For at least the opening drive of last Saturday’s 35-10 loss at Georgia, Texas football seemed to tap into its offensive potential.
On a 13-play, 59-yard march capped by a field goal from Mason Shipley, the Longhorns ran for 33 yards on seven carries and quarterback Arch Manning threw for 31 yards without taking any pressure on five dropbacks. The template seemed set for a Longhorns attack that has been grasping for balance all season.
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What happened? How did No. 17 Texas (7-3, 4-2 SEC) end up with just 40 yards gained on the ground on 17 rushes before factoring in sacks while Manning threw the ball 43 times against a fearsome Georgia pass rush? And will Texas forsake the ground game in this week’s matchup against visiting Arkansas?
“I thought we actually ran the ball relatively effectively,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday, offering an explanation why the Longhorns all but vacated their rushing attack despite the early success. “We knew we wanted to be aggressive; we knew we wanted to attack (Georgia) down the field. I thought we took enough shots to do that. I don’t think we were prepared to abandon the run by any means.”
NO. 17 TEXAS VS. ARKANSAS
When/where: 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Royal-Memorial Stadium.
TV/radio: ABC; 1300 AM, 98.1 FM, 105.3 FM (Spanish)
MORE: The curious case of the disappearing Longhorn defense | Golden
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CJ Baxter: Light work in blowout loss
But they did, even before they fell into a 28-10 hole early in the fourth quarter after back-to-back Bulldogs touchdowns sandwiched around a successful onside kick. In the seven drives after its opening possession and before Georgia opened its big lead in the fourth quarter, Texas ran the ball seven times compared to 26 passes. Three of those runs came on end-arounds by Ryan Wingo, and one was a sack by Manning.
Running back Tre Wisner had 30 yards on five carries on the opening drive and ended the game with 37 yards on nine carries. Fellow back CJ Baxter had his lone carry for 3 yards on the opening drive.
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So, did the Georgia defense take the run game away from Texas, or did the Longhorns just lean into Manning and his red-hot arm, which has accounted for 77.9% of the Texas offense in SEC play?
MORE: Could one five-star freshman see more playing time for Longhorns?
“It wasn’t an either/or thing,” Baxter said. “Sark (Sarkisian) does a tremendous job play-calling from something that he’s seen. We believe in his play-calling. Whatever you call, we’re trying to go out there and execute it.”
Left tackle Trevor Goosby, who’s been the most consistent blocker on an up-and-down offensive line, said maintaining “consistency” is crucial, especially in a raucous road environment like what the Longhorns saw in Athens, Ga.
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“It’s just having that same mindset that we came out with and executing at a really high level,” Goosby said. “It starts up front with us as an offensive line. I think it was just kind of the moment got to us. Sanford Stadium was a really electric environment. I think we just got a little, mentally, just foggy.”
Texas Longhorns receiver Ryan Niblett (21) is tackled during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns wide receiver Ryan Wingo (1) drops a pass during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian prepares to lead his team out of the tunnel ahead of the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian walks the sideline during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns wide receiver Ryan Wingo (1) drops a pass during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns kicker Mason Shipley (49) lines up a kick during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns edge rusher Colin Simmons (1) sacks Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton (14) during the game at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns edge rusher Colin Simmons (1) sacks Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton (14) during the game at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns defensive back Michael Taaffe (16) breaks up a pass intended for Georgia running back Chauncey Bowens (33) during the game at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns wide receiver Ryan Wingo (1) drops a pass during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Georgia players celebrate a defensive stop during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning walks the sideline ahead of the Texas Longhorns game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns wide receiver Ryan Wingo (1) drops a pass during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) snaps the ball during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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A pass is thrown over Texas Longhorns receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. (0) during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Georgia head coach Kirby Smart walks the sideline during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns receiver Parker Livingstone (13) lises control of the ball after a hit during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) throws a pass during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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A Texas Longhorns fan reacts to a Georgia touchdown during the game at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton (14) hands the ball off to running Nate Frazier Jr. (3) during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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The Texas Longhorns celebrate a touchdown by receiver Ryan Wingo (1) during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) is sacked during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns receiver Ryan Wingo (1) catches a pass during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) is sacked during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns receiver Ryan Wingo (1) catches a pass during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns defensive back Malik Muhammad (4) misses a tackle on Georgia receiver Zachariah Branch (1) during the game at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian walks the field after the loss to Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) leaves the field after the loss to Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Arch Manning: Running game ‘opens up’ offense
To his credit, Baxter on Monday delivered a player’s perspective on why the running game didn’t get more work against Georgia — and why it needs to find traction in Texas’ final two games of the regular season against Arkansas Saturday and Nov. 28 against Texas A&M.
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“When you have the run game going, you can drop back in play-action pass and make the linebackers and the safeties come up,” Baxter said. “It makes Arch more comfortable because then the secondary and even their pass rushers, they don’t know if it’s a run or pass. So, it just helps a ton. When we get that going, the offense is going.”
Manning also said that “you always want to run the ball,” especially against a defense like Georgia that can get especially creative with its pressure packages.
“It just opens up the offense, and you can call whatever you want,” he said.
MORE: Steve Sarkisian makes his case why the Longhorns remain a College Football Playoff contender
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Steve Sarkisian: Offense can’t be ‘one-dimensional’
In these final two weeks, can Texas open up the offense and make one final push for a College Football Playoff spot? The lack of a running game has dragged down a unit that ranks 10th in the 16-team SEC in total offense with 370.7 yards a game and 11th in scoring with 27.6 points a game.
Texas averaged 1.4 yards per rush against Georgia. For the season, the Longhorns now sit 12th in the SEC with an average of 3.7 yards per carry as well as 12th with an average of 124.1 rushing yards per game. On the season, the Longhorns are averaging 2.49 yards after contact per rush, the lowest mark of any Power Four team in the country.
Last season, Texas averaged 158.8 yards rushing a game with a respectable per-carry average of 4.3 yards.
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Texas Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner (5) runs the ball during the game against Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Athens, Georgia.
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Sarkisian rarely engages in in-season retrospection, but acknowledged why the pieces in the running game worked better last season. Not coincidentally, Texas had four offensive linemen (Kelvin Banks Jr., Cam Williams, Hayden Conner and Jake Majors) two receivers (Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond), a running back (Jaydon Blue) and a tight end (Gunnar Helm) on the 2024 offense that are currently rostered in the NFL.
“I felt like we were blocking well in the run game, I felt like we found a rhythm in the run game with Tre,” he said. “I feel like we had real threats on the outside, so I think people are deploying a little bit differently on us (this year).”
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But this year’s offense features plenty of talent, too, and Sarkisian said finding consistent production on the ground could determine whether Texas makes a final push for the playoffs or limps into a lesser bowl game.
“At the end of the day, we have to be better running ball, there’s no question about it,” Sarkisian said. “There’s nobody in our building thinking, ‘Hey, we’re good.’ But we’ve got to find a way to do that, whether that’s schematically, whether that’s personnel, whether that’s shrinking the plan, whether that’s expanding the plan. There’s a lot of ways to get that done, but we’ve got to find a way to gain yards on the ground to where we aren’t just a one-dimensional football team.”