Texas has spent the first month of the season looking every bit like a No. 1 team on the scoreboard. The Longhorns are 4-0, fresh off a road win at Tennessee, and sitting atop the country.
But the story of this start is not a balanced one. It is a defense-first march, with Will Muschamp’s unit carrying a load the offense has not consistently matched.
That showed up again in Knoxville, where Texas escaped with a 20-17 win. The Longhorns leaned on stops, pressure and sheer disruption to survive a game the offense never fully took over.
As the schedule gets heavier, that split matters more and more. Steve Sarkisian’s group has to start pulling its weight.
The Tennessee performance was the sharpest example yet. Texas limited the Volunteers to 221 total yards, piled up 10 sacks and held them to 70 rushing yards. Colin Simmons tied the program’s single-game record with five and a half sacks, a number that jumps off the page even before you factor in the opponent.
And Tennessee was no ordinary test case. The Volunteers came in averaging 47.7 points and more than 500 yards per game. Texas didn’t just slow them down; Muschamp’s defense put that offense in a vise for most of the afternoon.
That wasn’t a one-off, either. The week before, Texas held UTSA to six points and 143 total yards.
In the 24-23 win over Ohio State, the Longhorns came up with critical second-half stops. Game after game, the defense has given Texas a path to victory.
The offense, meanwhile, has been far less steady.
There have been flashes. Texas scored 59 points against Texas State and 30 against UTSA.
But the tighter games against Ohio State and Tennessee showed the other side of the equation. Against the Volunteers, Texas managed only 262 total yards and 61 rushing yards, and it converted just three of 12 third-down chances.
Arch Manning and the offense have had moments, but keeping drives alive has been a problem. Protection issues, penalties and an uneven running game have made it hard for Texas to control tempo or ease the pressure on the defense.
None of this means Texas can’t win this way. It already has. The bigger issue is whether the offense can do enough to keep every close game from turning into a weekly stress test.
Muschamp’s defense has set the tone with pressure, physicality and execution. Texas doesn’t need to hang 40 points every week, but it does need more consistency, especially on third down and on the ground.
The bye week now gives Sarkisian and his staff a chance to clean things up before the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma on Oct. 10.
Texas is still unbeaten, and the defense has built a standard that’s hard to ignore. If the Longhorns want to stay among the nation’s top teams, the offense has to start meeting it.
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Texas Frontcourt Might Be Built To Change Everything Inside
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Punch said his role should look different in Austin, especially on defense, where he will not be asked to do everything he did before. That shift could let Texas lean into a more complementary setup inside, with Vokietaitis doing more of the heavy lifting around the rim while Punch uses his mobility elsewhere. For a team looking to change the way it protects the paint, that combination has plenty of appeal even before the games begin. [Read more 🡒]