Texas Longhorns fans had high hopes coming out of the win against the Oklahoma Sooners, but another road trip ended with another awful offensive outing from the Longhorns and nearly produced another embarrassing
loss. Texas couldn’t get anything going in any facet of the offense and was saved by the defense and special teams en route to a 16-13 overtime win over the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington on Saturday.
Texas offense: 179 total yards (132 passing, 47 rushing)
There’s no other way to say it — the offense was a disaster against Kentucky.
Texas was utterly incapable of moving the ball against Kentucky and creating any offensive rhythm, with the lowest offensive output of the year, and just the second time under Steve Sarkisian, the Longhorns have failed to eclipse 200 yards in a game. Their 3.25 yards per play is the second-lowest total under Sarkisian and the lowest yards per play in a win since the Big 12 Championship against Nebraska in 2009. The 179 total yards represent the worst production of the Sarkisian era, unparalleled since the Shawn Watson-led offense in 2015 produced 163 total yards in a 36-3 loss that led to Watson’s removal as play caller and his eventual termination.
The Longhorns didn’t cross midfield until four minutes into the second quarter when Arch Manning connected with DeAndre Moore Jr. for 19 yards, one of just five plays longer than 10 yards in the game. Three plays later, Texas punted. Sarkisian’s offense averaged just 12 yards gained on their 14 drives, with an average time of possession of 2:32, including four three and outs and four drives that went less than two minutes.
A big issue for Texas was its lack of success on the ground, a potent combination of lack of commitment to the ground game and poor offensive line play. This was the second time this year that Texas had fewer than 30 rushing attempts and marks the lowest rushing output since Georgia in last year’s SEC Championship game. Texas has finished a game with fewer than 50 yards just four times under Steve Sarkisian, with the win over Kentucky marking the first win in those games.
Arch Manning: 12-of-27 passing (44.4%), 132 yards
A week after Sarkisian and his quarterback seemed to gain rhythm, a potent combination of poor play and poor play calling left the passing game anemic. Even though it wasn’t the worst output in passing yards this year, Arch Manning’s quarterback rating dipped below what his performance against UTEP – the worst outing as a starter for the quarterback that featured 10 straight incompletions in the first half. Part of the issue was Sarkisian’s desire to force the ball downfield, with six attempts on routes longer than 15 yards with just three completed, compared to going 2-0f-2 a week ago.
Texas found the end zone just one time in the game, a fumble recovery in the second quarter following a massive punt return from Ryan Niblett, marking the first time Texas has been held without a passing touchdown since the 38-27 win over Baylor in 2022. Manning was equally ineffective with his feet, with six called rushing attempts for three yards, three of them being stopped for no gain or a loss.
Ryan Niblett: 101 all-purpose yards (2 PR, 88 yards. KR, 11 yards. 2 rec, 2 yards)
One of the few positives for Texas is the play of the return specialist Niblett, whose two big punt returns put Texas so close to the end zone that it was hard for them to mess it up.
He followed up last week’s game-breaking 75-yard punt return touchdown against Oklahoma with 88 yards of returns for Texas, giving him 304 yards on the year, just outside of the top-10 seasons in school history. If Niblett manages just 29 more return yards this season, he will pass Eric Metcalf to enter the top-10s best seasons in school history.
Niblett nearly scored on his first return of the night, which set up Texas for its only touchdown of the evening. The next time he returns a punt for a score, he will move into a six-way tie for No. 4 in school history for career punt return touchdowns.
