The No. 1 Texas Longhorns looked downright bad offensively on the road in Knoxville, but managed to do just enough to avoid getting upset in the SEC opener against the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers. It was a nervous finish, but Texas survived and advanced, heading into a bye week with plenty to improve.
Texas is its own worst enemy
There was a point in the second quarter when Texas had more penalty yards than Tennessee had offensive yards.
The Longhorns finished the game with 11 penalties for 115 yards, gave up six sacks, and made
things harder on themselves seemingly at every turn. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the offense seemed to snap into focus, at least for one drive, enough to give Texas a two-score lead off the Raleek Brown touchdown. They followed that brilliant drive up with a three-and-out that lasted 43 seconds and went 11 yards in the wrong direction.
When Tennessee needed to recover an onside kick to try and tie the game, Sark called a timeout before an unsuccessful kick, and then Ryan Wingo let the kick dribble between his legs and let the Volunteers back into a game that should have been long over.
The defense can be elite
The Texas defense went three full quarters without allowing a score. Tennessee punted or turned the ball over on downs on 11 consecutive drives, but they couldn’t completely hold the Volunteers out of the end zone. It’s a pity that a defensive performance that kept the Volunteers in check for most of the game was nearly wasted by the offense and the special teams. Without the punt return touchdown and the
Colin Simmons was a man possessed for the game, knocking on the door of the NCAA single-game sacks record, and with the game on the line, they harassed Faizon Brandon and the Tennessee passing game. They had to survive a dramatic last sequence and knocked down a last-second heave from the Volunteers, but they did their part to win the game.
Sark needs to figure out Arch Manning
The offense stinks. Plain and simple. The quarterback play has been unacceptable over the last two games, and Arch Manning looks far from the No. 1 player that he was billed to be out of high school or an NFL prospect preseason. Manning was befuddled by Jim Knowles’s scheme all day, which turned into misfires, sacks, and an anemic offense. He looked indecisive and struggled to move the ball downfield, handicapping the offense.
The offensive line didn’t help, getting tripped up by late shifts and movement on the defensive line, but Manning’s indecision and overthinking made a game tight that could have been lopsided with a competent offensive performance. If it wasn’t for the defense, this would have been a disastrous outing to open SEC play.
