Texas’ 4-0 start has come with a problem Steve Sarkisian can’t ignore: the flags keep piling up.
The Longhorns were hit with 11 penalties for 115 yards in Knoxville against Tennessee, a messy number that pushed their season-long discipline issue into the spotlight as they head into the bye week. Texas now has 19 penalties over its last two games, and Sarkisian made it clear on Monday that the staff is treating it as a priority.
“We’ve got to find ways to clean up the penalties,” Sarkisian said on Monday. “Now it’s 19 penalties in the last two weeks, and we can control a lot of them.
Some of them we can’t. We can control a lot of them.
So again, we’ve got to get back to the emphasis as a coaching staff.”
Two of the most glaring mistakes came from Colin Simmons and running back Raleek Brown, who each drew 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Sarkisian didn’t dance around it.
"That's not who we are as a team, and that behavior is unacceptable," Sarkisian said. "I've met with the team about it.
I've met with Raleek individually, so we'll handle those things internally. I don't want to take our stinger.
I don't want to take away the excitement of the game, but the moment you start to demean an opponent, the flags are going to come out."
Texas’ own mistakes were one of the few things that kept Tennessee hanging around early. Even so, the Longhorns still escaped with the kind of result that leaves them 4-0, though not exactly cleanly.
There was also a late wrinkle on the Volunteers’ side that went unflagged in real time. Tennessee’s final onside kick was recovered near midfield and helped set up a shot at a game-winning Hail Mary, but the SEC later said the kick should have been ruled a violation.
"A drop kick is permissible, but a free kick must be made from the kicking team's restraining line which is the 35-yard line on a kickoff, unless relocated by a penalty," the conference said in a statement. "In addition, after the ball is ready for play the kicker may not change his lateral position between the hash marks. That spot can change only after a timeout or on an subsequent kick."
Even with that break going Texas’ way, the broader issue remains the same. The Longhorns are ranked No. 54 nationally in penalties per game at 6.3, and No. 90 in penalty yards at 62.5 per game. For a team with this much talent, that’s not the standard.
Now comes the bye week, followed by the Red River Rivalry in Dallas next weekend. Sarkisian knows the margin for error gets thinner from here.
"It's been a good start to the season," Sarkisian says in review. "To be 4-0, we got a lot of meat left on our bone. As we go, we know what's coming after the bye."
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