Rece Davis says Texas has reached the point where the offense has to look different, and he delivered that warning with the Longhorns’ College Football Playoff margin getting thinner by the day.
Speaking Wednesday on “The Pat McAfee Show,” the ESPN College GameDay host pointed to Texas’ struggles and said change is unavoidable in some form.
“Something has to change for Texas,” Davis said Wednesday on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “Does that have to be the quarterback, per se? I don’t know, but they’re too talented.”
Davis connected the issue to the investment Texas has made in the roster, especially with quarterback Arch Manning back for another season instead of heading to the NFL draft. The Longhorns entered 2026 with one of the most expensive rosters in college football, and the production has not matched that level of spend.
“They’ve got too much invested in terms of the big-money question to perform offensively the way they’ve performed up to this point,” he said.
The timing matters. Texas hosts No.
7 Ole Miss on Saturday, and the Longhorns are carrying the weight of back-to-back regular-season losses for the first time since Steve Sarkisian’s 5-7 debut season in 2021. They fell 27-24 to Florida after losing by the same score to Oklahoma the week before.
Against Florida, Texas built a 17-3 second-quarter lead in Austin before the offense faded badly. Manning finished 14 of 20 for 173 yards and a touchdown, but the game turned in the trenches and in the late-game execution.
Florida sacked Manning five times, and the last one, by linebacker Myles Graham, produced the key turnover. Defensive back Kanye Clark recovered the fumble at the Texas 39 with 1:58 left. The Longhorns also had two fourth-quarter scrambles that killed momentum near midfield: Manning lost a yard on third-and-1, then three more on fourth-and-2 on a turnover on downs.
The Oklahoma loss followed a different script but ended the same way. Manning threw two fourth-quarter interceptions that led to 10 points.
Davis mentioned several possible fixes, including improved coaching, cleaner play-calling and quicker decisions from Manning. Still, he did not go as far as calling for a quarterback change.
“I still believe Arch is really talented. I hope he can turn it loose and find it. That would be best for everybody involved,” Davis said.
Others have already pointed in different directions. Greg McElroy blamed the Florida loss on the offensive line, while Paul Finebaum put it on Sarkisian’s play-calling.
Sarkisian, for his part, kept Manning in place Monday even after a report said backup KJ Lacey would get more first-team work in practice. “He’s our starter, but I need to see a better version of Arch Manning,” Sarkisian said.
Manning also made it clear this week that he wants to be more decisive. His grandfather Archie and uncle Eli starred at Ole Miss, and with the Rebels coming to town, he said he plans to loosen up.
“I’m gonna die on the hill of, I’m letting it rip,” he said.
Ole Miss comes in at 5-1 under first-year coach Pete Golding, with quarterback Trinidad Chambliss emerging as one of the top Heisman Trophy contenders. The Rebels, though, have also taken a loss to Florida, falling 52-28 in Gainesville.
Texas still has a playoff line to point to: a 24-23 win over Ohio State in September. But with five regular-season games left, another loss would make the path even narrower.
“You don’t like to see anybody as gifted as he is struggle the way he has, or at least not play to the level of his capabilities,” Davis said. “It’s a big week coming up.”
Ole Miss and Texas meet at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ABC, their first matchup since 2013.
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