Penalties Still Prevalent in Loss to Florida

 Penalties, something that has been a major issue for the Longhorns in every game so far this season, and something that was unable to get cleaned up in the loss to the Gators on Saturday.

Dating back to the Ohio State loss to open the season, Texas has been struggling with discipline and cleaning up the penalties. Back when it faced the Buckeyes, the Longhorns acquired six flags for 50 yards.

After that loss, head coach Steve Sarkisian spoke about how it wasn’t the amount of penalties that hurt them, but it was the timing of the penalties that either kept Ohio State drives alive or killed Texas’ momentum offensively.

That has yet to change, and we’re in Week 7 now. Against the Gators, the Longhorns managed to rack up 10 penalties for 70 yards, which hurt them plenty of times throughout the game.

Sarkisian spoke about the penalties after the game.

“They just started coming in waves, those pre-snap penalties,” Sarkisian said. “I thought we were handling the crowd noise really well, but later in the game we started to get a little antsy, and that’s when the pre-snap penalty started to kick in.”

Penalties have been one of the most consistent issues throughout the season up to this point. Although they may seem irrelevant at times and minuscule, they build up and hurt a team in the long run.

As Texas dives deeper into conference play with No. 6 Oklahoma up this Saturday, and then two more weeks on the road against conference foes, Sarkisian and co. need to ensure that these penalties get cleaned up.

With the Longhorns yet to face Georgia and Mississippi State, both of which will be on the road, Texas could be in for a rough ride in those environments that often make an impact on the opposing team.

Whether it’s pre-snap or during the play, this is one issue among many that still needs to be addressed. If overlooked, there won’t be much light on the horizon for the Longhorns.