Texas has built a roster that can talk itself into a national title run, but the Longhorns may have one self-inflicted problem standing in the way: penalties.
Steve Sarkisian’s team looks loaded enough to compete for the 2026 championship, with talent spread across offense, defense and special teams. That kind of balance has created the kind of championship-or-bust buzz that follows a program in Austin when expectations get this high. But all of that can unravel fast if Texas keeps handing out free yards and wiping out scoring chances with avoidable mistakes.
Last season, the Longhorns averaged 69.7 penalty yards per game, which placed them 132nd among 136 FBS teams. That’s not a small leak. It’s the kind of number that can sink a team trying to survive the SEC and win multiple College Football Playoff games in January.
Texas wasn’t exactly a model of discipline in its previous CFP seasons, either. In both 2023 and 2024, the Longhorns averaged 52 penalty yards per game, ranking 73rd nationally each year.
Those teams were good enough to live with that kind of damage, but the margin for error was still thin. One flag in a close game could tilt everything.
What happened last season was worse. Nearly 70 penalty yards per game moved the issue from annoying to dangerous.
Not every penalty can be erased, of course. Texas leans on outside-zone concepts that ask offensive linemen to move laterally, reach defenders and hold up in space. In that kind of system, some holding calls are going to show up.
But that only explains part of the problem.
False starts in the red zone are drive killers. Defensive holding and pass interference can hand an offense a fresh set of downs after the defense has already made the play.
Illegal formations, substitution mistakes and other pre-snap errors have nothing to do with aggressiveness. Those are mental lapses, plain and simple.
Those are the penalties Texas has to clean up in fall camp.
There is a clear contrast with Sarkisian’s first two seasons. In 2021 and 2022, the Longhorns averaged 47.8 penalty yards per game. They didn’t have the same depth or elite talent this roster has now, but they also didn’t spend games burying themselves under flags the way they have during this rise into contender status.
Getting back near that 2022 level could matter more than another big play or another five-star addition. Championship games tend to come down to tiny edges.
A false start can turn third-and-short into third-and-long. A defensive holding call can erase a stop.
One unnecessary penalty can change field position, momentum and, eventually, a season.
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What makes this one matter is the level of the player and the schools Texas had to hold off to get him. The Longhorns won out over Oregon and Texas A&M for a prospect ranked among the very best linemen in the country, the sort of addition that can alter how a class is viewed the moment it lands. And because he is the kind of tackle who could be in the mix quickly, the Longhorns may not have to wait long to see whether this recruiting win pays off on the field. [Read more 🡒]
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LSU is now working to pull him back home, with its staff leaning into the chase and trying to change the momentum around a commitment Texas once felt good about. For the Longhorns, the timing makes this especially delicate because losing a player of Royals caliber would not just sting in the abstract, it would open the door for a rival to make a real statement on the trail. [Read more 🡒]