Steve Sarkisian's Unwillingness to Make Major Change is Plaguing Texas

The Texas Longhorns were atop the college football world for all of one week before becoming the first preseason No. 1 team to lose its season opener since 1990.

With a chance to avenge their College Football Playoff Semifinal loss from a year ago, and assert themselves as the best team in the sport, the Longhorns ended up losing 14-7 to the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes.

The common takeaway for many is how poorly former No. 1 overall recruit and new Texas quarterback Arch Manning played. The nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning had 38 yards passing by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, before finishing the game 17-of-30 for 170 yards with a touchdown and a pass.

Realistically, Manning missed throws he should've made, Matt Patricia's defense had his mind in a blender and Texas got things going far too late. With that being said, there seemed to be an underlying issue with the Texas offense that is starting to have more light shed on it, which is Steve Sarkisian's play-calling.

Renowned as one of the more creative minds in football, Sarkisian has crafted an offense that is as complex as any, and when it's working, it's beautiful. That being said, when it comes to matchups against top teams, Sarkisian is frequently outcoached as the Longhorns are 1-6 against top-five teams dating back to 2022.

• 2022: No. 1 Alabama 20, Texas 19
• 2022: No. 4 TCU 17, Texas 10
• 2023: Texas 34, No. 3 Alabama 24
• 2023: No. 2 Washington 37, Texas 31
• 2024: No. 5 Georgia 30, Texas 15
• 2024: No. 5 Georgia 22, Texas 19
• 2025: No. 3 Ohio State 14, Texas 7

Sarkisian frequently overthinks things and plays much more conservatively than he would against an average opponent. In addition to his hesitancy, Sarkisian's offense frequently struggles out of the gate.

On Texas Football's CJ Vogel reported on Tuesday that Texas has scored just two touchdowns after receiving first in 20 games where they have received the ball first.