Sarkisian won't rule out benching Arch Manning after Texas drops second straight game

With under two minutes left and Texas clinging to a one-score game, Arch Manning fumbled — and Florida picked up the pieces to seal a 27-24 upset at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The loss dropped the Longhorns to 4-2, their second consecutive defeat to an unranked SEC opponent, and left head coach Steve Sarkisian openly questioning whether Manning would remain his starting quarterback.

Everything's going to be evaluated.— Steve Sarkisian, Texas head coach

When reporters pressed Sarkisian on whether that evaluation could include a quarterback change, his answer left nothing off the table.

Everything means everything.— Steve Sarkisian, Texas head coach

Manning's afternoon was defined by its final moments. He completed 14 of 20 passes for 173 yards and one touchdown, but was sacked five times and lost the late fumble that helped Florida ice the contest, according to thescore.com. Texas gained just 272 yards on the day — the second time this season the offense has failed to reach 300 yards — and finished with only 50 offensive snaps, the lowest total of Sarkisian's tenure at Texas, according to foxnews.com.

Obviously, I'm extremely disappointed. We didn't play very good football today, outside about the first quarter. We kind of bled out.— Steve Sarkisian, Texas head coach

Sarkisian was careful not to pin the collapse solely on his quarterback. Texas's offensive struggles this season run deeper than one player: the unit ranks 105th in yards per play (5.4) and 121st in yards per carry (3.6), according to thescore.com. Manning himself ranks 72nd in EPA per dropback among 130 qualifying quarterbacks and has turned the ball over six times on the year.

It would be easy for me to say, 'Hey, Arch was the problem today.' Was Arch perfect? No. But nobody was perfect on offense today.— Steve Sarkisian, Texas head coach

Sarkisian also called out his own role. He serves as Texas's offensive play-caller, meaning any honest evaluation of the offense necessarily includes himself.

I don't know how many times I need to say it. We're going to evaluate everything from an offensive perspective. Part of that is playcalling.— Steve Sarkisian, Texas head coach

The only alternative to Manning with game experience this season is Karle Lacey Jr., a four-star recruit from the 2025 class who has seen spot duty after Manning exited blowout wins over UTSA and Texas State, according to thescore.com.

The back-to-back losses carry a statistical weight that underscores how far Texas has fallen in a week. According to ESPN Research, cited by foxnews.com, the Longhorns are just the third team since 1936 to reach No. 1 in the AP poll before losing consecutive games to unranked opponents. Texas had also won 22 consecutive home games against unranked opponents before Saturday.

We're not playing very good football right now. I have to evaluate everything. It's gonna be a long night.— Steve Sarkisian, Texas head coach

Sarkisian told his players postgame to hold together while he works through the decisions ahead.

I just told the team downstairs what I need them to do is to hang together, stay tight. Our culture is very strong. They need to hang together and allow me to do my job to get them back to the place that I know they're capable of playing.— Steve Sarkisian, Texas head coach

Texas hosts No. 9 Ole Miss next Saturday.

Why it matters — A program that entered the season ranked No. 1 is now 4-2 with its offense ranked outside the top 100 nationally, its coach publicly questioning his own play-calling, and the future of its marquee quarterback unresolved heading into a top-10 matchup.

Sources differ on Final score of Texas-Florida game: Florida 27, Texas 24 (thescore.com, clutchpoints.com, statesman.com) vs Florida 30, Texas 27 (foxnews.com)

Reported by yahoo.com, foxnews.com, thescore.com, statesman.com, clutchpoints.com