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For those of you wanting obvious answers or quick fixes to the QB conundrum, Steve Sarkisian offered none yesterday. At his weekly press availability, Sark acknowledged the issues his QB is having but focused instead on the idea that Arch Manning will be better for it once he comes out on the other side. Of course, Texas fans are wondering when exactly we are going to see the other side. Wil it be in 2025? The offense has been so lackluster that lofty pre-season aspirations have already been reduced. I’ll admit, there is wisdom in what Sark said. Facing adversity, then overcoming it, it makes us all better. And maybe that’s what Manning is going throug…

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is on the podium for his weekly Monday press conference. Texas is coming off of a 27–10 victory over UTEP and will set their sights on a meeting with Sam Houston State this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Notes and quotes in the comments down below. View full news story

The Texas offense currently can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. That much is clear. So every time I think it might be because of a lack of offensive ingenuity, I remember that this team can’t do the basics very well. Arch inexplicably fumbles a snap in the red zone. Given all of that, how is Sark going to be comfortable calling something that requires more finesse? This is not all on Arch though. The blocking in the red zone remains leaky at best, especially on the right side. Perimeter blocking is still an issue, as are penalties, as are running backs missing running lanes. The offense is dysfunctional. How does Texas manage that? …

3 Stars of the Game vs. UTEP *** Star #1: EDGE Ethan Burke One of the best games of Burke's career as a Longhorn in my eyes. Off of a second watch, Burke was tremendous in run support and continues to improve as a threat rushing the passer. Really impressive game. Star #2: CB Graceson Littleton This was a strong bounce back game for Graceson Littleton following a San Jose State game where he was picked on for 15 targets and seven receptions. Littleton quickly jumped a quick stop route on the outside from the slot position for his first career interception. Littleton was targeted four times for just one catch and two yards. …

Based on what we’ve seen in the first three games of this year, the Texas football season appears at a crossroads. I didn’t think we’d possibly arrive here until after the Florida game or perhaps after Oklahoma. Yet the outright dysfunction of the offense has accelerated the timeline. The quarterback is not throwing on time - or accurately - often enough. At times, he looks bewildered and/or overmatched. The running game lacks any real punch. And playmakers - where are they and do the Longhorns actually have any? As a whole, the offense appears to lack an identity, unable to impose its will even on lesser opponents. If that sounds a little harsh or ove…

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will meet with the media one final time this weekend ahead of the week three matchup with UTEP. Expect to have some injury updates coming out of today's Zoom Call. View full news story

A topic of conversation this week leading up to the Texas-Texas A&M game is the health of quarterback Quinn Ewers and his ankle. First and foremost, Ewers has practiced each day this week and to his credit, has increased intensity each day as the week has progressed. Still, there is a bit of a hobble to his movements due to the ankle. Based off of everything I have heard this week, all signs point to Ewers starting this game for the Longhorns. Ewers has done everything necessary to get ready physically. However, and I have heard this too often to ignore, it should come as no surprise to see Arch Manning at some point in this ballgame. Whether it be due …

Part of me remains in shock this morning, surprised by the QB play we all witnessed Saturday afternoon. I did not see it coming, not this level of struggle. It reached a level of complete ineptness. There were 10 straight incompletions, some that were true misfires, others that were ill-timed, rushed and three or four yards off the mark, one where he didn’t see what should have been his very first read for a first down on a fourth-down play in the red zone and another fourth down play to a wide open Parker Livingston downfield. The performance left me with so many questions Is Sark not helping him out enough with play-calling? Are the offensive l…

A win is a win, but there is plenty to improve upon. *** Good Horn Return Game Life For the first time this season Texas was able to establish a return in the punt game. Ryan Niblett gave three punts a chance on Saturday, totaling 72 yards with a long of 49. At this point, Texas needs just about every yard they can muster in every facet of the game. Good on the Texas return team for setting up the necessary blocks and the execution was the best we have seen this season. It can certainly still improve, and I am begging for more punts to be caught in the air, but this is a step in the right direction. Bad Horn 3rd Downs... Again Tex…

College Football Live Thread: Week 3 This is a big weekend in the SEC, to start. This will be the first true test for a number of teams on the Texas schedule. Texas A&M at Notre Dame, Georgia at Tennessee, Arkansas at Ole Miss. Vanderbilt looks to beat SoCar in Columbia. Then there is Florida at LSU. View full news story

No. 7 Texas vs. UTEP Game Thread The game ... Time: 3:15 CST TV: SEC Network View full news story

Texas vs. UTEP … Week 3 of 2025 September 13, 2025 **** The second of three games at DKR for the Longhorns. This weekend is all about improvement and seeing the team take steps in the right direction. 1st Quarter Texas starts with the football, and on the first play of the game, CJ Baxter gets dinged up on an inside zone RPO. Christian Clark comes in and makes an immediate impact with a 23-yard gain. First drive of the game and we see some Jerrick Gibson as well. Well another game, another turnover on downs and another failed opportunity to begin with points on the board before the opposition sees the football. It is a come…

Notable Visitors for Texas' home game vs. UTEP *** 2027 Jordan Frohock, WR, Pflugerville (Texas) Weiss 4 Offers: Nebraska, Tulsa, Jacksonville State, UTSA Frohock returns to campus for the 2nd time in as many weeks. Alvin Mosley, WR, Rosharon (Texas) Fort Bend Crawford Ranked 178th overall nationally Texas offered Mosley June 1 at the Elite Camp this summer. Kobe Haynes, WR, Whitney (Texas) High 1 Offer: Baylor Khing Thibodeaux, DL, Garland (Texas) Lakeview Centennial Ranked 148th overall nationally Texas has yet to offer, but Thibodeaux is ranked as the No. 5 DL in the state for 2027. …

What I want to see vs UTEP... * Other than a 5-minute stretch against San Jose State, we've seen a somewhat bottled up Texas offense to this point Against UTEP, the Texas offense needs to inch closer to letting it loose. We need to see repeated, consistent scoring, not just once every third series. And we need to see big plays coming from within the regular scope of the offense, not just deep passes downfield which can be too hit or miss. * Better third-down conversion. And furthermore, Texas setting itself up for better third-down conversions. The average yards-to-go on third downs this season has been 7+ yards. That's essentially averaging third…

Closing in on game day for the Texas Longhorns which means it is almost time to put the ribbon on final predictions and expectations for the third game of the season. Based off of Steve Sarkisian's availability and team intel from sources in Austin, here are my final expectations for the Texas Longhorns. *** – Expect to see a lot of Nick Townsend on Saturday. Jack Endries is dinged up, though is expected to suit up and give it a go for the Longhorns, but how much extended time will he see? My bet is not a ton. As a result, I am circling Townsend as the guy Texas hopes evolves into that 2nd tight end for SEC play. – In the running game, it would …

Saturday AM Recruiting Update The recruiting battles for top defensive and offensive line prospects will carry all the way until signing day, December 4. Malakai Lee ... Texas and Lee continue to have weekly conversations. The Michigan 4-star++ pledge remains Texas' top target at offensive tackle that the staff is still pursuing. Kamehameha High's last regular season game is October 24, which means a possible visit to Texas in November could work from a schedule standpoint. If Texas A&M 4-star commit Zaden Krempin (Prosper, Texas/High) had a change of heart, Texas would answer that phone call. Corey Wells ... Texas continues to battle Auburn …

Steve Sarkisian said he didn’t think any of the players that will miss tomorrow’s game will have long stays on the injured list. But it’s still quite the list, especially at the skill positions on offense. Tre Wisner and DeAndre Moore are expected out. Portal transfer Emmett Mosley V, who we’ve yet to see, remains sidelined, too. That’s your no. 1 running back and two of your top four receivers. No wonder Sark spent a lot of yesterday talking up true freshman Daylan McCutcheon. Here at OTF, we’ve talked about one of the categories of improvement we want to see in this Texas offense is its explosiveness. Well, it’s hard to be explosive when all of your …

Braylon Hodge update Texas linebackers coach Johnny Nansen extended an offer to Michigan State verbal Braylon Hodge(Denver/Cherry Creek) Wednesday night. OnTexasFootball exchanged messages with the 6-3, 215-pounder since the offer was made, both last night and this morning. The Thursday AM update is the scheduling of visits to Texas being ironed out. Per Hodge this morning, September 20 will be a UOV if that one gets locked in. A November official visit is also being discussed, and is very likely. Both Texas and Michigan offered Wednesday. View full news story

First and foremost, the last couple of days, there has been some arguing on this message board that has gone too far. Name-calling, baiting, overly aggressive tones, etc. The bottom line is this: Good people can disagree WITHOUT hurling insults. That is the expectation here. Please remember that. ** UTEP leads the country in sacks and is in the top ten in tackles for loss. Arch Manning will get his fill of different fronts and pressures in this game. That is a very good thing IMO. The more he sees now, the better he’ll know how to react during conference play. This week, Arch needs to take care of the ball, move his feet a…

No. 7 Texas vs. UTEP Game Week Thread No. 7 Texas (1-1) plays host to UTEP (1-1) Saturday afternoon. UTEP lost at Utah State 28-16 to begin the season, and beat UT Martin 42-17 last weekend. The Miners were 3-9 in 2024, including losses at Nebraska (40-7) and Tennessee (56-0). Steve Sarkisian and players meet with the media around 11:30 this morning. The game... Time: 3:15 p.m. CST TV: SEC Network View full news story

Show Me Improvement vs. UTEP Saturday will be the third time this year we get to see Arch Manning lead the Texas Longhorns onto the field in the 2025 season. Through the first two games, I think it is fair to say there remains plenty of room for the Texas offense to grow into its final version of itself. Of course, that is the biggest objective of the next two weekends – improve step by step. Texas has time to mature into the offensive unit I believe can compete for a National Championship, but it must take advantage of every opportunity on the field ahead of the big dogs on the schedule and this weekend is no exception. So, a few areas I would love to…

Derrek Cooper Update from visit to Chaminade-Madonna Hollywood, Fla. - OnTexasFootball spent a couple of hours at Chaminade-Madonna High Tuesday to check in on the season and recruitment of OTF 5-star running back Derrek Cooper. OTF conducted a video interview with Cooper and Chaminade-Madonna Dameon Jones that will be published later today, so I'm going to put this update in bullet points. Coach Jones talks a lot about Cooper, and Dia Bell with the Lions having played American Heritage the last four years. 1. Two people close to Cooper/the recruitment believe he's locked in with Texas. 2. One of those people doesn't believe a bigger NIL offer from …

Gerry Hamilton calls football recruiting a “talent maximization” game. Sure, a recruit has to have some requisite physical skills. But the real difference in a recruit making it or not comes from a combination of commitment to craft, football smarts, work ethic, and more intangibles than I can list. Take the case of Sydir Mitchell. At 6-foot-5 and 340 pounds, Mitchell has all the physical traits and then some. He signed with Texas in the class of 2023, the only defensive tackle the Longhorns would ink. He had ample opportunity to grow, to develop, both physically and mentally, at Texas. He even showed some signs of progress in his two years on the 40 A…

We will see just how cautious Texas is this upcoming weekend against UTEP, but there is a real possibility Texas sidelines a couple of key pieces this weekend. *** Steve Sarkisian told media on Monday RB Tre Wisner would be considered DOUBTFUL for Saturday's game. Wisner has been dinged up for a couple of weeks, and these non-conference games are looked at as an opportunity to get fully healthy. “I’d probably say today, he’s doubtful,” Sarkisian said. “I’m not ruling him out. At this juncture of the season, I’m just not in a rush to push guys back out there if they’re not as close to 100% or closer. I just know how long this thing goes. I know what it’s goi…

Recruiting: 5-stars and 4-stars Starting Tuesday morning with a few recruiting notes. We have both football and basketball to update, beginning with football. Defensive line update … As you guys read, I stopped by Miami Northwestern High to see OTF 4-star++ James Johnson. My takeaway was that Johnson wants to be at Texas. Think he continues to like the idea of doing something different for college vs staying in state. Unless that changes or can be significantly convinced otherwise, I like Texas. The recruitment of 4-star Corey Wells (Petal, Miss./High) is certainly not as positive. The Texas verbal visited Auburn over the weekend with his brother a…