Throughout weeks one and two of the 2025 campaign for the Texas Longhorns, they've been having an incredibly bad problem with penalties. It was painfully noticeable throughout the 1st quarter of the San Jose State game as well.
A beautifully designed jet-sweep play to DeAndre Moore Jr. that would've gained a good chunk of yards on the opening drive was negated by a Parker Livingstone hold near the left sideline. It was such a buzzkill to begin the day that way, and over the next 10-15 minutes of the game, the frustration doubled for Steve Sarkisian and Co.
Texas star CB Malik Muhammad roughed the punter on one of the Spartans' first punts of the game, which unnecessarily kept San Jose State's hopes alive early and brought their offense back onto the field for another chance to score.
Colin Simmons' two offside penalties yesterday also killed the momentum of what started off to be two excellent defensive drives for the Longhorns, and he almost has as many penalties (3) over the first two weeks of the season as he has tackles (5). The cherry on top for Simmons was his roughing the passer penalty later in the game.
If Texas wants to achieve their goals of a national championship, they NEED to turn these categories around.
— Nash (@NashTalksTexas) September 7, 2025
There are 136 teams in Division 1 FBS. pic.twitter.com/vJMsqpEZgm
If the Longhorns don't fix this problem, there's absolutely no way that they can be successful in 2025. It shows a lack of focus and discipline that will undoubtedly destroy the team's hopes and dreams of ever making it to the national championship game, let alone the college football playoff this year.
Not only has it been debilitating for the Longhorns in certain situations already, but it's also been erasing quite a few explosive plays for Steve Sarkisian's offense.
This year's Texas team needs to play smarter going forward and commit to correcting this incredibly painful and common issue that they've been plagued with. I wouldn't be surprised to see the coaching staff doling out some punishment this week in practice.
I guess you could say that the "good" thing in regard to the penalties is that they should be able to fix a good portion of them with coaching. For instance, on the Parker Livingstone hold, it's just a matter of re-adjusting his hands on the breastplate and letting go of the defender once the ball carrier passes the block. He needs to be more aware of where the runner is in relation to his block.
The Simmons offside penalties are also just a byproduct of him trying to jump the snap and not watching the football.