Steve Sarkisian doesn’t need a stat sheet to know Texas has a penalty issue. The Longhorns have spent the first four games giving away too many easy yards, and as they head into Red River Rivalry week, that’s the kind of self-inflicted problem that can wreck a game fast.
Texas has looked uneven enough on offense and, at times, undisciplined on defense that it hasn’t quite played like the No. 1 team in the country, even while holding that spot in the AP Top 25 Poll for the last three weeks. But the biggest concern has been simpler than scheme or ranking: the Horns keep getting in their own way.
That was the focus when Sarkisian met with reporters Monday to open Red River Rivalry week. He said the staff has spent the bye week hammering the issue in practice and trying to make penalties feel real before they show up in a game.
"What we need to minimize is some of the decisions that get made that lead to the penalties," Sarkisian said during Monday's press conference. "Last week, in the bye week, we were very intense for two days, and it was game-like situations...
You've gotta make them feel the effect of some of those penalties... You've gotta put them in those intense situations."
The worst example came in Texas’s Week 4 win over Tennessee, its first road game of the season. In that one, the Longhorns were flagged 11 times for 115 yards.
It was also the first real test away from home, where the crowd wasn’t heavily tilted in Texas’s favor. This week brings another setting like that, only louder and more chaotic.
That matters because Texas has been averaging 6.25 penalties per game, which has translated to 62.5 yards handed over each week. Against Oklahoma, and against one of the stingiest defenses in the country, those kinds of mistakes are hard to survive.
The numbers back up the problem. Texas ranks 54th in FBS in penalties per game at 6.25, 90th in penalty yards per game at 62.5, and 123rd in yards per penalty at 10.
Sarkisian said the bye week gave the staff extra time to address the issue, and he believes the message has been clear.
"If we keep coaching and the players are coachable, we can clean some of this stuff up," Sarkisian said. "It's been a point of emphasis... Generally, we get what we emphasize, and we've been emphasizing [penalties]."
For Texas, the challenge now is straightforward: turn that emphasis into cleaner football on Saturday. The talent is there. The discipline has been the problem.
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The biggest concern is a familiar one: third downs. Texas has hovered at an average conversion rate there, and Arch Mannings passing numbers have been mixed enough to keep the attack from finding a clean rhythm. The Longhorns do not need a wholesale overhaul, but they do need more consistency from a unit that has flashed enough to suggest better is there if it can just show up when the downs get longer and the pressure gets real. [Read more 🡒]