Texas led Florida 17-3 in front of 103,989 people in Austin. Texas lost 27-24. That is the kind of afternoon that ends seasons.
Florida scored 24 straight points, and the Longhorns are 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the SEC with Ole Miss coming to town next Saturday.
Texas Could Not Stay on the Field
Time of possession was 38:11 for Florida and 21:49 for Texas. Florida converted eight third downs. Texas converted two. Florida ran for 158 yards to Texas 99.
That is a possession-by-possession beating, and it happened while Florida started a quarterback who had never started a college game. Tramell Jones Jr. went 22-of-35 for 155 yards and two touchdowns, both to tight end Lacota Dippre, and he added 41 yards on 10 carries. He did not have to be great. He had to keep the ball moving, and Florida converted five straight third downs in the third quarter when the game turned.
Arch Manning finished 14-of-20 for 173 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers look fine in isolation. The context ruins them: 20 attempts, 272 total yards of offense for the Longhorns, five sacks allowed, and a strip sack by Myles Graham inside the final two minutes that Kanye Clark recovered to end it.
The Playoff Math Is Ugly Now
Texas has two losses and one SEC win. At 4-2 the Longhorns need close to a clean run through the rest of the schedule to get back into the bracket conversation, and that schedule starts with Ole Miss in Austin and does not let up in November.
Then there is the injury. Colin Simmons, the best player on the Texas defense, was helped off the field with a lower-leg injury. Texas credited him with a sack and four tackles for loss before he exited. The school has not announced a timetable. Texas without Simmons is a worse defense in every way that matters.
Steve Sarkisian has spent the past two weeks defending his quarterback. Now he has to explain an offense that was shut out in the third quarter at home, by a Florida team that arrived in Austin with a losing conference record.
Florida Just Saved Its Season
Florida is 5-2 and 3-2 in the SEC, with a bye next week before meeting Georgia in Atlanta on Oct. 31. A week ago the Gators looked finished. Jadan Baugh ran for 91 yards and the touchdown that made it 27-17. Patrick Durkin kicked field goals of 45 and 28 yards. The defense sacked Manning five times and forced the turnover that sealed it.
Ryan Niblett’s 63-yard punt return touchdown gave Texas that 17-3 lead and tied a program record with his third career punt return score. It should have been the moment the game broke open. Instead it was the high point of the Longhorns day, which tells you plenty about the three quarters that followed.
Texas is still alive in the playoff race on paper. The margin for error is gone, and nobody should be picking the Longhorns to win out.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.