TRENDING NFL trade deadline tracker Bills beat Vikings on MNF Wemby's on a tear NFL Power Rankings Week 10 Waiver Wire Story by Story by Steve Sarkisian admits to strategic miscalculation with the Texas offense COLUMBIA, MO - NOVEMBER 07: Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns before an SEC football game between the Texas Longhorns and Missouri Tigers on Nov 7, 2026 at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, MO. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Wescott Eberts · SB Nation Tue, November 10, 2026 at 6:26 PM UTC · 7 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Steve Sarkisian likes to joke, he can't install the Wishbone in a week.
But the Texas Longhorns head coach did get back to what his best offenses have done historically, and that's helped Texas bounce back from consecutive losses to unranked opponents with a three-game winning streak that includes victories over then-No. 10 Ole Miss and then-No. 18 Missouri.
This is a story that started in the offseason.
With turnover at the running back position and lacking the type of pass-catching tight end that unlocked previous offenses, Sarkisian spent spring, summer, and preseason camp building around his top wide receivers — the massive transfer portal addition Cam Coleman, the speedy Ryan Wingo, and the reliable Emmett Mosley V. Another addition, high school signee Jermaine Bishop, tickled Sarkisian's creativity searching for ways to use his dynamic ability.
Other factors enabled Sarkisian's belief in a passing game that could consistently stretch to field to recover the explosiveness missing last season, including the return of star left tackle Trevor Goosby and the addition of right tackle Melvin Siani, one of the best pass-blocking tackles in the portal.
With that combination, Sarkisian believed, the Longhorns could protect quarterback Arch Manning long enough to allow routes to develop down the field and take advantage of his ability to throw the deep ball.
"I think every year you assess who you think you're going to be as an offensive football team, and then you lean into aspects of your offense that you think will be the most beneficial moving forward," Sarkisian said.
"I think we all can agree, when you have Cam Coleman, Ryan Wingo, and Emmett Mosley, those are three pretty good players, and you're a little inexperienced at tight end, and you've got some new faces in the running back room — it's like, well, if we're gonna throw the ball, let's make sure these three guys are the guys where that ball is probably gonna go."
Ultimately, it was a strategic miscalculation that nearly launched the Longhorns out of College Football Playoff contention in a critical season.
Problems emerged as conference play began when Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Knowles started overwhelming the the Texas offensive line by regularly sending blitzes that inflicted negative plays in the running game and put Manning under consistent pressure.
The strategy of using max protection in 12 personnel to buy Manning enough time on shot plays didn't work. Condensed formations to leverage defenses hurt the ability to respond to blitzes by taking advantage of vacated space over the middle.
Sarkisian tried to find some answers by introducing a 10 personnel package featuring Bishop that paid off with two touchdowns against Oklahoma, but wasn't a solution to pressure or to the burgeoning turnover problems suffered by Manning, who eventually cratered into a hesitant mess in the shocking home loss to Florida , nearly resulting in his benching.
The running game helped Manning overcome two interceptions as Texas nearly blew another lead against Ole Miss, but that wasn't a sustainable development because of how the Rebels regularly slanted and twisted their defensive line out of position.
What was more sustainable was leaning more heavily on fifth-year tight end Michael Masunas instead of senior Spencer Shannon — Masunas caught three passes for 35 yards against Ole Miss, providing Texas a pass-catching threat for which defenses actually had to acccount.
"They weren't these huge plays, but there were plays enough that the ball moved forward," Sarkisian said.
The 31-3 win over Mississippi State cemented the transition back to ideas that involved more of the historical Sarkisian offense and provided answers to pressure.
Midway through the third quarter, with the outcome still in question as the Longhorns held a 14-point lead, Sarkisian finally went back to the running back screen game, an asset for years when Quinn Ewers was the quarterback.
The play gained 22 yards into the red zone.
More importantly, the threat of another running back screen meant Bulldogs defensive coordinator Zach Arnett had to reconsider sending extra defenders after Manning and his defensive linemen had to slow down their pass rush.
Five plays later, Texas effectively put the game away by converting a 3rd and goal from the 4-yard line — Arnett sent another blitz and Brown was unaccounted for out of the backfield, affording Manning an easy pass-and-catch opportunity.
Against Missouri on the road, Sarkisian recognized early that the Tigers were playing more zone coverage than anticipated and dialed up another trademark screen, this time to freshman running back Derrek Cooper for a 22-yard touchdown.
Because Missouri was playing zone, Cooper didn't have a defender assigned to him in man coverage, Manning's throw was easier, and Texas was able to execute its downfield blocks with strong efforts from Mosley, Bishop, and senior right tackle Andre Cojoe.
Brown's involvement in the passing game continued on a wheel route in the fourth quarter that scored the go-ahead touchdown with 5:03 remaining.
This time, Missouri was in man coverage and the linebacker had no chance against the speedy Brown, but it's such an effective play design because it's capable of beating man or zone coverage.
A talented pass catcher who was once moved to wide receiver at USC, Brown had 239 receiving yards and two touchdowns last year at Arizona State. But going into the Mississippi State game, Brown only had 28 receiving yards all season. Against Florida and Ole Miss, he didn't catch a single pass.
In the last two games, though? Eight catches for 62 yards and the two touchdowns.
"I think Raleek's passing-game threat is big for us — some of those are designed to go him, some of those are check-down throws. But the outlet throws, those things, the trust that Arch has in him, I think, is growing, and we're better there," Sarkisian said.
Handing the ball off to speedy receivers is back, too, with one to Wingo against Missouri only picking up six yards, the type of modest play that does keep the offense ahead of schedule, but might otherwise go unnoticed except that it was nearly a touchdown stopped only by a fantastic individual play by Santana Banner and because it was Sarkisian going back to something else he did well during the Ewers era.
Same play the Horns ran against the Tigers.
The receivers have also benefited from the improved balance with some help from Sarkisian returning to a longtime staple — the glance run-pass option.
"Oddly enough, what's come out of it is I think our receiver numbers have kind of gone up as the ball's been spread around," Sarkisian said. "And so, hey, I have enough humility to admit when I'm not right on point, and when we're not as good as we can be. We adjust and we shift. And we had to get back to some of that other stuff."
For a play caller and head coach known for his aggressiveness, stubbornness, and ego, Sarkisian's decision to pivot has saved Texas from a lost season.
What happens over the last three games remains to be seen, but one thing is certain — the team's playoff odds wouldn't sit at 75 percent without making those changes.
Source: Sports
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