Texas heads back home with a chance to reset, and the betting market clearly likes its position. The Longhorns opened as a 9.5-point favorite over Florida on FanDuel, with the total set at 52.5 points.
That line comes on the heels of a painful Saturday in Dallas, where Texas let multiple chances slip away in a 27-24 loss to Oklahoma. The mistakes and missed opportunities were the same kinds of issues that have lingered all season, and they finally caught up with Steve Sarkisian’s team at the worst possible time. Even so, Sarkisian’s message afterward was straightforward: the season is not finished.
Florida arrives with its own mess to clean up. Under new head coach Jon Sumrall, the Gators looked dangerous early in SEC play, knocking off Auburn 44-39 and then taking apart then-No.
4 Ole Miss, 52-28. But the momentum disappeared fast.
Florida was blown out by Missouri two weeks ago and then doubled up by a South Carolina team that had not won an SEC game since last September.
A lot of that skid has centered on the ground game. Florida has had trouble getting Jadan Baugh loose over the last two games, and he hasn’t topped 100 yards in either one.
Over those two contests, he’s totaled just 72 yards, his lowest two-game output since October of 2024, when he was getting his first meaningful snaps. Earlier in the year, he paired for 55 yards against Mississippi State and UCF, and Florida split those games at 1-1.
Texas fans probably don’t need a reminder of what Baugh can do when he gets rolling. His 2025 showing against the Longhorns was a major piece of what kept Texas out of last year’s College Football Playoff, and the 29-21 loss to start SEC play exposed the flaws in that Texas team that later showed up throughout league play.
This version of Texas, though, has been far sturdier against the run. The Longhorns have allowed just 2.81 yards per carry and have held every opponent except one under 100 rushing yards. Over the last two weeks, Texas has surrendered only 153 yards on 74 carries, a meager 2.07 yards per attempt.
Still, the biggest challenge for Texas may not be Florida’s offense at all. It may be what happens in the hours and days after that loss to Oklahoma. The Longhorns have to shake it off and avoid letting one defeat turn into two.
In Other News...
Texas Looked Vulnerable In Dallas For One Frustrating Reason
Texas trip to Dallas offered a reminder that even a roster built to chase bigger goals can get dragged down by the smallest lapses. The Longhorns fell 27-24 to Oklahoma after their offense went quiet in the second half, piling up three-and-outs while special teams kept handing the Sooners extra openings with a blocked punt and missed field goals.
Arch Mannings late interception only added to the frustration of a game that was there to be taken, but never fully seized. For a team with playoff ambitions, the concerns went beyond one bad stretch of offense and into the broader question of execution, from the play-calling to the kicking game, and whether Texas can clean up enough of those problems before they cost it again. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Just Got A Troubling Warning About Arch And Sarkisian
Arch Mannings name already carries a spotlight most college quarterbacks never have to live under, and the expectations around him are only getting louder as NFL scouts view him as a potential top-10 pick in the 2027 draft. For Texas, that makes every uneven stretch feel a little bigger, especially when the offense is under scrutiny and the Longhorns are trying to keep pace in a season where the margin for error is small.
The warning sign came in the Oklahoma game, when Manning struggled in the fourth quarter and threw two interceptions that helped swing the result against Texas. Steve Sarkisian has stood by his offensive play-calling even as the Longhorns offense has sputtered in recent weeks, but the combination of quarterback growing pains and coaching questions is enough to raise the temperature around a team with high expectations and an even higher-profile future to protect. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Just Handed Texas A Rivalry Loss Sooners Fans Will Savor
A Red River showdown already packed with drama somehow found another gear Saturday at the Cotton Bowl, where Oklahoma stunned No. 1 Texas 27-24 with a last-second 47-yard field goal by Tate Sandell. The Sooners had to dig out of a halftime deficit to get there, and they did plenty of the kind of little things that swing rivalry games, including two non-offensive touchdowns that kept them within striking distance.
Peyton Bowens 42-yard interception return was a momentum jolt in a game Texas seemed poised to control, and the Longhorns never fully recovered from the missed chances that followed. The loss is expected to send Texas sliding in the AP Top 25, a reminder that one October Saturday can change the look of a season fast, especially when the opponent is the one program the Longhorns least want to see celebrating. [Read more 🡒]