Nick Saban Gets Honest About 'Terrible Issues' With Texas Longhorns

The Texas Longhorns have been far from perfect this season after falling from preseason No. 1 to unranked.

Texas fans will tell you that the season hasn't gone as expected but the No. 10 Longhorns still find themselves in contention for the College Football Playoff and even a berth in the SEC Championship if everything falls together perfectly.

A four-game winning streak in SEC play has kept Texas alive, but former Alabama head coach Nick Saban isn't sold on the Longhorns.

Nick Saban Rips Texas Longhorns' Secondary

During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Saban said that Texas "has terrible issues" in the secondary after watching Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia light up the Longhorns for 377 yards and four total touchdowns prior to the. bye week.

“The games that they won, they had to come back and win in overtime or just barely beat Vanderbilt,” Saban said. “And they had terrible issues in the secondary last week when they gave up over 300 yards passing. So, they still have issues on their team that they need to resolve."

Texas will need almost everything to go right against Georgia, which includes getting takeaways, but Bulldogs quarterback Gunner Stockton has thrown just two interceptions this season.

"Texas has improved because Arch Manning is playing better and the offensive line has played better..

They still haven't been a dominant team and they still have some issues..

This Georgia offense can do it all but their defense has to improve" ~ Coach Saban #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/NtomcPWGA3
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 14, 2025

“They’re gonna play a really good team, and this week would be a good week to do it," Saban said. "But, this Georgia team, their offense, they can run it, Gunner (Stockton) makes plays, they got some decent receivers who can make plays.”

From the Longhorns' perspective, they will take a win over a Top-10 team in any way they can, even if that means fighting through an ugly finish. But at the same time, Texas was on the brink of a significant blowout win against Vanderbilt and was unable to close the game out strong in the fourth quarter.

Nick Saban Praises Arch Manning

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning passes the ball during the fourth quarter against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

But despite these criticisms, Saban still had some good things to say about Texas, which included praise for Arch Manning.

“I think Texas improved for two reasons,” Saban said. “I think in the last two games, Arch has played better, playing with a little more rhythm and not hurrying everything up, and he’s been more effective and efficient, and his completion percentage is way up."

He added that the offensive line has improved, but will be tested against a strong Georgia defense in Athens.

“And the offensive line has played better. Those two things have made them show improvement as a team, but they still haven’t been a dominant team," Saban said.

Texas will have a chance to quiet tons of doubt with a win in Athens over Georgia, something that is certainly easier said than done.