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Collecting all the post-game analysis articles, including those behind paywalls, regarding the UK game here:

(Gerald Goodridge) No. 21 Texas 16, Kentucky 13: Three things we learned

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Ugly may not be strong enough of a word to describe the No. 21 Texas Longhorns’ efforts in their win over the Kentucky Wildcats. Texas looked hapless on offense until the very end, nearly blowing a sure thing in overtime after needing just a field goal to win the game in the extra period. The passing game was out of sync, and the run game was something even worse than failure-to-launch.

The offense is not fixed

It looked like the offense may have found a recipe for success against the Oklahoma Sooners, but it looked like its typical listless self in Lexington. Texas started the game with three consecutive punts, only breaking the trend thanks to a massive punt return from Ryan Niblett that set them up with a short field. Texas was somehow worse in the second half, with three of their first four drives going three-and-out for one yard. Just two drives in the second half ended with points, both of which were field goals. One had one chunk play — a 31-yard pass to Emmett Mosley — and the other was set up by Ryan Niblett’s second big return of the night. Even on that final offensive drive of regulation, the offense made a crucial mental error, with DeAndre Moore going out of bounds to stop the clock and give Kentucky enough time to tie the game up in regulation.

This defense deserves better

The Texas defense did enough in regulation to beat Kentucky. Pete Kwiatkowski’s unit forced the Wildcats to punt on six of their drives, keeping a clean sheet for the first half, with a turnover on downs, three punts, an interception, and a missed field goal. Colin Simmons and Anthony Hill played like men possessed, with Hill finishing the game with 12 tackles and an interception and Simmons with three sacks and a forced fumble.

The unit sputtered a bit late, but they were rightfully gassed in the second half, with Kentucky massively controlling the time of possession, ending regulation with an almost 19-minute advantage in time of possession, running 81 plays to Texas’s 52. Despite that, the defense came up with stop after stop in the second half, sending Kentucky off the field without points on three of their five drives to close regulation. They did it again in overtime, after allowing a big chunk play to set up UK in scoring position, but stonewalled them on the goal line to set up the game-winning field goal.

Texas needs answers on the ground

While Quintrevion Wisner looked solid a week ago against Oklahoma, that seemed to be an apparition based on what Texas managed in Lexington. Texas put together just 50 yards by its running backs with 15 carries, averaging just 3.3 yards per carry in the contest. The Longhorns went 1-4 on downs when they needed two or fewer to convert and were stuffed on 32% of their carries. They were 0-4 on third and shorts, with just 18 yards on the ground on third downs, converting just one by rush. The offensive line looked exceedingly average against a Kentucky defense giving up an average of 192.66 yards in its three SEC games this year. Texas put up fewer yards on the ground than both Toledo and Eastern Michigan did against Kentucky, a simple summation of how bad things were.

Chip Brown: Quick Takes from Texas' 16-13 overtime victory at Kentucky

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Just when you thought the Texas offense had found some rhythm with a short-passing game and a commitment to the run in a win over Oklahoma, Steve Sarkisian returned to a slow-developing, deep passing attack that hadn't worked all season behind a flawed offensive line. It didn't work again Saturday night at Kentucky in a 16-13 overtime win at Kentucky in a game in which Texas' offense regressed to its early-season ineptitude.

Instead, it was Kentucky using a quick passing game to its running backs, attacking the perimeter of Texas' defense with an occasional drag route across the middle to pile up yards and time of possession between the 20s before stalling. The result was an overtime game on a Saturday full of upsets.

Thanks to a Mark Stoops' decision to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1 in overtime, and a goal-line stand led by Travis Shaw, Michael Taaffe and Liona Lefau as well as a clutch, 45-yard field goal by Mason Shipley in OT, Texas escaped Lexington with a 13-10 win for its first victory in a true road game this season. But if not for a bending-but-not-breaking Texas defense, led by three sacks from Colin Simmons and the goal-line stand in overtime, as well as two big punt returns by Ryan Niblett of 45 yards to the UK 5, setting up a 1-yard Quintrevion Wisner TD run in the first half, and of 43 yards to the UK 42 with 2:36 left to play, the Longhorns would've had no way of moving the ball into scoring position because UT's offense was so inept. Even on the first play of overtime, Texas' Brandon Baker was flagged for holding, forcing Shipley's game-winning field goal to be from 45 yards.

— After completing 21-of-27 last week in a win over Oklahoma, Arch Manning was back to struggling with inaccuracy, finishing 12-of-27 (44%) for 132 yards. Manning missed Ryan Wingo on a couple third-down throws from the pocket in the first half and missed a wide-open Jack Endries 15 yards downfield at the UK 25 from the pocket in the third quarter. Manning missed Emmett Mosley IV on a third-and-5 slant in the fourth quarter with pressure in his face. He threw a ball in the dirt to Wingo on a crosser midway through the fourth quarter.

Manning finally hit a clutch throw to DeAndre Moore for 9 yards on third-and-7 with 1:39 left to the UK 30. But two plays later, Moore caught a pass on second-and-10 and ran out of bounds after a 9-yard gain instead of sliding in bounds and forcing Kentucky to use its final timeout. On third-and-1, Manning couldn't gain a yard, forcing Mason Shipley to kick a 39-yard field goal with 57 seconds left. That was enough time for Kentucky go 46 yards in seven plays and kick a 45-yard field goal to tie the game with :09 left, sending the game into overtime.

— Kentucky's defense had so much success attacking the left interior of Texas' offensive line (right between LG Nick Brooks and C Connor Robertson) that by the time Texas absolutely needed to complete some passes in the fourth quarter, Manning was under siege and seemingly losing confidence by the drive. It's crazy, but Manning seems more accurate throwing the ball when he's on the move than he is throwing from the pocket.

— Kentucky had given up 220 yards rushing on 48 carries to Ole Miss; 131 yards rushing on 30 carries to Eastern Michigan; 178 yards rushing on 48 carries to South Carolina; and 180 yards on 44 carries to Georgia. Texas finished with 47 yards rushing on 28 carries (1.7 ypc). Let that sink in for a second. Texas' inability to sustain any kind of offense resulted in the Texas defense had been on the field almost twice as long (39:23) as the Texas offense (20:37). Kentucky ran 88 plays to Texas' 55 and outgained the Longhorns 395 yards to 179.

 

  • Hook 'Em 4
Posted

(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Texas needs overtime in Kentucky

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Once again, the Longhorns found winning on the road in the SEC against a physical team to be quite the challenge. Texas rarely held the ball and seldom did anything when they did while Kentucky was allowed to hammer away at the vaunted Longhorn defense with double teams and check down passes. Eventually a lack of scoring by Texas allowed Kentucky to force overtime at home.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, all of their long drives didn’t amount to much actual scoring. A terrific goal line stand by the Texas defense thwarted Kentucky’s overtime possession while the WIldcats’ possessions in regulation mostly stalled out before any damage could be done. And so, Texas survived for another week to get to 5-2 overall (one win from bowl eligibility!) and 2-1 in SEC play. Steve Sarkisian now gets another week to rethink offense and try to get Texas back on track.

Quick thought no. 1: Sark did not stick to the OU blueprint

Interestingly enough, with Oklahoma safely subdued, Sark went back to the previous style of offense. Despite turning to a new center, the Longhorns pulled from a deep bag of different run game schemes and overall formations. The results looked similar to how they looked executing this grab bag offense against other opponents.

It was deep into the game before Texas dialed up the outside zone play which was so profitable against Oklahoma. Instead Texas tried to attack the Kentucky fronts with a variety of inside zone, counter gap schemes, and a heavy dose of power sweeps to the perimeter. With the more varied approach to offense we saw a return to the sloppiness and struggles of the other games.

The Longhorns ran the ball to backs Tre Wisner and Christian Clark 15 times for just 59 yards at 3.9 ypc. Arch Manning was asked on multiple occasions to try and pick up the load but the quarterback run game was sloppier still and plagued by missed assignments and a lack of surprise. Without a run game to bank on, Texas’ protections struggled. Manning was sacked three times, hurried seven more, and took several hits while acquiring some fresh cuts and bruises.

This is not a sustainable way for Texas to play offense this season without incurring some losses or getting Manning injured. They are not skilled and effective enough to execute a larger array of offensive schemes and gameplans, this unit needs the offense to be pared down like it was against the Sooners.

Quick thought no. 2: Niblett wins at Churchill Downs

Texas would surely have lost this game if not for a pair of Ryan Niblett punt returns that created two scoring chances. The increasingly impactful speedster had returns of 45 yards and 43 yards to set up Texas’ sole touchdown and a field goal. Mason Shipley was also crucial to Texas’ win with field goals of 53, 39, and 45 yards, including the game-winner in overtime. 

Punter Jack Bouwmeester was also important to this win with eight punts for 336 yards which pinned the Wildcats inside the 20 six times and included three punts of 50+ yards. This was a defense and special teams win for the Longhorns. The offense did very little to contribute to victory other than avoiding turnovers. The special teams and defense controlled field position and raised the bar too high for Kentucky to clear.

Quick thought no. 3: Ball control vs bend don’t break

Pete Kwiatkowski’s bend-don’t-break defensive stylings met their match in Kentucky’s ball control offense in this contest. The Wildcats held the ball for 39:23 of the game before overtime and they ran 85 plays for 395 yards at 4.6 ypp compared to Texas 52 plays for 171 yards at 3.3 ypp. This also included 26 first downs by the Kentucky offense to just eight for Texas in regulation. Third downs were somehow more even with Kentucky going a modest 7-18 while Texas was 5-15.

So it wasn’t a defensive failing per say that allowed Kentucky to dominate the ball so thoroughly. The short fields enabled by Niblett’s punt returns was an additional factor. However, PK’s bend don’t break approach definitely does not pair well with a high volume of three’n’out possessions of the sort Sark’s offense was generating in this game.

It’s clearly possible to get double teams and push the Texas defense around some this season, but it’s not very efficient in terms of scoring. Texas’ struggles to keep track of Cutter Boley on the scramble is one of the only factors that kept Kentuky in the game. Anthony Hill had 12 tackles on the day with an interception and a break up while Colin Simmons had another huge day with three total sacks, one of which forced a fumble that Kentucky recovered.

It was more of the same in overtime. A perimeter screen out-leveraged the Longhorns outside to get the ball down near the goal line before the Longhorns flooded the field with big humans and stuffed four consecutive attempts by the Wildcats to push the ball across. This was an outstanding defensive performance by the Longhorns to bail the offense out of an abysmal road showing.

Quick thought no. 4: Arch Manning on the road

Arch Manning will inevitably take a lot of the blame for Texas’ malaise on offense. There were multiple occasions where we saw glimpses of earlier season Manning, such as when he threw a few open crossers at Ryan Wingo’s feet or sailed a ball over a wide open Jack Endries‘ head.

Manning also had pressure in his face early and often, had no run game to support his efforts, and still manaaged to hang in and deliver a few big throws down the stretch to help secure the win. One throw was a sideline toss which resulted in DeAndre Moore going out of bounds, stopping the clock and buying time for the Wildcats to launch their best drive of the game and force overtime. Why Texas was throwing to the sideline in that context, I couldn’t tell you. It set up a 3rd-and-short where another poorly executed quarterback run was stuffed, forcing a Texas field goal with nearly a full minute left for Kentucky.

A lot of this season has resembled some moments from early in 2010 when Texas tried to mix in a pro-style run game with the old spread sets with Garrett Gilbert at the helm, did none of it particularly well, and buried their young signal-caller under the pressure of trying to carry it all. Manning has stood taller than Gilbert that year and generated a lot more wins. He also has a better defense helping him stave off disaster. Still, it’s hard not to notice the similarities in how a highly touted young passer has been set up to fail by the surrounding structure at Texas.

Overall, this was a gutsy performance on the road by Manning but not a good one other than his ability to avoid turnovers. He finished 12-27 for 132 yards at a dismal 4.9 ypa with 11 carries in the run game for -1 yards. Sark needs to get him back into a coherent offense with a functioning run game.

Quick thought no. 5: Texas has the wrong sort of identity

The Longhorn identity this season has been to play outstanding defense every week and stumble their way on offense to a middling performance that’s either just enough or not quite. That’s not the identity Texas was aiming to create this season, nor the one we anticipated this offseason, but seven games in they’ve been pretty consistent in this description. Sark brings pretty different gameplans from week to week, a collection of various plays that don’t overlap much with one another.

This offensive line and tight end group is not old or skilled enough to execute it all and so we see wild fluctuations between competence and penalty-ridden disasters from play to play. I’m not sure why Sark didn’t take the success against Oklahoma as an indicator to change his approach and opt for more consistency in scheme and system. It feels like he’s trying to play-call his way through it all until Texas can start to catch up on offense. This road game, as well some of the results this weekend in which Texas’ next two opponents (Mississippi State and Vanderbilt) showed a lot of competence, suggest a third loss is likely to win the race against the Longhorn offense.

Sam Khan Jr.: No. 21 Texas survives Kentucky in OT despite lackluster offensive showing

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Texas escaped a rock fight with Kentucky on Saturday night, squeezing out a 16-13 overtime road SEC win after a stellar defensive effort and a game-winning field goal from Mason Shipley. The win keeps the No. 21 Longhorns’ slim College Football Playoff hopes alive, a week after Texas (5-2, 2-1 SEC) toppled rival Oklahoma.

Texas held Kentucky (2-4, 0-4) to just 4.6 yards per play and one touchdown, enabling an anemic Longhorns’ offense to do just enough to escape Lexington with the victory. Texas’ defense racked up 11 tackles for loss, five sacks, an interception and produced a critical goal-line stand in overtime when Kentucky opted against a field goal and went for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1.

That stop made the offense’s job academic: don’t turn it over and let Shipley do the rest, which he did, connecting on a 45-yard field goal to send Texas home victorious. The Longhorns are relieved to leave Lexington with a win, and they should be. SEC road wins are usually difficult, regardless of records. But the victory also laid bare glaring issues and leaves fans and alumni wondering: Why does Texas’ offense look so inept?

Texas gained just 179 yards on Saturday, the lowest offensive yardage output of the 62-game Steve Sarkisian era. It was only the second time in Sarkisian’s five seasons at Texas that the Longhorns failed to reach 200 yards. Their previous low was a 199-yard showing in a 17-10 home loss to TCU in 2022. The running game was virtually nonexistent. Texas finished with just 47 rushing yards and averaged 1.7 yards per attempt.

Running backs Quintrevion Wisner and Christian Clark combined for 15 carries and just 50 yards. The passing game never got into a rhythm, as quarterback Arch Manning finished 12-of-27 passing for 132 yards and no touchdown passes. He distributed the ball to seven receivers, but none reached 40 receiving yards on Saturday.

And the offensive line had its hands full again, as it has often this year. The Longhorns’ line, which was shorthanded without starting center Cole Hutson and guard Connor Stroh, allowed three sacks and seven quarterback hurries on Saturday night. Texas has allowed quarterback pressure on 42.4 percent of dropbacks this season, which is the fifth-highest rate in the country, according to TruMedia.

Why the Longhorns’ offense is struggling

How is this the offense that Sarkisian, one of the most respected offensive minds in the sport, has produced in his fifth year on the job after multiple top-10 recruiting classes? One of the most evident issues with the Longhorns is a lack of explosive playmakers akin to what they’ve had on the Forty Acres the last four years. The offensive talent appears capable, but not elite. There is no Bijan Robinson in the backfield. There is no Xavier Worthy or Matthew Golden at receiver. Who among Texas’ offensive skill position players strikes fear in SEC defensive coordinators the way those NFL Draft picks did?

All five starters on the offensive line are homegrown recruits. Only one of them had significant starting experience before this season — right guard DJ Campbell — after four of Texas’ 2024 starters departed. Three were drafted, and the other exhausted his eligibility. Some wonder if Texas should have tapped into the transfer portal to bring in veteran linemen, but Sarkisian said earlier this month the current personnel are “more than capable.”

Texas has a young offense and that explains some of the growing pains. Of the 11 typical offensive starters, only four — Wisner, Campbell, receiver DeAndrew Moore and tight end Jack Endries — came into the season with double-digit career starts and Endries’ starts came at his previous stop, Cal.

Although inexperience can explain away some of the miscues, it doesn’t absolve what we saw on Saturday. In the Longhorns’ seventh game of the season, the offense doesn’t look markedly better than it was in the Week 1 loss to Ohio State. It looked like it had regressed, a surprising development after having a competent showing against an elite Oklahoma defense a week prior.

Manning, after playing a clean, mistake-free game against the Sooners, missed several throws against Kentucky. He missed an open Wingo on a crossing route in the first half and a wide-open Endries late in the game that could have kept a drive alive. The lack of any explosive runs allowed Kentucky to tee off on Manning. And Sarkisian’s offense, which relies heavily on play action passing, is harder to execute when there’s no run game for defenders to respect.

The one player who did make things happen with the ball in his hands was Ryan Niblett, who returned two punts for 88 yards, both of which set Texas up with good field position that the Longhorns converted into points. Niblett, who was recruited as a receiver but has also played running back and on special teams in his Texas career, may be someone to work into the game plan more as the Longhorns search for answers.

In the meantime, Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense continues to answer the bell. That unit has carried the Longhorns time and again in the last four years and the veteran presence of guys like linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and safety Michael Taaffe has been invaluable. The defense looks prepared to carry the Longhorns as long as it must.

But Texas needs to find its offensive identity. The last five teams the Longhorns face — Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Arkansas and Texas A&M — all average 30-plus points per game. Sarkisian, who serves as the team’s play caller, needs to find answers and soon, before the preseason No. 1 team is knocked out of CFP contention entirely.

 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted (edited)

We went away from everything that worked well against at Oklahoma. Sark should have focused on getting the team to get good at outside zone again and instead rolled out the Ohio St game plan.  Now here we are getting to start over again on trying to find an offensive identity. 

Edited by Newy25
  • Hook 'Em 2
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I guess part of the reason for the OZ plan against OU is Venables is known to be weak against it.

So perhaps the thinking was what worked against OU isn't gonna work against anyone else, or Kentucky.  But that seems to be overthink.

And maybe Tre was overworked/injured and perceived to be the only reliable RB, especially for OZ running.

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Eric Nahlin: Arch Manning struggles highlight deeper Texas Longhorns offensive issues

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Arch Manning was bad yesterday—Ohio State bad. He left a lot of yardage on the field, much of it of the pitch-and-catch variety. With that important caveat out of the way, let’s get to some other points of contention, like where the buck stops.

Back during the 2022 season, I mentioned Steve Sarkisan the coordinator was letting down Steve Sarkisian the head coach. By that time, it was evident to me the head man was doing a great job rebuilding the Texas program. He had the CEO touch every head coach must have in this day and age. He was recruiting well, the culture was in a good place, and the offense and defense made strides from the year prior.

At the same time, it was clear he struggled to manufacture yards and points when his preferred style of play was off the table. That style: run the ball, play-action. As Jett Bush put it to me in August—vertical run, vertical pass. We have never truly seen that style at Texas, outside of perhaps glimpses with Casey Thompson, Xavier Worthy, and Bijan Robinson. We didn’t see it with Quinn Ewers, though Sark eventually did well to adapt to horizontal run, horizontal pass—at least until Georgia and others solved it.

Manning has the toolkit to throw it deep, and Ryan Wingo, DeAndre Moore, and Parker Livingstone have the ability to win vertically. The problem stems from the other component. The lack of run game is twofold—the offensive line is not good, and the running backs are not dynamic enough to create on their own, at least outside of Tre Wisner in Dallas.

Just as the offense isn’t a good run-blocking unit, it’s also not good at pass protection. More often than not, Manning doesn’t even have time to throw vertically if the receivers do get open.

Sark’s preferred method of football is out the window this season. Arch’s issues are a legitimate governor for Sark, but the greatest governor on this offense were the decisions that were—or weren’t—made this offseason. That starts with the head coach. That starts with Kyle Flood. Ideally, there would be a third person to assign blame—an offensive coordinator—but that guy doesn’t really exist.

If Sark had an independent offensive coordinator, there likely would have been an advocate for a running back addition, and I GUARANTEE you there would have been an advocate for offensive line additions. A case can be made that Sark was too selfless in addressing deficiencies on his side of the football. We’ve seen many head coaches devote too many resources to making sure “their side” performs well.

I can appreciate Sark’s selflessness, but these issues were obvious to the commoner. If staffers told Sark he should make key additions and he ignored them, that’s a problem. If nobody spoke up, that’s an even bigger problem. This offseason, the decision-making tree needs to be re-evaluated. Indeed, Arch is part of the problem, but he’s downhill of much larger problems.

Ian Boyd: Steve Sarkisian needs a new process for the Texas offense

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Texas’ abysmal offensive performance on the road in Kentucky the other night has triggered an enormous backlash from Longhorn fans. Generating only 179 total yards without either the pass game, run game, trick plays, quarterback runs, or absolutely anything showing real promise has many fans despondent about the team. Understandable.

Naturally in a time like this, the impulse is to reach for criticisms to lob at the coaching staff and propose solutions that would make the Longhorns into a team that more closely resembled a playoff unit. Frankly, there’s still a chance this team can manage that, although today it looks less likely than a week ago. But today, let’s try for some calm, measured analysis of where Texas is right now. Let’s consider the various questions and challenges the current Steve Sarkisian regime is facing.

Bench Arch Manning next time he plays like that!

This suggestion/critique is one I’m hearing a lot today that strikes me as being more of a punitive, angry reaction than a real suggestion on how to make this team better. The 2025 Texas Longhorns do not reach their potential as a team, nor make important growth steps for next year, if they do not establish Arch Manning as an effective quarterback for this program. There’s no point in pulling him for Matthew Caldwell unless the goal is to make Manning better.

Additionally, the issues with this offense are systemic and varied. Manning’s inconsistent play is more of a symptom than a root cause. The reason Arch looks like a future no. 1 pick one throw and a junior varsity passer at Westlake the next? He’s getting sped up and knocked out of rhythm by the struggles around him. How do you fix that? If you just roll with Caldwell you might get steadier play (big if there, how does he respond to getting rocked?), but you also cap the ceiling and potentially kneecap your franchise quarterback.

Would the Horns look better if Manning hit some of the dialed up shots Sark draws up that actually work? Absolutely. Would that raise the floor of the offense above what we saw in Lexington, KY? Yes.

Would that transform the Longhorns into a team anyone should believe is capable of winning a playoff game? No, only a consistently functional run game can do that. Would it run the risk of triggering a national ****storm that could bury the team in distractions? Yes. Could it lead to blowing Manning’s potential or losing him in the transfer portal and destroying Sark’s reputation as a quarterback guru, in turn sabotaging his sale to other 5-star quarterback recruits? Yes.

Sark’s method at quarterback is essentially go to all in with a top talent and make it work with them like a marriage. Any discussion of Texas’ quarterback situation has to keep in mind the bigger picture and strategy. Is that how other positions work? No. Should quarterback be the same as every other position? Also no. For most fans and commentators, the quarterback takes all the blame or all the credit. It’s the second most important frontward facing figure on your team behind the head coach. You can’t treat the quarterback like he’s your Will linebacker or right guard.

Benching Arch for more than a series or two if he needs to take some calming breaths is going to create a lot more questions and problems than it actually solves. It won’t help Texas run the ball on first down.

It’s time! Sark needs to hire a play-caller

Much like the calls to bench the quarterback, I’ve often found this argument and narrative to be more about punishing Sark for giving us bad football than proposing a realistic or truly helpful solution. For one, Texas doesn’t have a lot of leverage to dictate to Sark how he should run this program. What are they going to do if he says no? Hire James Franklin?

Sark could still leave and secure play-calling jobs at any number of other programs or NFL franchises if he wants to stay attached to that duty. For another, I still don’t see the problem as being about Sark the play-caller. However, there’s definitely something deeply flawed with how Sark is delegating offensive coaching on this team.

Every week it looks more and more like the offensive staffers on this team are serving mostly as compartmentalized yes men to Sark. There doesn’t seem to be meaningful pushback against him when he keeps trying to run a gameplan for each new opponent with NFL-level complexity with an offense comprised of a weak O-line, no dominant running back, shaky quarterback, and young tight ends. They inevitably botch the designs when he tries to mix in multiple formations and concepts.

What seemed like a turnaround against Oklahoma related to Texas determining to do just a few things right. Within a clear structure and design, built around two staple run plays, the whole team found confidence and roles. Against Kentucky Sark returned to grab bag gameplans with multiple designs and system influences. Why is that?

It’s the exact opposite of how the Texas defense works, where Pete Kwiatkowski arrives at multiplicity very slowly by emphasizing base defense and fundamentals before adding smaller tweaks and blitzes. When you can assemble talent like Texas, it’s hard to argue against an approach oriented around developing talent and playing with good fundamentals in basic schemes. You don’t need complexity to beat Kentucky, that’s what the talent is for.

Does Sark need a play-caller who will do that? That might help, but what could also make a big difference is having offensive staffers who can either develop players to execute this approach or who can pushback against the head coach and say, “I don’t think we can do that.” The current offensive staff appears to be saying, “yes sir,” without questions or feedback out of fear of telling the head man something he doesn’t want to hear. Or worse, they are pushing back against Sark and he’s not listening to them.

The latter is a much more serious problem and won’t be solved by trying to force him to hire an offensive coordinator with his own vision for the offense that runs counter to Sark. The former problem doesn’t necessarily need a new play-caller, just better hires and process from Sark.

Something that we’ve witnessed for a few years now at Texas is that Sark will often go hire top defensive coaches and then trust PK to make all the disparate influences and voices work together in the defensive staff room. Sometimes things don’t gel but usually they build something very effective. On offense, the Texas staff is mostly guys Sark has worked with before. There have been very few new additions other than a handful of positions coaches or young analysts. New influences or top, established offensive minds never enter the picture save for in consultant roles. God only knows what Paul Chryst, Neal Brown, or Tim Drevno have been saying or contributing. Sark is the sole source of ideation and everyone else is there to help him implement.

You can see that problem when the offense is struggling week-to-week and the solution is usually for Sark to try and play-call his way out of the problem while pulling from the grab bag. It’s like watching someone cycle through a massive Madden playbook and assuming the personnel has established proficiency in all of it. Evidently the only part of this offense Sark trusts this season is his own ability to scheme up an open receiver.

That truly is probably the most consistent piece of this offense. The Longhorns do get guys open every week. The problem is they don’t consistently execute an offense with a true identity.

So does Sark need a new offensive play-caller? He definitely needs better staffing and delegation. I’m not sure that actually needs to include play-calling in particular. However, calling for a new play-caller, new quarterback, new analyst, etc is all committing the same error as Sark. These criticisms are reaching from a grab bag for a solution to something that ultimately needs for Sark himself to embrace a different process.

This team is bad and can’t win anything important!

The 2025 Texas Longhorns are still probably going to win 8-9 regular season games and might end the year on the outside looking in on the playoffs but with satisfying victories over rivals like Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Georgia. A decidedly mixed season appears inevitable that will include plenty of reasons for fans to talk themselves into 2026 and plenty of reasons for NIL contributors to question why the ROI wasn’t higher in 2025.

As bad as the offense has been and as snake-bitten and wasted as the offseason appears to have been, this team still has elite qualities and a chance at a solid and fun season if Sark can start to truly accept what this offense is and is not. The defense and special teams have been elite and set a high floor for the overall team if paired with a remotely decent offense.

Next year when specialists Jack Bouwmeester and Mason Shipley move on there will need to be portal additions or real development from younger players. The team will also lose another wave of defensive stars to the NFL, but the young core of these two units will remain exceptionally talented and strong. If the offense can make chicken salad this season and position itself for a rebound in 2026 there’s every reason to believe in Sark’s program with Manning at the helm moving forward. If we can’t believe in that, there are deeper issues to examine.

Joe Cook: All the different versions of Steve Sarkisian aren't doing any favors for the Texas offense

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Steve Sarkisian the head coach hasn’t done much to help Steve Sarkisian the offensive play-caller in 2025. The overall O-line picture is bleak in a season the Longhorns entered as the No. 1 team in the country. Texas saw four O-linemen from the 2024 squad depart including three draft picks. Texas, Sarkisian, and offensive coordinator Kyle Flood banked on their ability to develop third- or fourth-year players or top-50 talents to make things happen for Arch Manning in his first year as the starter.

That’s a noble desire and probably goes over well on the recruiting trail, which is important. But their inability to identify the O-line as a potential pitfall, and refusing to bring in a portal O-lineman as a result, has the Texas offense in dire straits despite a 5-2 record. Much of that holds true when it comes to the Texas running back room. Sarkisian placed trust in CJ Baxter coming off an injury and Quintrevion Wisner after a standout 2024 season. He hoped for more from Christian Clark, Jerrick Gibson, and James Simon. None of those backs have been anything close to game-breaking or game-changing..

The Longhorns could not run the ball against Kentucky. They really haven’t run the ball with meaningful success all season save for what can now be considered a blip against Oklahoma. Texas’ sack-adjusted rushing total versus Kentucky was 71 yards. Sarkisian’s offense looks awful if there’s no run game to speak of, whether via Wisner or Manning at this point. The lack of an offensive line or running back room that can accomplish a semblance of what Sarkisian hopes to achieve on offense is on Sarkisian. Free agency exists and he did not make the call to bring any help in for an all-important Manning season under center whether in the trenches or in the RB room.

Even so, Steve Sarkisian the play-caller isn’t doing Steve Sarkisian the head coach any favors. Every play-caller has certain calls he’d like back. Sarkisian has been candid about how his toss play on the goal line during the 2025 Cotton Bowl is one that fits in that category. That comes with the territory.

Yesterday was a game Sarkisian would like to have back. After seemingly finding a groove with the outside zone scheme against Oklahoma, the run game was anything but a focus against Kentucky. Some grace is due because Sarkisian had to utilize a backup center. However, to abandon an identity that seemed to be forming in Dallas on the road and place the game in the hands of his erratic quarterback was a decision that Sarkisian the play-caller thought would help Sarkisian the head coach. That wasn’t the case.

Manning has not proven consistent enough to have that trust quite yet. A 12-for-27 night for 132 yards was indicative of the grab-bag play-calling Sarkisian utilized on Saturday. Manning’s average depth of target per Pro Football Focus was 6.4 yards. He had one attempt with a target 20 or more yards downfield. Sarkisian not only struggled to get his offense to establish a run game, his offense failed to threaten different parts of the field. Manning had less than a handful of throws to targets outside the numbers against Kentucky, according to PFF. The picture was remarkably straightforward for the Wildcats defense. Everything was in front of them. There was no real challenge to Mark Stoops‘ scheme.

Of course, the players are the one asked to carry out the calls. But the calls Sarkisian gave Manning and the rest of his offense didn’t do much to work around Texas’ obvious weaknesses. As a result, the Longhorn special teams and defense needed to turn in heroic efforts Saturday night. The stat sheet won’t be kind to Texas’ defense considering Kentucky gained 395 yards and held the ball for almost 40 minutes.

But the scoreboard is what matters in football and Texas’ defense made a critical goal line stand in overtime to set up a chance at victory. Sarkisian’s offense tried to squander it, but Mason Shipley rounded out a good night for the Longhorns’ special teams units by nailing a 45-yarder to win it. Credit is due to the head coach in Sarkisian for putting together a defense and special teams that can win football games in spite of poor evenings from the play-caller.

But it’s a troubling trend for a football program when the head coach and the play-caller are the same person, and neither have helped Texas approach some of the team’s preseason expectations whether lofty or reasonable.

 

Posted

Justin Wells: Top PFF offensive grades from Texas' 16-13 overtime win over Kentucky on Saturday

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Texas escaped Lexington by the skin of its teeth with a 16-13 overtime win over Kentucky on Saturday night. Here are the offensive grades, per PFF.

OFFENSE

QB – Arch Manning, 51.8

One step forward, two steps back. He was 12-of-27 passing, 132 yards, zero touchdowns and zero turnovers. The offensive line is terrible, but he’s missing wide open receivers.

RB – Tre Wisner, 68.1, Christian Clark, 65.2

The two Texas tailbacks combined for 50 yards on 15 carries. Wisner also caught two passes out of the backfield and had a score.

WR – Parker Livingstone, 49.6, Ryan Wingo, 59.1, DeAndre Moore, 67.4

The receivers were getting open, it was just difficult for Manning and the O-line to get time. Moore notched three catches, while Wingo and Ryan Niblett added two grabs.

TE – Jack Endries, 49.2, Jordan Washington, 67.8

The tight ends combined for two catches and 24 yards receiving. You want more from this group if they aren’t adequate blockers either.

OL – Trevor Goosby, 54.4, DJ Campbell, 62.6, Brandon Baker, 56.9, Nick Brooks, 36.7, Connor Robertson, 51.5

The Longhorns offensive line is a mess. All three of UT’s sacks were credited to the freshman Brooks. Robertson and Brooks combined for 11 pressures and seven hurries. Not close to good enough. 

Justin Wells: Top PFF defensive grades from Texas' 16-13 overtime win over Kentucky on Saturday

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The Texas Longhorns defense continues to be the staple of the program. After another strong effort in defeating Kentucky, 16-13, in overtime from Lexington, here’s the defensive grades, per PFF.

DEFENSE

DL/EDGE – Hero Kanu, 71.9 Colin Simmons, 81.3, Lance Jackson, 87.0, Ethan Burke, 74.4, Zina Umeozulu, 71.6, Alex January, 76.5, Travis Shaw, 83.7, Trey Moore, 76.7

This group continues to rock the SEC. The threesome of Simmons, Burke, and Moore totaled 12 pressures, nine tackles, one forced fumble, and three sacks. Simmons is playing at another level over the last month.

LB – Anthony Hill Jr, 68.3, Liona Lefau, 69.8, Tyanthony Smith, 50.7

Hill Jr once again led the way with 12 tackles and an interception. Smith added five stops, and Lefau added four tackles. 

CB – Malik Muhammad, 73.7, Jaylon Guilbeau, 68.5, Kobe Black, 64.8

Guilbeau was really good in Lexington. He netted six tackles, one pass breakup, and a 66.3 passer rating allowed. Muhammad added five tackles and a sack. 

S/N – Michael Taaffe, 77.8, Graceson Littleton, 53.5, Jelani McDonald, 78.1

Taaffe and McDonald were outstanding on Saturday. They combined for 19 tackles, two tackles for loss, and one pass breakup. Littleton added four stops. 

 

 

Posted
56 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Eric Nahlin: Arch Manning struggles highlight deeper Texas Longhorns offensive issues

Ian Boyd: Steve Sarkisian needs a new process for the Texas offense

Joe Cook: All the different versions of Steve Sarkisian aren't doing any favors for the Texas offense

 

Those are more nuanced takes than I would have expected.  

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