After allowing pressures on 58 percent of the passes attempted by redshirt sophomore quarterback Arch Manning against the Florida Gators, leading to six sacks, and producing six yards before contact on 11
runs by the running backs, the Texas Longhorns offensive line is reeling heading into Saturday’s rivalry matchup against the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners in the Cotton Bowl.
Personnel answers seem to be in short supply, too.
On Steve Sarkisian’s Thursday Zoom availability, the Texas head coach was asked if the staff has discussed moving senior center Cole Hutson to left guard, the source of significant struggles as offensive line coach Kyle Flood has rotated three players through the position.
The staff has considered it, Sarkisian said without elaborating or actually going through with it in a game to get redshirt junior Connor Robertson onto the field.
The problem with that potential solution is that Hutson hasn’t been consistent himself in his first full season as a starter since his freshman year — the Frisco product was all-around bad over the first two games before steadying his pass blocking against UTEP and finally elevating his run blocking in the loss to Florida. But even improved pass protection in Gainesville included allowing a sack among three pressures.
Robertson hasn’t given the staff reason to move Hutson, grading out at 52.3 overall by Pro Football Focus against Sam Houston when he received his first career start due to an injury sustained by Hutson the previous week. In Robertson’s most extensive action at Texas — playing 75 snaps against Oklahoma in 2023 when starter Jake Majors went down with injury — Robertson committed two penalties and allowed four quarterback hurries in grading out at 47.2 from PFF.
So the left guard position remains a massive issue for the Longhorns.
Expected starter Neto Umeozulu, a redshirt junior who signed in the heralded 2022 recruiting class as the No. 91 player overall and the No. 4 interior offensive lineman, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, has fallen entirely out of the rotation after losing the starting job to redshirt sophomore Connor Stroh during preseason camp.
Umeozulu didn’t play against UTEP or Florida after playing 11 snaps in the opener against Ohio State and 37 snaps the following week against San Jose State, a lack of playing at odds with his relatively steady play over 73 snaps this season, earning a 64.9 overall grade from PFF while not allowing a single pressure in 31 pass-blocking reps.
Asked about Umeozulu on Thursday, Sarkisian offered platitudes about consistency.
“We’re always looking for consistency, regardless of the position, and consistency in knowing what to do and then using the proper fundamentals and techniques to do it, and then having the ability to adjust on the move when the picture changes,” Sarkisian said.
The suggestion is that the lows for Umeozulu in practice are too frequent to trust him during games, a situation that is perhaps now exacerbated by his increasingly difficult path towards playing time.
Stroh has consistently dealt with balance issues that most often manifest in the running game, but also resulted in allowing a sack on the final play of the first half last Saturday and resulted in his benching in favor of true freshman Nick Brooks, who has drawn buzz and shown flashes of promise for his play at tackle.
A rude greeting awaited Brooks on the interior by the mature Gators defensive tackles who are five or more years older — on the second play of the second half, Brooks and Hutson both gave up quick pressures, leading to a sack of Manning that encapsulated the entire day, as the inability to run the football made Texas one-dimensional offensively and much easier to attack.
It was the first of nine pressures allowed by Brooks in the second half as Manning attempted 17 passes. By early in the fourth quarter, Brooks was twitchy enough against the shifting fronts employed by Florida to commit back-to-back false starts that led to an interception thrown by Manning.
“I didn’t think Nick Brooks was going to go out there and play a perfect game — first time he’s ever played in a real game at left guard — but I think there’s traits in there, and there’s ability in there, and the growth and practice in there that I think he’s got a very bright future for us. There were going to be growing pains, and we obviously lived through some of those Saturday, but I do think he’s got a bright future,” Sarkisian said on Monday.
Stroh is notably lacking in those traits and ability, suggesting that the experiment with Brooks at left guard will continue indefinitely as Brooks attempts to make the transition from blocking edge players who weigh 100 less pounds than him to battling stronger, stockier players with advantages in leverage.
It’s not just left guard and center, though — Flood needs more consistent play outside after junior left tackle Trevor Goosby was called for a false start and allowed three pressures, including a sack and a quarterback hit, and sophomore right tackle Brandon Baker was called for a holding penalty in addition to allowing a hurry.
“What I think we need to improve is some of the self-inflicted wounds on the offensive side of the ball, whether that’s the pre-snap penalties, whether it’s knowing when to let go of somebody that you’re blocking, especially when you’re on an edge, because that’s when the officials can see them best,” Sarkisain said.
In assessing the offensive line’s readiness to translate practice performance to games, Sarkisian closely tracks the team run periods, which feature good on good. On Thursday, the Texas head coach was feeling heartened.
“I think they practiced really well. I think we’ve got a good plan. I think they understand that plan. I think they’re they’re playing fast, they’re playing confident, they’re playing physical,” Sarkisian said.
The task for the Longhorns offensive line doesn’t get any easier against a Sooners front that is every bit as good — and perhaps better — than the Gators.
“All signs point to we’re in a much better space this week than we were last week,” Sarkisian said. “But again, we have to go out and perform. We have to go do that on Saturday.”
