OU Shocks Longhorns: Coach Steve Sarkisian Confuses Stubbornness for Confidence

Steve Sarkisian was asked Saturday whether he would consider giving up Texas' offensive play-calling duties after a 27-24 loss to Oklahoma.

“Not a chance,” he said.

That might be the most concerning thing Longhorns fans heard all afternoon.

And they had already watched their No. 1-ranked team lose to an unranked rival on a last-second field goal.

This isn't necessarily a call for Sarkisian to hand over the play sheet tomorrow.

His reputation as an offensive mind didn't appear out of thin air, and one ugly afternoon shouldn't erase it.

READ MORE: Oklahoma Stuns No. 1 Texas 27-24 On Last-Second Field Goal

But when the same problems keep showing up, insisting on keeping the play sheet raises a fair question: What, exactly, is going to change?

Sarkisian acknowledged afterward that Texas' running-game issues extend beyond execution and into his own scheme. That's a start. But recognizing a problem and solving it are two different things.

Texas' defense provided about as much help as anyone could reasonably request Saturday.

Oklahoma finished with 238 total yards, including 83 on the ground. Colin Simmons had two sacks and a forced fumble. The Sooners didn't score an offensive touchdown until the opening seconds of the fourth quarter.

And Texas lost anyway.

Oklahoma got seven points from a blocked punt recovered in the end zone and seven more when Peyton Bowen returned an Arch Manning interception 42 yards for a touchdown.

Those mistakes matter. But here's the part Sarkisian can't explain away as a couple of unfortunate plays: Texas' offense went three-and-out seven times.

Seven.

The Longhorns didn't score in the third quarter. They struggled to sustain possessions, couldn't establish a dependable rhythm and spent too much of the second half asking their defense to fix what the offense had left behind.

For an offensive-minded head coach with this much talent, that's a difficult problem to defend.

Manning will get his share of criticism, and he should. He threw two fourth-quarter interceptions, including one that gave Oklahoma the chance to set up Tate Sandell's game-winning 47-yard field goal. Those decisions can't be placed entirely on the headset.

Still, Manning threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns. His 15-yard connection with Jermaine Bishop Jr. tied the game late, offering another glimpse of how dangerous this offense can look when everything clicks.

The problem is that Texas keeps treating those glimpses like proof of progress. The Longhorns converted just three of 14 third downs — a number that says more about their offensive identity than one late touchdown drive.

A few explosive plays can't substitute for an offense capable of consistently moving the chains. And if Manning needs a more reliable ground game to take pressure off him, as Sarkisian acknowledged, finding one is a coaching responsibility as much as a personnel challenge.

That's where Saturday should force an uncomfortable conversation.

Sarkisian doesn't have to stop calling plays to admit the current approach isn't working. He can change how Texas attacks early downs, how it supports Manning or how it responds when an opponent disrupts its initial plan.

What he can't keep doing is point to inconsistency as though it's some mysterious visitor that shows up every Saturday.

Texas is 4-1. Its season is not over, and there is still time to become the team its ranking suggested it was. But Florida comes to Austin next weekend, and the margin for treating recurring problems as temporary inconveniences just got smaller.

Sarkisian doesn't have to surrender the play sheet to prove he's willing to change.

He does have to show that “not a chance” isn't his answer to everything else.