Over the last two decades, something has held the Texas Longhorns back from returning to the pinnacle of success in college football.
Whether it was Colt McCoy's injury or bad play calling by a former head coach or, more recently, an onslaught of controllable mistakes, something has kept the Horns from returning to the National Championship.
Under Steve Sarkisian, the Horns have gone to the College Football Playoff semifinals two years over the last three years. Yet, they haven't been able to take the next step.
Legendary Texas quarterback Vince Young, who was the last QB to lead the Longhorns to ultimate glory, doesn't blame Sark, and in fact, he turns to the players themselves to fix what is going wrong. Specifically, Young turns to the current Texas quarterback, Arch Manning.
Arch Manning needs to truly step into his leadership role
Over the last three seasons, the Horns have been plagued by penalties. From offensive holding to false starts to anything else under the sun, the Longhorns have been called for the penalty on (usually crucial) plays.
To put it into a better context, in 2025, the Horns finished 132nd in penalty yards. There are only 136 teams in the entirety of the FBS.
This has caused huge problems for Texas, especially in must-win conference games (like the 2024 SEC Championship game) or the playoffs. Vince says that's on the players, no matter who it's called on, and not the coach.
"That's gotta be discipline... A lot of times, when I was the leader of that team, I'm telling y'all like 'this is not a coach's penalty right here; this is accountability of us,'" Young said. "I hope Arch and the rest of the leaders are in there like, 'Man, this is not Coach's job for us to stay on sides or stuff that we can control.' This is the type of stuff that you have to work on as a player when you go over and talk to Coach and ask what you need to do better. Well, your ass needs to quit jumping offside.'"
Yes, Manning was the stat leader on offense for Texas last season, but he needs to be the actual leader for the Longhorns in 2026. He needs to keep his offensive linemen in check, and he needs to make sure his wideouts and tight ends aren't committing offensive pass interference.
Simply put, it's time for Manning to step up, and Young pointed that out when talking about it with his former head coach, Mack Brown, who agreed entirely.
"Like we said, player-led teams are more important," Brown said. "You can't say player-led teams and then that not happen. Vince would be on the offensive linemen, and I wouldn't even have to speak."
Manning and the Longhorns are scheduled to kick off the 2026 season on Saturday, Sept. 5, with a home game against the Texas State Bobcats. While it won't be an SEC or ranked matchup, it could be a great sign of whether or not Manning and his teammates have addressed the penalties.