Florida 27, No. 7 Texas 24: Three things we learned

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The No. 7 Texas Longhorns are officially in disarray after blowing a 17-3 lead to the Florida Gators in a disheartening 27-24 loss on Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, now in the midst of a two-game losing streak that has increased scrutiny on head coach Steve Sarkisian and his entire program.

The offense won’t get there this year

It’s fitting that the game effectively ended for Texas on an Arch Manning turnover for the second week in a row. This was supposed to be a get-right game for the Longhorns offense facing one of the conference’s worst defenses. After opening the game with two scoring drives for 135 yards and 10 points, the offense fell off a cliff.

Texas failed to reach the end zone on its next seven drives, with three three-and-outs and two fourth-down failures. They finally broke the seal after a fourth-down prayer was answered, but it shouldn’t have come to that. Florida allowed 83 points in its last two games, both losses, but the Texas offense couldn’t manage to put together a coherent plan and was downright embarrassed at home.

Florida sophomore quarterback Tramell Jones outplayed Manning in his first start. Florida offensive coordinator Buster Falkner outcoached both Steve Sarkisian and Will Muschamp on their home field. And neither pricey Texas running back looked like a difference-maker as Jadan Baugh, who flirted with the transfer portal, came on strong in the second half and ran in a touchdown with less than seven minutes on the clock to take an insurmountable 10-point lead. An offensive head coach and a former No. 1 quarterback should be able to score more than 17 points at home in their fourth year of working together.

Texas can’t survive a defensive letdown

A week ago, the defense was the only reason why Texas had a chance against the Sooners; they spent too much time on the field against the Gators, and a methodical approach from Falkner’s unit kept them on the field for more than 11 minutes in the third quarter, while the offense put together just eight yards in a 15-minute period and did not record a single point in the game.

And it didn’t take the best game from Florida’s playmakers, outside of Jones making plays late. Jadan Baugh again ran for less than 100 yards. No Gators receiver went for more than 45 yards. And they had to watch as the offense bumbled for the vast majority of the game and straight up gave away the game late. It’s a lack of complementary football, mixed with an inability to put together more than two coherent drives.

It’s time to have tough conversations

Steve Sarkisian was heralded as an offensive genius and a quarterback developer, but the offense is bad, and the quarterbacks are not developed. Arch Manning was a top recruit in the country, with a hotly-contested recruiting battle that seemingly hinged on Sarkisian and AJ Milwee. All three of them, the quarterback and the coaches, have failed to live up to the billing. Sarkisian said during the week that if the quarterback had a different name, then the criticism would be less, but it feels equally as likely that if he had another name, he would have been benched for one of the other two quarterbacks on the roster.

Texas is two years removed from being a play away from playing for a national championship, and it feels like we’re back to where they were when Tom Herman was fired. The offense has regressed, with two blue-chip quarterbacks that failed to reach the ceiling, and now Texas is staring down the barrel of missing the playoffs for the second year in a row.

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