How Texas Learned from Florida and Evaded the Oklahoma Pass Rush

 The Longhorns’ offense had a rough day just a little over a week ago, when they faced a dominant Florida defensive line, but it was an opportunity to learn and improve that Texas took advantage of.

Against the Gators, the Texas offensive line allowed the Florida defensive line to put pressure on quarterback Arch Manning the entire time, while also acquiring six sacks and seven tackles for a loss.

It deeply affected the Longhorns’ offense on all cylinders, as Manning was frequently under pressure with little time to throw, while there were also only nine total rushing attempts by running backs for a total of 11 yards.

The loss seemed to hit Texas hard, as proven by the improvement in the offensive line’s performance against Oklahoma.

There were still many times that Manning was under pressure, but it was manageable. As for the running backs, three running backs totaled 27 carries for 97 yards, which was arguably the Longhorns’ best performance on the ground so far this season.

After the game, head coach Steve Sarkisian spoke about what steps Texas took to improve after the Florida loss.

“I think a couple things were, one, we slowed the tempo down by huddling, and then we sped the tempo up by going no-huddle,” Sarkisian said. “You know, we tried to change gears and shift gears. We didn’t try to be a sitting target. I think we understood what they were trying to do. And there was a lot of split safety, a lot of deep safety looks, and we lined up and ran the football. And credit to our offensive line, who they had a long week, and they heard about it from all of you, too.”

It worked for the most part. There is still some room for improvement, like always, but it was a much cleaner game overall. Texas will have to continue to improve, though, as there are still three road games and three ranked games left on the schedule.

Texas can’t overlook its next two opponents, Kentucky and Mississippi State, but with a combined record of 6-5, the Longhorns will likely be able to use these teams as opportunities to improve and gain momentum before taking on Vanderbilt and Georgia.

Until then, the Longhorns will shift gears and look ahead to Saturday, when they will travel to Lexington to face the Wildcats with hopes of keeping the ball rolling by securing their second conference win and back-to-back wins away from home.