AUSTIN, Texas — Steve Sarkisian said after Saturday’s loss that he will “evaluate everything” about his offense, and Yahoo Sports reported that Arch Manning and his own play-calling are part of that review.
The loss, 27-24 to Florida, came against a team that arrived in Austin with a first-time starter at quarterback and, by CBS Sports’ account, the worst defense in the Southeastern Conference. Texas, No. 7 in the AP poll, led 17-3 in the second quarter. A week earlier it had lost the Red River Rivalry to Oklahoma on a last-play field goal.
Then the game turned. Florida sophomore Tramell Jones Jr., starting because Aaron Philo was hurt, threw two touchdown passes to tight end Lacota Dippre, the second finishing a 15-play, 69-yard drive. The Gators scored 24 points in a row, and Texas, now 4-2 and 1-2 in the SEC, has lost back to back.
Jadan Baugh’s touchdown run with just over six minutes to play gave Florida a 10-point lead, CBS Sports wrote.
Manning, who led Texas through its fourth-quarter comeback against Ohio State in September, finished 14 of 20 for 173 yards and a touchdown. He was also sacked five times, Yahoo Sports reported.
The last sack decided it. With Texas trying for a game-winning drive, a blitz from Florida’s Myles Graham forced a Manning fumble, which Florida recovered, according to Yahoo Sports.
CBS Sports wrote that Texas is the first AP No. 1 to lose back-to-back games to unranked opponents, and that the Longhorns have “an extremely small margin for error in the second half of the season.”
Florida is now 5-2 and 3-2 in the SEC. Philo hurt his shoulder in the loss to South Carolina, according to Yahoo Sports, and none of the reports reviewed says whether he will be healthy for the Gators’ next game, or whether Jones has taken the job.
Texas may also be without Colin Simmons, whose 10.5 sacks lead the nation, CBS Sports said. He left the game in the fourth quarter with a lower-leg injury, and CBS reported he left on a cart and did not return. CBS described his status as uncertain, and neither it nor Yahoo gave a diagnosis, so whether he plays in Texas’s next game is unknown.
