is a team that absolutely cannot run the ball when facing big time competition up front.

Quick thought no. 2: Jadan Baugh dominated

Texas didn’t fare much better in the trenches on the other side of the ball. Jadan Baugh and the Florida offensive line absolutely controlled this game from start to finish. The final stat line barely tells the story. Baugh had 27 carries for 107 yards at 4.0 ypc with a touchdown. Overall the Gators had 37 carries for 159 yards and ate up 34:07 of game clock, although Napier amusingly failed to eat clock late in the game when he needed to close things out.

Much of the game was simply Florida running inside zone straight at Texas and Baugh waiting a beat behind the line for the Gator double teams to get to work, then jump cutting and plunging ahead behind the forward momentum. On play after play the run would appear to be stopped only for a late burst by Baugh and some physical running in the box to push the pile for positive yardage. When Texas didn’t absolutely load the box Baugh was nearly unstoppable.

It wasn’t at all the game Texas needed from the defensive line, nor the linebackers. Three of the top four tacklers on the team (behind Anthony Hill) were Jelani McDonald, Michael Taaffe, and Graceson Littleton. The Longhorns are still very good up front on defense and the Gators were a team we identified all offseason as the most likely culprit to successfully play man-ball against Texas. This happened to be the first time all year the Gators were able to make it work.

Quick thought no. 3: Texas was caught by the Dallas Wilson effect

During Texas’ attempted comeback in the second half, Pete Kwiatkowski started selling out to stop the Gator run game. What really killed the Longhorns was Wilson. The Gators targeted the massive (6-foot-3, 214 pounds) freshman seven times and completed six balls for 111 yards at 15.9 ypa (ouch) and two touchdowns (woof). Any time a player scores on more than a quarter of his plays you’re getting some truly efficient production.

That deep threat dimension was brutal in this game. Texas still sold out to stop the run and took some chances that the Florida passing game wouldn’t connect. Then it did, on a 55-yard bomb in which Wilson threw down Kobe Black and ran through tackle attempts by both McDonald and Taaffe before crossing the goal line. That was the real difference in this game, Texas might have overcome a steady but nonexplosive run game but the addition of those two touchdowns to Wilson was too much. Obviously the Longhorns badly missed Malik Muhammad in this game. The extent to which he could have put Wilson in check we will probably never know, but it wouldn’t have been too hard to do better.

Quick thought no. 4: Arch on the road

Manning had a pretty mixed performance. He was gritty in trying to make plays and either hang in against pressure or scramble for yards or opportunities to throw down the field. He also threw two interceptions on poor balls and missed some other opportunities that would have made a difference in this game. Some earlier connections in this game would have put more pressure on DJ Lagway and might have encouraged some of his turnover tendencies to come out more often in this game. He also threw a slightly off target pass to Parker Livingstone that resulted in a miraculous catch but also a shot to the leg that I worry about impacting his play or even availability in future weeks.

On the day Manning was 16-29 for 263 yards at 9.1 ypa with two touchdowns and the two interceptions. He added another 37 rushing yards on 15 carries, which includes the six sacks. Not all of the sacks were entirely on the offensive line but there’s no question that Manning spent virtually the whole day under duress.

Overall those numbers are actually pretty solid. Some of Manning’s throws were very good and the scrambles kept Texas alive. The Longhorns clearly need hero-ball from him to even have a chance in these heavyweight contests with higher level SEC competition. Sark isn’t really calling a hero-ball offense though, he’s stubbornly clung to a run game and 12 personnel formations in an attempt to try and control the line of scrimmage. To have a real chance Texas needed to take their chances from a spread field and trust Manning to make things happen, like on the touchdown pass to Ryan Wingo. This game made plain Texas cannot reliably control the line of scrimmage, the Horns will have to try and win games in space.

Quick thought no. 5: On to Oklahoma

There’s no time for the Longhorns to pout or feel sorry for themselves. Next week will tell the story of the season and determine whether playoff hopes linger through conference play or totally go up in smoke. There’s good news and bad news about next week. The good news is the Oklahoma run game is totally incapable of matching what Florida did today on offense. Slowly mauling the Texas defensive front with double teams before forcibly inserting a 220-pound power back into creases that emerge? That ain’t Oklahoma’s game at all.

The bad news is the Oklahoma defensive line is entirely capable of matching and exceeding what the Gators did to the Texas offensive line. If Florida’s D-line looked a little too big and too fast for Texas, Oklahoma is going to look like an NFL squad. The Sooners have a nasty blitz package and lightning quick defensive linemen. The Longhorns are going to need to do some major soul-searching on offense, find plausible solutions to giving Manning and the run game a realistic chance to execute some of Sark’s designs, and ice up the bruises on defense in order to give as physical a performance as possible.

This season is surely not going to go as well as Texas fans hoped, but until the Red River Shootout has been played there’s no verdict to render. If Texas can win that game Manning will have a chance to make this season into something.

 

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(Scipio Tex) 2025 Florida Gators Post Mortem: Defense/Special Teams

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Seeing the Texas offense fail for the reasons that it did was unremarkable and I’ll deal with that once I finish overlaying music on the highlights, but watching the Texas defense get worked over by a Gator offense that had been in hospice care was genuinely surprising. Until it wasn’t. I got over that feeling sometime around their 2nd drive. Texas wasn’t prepared to play.

Some of that lack of prep occurred during the bye week. Inchoate would be the kindest description of the game plan – didn’t scout Florida and lacks basic creative anticipation of what they actually do and will attempt might be another – but some of it was baked in the cake for a defense that’s not accustomed to practicing against OL running competent zone schemes who fire out with intent.

This wasn’t a fluky one off, but a combination of Florida getting on track, a poor Texas defensive game plan, desperate Gator physicality at home in defense of a coach that they’re still playing for, and some poor individual play at some key moments.

Texas got whipped on the line of scrimmage for the entire first half and didn’t exhibit enough physicality or complexity in the secondary against an inexperienced Florida passing game that struggled with every defense that forced passing game coordination between Lagway and young talented receivers. Zone blitzes and combo coverages had been their anathema and you didn’t really need to honor containment against the gimpy injury prone Lagway.

Puzzlingly, we made containment our overwhelming priority and put guys on islands at several key moments. There’s no question which team used the bye week more profitably. That written, the Florida offensive game plan was exactly as predicted. Open in 12 personnel, run Baugh down Texas’ throat, and mix in a few easy high confidence throws from Lagway to talented young Gator receivers who can’t do much more than run the route called. They also learned early that zone principles confounded our containment.

3rd and 1 at the 6. They confidently hand it off to the weakside against a nine man box. That would be a -3 yard run for us. Baugh shrugs off a tackle and strides in. Once they motion the receiver out to clear the cornerback, Baugh is reading Taaffe and whether he or Jackson actually has boundary contain is sort of irrelevant, as neither acts like it. 

We have a true freshman DE turning his shoulders and ignoring containment, while Taaffe quickly realizes that his halting tackle attempt inside the tackles won’t bring down real running backs. You get the added bonus of watching a backside Texas DL pancaked, punctuated by a decapitated helmet.

An interesting echo of another loss of containment by a Jackson/LB/DB combo on the back side on a jet sweep that converts a 3rd down on Florida’s first TD drive. I’m not sure why an inexperienced Lance Jackson is featured prominently so early in the game. This is a SEC road opener and you generally tighten up the rotation. Florida’s first four drives went as follows:

13-84-TD

10-64-FG

3-46 FUMBLE

10-77-TD

Four drives: 36 plays, 271 yards, 17 points, 7.5 yards per play. For the game, Florida averaged 7 yards a play on 457 yards of offense, converted 50% of their 3rd downs, and were a perfect 4 of 4 in red zone scoring. A Ty Smith punch out strip fumble on their 3rd drive created a short field touchdown for Texas and likely prevented a 24-0 Florida lead early in the 2nd quarter. We may try to memory hole this as a tough one score loss on the road, but the game felt a lot more like a three touchdown blowout rather than Texas with a chance to tie late and force overtime.

So that game planning… What do you notice from the Texas pass rush and our coverage on 1st and 15?

This is a 5 man rush. Well, in theory. We’re in man coverage behind. But this is a containment rush. Watch the edges. Watch every defender’s refusal to stray an inch from their rush lane, put on a move, or even attack half the man. Robotic. Much less the lack of T/E stunts or replacement games. This is not Texas defenders being pass blocked. This is the call. It’s a containment rush. We did this a dozen times.

You typically do this with 3 or 4 men against a mobile QB and then run zone behind it, trying to force a pick. Sometimes with a late zone blitzer/spy. Competent defenses don’t do this with five DL and then run man behind it against an immobile, injured QB. One of many examples of the pitfalls of a defensive game plan by committee where the various participants are determined to get their stuff in, irrespective of the larger whole.

Let’s try to see the big picture, because our staff sure didn’t. Lagway was clearly under orders not to scramble and they sure as hell weren’t exposing him to called QB run game. He finished with zero rushing attempts. The injured QB who didn’t want to run didn’t beat us with his legs. Great success! Seeing Simmons or Hill spy on a running QB makes sense. Seeing that call on other plays against a statue Lagway was…puzzling.

Florida’s two most dangerous receivers are true freshmen. The kind we can’t play on our team because learning offense is so hard. Dallas Wilson was making his college debut. My young Rome Odunze comp held up a little too well, but I’m guessing he doesn’t know a lot of route adjustments against disguised zone combo coverages quite yet. So we manned up on him and made it a 7 on 7?

Vernell Brown was the athletic speedster that I promised in the preview, but he has a limited route tree. Crosser, stop, slant, go. So Littleton has him 1 on 1 deep with a containment rush call? The two Gator true freshmen with a total of four starts between them coming into the game combined for 9 catches for 183 yards and 2 touchdowns, including gains of 55 and 60 yards.

If I were facing outstanding athletic but inexperienced receivers, I would muddy their reads and support my corners. I wouldn’t default to single coverage with a “containment rush” on a crippled QB who gets hurt all of the time and their backup sucks. I credit two Florida’s two turnovers and a little Napier clock mismanagement for the Gators not dropping 36-39 points on Texas.

In Florida’s prior four games, Lagway was 1 of 7 for 41 yards on deep balls. That completion was against Long Island. Against Texas, he was 2 of 5 for 115 yards. We let the DJ play his greatest hits. Baugh started off 11-69 on their first two drives and finished the game with 30 touches. Who could have predicted that!?

DEFENSIVE LINE

Texas had six pressures, 1 QB hit, no sacks. That’s not good. Contrast that with 22 Florida pressures, 6 sacks and five QB hits on Arch from a Gator DL that had created no havoc the entire season. Part of that was a bad game plan and our weird containment fetish, some of it was getting blocked up by a quality cohesive OL, and Florida’s ability to effectively use their tight ends and Baugh in pass protection.

Colin Simmons missed a tackle on Baugh early (he ran through a high arm tackle; that’s a real RB, Colin, not the guys you scrimmage against), but he also had three consecutive stuffs in one late 1st half sequence and was responsible for four of our six pressures. Might have been nice to let him cut it loose? More troubling was Texas’ overall lack of early physicality against Florida’s OL in the run game. No one played particularly well, though I can assure you that this was not a Maraad Watson game.

Hero Kanu was pretty solid. January needs to adjust his pad level. Brevard played sparingly, but was responsible for one of our only true interior DL pressures. On review, Florida’s OL was imperfect, but their general attitude was to be nasty as hell and then let Baugh make the run right. The guys they hit – even if it was the wrong guy – moved backwards or got controlled. Our DL aren’t used to being fired out on with intent and we crippled them from using their athleticism. We played our defenders like block catchers and DJ Lagway was Lamar Jackson.

We were noticeably beaten on the edge a few times early. By the end of the game, Florida’s run game was not statistically impressive, but if you read and understood this, or understood how they set us up with it, you may have a different impression as to their efficacy.

LINEBACKER

Ty Smith played his best game to date and I remain a huge fan. Three forced fumbles on the season. Great energy, elite athleticism and coordination. 7 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, an incredible fumble punch out. 

Anthony Hill finished with 14 tackles. You could call it a quiet 14, but I thought he played really hard. Liona Lefau was disappointing for stretches. Worst game of the season. Trey Moore had his worst game as a Longhorn. Overwhelmed on the edge multiple times. Our edges and OLBs seemed to think a stalemate is a win out wide. If you can’t disengage and defend green at the correct angle, you lost. And stop turning your shoulders. Honestly, he seemed confused about what his responsibilities were. Not alone in that regard.

DEFENSIVE BACK

Kobe Black was targeted in key moments. He only played 11 coverage snaps and gave up two touchdowns. That is a sub-ideal ratio.

This was the single play that most prevented Texas from having a realistic shot at stealing the game. If you’re going to press, bring something and actually do it. Black got manhandled. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, maybe this is supposed to be a false press, bail coverage that Black bungles. Leave that to veterans. We’re also historically poor at that when anyone but Jahdae Barron does it.

Black was targeted on the other Gator RPO touchdown. It’s one thing to expect eventual inside help on that RPO, but you still match the receiver. You’re not a kitchen mop. Taaffe is the backside safety. He’s not getting there on a skinny, immediate throw.

Taaffe had a couple of notable gaffes under the spotlight, but actually played well overall. 7 tackles, 1 sack. Why we didn’t employ his experience more to coordinate more complex defensive looks is baffling. We should be protecting our deficits at cornerback, not exposing them. Jelani McDonald played well, but we’ve got to get Wilson out bounds on that play. He had a bad angle and was trying to gain ground and Wilson is strong as an ox, but we gotta let the white stripe help us out. It has a 100% tackle rate.

Graceson Littleton did some good things (8 tackles) and played hard, but he was badly miscast in single coverage and he missed two tackles. Some of that is on the game plan. I still have a high opinion of Littleton. Kade Phillips had 10 coverage snaps, but he wasn’t ready for prime time. They hit Guilbeau 4 of 6 for 29 yards, but he didn’t give up anything over his head. He was a guy they successfully hunted in short conversion scenarios though.

Special Teams

You always block the most dangerous man closest to the ball and you never bypass a rusher and allow him across your face. You don’t reach out for a wide guy who doesn’t have the angle to get there. You just open it up for the inside runner.

God bless Billy Napier for mismanaging the clock in the first half and not forcing another punt from the end zone. I’d have given Florida a 33% chance of another block or a Vernell Brown TD return when we went max protect. And another 25% chance that Florida would have gotten a field goal off of a hasty shank.

Final Thoughts

You should be concerned about what we saw on defense in terms of game planning coming off of a bye week. The optimistic hope for a gritty defensive oriented football team that carries the offense to victory probably needs recalibration if we’re going to start turning in abject game planning failures. The inability to diagnose at even a basic level what Florida wants to do was like watching a committee build a horse and ending up with a camel. The cigarette.

Texas needs to limit voices in the game planning process, or at least not favor the loudest who can’t see the big picture, and if the final game plan product can’t be reasonably explained to a smart football layperson in terms of matching coverages to fronts, or in diagnosing enemy personnel strengths and weaknesses, or anticipating even their basic game plan, you should start asking deeper questions.

Ultimately, the buck stops at Sark. But he’s also overrun with tasks and he’d like to trust his assistants. He must be rather frustrated by some staff on both sides of the ball and in personnel that continue to betray him in myriad ways, but you get what you tolerate and a broader lack of program quality control has infected the process. Sark should start getting that under control today and start thinking about a number of substantive changes later.

 

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Posted

(Scipio Tex) 2025 Florida Gators Post Mortem: Offense

Quote

There’s great indignation at the play of the Texas offense, and I confess that its new lows impressed me, but I’ve been telling you about our core issues since Ohio State, and the potential issues well before that. Still, I was pretty surprised to see a Florida front that did a lot of two gapping with little to no havoc all year utterly dominate Texas’ front and secondary blockers like they were the ’85 Bears.

Getting an early jump on it, and my belief that bad process always catches up, means that I’m in acceptance mode while a lot of you are still in anger, bargaining, depression. If you’re still in denial and playing silly inference games (If Kyle Flood isn’t doing a good job, then how come he makes millions, huh smart guy?) we may not be existing in the same reality and I bid you good day, sir.

Most people need a scoreboard to catch up to process critiques, because hey, what if that guy is wrong, and he’s mean and cherry picking bad stuff, and a hater, and maybe we magically get better and this offense is really young (it isn’t) and insert all the other developmental platitudes that don’t apply when our issues are far more fundamental and can’t be easily ironed out with some more game experience and some tweaks.

I’m not immune from this. You’re interacting with a writer who sometimes thinks the Dallas Cowboys might get it together. Then I drive a pen into my hand and laugh bitterly. You have to punish those thoughts to exorcise them. Flagellants are on to something. The Texas offense was a few heroic Arch Manning plays and a handful of schemed up shots to open guys. Missed some, hit a couple. That’s it. That’s the offense. We didn’t exhibit any kind of regular offense. We don’t have one.

The offensive line is a wreck, the RBs are JAGS (but lead college football in compensation per talent unit), and we have a weird isosceles of incomprehension between Sark’s play calling, Arch’s actual ability level, and a WR corps that I think is pretty good in a better ecosystem (he wrote unsurely). Those three sides of the triangle are all trying to run offense on the shaky floor of our OL and RB room, which is like Flash Gordon whip fighting Prince Barron on the rotating spike pit of infinity. The freaking Hawkman keeps jacking with the controls.

What a tremendous movie. It has everything. And some of you idiots think that Citizen Kane or The English Patient is good.

Texas finished with 341 yards and 21 points on the board, but in the first half, the only successful drive came on a short field, with an incredible Parker Livingstone catch on a wide open route followed by a wide open touchdown throw to Wisner out of the backfield that Arch threw behind and late despite Wisner never not being open.

You may recall this is as the identical open route he has passed on multiple times in prior games, one resulting in a throwback INT, that we broke down on the Deep Dive. On four other Texas possessions in the 1st half, Texas totaled 35 yards on 19 plays. The second half was more productive in that it was a rotating series of Arch hero balls, scrambles, sacks, immediate punts, and interceptions. The final possession of the game won’t be on any coaching clinic two minute drill film.

OFFENSIVE LINE

 

Texas gave up 22 pressures (per PFF), 6 sacks (I counted it as 7 or 8, but I guess they become QB runs at 0 yards) and five other hard QB hits against a Florida DL ranked in the 100s in havoc rate coming into this game. They combined for six offensive penalties (Brooks and Baker had four of them), which ties a season OL record. I feel like they’re capable of breaking the record against Oklahoma, but it will take a team effort.

Their penalties were mostly lack of discipline and focus, but two of them were tackles getting physically manhandled and having to hold on. Baker got ran through like Madonna at the 1997 NBA All Star Game in the second half. Three OL were unplayable – Stroh, Brooks, Baker. By unplayable, I mean their play warranted immediate benching, but we can’t because it’s only Year 6 and one can’t expect Flood to have built out a functional OL by now. Respect the process and check back in 2033.

Stroh is Stroh, Brooks is a true freshman who has no idea how to pass block (he gave up 8 pressures!) and I’m sympathetic to his plight, and Baker is a fairly athletic tackle with good feet who isn’t strong and doesn’t appear to have gotten a lot of technical coaching about how to use his assets (feet, motor). He can’t overcome a strength program built on ads in the back of Tiger Beat magazine.

Two were barely playable – Hutson, Goosby. Hutson has bad feet, lunges in pass pro, and can’t handle athleticism or power. Goosby is an upgraded Baker. Very athletic, long, good feet, still weak. His technique has plateaued and it shouldn’t have. DJ Campbell was actually OK. Our scheme is very simplistic and Florida repeatedly toyed with us by getting our OL to honor useless slide pro rules that don’t apply to the pressures they were running. A scheme that puts Wisner on an edge while two OL block air isn’t ideal. Anyway, here’s our friend Nash to cheer you up.

Thanks Nash.

RUNNING BACK

Texas totaled 15 rushing yards from all players not named Arch Manning. I guess the people arguing with me about this room’s talent are waiting for one of them to drop a 7 yard run against OU when Venables slants the wrong way to count coup, but let’s just put this one in the old PW win column. I would rather have taken a Big L.

They schemed up the safety, linebacker and an edge on Wisner multiple times in pass pro, yielding a sack, two pressures. They generally manhandled him. Wisner also fell at contact on a goal line run like a fainting goat watching The Shining. Christian Clark got some run, gave up a pressure and blocked the wrong guy on only three protection snaps.

On the positive side, Wisner had 8 carries for 13 yards. Which if you did three times, it’s now 3rd and a long 5. Then you go on a hard count on a 4th down, get an offsides from the defense, then we’re looking at 4th and inches, and then you can sneak it for zero when the OL do their slip n slide belly slide. Turnover on downs, but you establish the run and these body blows pay off in the 4th quarter.

WIDE RECEIVER/TIGHT END

Our tight ends can’t block bigs – particularly Florida’s 270 pound variety – so naturally we play a lot of 12 personnel and ask them to do so. Endries caught 2 for 2 yards. That’s a yard a catch, from a mathematical perspective. I did that in my head. I do think he blocked hard and hustled. Our best blockers in the game were the wideouts. They’ve been nails all year.

I thought all three receivers had great moments and each had big plays, but the lack of a short or intermediate passing game means a lot of hits on Arch and a lot of three and outs intermingled with some big shots. Four wideouts had beween 40-75 yards receiving. Mosley needs to give a little better effort on bad throws, but I’m glad to have him up and running. I don’t really have a problem with this bunch.

QUARTERBACK

Whatcha doin’ here, buddy?

That’s double coverage. They’re literally standing there and looking at you. No. Bad. This, also bad…

That title is dumb. Not in all of history. That’s an exaggeration. But this…

Yikes. Now for a few positives.

Good. Brooks completely whiffed his block, Arch sidesteps #33 (who terrorized Brooks and Stroh all game, they might have gotten the dude drafted) and Arch throws a dime under duress. This was also good.

Hey, that’s Caldwell! Thank you for reading my essay. Look, Arch has serious issues. He’s also not getting much support. He’d still have issues with good support, but this is as bad an OL as we’ve seen in some time. #16 took an absolute beating and I seriously doubt that he can last the season if this keeps up. We need to find him some shorter rhythm outlets.

Final Thoughts

I don’t really understand what we’re trying to do on offense right now or how we let it go so bad in terms of personnel and development. The issues are obvious, and some are more or less unsolvable until we get to the offseason, but it’s time to find some chain moving plays and some basis for “regular offense” to complement the necessary hero ball.

That’s also very easy to write when the OL can’t block, the RBs can’t add anything to the run, and Arch under throws a wide open throwback screen or sails an open over route that would have gained 14. You can’t fix on a Wednesday what you’ve been screwing up for months and years, but we better get moving on what can be tweaked and improved. 

 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted
11 hours ago, satyanash said:

(Scipio Tex) 2025 Florida Gators Post Mortem: Defense/Special Teams

 

So, I read zone problems and dissension among the defensive staff.  Akina?

Posted
12 hours ago, satyanash said:

Texas needs to limit voices in the game planning process, or at least not favor the loudest who can’t see the big picture

 

What is the scoop behind what Scipio is saying here?  Anyone with insights?  

Posted (edited)
13 minutes ago, Gaius Julius Bevo said:

What is the scoop behind what Scipio is saying here?  Anyone with insights?  

That too many position coaches are inputting in the game plan and making a mess of it.  I suspect he suspects Akina, because:

"You typically do this with 3 or 4 men against a mobile QB and then run zone behind it, trying to force a pick. Sometimes with a late zone blitzer/spy. Competent defenses don’t do this with five DL and then run man behind it against an immobile, injured QB. One of many examples of the pitfalls of a defensive game plan by committee where the various participants are determined to get their stuff in, irrespective of the larger whole."

If you don't recall the lowdown on Akina, he's a good to great teacher of coverage skills, but a pretty lousy teacher of zone and is hostile to employing his DB in zones.  Scipio is saying that we should have run zone behind our front, but didn't because too many coaches got their say in the plan.

That's my read between the lines, YMMV.

Edited by TwiceHorn
  • Like 2

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