Yes, the Texas Longhorns should absolutely celebrate the win over Ohio State to the fullest extent, but it was only the second game of the regular season, and there is still a long road ahead if they want to reach their ultimate goal: the National Championship.
Up next, the Horns will host the UTSA Roadrunners in the final non-conference matchup before kicking off SEC play.
While the Roadrunners may not pose the biggest threat to Texas's currently unblemished record, there are a few takeaways the team should focus on in the next week, and even more so as their conference schedule creeps over the horizon.
So, here are three of the biggest lessons that head coach Steve Sarkisian and the rest of his staff need to drill into the minds of every single player on the roster:
1. Arch Manning, get rid of the ball
The Texas offense lives and dies by how quarterback Arch Manning plays. Yes, Sarkisian added new weapons to the offense, like running backs Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown, a rejuvenated offensive line, and wide receiver Cam Coleman.
However, when Manning plays poorly, the rest of the offense seems to follow suit. It's what we saw in the first half against Ohio State, and it's not something the Horns can afford to continue doing as the season progresses.
One of the biggest flaws in Manning's game was his refusal to get rid of the ball, something that he also struggled with in 2025. It's why he was sacked twice by the Buckeyes, and those were just the two pressures that showed up on the stat sheet.
Simply put, when you're holding the reins of an offense, especially when you're going against a defense as dominant as Ohio State, you have to be willing to get rid of the ball if there aren't any open players downfield.
2. Watch the ball into your hands and maintain possession
The first half was a tale of turnovers for the Longhorns. Between a fumble by Brown, recovered by the Buckeyes, and Coleman failing to maintain possession of a pass, intercepted by the Buckeyes, Texas had turned the ball over twice before anybody could blink.
Not to mention that wideout Ryan Wingo failed to haul in a perfect pass from Manning that hit him in the hands while he was already in the end zone.
In other words, the mechanics were off for the Longhorns, and that's not something a top team can continuously do if it wants to compete at the level that the University of Texas expects its team to compete at.
Ball security is going to be massive moving forward, or the defense is going to grow increasingly tired of having to answer the call every time the offense loses possession.
3. "Trick" plays aren't always necessary
This lesson is more specifically for Sarkisian than for the players or any other staff members, since he refuses to hand over offensive play calling to anybody else:
Trick plays are not always the right call, and they certainly aren't necessary most of the time.
The fourth quarter was a masterclass of play calling for Sarkisian, but the rest of the game simply wasn't. Yes, there were miscues by the players, but repeatedly calling screens, reverses, and jet sweeps simply wasn't working, and Sark kept trying them like he was throwing spaghetti against a wall until it stuck, but it never did.
Sometimes, good old-fashioned backyard football is the kind of plays your team needs. No reverses, no lobs, no pitches, no sweeps, no screens. Plain ole football.
Sarkisian has to be willing to admit that his play-calling isn't working, and that's what we saw in the fourth quarter, but imagine if we had seen it earlier in the game than the final 15 minutes...
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