Exasperated Steve Sarkisian says he will ‘evaluate everything,’ including play-calling
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An exasperated Steve Sarkisian met with reporters after Saturday afternoon’s shocker of a loss on his home field, and he basically declared that no stone would be unturned in trying to find answers for a suddenly reeling Texas team.
A week earlier, the Longhorns took the field at the Cotton Bowl as the No. 1 team in the land. But 2 straight stunning losses to unranked teams, first to rival Oklahoma last week and then to Florida on Saturday, have turned Texas from a national championship contender to a 2-loss team in the middle of October searching for whatever answers it can find.
Right now, Sarkisian doesn’t have those answers because the latest loss to the Gators was still sinking in. Texas had a 17-3 lead late into the first half and seemed on cruise control at home in Week 7. But things unraveled quickly, and Florida stormed back for a 27-24 upset to snap its own struggles after 2 straight losses.
Back to Sarkisian, who sat with reporters after Texas’s latest collapse and explained the future course of action.
“We’re going to evaluate everything,” Sarkisian said. “We’re going to evaluate everything from an offensive perspective. Part of that is play-calling.”
Texas was held to 13 first downs on Saturday, managing just 272 total yards against a Florida defense that had struggled in losing its past 2 games. But not Saturday. Not against Sarkisian’s offense, which had the ball for only 21 minutes, 49 seconds whle converting only 2 of 10 on third down.
It won’t get any easier for Sarkisian’s team, which will host No. 9 Ole Miss next Saturday as it tries to avoid losing 3 games in a row after being the No. 1 team in the country.
With Texas losing back-to-back games against unranked teams, the Longhorns’ College Football Playoff hopes are now in deep peril. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the best odds to make the 12-team field when it is announced in December:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
