{"id":476120,"date":"2026-10-25T07:26:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T07:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/476120\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T07:26:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T07:26:14","slug":"human-error-contributed-to-special-teams-lows-for-texas-vs-ole-miss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/476120\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Human error\u2019 contributed to special teams lows for Texas vs. Ole Miss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">AUSTIN \u2014 Steve Sarkisian doesn\u2019t have a magic wand to fix the special teams issues that consistently plague his Texas Longhorns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Neither does special teams coordinator Jeff Banks, clearly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">After No. 19 Texas beat No. 7 Ole Miss 34-27 in Austin on Saturday despite multiple special teams mishaps, once again, including a successful fake punt and successful onside kick by the Rebels, anyone in possession of a magic wand to fix the special teams issues should deliver it to the team\u2019s football facility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Sarkisian blamed the two major miscues on human error.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201cI don\u2019t know if there\u2019s, like, fix special teams,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t set the edge on a punt return and we didn\u2019t field the ball on an onside kick. It wasn\u2019t like they had a free runner and they just got the ball, but we dropped it twice and they got it. That\u2019s human error.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The fake punt came at a critical moment of the second quarter when Texas was up 24-3 and had seemingly forced a three and out by the Ole Miss offense with four minutes remaining and a chance to create more separation before getting the ball to start the second half.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Instead, the Rebels were able to keep the ball when the team\u2019s Australian punter started to attempt a rugby punt and saw open turf.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201cThe fake punt really wasn\u2019t even a fake punt. Their guy they called a rugby punt, we didn\u2019t set the edge, and so he just kept running. It really wasn\u2019t a fake \u2014 it\u2019s always an option that they have on the play,\u201d Sarkisian said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Oscar Bird ran for 17 yards on the play to keep the Texas defense on the field.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">After the game, sophomore defensive end Lance Jackson took responsibility for failing to set the edge. Normally, his responsibility is to chip the player on the end of the line of scrimmage, which he did, but Banks later told Jackson that he was trying to alert the roll on the rugby punt. In the moment, Jackson couldn\u2019t hear his coach on the sideline.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201cThat\u2019s on me,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Sarkisian was less sure about what happened in the chaos of the onside kick, the second executed successfully against Texas this season, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.burntorangenation.com\/texas-longhorns-football\/24481009\/sec-statement-tennessee-volunteers-onside-kick\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">although Tennessee\u2019s effort was ultimately ruled illegal by the conference<\/a>, for all the good that did after the fact.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">\u201cWe\u2019re there, we just didn\u2019t make the play,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cI didn\u2019t see it. I mean, I saw it, but I don\u2019t know exactly what happened with Emmett [Mosley V] and then Graceson [Littleton] and we don\u2019t make the play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">After junior wide receiver Ryan Wingo failed to recover the onside kick against the Volunteers, Banks inserted freshman wide receiver Jermaine Bishop on the hands team instead. Once Ole Miss lined up for the onside kick, Texas took a timeout and flipped its alignment, getting Mosley on the side the Rebels sent the onside kick.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">But the ball took a big bounce just before it got to Mosley, the normally sure-handed Littleton couldn\u2019t secure it, and Ole Miss came away with it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">In both situations, the Texas defense was able to keep Ole Miss from scoring when senior linebacker Rasheem Biles intercepted a pass on the goal line to effectively end the first half and senior safety Jelani McDonald intercepted the Hail Mary attempt by the Rebels to end the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The Longhorns also committed two penalties on special teams, both by freshman linebacker Kosi Okpala.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">On the opening kickoff of the second half, Okpala committed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the touchback, forcing Texas to start its drive on the 12-yard line, contributing to the sack-fumble that resulted in Ole Miss scoring its first touchdown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">After the Horns regained the lead on Arch Manning\u2019s one-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter, Okpala was called for another penalty for a late hit out of bounds on a 23-yard kickoff return by the Rebels, allowing Ole Miss to start its drive near midfield.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">The drive ended with one of the highlights for Texas on special teams \u2014 a blocked 58-yard field goal by junior defensive tackle Alex January.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Before the play, January <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ZachDimmitt7\/status\/2114219392393203981\" rel=\"nofollow\">told<\/a> fifth-year defensive tackle Hero Kanu he was going to \u201cget skinny\u201d through the Ole Miss protection. \u201cOkay, I believe you, I trust you,\u201d Kanu replied, helping his fellow defensive lineman and hearing the sound of hand on ball in return.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Texas took advantage, driving for a field goal that pushed the margin back to 10 points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Sarkisian pointed to several other positives on special teams, including senior Ryan Niblett returning three punts for 25 yards, senior kicker Gianni Spetic striking the ball better on kickoffs, limiting Ole Miss to the one late return after too many short kicks against Florida resulted in five returns for 105 yards, and senior punter Mac Chiumento turning in his best game of the season by averaging 48.4 yards per punt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Now, if only the Longhorns had that magic wand\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN \u2014 Steve Sarkisian doesn\u2019t have a magic wand to fix the special teams issues that consistently plague&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,536,28],"class_list":["post-476120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-longhorns-football","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}