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    Joey Hickey
    Joey Hickey
    Oct 7, 2025, 11:00
    Updated at: Oct 7, 2025, 11:00

    The Texas Longhorns offense has a problem. The problem is not its quarterback Arch Manning.

    Texas' biggest issue is that Arch Manning does not have enough time to throw. And in part, that's not Manning's fault.

    The Longhorns' offensive line is inexperienced. They do not have a bad offensive line, but they are not very good either.

    Texas routinely put Manning in difficult circumstances in the pocket. Too much of the young signal caller's time was spent evading pass rush to consistently get the football out of his hands.

    Per Pro Football Focus, Texas allowed several pressures including a 24% sack rate. Prior to the game Florida was ranked 135th out of 136 FBS teams for sack rate. Against Texas they became a dominant force.

    In some ways, sacks are a "quarterback stat." A quarterback doesn't have to be sacked if he throws the ball away in time. That was not the issue on Saturday.

    When Arch was not being brought to the ground, he was often making an effort not to be brought there. Several passing attempts saw Manning contacted by the defender before or during his throwing motion. Other plays saw him weaving through multiple Florida pass rushers.

    lorida Jamari Lyons takes down Texas quarterback Arch Manning (16) during the second half an NCAA football game in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, October 4, 2025. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]

    So what can head coach Steve Sarkisian and company do to help Manning get the football away on time? That might not be an easy fix.

    College football analyst Cole Cubelic shared his thoughts on Texas' performance.

    "(Texas) tried every protection in the book. Slide, pull, play action, chips. Don't really work. Couldn't lean on the run. Didn't make many miss. Not a lot of YAC. OL struggled to win individually."

    The inability to find a pass protecting solution hurt Texas, but so did its inability to run the football. Texas took 26 carries for 52 yards on Saturday. Arch Manning led the Longhorns' rushing attack with 37 of the 52 yards.

    Texas running backs Tre Wisner, Ryan Niblett and Christian Clark combined for 11 carries for 15 yards.

    The Longhorns do, in fact, have a problem on the offensive side of the football. Their offensive line as a whole is not producing, though individuals have fared well. If Texas is to build any semblance of an offensive threat, it will need to do so with improvement on the offensive line.

    Quarterback runs could be an effective way to mitigate their struggles. Texas took a quarterback sweep for a positive gain against Florida. Getting an extra blocker ahead of the ball carrier could allow for quarterback runs to be more effective than hand offs. But what is for certain is that Texas needs to find ways to mask its deficiencies on the offensive line. Until it does that, we can't really know how good Arch Manning can play.