Steve Sarkisian Addresses Alarming Setbacks From Texas Longhorns Defense

Texas football has certainly had its peaks and valleys this season, starting the year relying heavily on the defense and less so on the offense. With the recent success of the Longhorns on the offensive side of the ball, it seems that the defense has begun to struggle as of late.

Speaking on this recent trend of the team, head coach Steve Sarkisian says this is part of a young program's development.

Texas Defenses's Struggles

Texas Longhorns Edge Colin Simmon — Nov 15, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; Texas Longhorns defensive end Colin Simmons (1) tackles Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Gunner Stockton (14) in the second half at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

"It's a very young team [and] we've really had some growing pains," Sarkisian said. "What I appreciate about them...I appreciate them trusting the messaging. These guys want to be really good, they're striving to be really good, they trust me, you can feel it in their approach to things."

Entering the season, Texas was expected to have one of the best defenses in the nation, and for a large part of the season, they held to that expectation. In the first seven weeks, Texas allowed 11.7 points per game, including only 14 points to now No. 1-ranked Ohio State, and six points to now No. 8 Oklahoma.

In the past four weeks, Texas has allowed opponents an average of about 35 points per game, including a 35-10 loss over a top-five opponent, the Georgia Bulldogs.

Looking back, it was the Mississippi State game that the defense started to see a downward trend, allowing 38 points in Texas' overtime victory over the Bulldogs. Despite allowing an opponent season high in points, the Longhorns' defense came up big in the fourth quarter and overtime, forcing three straight punts and a fumble to finish the game.

The following week, against Vanderbilt, the Longhorns started strong, allowing the Commodores 10 points through the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, Texas allowed three straight touchdown drives.

"Where our mistakes are occurring is we're chasing, trying to make plays and we're not playing within the realm of the defense and doing our job to where we're capable of doing it like we were early in the season," Sarkisian said. "It's almost like we're trying to make plays because maybe the offense wasn't where they were supposed to be."

In the first seven games of the season, Manning had three contests with 250-plus passing yards. Over the past four games, Manning has had four games with 250-plus passing yards and three-plus passing touchdowns in three of those games.

Now that the offense has begun to perform at impressive levels, the defense does not have the same pressure as it did to start the season. Though they seemingly haven't been as strong as they were at the beginning of the year, the defense is still producing for Texas. While facing the now No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs a few weeks ago, Texas held them to 14 points until the fourth quarter, when the conference rival scored three touchdowns.

Though the Bulldogs began to score, it was the offense that struggled for the majority of the game and ultimately hurt the team in the end. So while this team has its ups and downs, both sides of the ball have been producing at different points this season.

"Now we've kind of got the offense kind of situated, we don't need to try harder on defense, we need to keep doing our job really well," Sarkisian said. "I think that it sounds like a simple fix, and we've obviously addressed it."

Texas will return to the gridiron Friday to take on No. 3 Texas A&M in a game that could decide if the Longhorns make the college football playoffs.