'I Need To Be Better' Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian To Test Creativity Amid Play-Calling Struggles

If you asked Longhorns fans, they'd likely tell you that Arch Manning's struggles are only half the problem for Texas, who nose-dives down the national rankings from No. 1 to No. 19 this week after its second frustrating loss in a row.

Despite holding first-half leads, Texas lost in identical 27-24 matchups with Oklahoma and Florida. It's clear that head coach Steve Sarkisian is not in rhythm with his offensive play-calling, which impacts his quarterback's decision-making and confidence.

Going into Texas' ranked matchup with No. 7 Ole Miss, Sarkisian has vowed to try new things in an attempt to right the ship.

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"I think I've got to continue to remain creative, but at the same time not lose sight of who we are fundamentally and in the beliefs that we have," Sarkisian said after the loss to the Gators. "I can't not be creative because I'm trying to make it easy. We got to do simple better as an offense, but I still have to make things creative for our opponents to have to defend things that make it hard on them."

Sark pointed to a 3rd-and-1 sack where he admitted to putting Manning in a disadvantageous position. The Longhorns' struggles in short-yardage spots were evident, with fourth-down stops also giving Florida chances to comeback on the scoreboard.

Manning's strip and fumble late in the fourth quarter sealed the win for Florida, its second victory in a row against Texas after last year's SEC opener in Gainesville.

"Yeah, I had a crappy call and the rollout with Arch, I didn't love that the official stood over the ball, but that was a crummy call," Sarkisian said about the fourth-quarter sequence. "I wish I had called something better for him in that situation. If we would've won the game or lost the game, I'd have still come up here and told you that was a crummy call," Sarkisian said to the media on Monday.

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Texas went 2/10 on third downs in the game. Coming out of the halftime break, the Longhorns offense only managed eight yards in the third quarter.

"I think there's no doubt about it, Arch can play better for us," said Sarkisian, who is reportedly giving backup quarterback KJ Lacey more first-teams reps in practice this week. "He's our starter but I need to see a better version of Arch Manning like I need to see a better version of a lot of guys on our offensive football team right now."