Texas came into Saturday needing a clean response and left with a mess.
The Longhorns had a chance to settle things down against a Florida team that had been sliding, but instead they walked out of Gainesville with a 27-24 upset loss that makes their College Football Playoff route a lot tighter. Arch Manning never found a rhythm, Steve Sarkisian didn’t have enough answers, and Texas also watched its top defensive player, Colin Simmons, go down with an injury in the second half.
It was a costly collapse for a team that had already fallen hard after last week’s loss to Oklahoma. Texas had built a 17-3 lead in the second quarter, then watched Florida seize control with 24 straight points to go up 27-17. The Longhorns did make one last push, getting Manning’s lone touchdown pass - a 9-yard throw to Cam Coleman with 4:21 left - to cut it to 27-24.
But Texas never got the stop it needed. After the Longhorns held onto the ball following a Florida punt with 2:32 remaining, Manning was sacked on second down and coughed up the ball.
That ending only deepens the pressure on a Texas team that was ranked No. 1 in college football earlier this month and now appears headed for a spot outside the top 10 in Sunday’s updated AP poll. The margin for error is gone. Over the next four games, the Longhorns face Ole Miss, Mississippi State, at Missouri and at LSU, and all four are currently ranked inside the top 25.
The broader playoff picture has changed, too. Entering Week 7, Texas was still slotted into the College Football Playoff in CBS Sports’ bowl projections, with the assumption that the Longhorns were going to take another loss somewhere along the way. That cushion is gone now, and Florida has fought its way back into the conversation.
For Texas, the problem isn’t just the losses. Manning’s two interceptions in the fourth quarter against Oklahoma already hurt, and now the late fumble ended his streak of 11 wins as a starter at home. The Longhorns still have chances for quality wins ahead, but they’ll need a real turnaround - and much more consistency from a quarterback who hasn’t looked confident as a passer over the last few weeks.
Florida, meanwhile, heads into its open date with a much different vibe.
Tramell Jones started at quarterback in place of the injured Aaron Philo, and the Gators improved to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the SEC. Their next major test comes on Oct. 31 against top-ranked Georgia in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. If Florida wins that game, it would almost certainly move back inside the top 15 before the CFP Selection Committee unveils its first rankings in November.
From there, Jon Sumrall’s team has Oklahoma, at Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Florida State left on the schedule, giving the Gators a clear path to 10 wins.
Sumrall made clear before the game that he wanted his team to wipe away the frustration from its previous two outings and focus on beating Texas. He said, "We have not responded well, and there is something to that," and added, "There is a belief, a confidence, an intestinal fortitude of 'I'm going to fight till the finish, don't even care about what the scoreboard says, and then we'll look at the end of the game and see what the scoreboard says,' and so that is a concern of mine.
"It is something I saw and felt the last two games that we've got to get corrected."
Florida answered him with its second win of the season over a top-10 opponent, after earlier blasting Ole Miss in Gainesville.
In Other News...
Florida Fans May See That 2024 Decommitment Wave Very Differently
Floridas 2024 recruiting cycle has taken on a different look a year later, especially when it comes to the group of prospects who backed away from their pledges. Xavier Filsaime is one of the more notable examples, with the former Gators commit now at Texas and dealing with an injury-plagued season that has kept him from making the kind of impact many expected when he was being recruited.
He is hardly alone in that regard. A review of seven top recruits from Floridas 2024 class who decommitted shows a mixed return at their new schools, with limited playing time, multiple transfers in some cases and several players still searching for a steady role. For Florida fans, the early frustration of losing those names may look a little different now, because the path away from Gainesville has not exactly produced a clean win for everyone involved. [Read more 🡒]
Floridas Texas Game Suddenly Rests On One Huge QB Decision
Aaron Philos shoulder issue has turned Floridas trip to Texas into a late-week waiting game, with the Gators listing their quarterback as a gametime decision. If Philo is unable to go, Tramell Jones would be in line for his first career start, a major shift in the spotlight for a team trying to sort out its offense on short notice.
The uncertainty does not stop at quarterback. Vernell Brown III and Bailey Stockton are also listed as gametime decisions, while backup running back Duke Clark will not play, leaving Florida to piece together its depth chart as kickoff approaches. For a Gators team heading into a difficult matchup, the final availability report could end up shaping far more than just one position. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Just Proved It Can Still Take Down SEC Heavyweights
Floridas 27-24 win at Texas did more than just hand the Longhorns another loss, it reminded the SEC that the Gators still have the kind of upset punch that can change the conversation in a hurry. With backup quarterback Tramell Jones throwing two touchdown passes, Florida knocked off a No. 1-ranked team on the road and added a signature result to a season that now looks a lot more dangerous than it did a week ago.
The bigger takeaway for Florida is what the win says about its place in the league race. The Gators had not beaten two top-10 teams in the same season since 2012, and doing it in this setting gives the program a real benchmark under the lights. Texas, meanwhile, saw Arch Manning finish 14 of 20 for 173 yards and a touchdown, but the more telling number was the one attached to the Longhorns recent slide - two straight losses after opening the streak at No. 1. [Read more 🡒]