Texas is in a rough stretch, and Steve Sarkisian isn’t pretending otherwise. After the Longhorns dropped their second straight game against unranked opponents, the Texas coach opened the door to bigger changes, including the possibility of a quarterback shakeup.
The latest setback was a 27-24 loss to Florida, one that unraveled after Texas built a 17-3 lead and then watched it disappear over the final three quarters. Arch Manning was central to that collapse, and he was outplayed by Gators backup Tramell Jones Jr. as the Longhorns fell apart late.
Sarkisian didn’t sugarcoat the state of the offense after the loss.
"I just felt like we didn’t play good offensive football and we’re not playing great offensive football right now," Sarkisian said, per Pro Football Talk."So everything is going to be evaluated.
Asked directly whether that evaluation could include benching Manning, Sarkisian refused to shut the door.
“Everything means everything,” Sarkisian said.
Manning’s recent stretch has been uneven. In Week 7, he posted 173 yards and a touchdown on 14-of-20 passing, but even that game came with costly mistakes. He lost a fumble late, handing Florida the opening it needed, and also threw two interceptions.
The week before was worse. Against Oklahoma, Manning threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter and helped sink Texas in a loss to unranked opposition.
Manning is still viewed as a favorite to go first in the 2027 Draft, but his stock has become less steady amid the Longhorns’ skid. A benching still looks unlikely, but with Texas set to face ranked opponents in each of its next four games, Sarkisian may decide he needs a different spark if the goal is to keep the College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Backup Karle Lacey Jr. enters the conversation as well. The former highly-touted recruit out of Saraland, Alabama, could be the kind of change Sarkisian considers if he wants to inject some life into an offense that has gone flat.
In Other News...
Tramell Jones Jr. Just Gave Florida A Reason To Believe
A freshman making his first career start is rarely asked to steady a program against a top-10 opponent, but Tramell Jones Jr. walked into that kind of assignment and gave Florida exactly the kind of calm it needed. The Gators rallied from a 17-3 deficit to beat seventh-ranked Texas 27-24, and Jones played a central role in getting them back into it, completing 22 of 35 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns.
For Florida, the win was about more than surviving an early hole. It was about seeing a young quarterback handle pressure, keep the offense moving and give the Gators a chance when the game tightened late. The defense finished the job with a late fumble by Texas quarterback Arch Manning, but the bigger takeaway in Gainesville is hard to miss: there is at least a reason to believe Florida has found something it can build on. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Suddenly Has A Bigger Opportunity Than Anyone Expected
Floridas win over Texas came at exactly the right time, giving Billy Napiers team a needed jolt after a season that has already swung from a 4-0 start to back-to-back losses. The bigger picture around college football has been just as unpredictable, with results across several conferences reshuffling expectations almost every week, and Florida has managed to keep itself in the conversation despite the early turbulence.
With the bye week now in hand, the Gators are in a better spot than many projected before the season, both in the SEC race and in the overall record chase. The Texas victory did more than settle things down for a day, too, because it left Floridas preseason goals still within reach as the schedule moves into its next stretch. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Turned The Big 12 Race Into Something Much Bigger
A wild Saturday across college football sent shockwaves through the AP poll, and BYU was one of the biggest beneficiaries after upsetting Notre Dame to climb to No. 2. The chaos was unprecedented, with five of the top seven teams losing on the same day for the first time in AP history, and Miami surged to No. 1 after its double-overtime win against Florida State.
For Florida fans, the broader picture is just as striking because the Gators were part of a day that helped redraw the national conversation in a hurry. Ohio State held off Indiana, Tennessee beat Alabama, Florida knocked off Texas, and Auburn beat Georgia, turning what could have been a routine Saturday into a rankings reset that left the Big 12 race and the rest of the playoff picture looking far more volatile than before. [Read more 🡒]