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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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