Third-quarter offense struggles
The downfall struggles for the Texas offense has come right after the half break for the Longhorns. Sarkisian and the Longhorns haven't sustained drives and kept the chains moving for the offensive side of the ball in the stretch run of the regular season and the postseason since the SEC Championship.
Texas's first-half momentum completely stalled in the second half coming out of the locker room for the third quarter. The Texas defense almost allowed fewer points than the offense in the third quarter for the Longhorns.
A fumble by sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner that Ewers recovered in the end zone after a Texas stop on the goal line against Arizona State's offense gave the Sun Devils a chance to close the Longhorns' lead to one possession early in the second half.
Texas's third-quarter offense in the past 5 games.
— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) January 1, 2025
-vs. Arizona State: 8 yards, 0 points
-Clemson: 84 yards, 3 points
-Georgia: 16 yards, 0 points
-Texas A&M: 159 yards, 0 points
-Kentucky: 72 yards, 0 points
To find the last time the Longhorns scored a third-quarter touchdown, a score in early-November on a 34-yard touchdown catch by wide receiver Isaiah Bond against the Florida Gators in the 49-17 win at DKR.
Offensive line mistakes and miscues in the pass attack and the ground game caused the Longhorns to stall on a couple of second-half drives without finding a single first-down conversion attempt.
A costly third-quarter false start cost the Longhorns on one failed drive that gave the ball back to Arizona State down a couple of scores in the second half.