Down two possessions in the third quarter to an opponent that had lost three straight games coming in, Arch Manning and Texas mounted a rally too late during Saturday’s 29-21 loss at Florida. It was another head-scratching performance from a loaded team that simply hasn’t met expectations this season.
Texas has never led in two losses to Power Four competition with its wins coming against San Jose State, UTEP and Sam Houston.
“As much as losses sting your heart, this one’s going to hurt,” Manning said. “It’s always something to learn from. You win some, then you learn more. We’ll learn from this and get better.”
Not to be the bearer of bad news, but Texas is a shell of what most expected this team would be at this point as college football’s preseason No. 1 coming off consecutive playoff semifinal appearances. One of the national title favorites after strengthening the roster this offseason in recruiting and the transfer portal, the Longhorns still have to play four top 20 teams in SEC play the rest of the way with no margin for another slip-up.
Teetering on irrelevancy after their tumble out of the top 10, the Longhorns’ replacements along the offensive line have lacked push with struggles in pass pro while Manning has battled through periods of inconsistency. And that vaunted Texas defense — surprisingly — failed to play up to its standard in the SEC opener against an offense ranked near the bottom of the FBS ranks in several categories.
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On five first-half possessions against the Gators, Texas punted three times, lost yardage on an end-of-quarter situation and scored its lone points on a four-play drive that started at Florida’s 45-yard line.
The Longhorns trailed 22-7 midway through the third quarter, a deficit that felt similar to the opener at Ohio State, when the Buckeyes were in complete control defensively throughout.
“We’ve got to start faster. I think as an offense we’ve got to play better if we’re going to win these SEC games,” Manning said. “Florida came out, brought their A game. We’ve got to get better this week and everyone knows we’ve got a big one next Saturday.”
That ‘big one’ is Oklahoma in Red River, essentially a must-win spot for Texas if it intends on staying in the league title race and playoff conversation moving forward.
Manning’s teammates follow his lead and there doesn’t appear to be panic inside the locker room, at least not publicly.
“Arch is a competitor,” Longhorns wideout Ryan Wingo said. “He’s the reason our team goes. So we are behind him 100 percent. I know for sure we are all going to bounce back for the next game. We’ve got OU coming up, so we’ll put this game behind us and be ready.”
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