Texas was one of the best teams in the nation last year when it came to turnover margin. The Longhorns were plus-14 last season, tied for fourth behind Indiana (+22), Arizona (+18), and UConn (+15). Texas Tech and Southern Miss were on par with the Longhorns.
The margin per game of 1.08 was also fourth in the nation.
The reason Texas was so high up in the rankings was because of that quality margin and not because of the volume of turnovers. In fact, Texas was tied at No. 21 in turnovers gained with 23 across 13 games.
Texas had 16 interceptions, tied for No. 12 in the country. But the Longhorns were surprisingly tied for No. 49 in the nation in fumbles gained with just seven. That was on 12 forced fumbles.
Considering footballs are odd and oblong shaped and can bounce a variety of ways, simply saying “just force and recover more fumbles” is a strategy significantly based on hope. But forcing more fumbles is an important trait that the Longhorns defense under Will Muschamp has some agency over. Falling on them is something left more to chance, but it stands to reason that if Texas forces more fumbles than they’ll have more opportunities to create turnovers.
After all, of the 16 teams in 2025 that forced at least one fumble per game, four finished in the top 25 of the final AP poll. The nation’s leader in forced fumbles, Texas Tech with 23, won its conference and reached the College Football Playoff by recovering 15 of those fumbles.
Steve Sarkisian‘s offense protected the ball well in 2025, with just nine total turnovers. That was good for fifth in the nation.
Arch Manning threw seven interceptions and Texas fumbled possession away twice in 2025. Manning, as Texas’ quarterback, also had a miniscule 17 total turnover worthy throws out of 404 attempts according to Pro Football Focus.
Turnovers are often the product of luck, but luck is said to be where preparation and opportunity meet. If Texas can expand its turnover margin in 2026 with more turnovers forced by Muschamp’s defense and with another single-digit number of possessions lost, the Longhorns will find themselves in favorable positions more often as a result.
After all, just look at who the national champion was in 2025. Indiana, who led the nation in turnover margin, was third in turnovers gained, and third in turnovers lost. Seems like a championship trait Texas would like to copy as they look to reach the mountaintop in 2026.