Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns pulled off their closest win of the season against the Kentucky Wildcats on the road. Mark Stoops’ Wildcats went toe-to-toe with the Longhorns all the way to overtime until the No. 21 Longhorns barely escaped with a 45-yard field goal at Kruger Field. Despite the win, Steve Sarkisian isn’t happy about it—and for good reason.

The game was downright ugly for Texas. On October 18th, Steve Sarkisian hopped onto a podium right after the game and started calling out everything that went wrong with today’s game against Kentucky. Steve Sarkisian expressed frustration about his team’s inability to recover fumbles: “The ball was on the ground 4 different times tonight, and I’m still trying to figure out how we didn’t recover a single one.”

The first missed fumble recovery came when Wildcats running back Seth McGowan lost the ball, and offensive lineman Shiyazh Pete secured it, preventing Texas from turning it into points. The second fumble occurred when edge rusher Colin Simmons’ sack led to the ball being left for Kentucky to recover, as offensive lineman Joshua Braun failed to secure it, keeping the game tied late in the fourth quarter. Had either been recovered, Texas might not have had to rely on an overtime field goal.  Apart from that, the defense was on par.

Even though they gave up 395 yards on defense, they only let Kentucky score one touchdown and stepped up when it counted. Their biggest moment came in overtime, when they stopped Kentucky right at the goal line and kept them from winning, which set up Shipley’s big play to seal the game. The home team had 26 first downs and 39 minutes of possession, but Texas’s defensive front repeatedly stopped them on crucial fourth-and-short situations.

Sarkisian addressed the offensive mistakes: “We have to get out of our own way offensively. The self inflicted wounds. I am proud of the team tonight for winning, but we have a lot of specific areas we need to get to work on come Monday.” Even though they won, Coach knew the offense made a lot of mistakes, or “self-inflicted wounds”— things like penalties, dropped passes, or missed assignments that hurt their own drives. In fact, the team’s offense put up one of the worst performances under Steve Sarkisian era, managing only a total of 179 yards. That should be enough to give you an idea of how ugly the game was, and the penalties were another critical factor contributing to it.

They accumulated seven flags for 50 yards, compared to Kentucky’s three for 25 yards. Missteps like wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. running out of bounds short of the first-down marker late in the game allowed Kentucky to preserve a timeout and maintain possession for a final game-tying drive. In fact, one particularly costly penalty came in overtime and nearly knocked Texas out of field goal range for Shipley’s game-winner.

Expanding on the offense, the HC added: “When you play in 3rd and long, then you lose the flow of the game and the rhythm of the game. I think we missed some opportunities in the run game to be better.” Texas only rushed for 47 yards. But, despite Arch Manning’s rough outing, Steve Sarkisian gave props to his gunslinger’s mindset:

“The competitor in him, he’s grinding it out. Everything’s going on…He’s running the ball. He’s fighting. He’ll play better, but as I said, we need to play better around him.” Manning added another poor performance to his career compilation, going 12-of-27 for 132 yards and zero touchdowns. His QBR for the game was 25, while Kentucky’s Cutter Boley finished at 80.9, highlighting the struggles Texas faced despite keeping the score close. The Longhorns have a long way to go from here.

The real culprit on the Texas offense

We all know that Longhorns’ offense has been struggling, and contrary to popular belief, Arch Manning is not entirely to blame, at-least to some extent. It’s the offensive line. Against Kentucky, the Longhorns barely won 16-13. The line gave up three sacks and seven quarterback hurries, making it really hard for Manning to throw. That’s like almost half of Kentucky’s total sacks for the whole season. Makes sense right? With so little time in the pocket, Manning couldn’t run the offense properly.

Look, their running game isn’t any better, but the offensive line is holding them back from tapping into their unknown potential. The Longhorns averaged only 1.7 yards per carry on 28 attempts, much less than Kentucky’s season average of 3.9 yards per rush. Without strong blocking, the team couldn’t find gaps on the play, even though Coach Steve Sarkisian wanted them to run the ball more to help open up other plays. When Manning did get time, he could make plays, averaging 11 yards per completion, but the offensive line didn’t give him enough chances.

The special teams, however, gave Texas the edge they needed. Ryan Niblett’s 45-yard punt return in overtime and a 43-yard return earlier in the fourth quarter set up scoring opportunities. Kicker Mason Shipley contributed all 10 points, including three field goals, one to win the game. Punter Jack Bouwmeester punted eight times, pinning six inside the 20-yard line. Sarkisian credited defense and special teams for keeping the Longhorns competitive despite offensive woes.

If they don’t improve their blocking and communication, the Longhorns could have more close games that are hard to win. Looking ahead, Texas will aim to bounce back offensively in their next road matchup at Mississippi State, seeking a more balanced attack that can relieve pressure on the defense and special teams. Sarkisian made it clear postgame: “We’re trying to be the most complete team we can be. Defense and special teams are doing their job, now it’s time for offense to catch up.”