Arguably the most talented roster in all of college football (and at the very least one of the highest-paid rosters), arguably the best defense with a renewed life behind a new defensive coordinator, and a quarterback with one of the most powerful last names in the sport.
All of that describes the Texas Longhorns.
But you could also use words like choke, overrated, and a few other choice phrases that I won't put into writing.
The Horns just lost their second straight game of the season and their second straight game to the Florida Gators (an undeniably less talented team), one week after losing to the Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry.
It's time to have a serious look at what's going on for the team that wears burnt orange every Saturday.
LOSER: Steve Sarkisian, Texas head coach
It is time... no, it is past time, for head coach Steve Sarkisian to admit that he doesn't have the bandwidth or mental capacity to call offensive plays as the head coach of this program.
For the second straight week, we saw an offense that has some of the most talented players in the country absolutely stall out and fail to put up the necessary points to simply defeat a lesser opponent.
The Longhorns blew this game, and a lot of the blame (if not almost all of it) can be placed on Sarkisian's shoulders. Undoubtedly, we will see his name appear on lists of coaches on the hot seat after this loss.
WINNER: Tramell Jones Jr., Florida quarterback
What a game for that young man.
In his first career start, going up against one of the most dominant defenses in the country, Florida backup quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. put on an absolute show.
Jones earned 155 passing yards for two touchdowns through the air alongside 41 rushing yards to lead the Gators to this win, improving Florida to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in SEC play.
All of the doubt in the world was placed on Florida's offense ahead of the game, some of that coming from my own words, but he proved every single doubter wrong, and everyone should keep an eye out for the Gators' current QB1.
LOSER: Arch Manning, Texas quarterback
Once again, Texas quarterback Arch Manning missed looks, made bad decisions, and looked lost in the backfield.
Beyond one 62-yard completion to Emmett Mosley V in the fourth quarter, Manning had an absolutely terrible performance against the Gators. Manning finished with just 173 passing yards for one touchdown, a game-sealing fumble, and what easily could have been (nay, should have been) an interception.
It may be well past time for Sarkisian to see if a different quarterback, whether that be KJ Lacey or Dia Bell, can do something different for the Longhorns' offense, because what Manning is doing right now simply isn't good enough.
LOSER: Texas offensive line
Yes, a lot of the blame can be placed on Manning, as I just said. However, the offensive line wasn't doing the QB any favors this afternoon.
The O-Line, led by star left tackle Trevor Goosby, let blitz after blitz into the backfield, and it left Manning with little to no time to go through his progressions or figure out solutions.
Furthermore, while the Texas running back room found its footing, for the most part, the Horns still finished with only 99 rushing yards by the end of the game.
11 tackles for loss and five sacks are unacceptable numbers to see for a Texas offensive line going up against the Gators, and the group has to be better, especially if Sarkisian is going to stick with Manning at QB1.
WINNER: Colin Simmons, Texas edge rusher (before injury)
One of the biggest heartbreaks of the game, beyond the final score, was when star edge rusher Colin Simmons went down with an injury. He left the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter and never returned.
However, before he went down, Simmons was having an incredible performance. He earned eight total tackles (five solo), four tackles for loss, and one sack.
Despite the injury and despite the loss, Simmons deserves all of the praise in the world, and we can only hope that he returns to play sooner rather than later.
LOSER: Texas defense
While Simmons clearly played well for the first three quarters, and the other usual stars (Rasheem Biles, Lance Jackson, Justin Cryer, and Jelani McDonald) played relatively well, Will Muschamp's squad just lost to a sophomore quarterback in his first career start.
Texas brought Muschamp on as defensive coordinator to avoid situations like this from ever happening again, yet here we are.
Florida finished with 313 total yards to outscore Texas 27-24 (one of Texas's touchdowns coming on a punt return by Ryan Niblett).
If the Longhorns' offense isn't going to compete at the highest level, then the defense has to on every single drive. That didn't happen today, and that's part of why the final score was what it was today.
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