Saturday’s game against the San Jose State Spartans at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium was the first of three chances to get things right for the No. 7 Texas Longhorns after a less-than-stellar start in the season opener. The Longhorns got off to another slow start in the game, but managed to pull away in the second quarter thanks to an offensive flurry that showed what the offense can look like when it’s firing on all cylinders, prevailing 38-7.
However, the thing standing in the way of the offense
firing on all cylinders was not the opponent, but the Longhorns’ inability to get out of their own way.
Texas: 12 penalties, 115 yards
Luckily, Texas was able to win this game based on talent, because against a better opponent, this level of undisciplined play could easily result in a loss. This marked both the highest number of penalties and penalty yardage since October 2022, a game the Longhorns lost 41-31 against Oklahoma State. And while Texas hasn’t been the sloppiest we’ve seen them under recent coaching regimes, they have eight double-digit penalty games under Steve Sarkisian, averaging 6.5 penalties for 53 yards per game in his five seasons as the head coach.
Perhaps most frustratingly, it’s easy to see a direct line from the Longhorns’ inability to get into rhythm because of the self-inflicted wounds. Texas had 110 yards of offense and a touchdown wiped off the board due to penalties, while the defense and special teams granted San Jose State two free first downs, unnecessarily extending drives.
Arch Manning: 19-30, 295 yards, 4 TD, INT
The redshirt sophomore quarterback made some strides from last week’s outing against Ohio State, but still was not as crisp and efficient as many would hope. He struggled completing short and intermediate routes, going 3-11 for 50 yards on any routes shorter than 15 yards. He was especially ineffective on patterns in the middle of the field, attempting just five passes, all of which fell incomplete.
Clearly, his best balls were to patterns that were 15 yards or longer, completing 5-8 passes for 211 yards, relying on the big plays to keep the offense moving. Yards after catch did a lot of the work for Texas in this one, with 119 of his 295 yards coming on the two big passes to Livingstone and Endries. Those two scores, plus two more, came during a streak where Arch completed eight straight for 169 yards to put Texas in full control of the game.
Parker Livingstone: 4 rec., 128 yards, 2 TD
The Longhorns were still looking for WR1 heading into the game, and it seems like Parker Livingstone has emerged as the top threat for Texas. He is the first Texas receiver to have a 100-yard, two-touchdown game since Xavier Worthy did it against West Virginia in 2022. His ability to track the ball, changing both speed and direction to put himself in position to be an asset to a quarterback who needed confidence.
This was on display the most with his big touchdown reception, where he broke off a wheel route, coming back to the ball, before turning upfield and outrunning defenders. That 83-yard reception sparked the offense and sparked a flurry of scoring from Texas. He averaged 32 yards per reception, the highest single-game total for players with more than one reception since Devin Duvernay in 2019.
