Immediate Thoughts After Texas Beats UTEP

 No. 7 Texas beat UTEP 27-10 in a game that was plagued by offensive issues and questionable play-calling. There was some good and some bad, but we didn’t see anything great from the Longhorns today.

Here are some quick notes following the win today:

– Arch Manning did not play good. He finished the game passing 11-25 for 114 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He frequently missed open passes and played worse than last week, and maybe worse than he did against Ohio State. The only good thing we saw from him today was his ability to run the ball, but still, it was nothing great.

– The defense continues to be the star of the show as the offense struggles. There’s not much more we could ask from the defense, as they’re never going to hold up every time. The offense needs to help out and take some weight off the defense.

– Freshman cornerback Graceson Littleton is looking like the next Texas defensive star. He’s proven himself to be a great cornerback that can compete with any receiver, and we’re only in Week 3.

– Sarkisian needs to adjust his play-calling. Either that, or give somebody else the play-calling responsibilities, because after everything we’ve seen so far, some of these struggles are on him. Bad play-calling in short down scenarios has contributed to the poor third down efficiency that Texas had this game, as well as the inability to score at the goal-line all season.

– Penalties are still an issue. They could be worse, but they’re still a factor. Texas finished with seven for 78 yards.

– It also seemed as Sarkisian realized that the ground game actually works. It was utiliuzed more in the second half, and more than it has been all season. That trend needs to continue as the season progresses.