The Good, Bad and Ugly of Texas' Overtime Win over Kentucky

The Texas Longhorns went into Lexington, Kentucky, and pulled out a 16-13 win over the Wildcats in an ugly, low-scoring contest at Kroger Field on Saturday night.

"We got plenty of work to do. But man, what a win. I've said this all along — you go on the road at night in the SEC, this league is tough, it's hard. And for us to find a way to win this game tonight, very happy about that," head coach Steve Sarkisian said postgame.

Here is the good, bad and ugly of the Longhorns' second Southeastern Conference victory of the 2025 season:

Good - Special Teams and Short Yardage Defense

Oct 18, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Texas Longhorns kicker Mason Shipley (49) kicks a field goal during the fourth quarter against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kroger Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

In overtime, Texas escaped with victory through what had been working for them all day -- short-yardage defense and special teams.

"The strengths of our team right now is our defense and our special teams," Sarkisian said. "You know, every team around the country is different, okay? And if we won today 43-35, you guys be asking me about our defense, right? Well, we're fortunate enough that we're playing really good defense right now, and that's a good place to start."

Kentucky's offensive day started and ended the same way: with fourth-and-short failures at the hands of the Texas defensive front. The home team's first drive of the game saw them drive 59 yards into the redzone before being stopped on a Dante Dowdell run on 4th & 1. On Texas' one-yard line in overtime, Dowdell attempted to jump the pile twice, falling short both times.

Despite Kentucky's 39 minutes of possession, 395 yards of total offense and 26 first downs, the Wildcats only had 13 points to show for their offensive performance. Defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski's unit stood up when it needed to most.

"We're going to keep riding (our defensive) guys because they deserve it, and they're doing it," Sarkisian said. "And we're going to continue to try to shrink the game and slow the game down. But these guys running upwards of 90 plays, sooner or later, the dam will break. And so we've got to be more efficient offensively to keep our defense off the field."

The Texas defense kept the Longhorns in the game. Realistically, it was then the special teams that won it for the Longhorns.

The 45-yard punt return by Ryan Niblett set up Texas' sole touchdown of the evening, and his 43-yarder put Texas in great position to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. Kicker Mason Shipley contributed 10 points, going three-for-three on field goals that included attempts late in regulation and to win the ballgame in overtime. Punter Jack Bouwmeester punted eight times, his most usage in a game this season, and put six of them inside the 20-yard line.

Texas' quality on defense and special teams allowed the Longhorns to overcome the offensive ineffectiveness seen against Kentucky. Having those two phases of the game consistent and impactful keeps Sarkisian especially hopeful.

"We're trying to be the most complete team that we can be," Sarkisian said. "And you always want all three phases to be a well-oiled machine right now. And we're just not quite there yet on offense. But it's truly good to know, like, when you can you can play defense and play good on special teams, you're always going to have a chance."

Bad - Self Inflicted Wounds

Oct 18, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Texas Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner (5) has the ball knocked away by Kentucky Wildcats defensive back Cam Dooley (18) in the end zone during the second quarter at Kroger Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

The Longhorns accumulated seven flags for 50 yards, compared to Kentucky's three for 25 yards. Sarkisian's team found ways to shoot themselves in the foot in some of the big moments, creating a struggle to put Kentucky away.

"We do some things that are obviously very frustrating," Sarkisian said. "You get a hold in the first play of overtime. You get a false start in the fourth quarter when we're trying to put the game away. We catch a pass with a minute to go, and we go out of bounds without getting the first down or stay in bounds and make them use the other time out. Like there's little things that we're not doing offensively."

One of the mistakes that Sarkisian highlighted was wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. running out of bounds short of the first-down marker late, causing the clock to stop and letting Kentucky keep their final timeout. Texas failed to convert the third down, and the Wildcats got the opportunity to put together a game-tying drive in the last minute of regulation.

If Moore were to stay in bounds, Shipley would likely have had the chance to kick a game-winner with little time remaining for the Kentucky offense.

Texas' failure to recover any of the four Kentucky fumbles was a topic of confusion and concern for Sarkisian postgame as well.

"There was two fumbles that were on the ground that I'm still trying to figure out how we didn't recover them," Sarkisian said. "Then there's two punt return fumbles that are on the ground that I'm still trying to figure out how we didn't recover. So I think those were some opportunities, as good as we played defensively, where those could have really swung the momentum in the game that we just didn't quite capitalize on. And so hey, we've got work to do to try to figure that out."

With under 10 minutes remaining in the fourth, edge Colin Simmons strip-sacked Kentucky quarterback Cutter Boley, putting the ball on the ground behind the line of scrimmage. Within a scramble for the ball, linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. attempted to grab the ball on his way to a scoop-and-score rather than jump on it. A miscommunication between Hill and another Longhorn led to a Kentucky lineman somehow being the one to recover it.

That was the foremost example of a missed opportunity for the Longhorns' defense, granting Kentucky more chances to stay in the game than they deserved.

Ugly - The Offense. All of It.

Oct 18, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) throws a pass during the third quarter against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kroger Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

The offense.

Texas was 5 of 16 on third down. Just eight first downs, a low in the Sarkisian era, per Horns247's Eric Henry. 179 total offensive yards, also a low in the Sarkisian era. 47 rush yards on 28 carries, good for 1.7 yards per attempt.

Kentucky's defensive gameplan overwhelmed the Longhorns from the start.

"(Kentucky) played good at the line of scrimmage," Sarkisian said. "I thought they played well in the secondary. I thought they hit some timely blitzes that caused some issues in the backfield, in the run game and the pass game, and got pressure on the quarterback. And they minimized the explosive plays, which is the way they play."

Coming off an efficient performance against Oklahoma, quarterback Arch Manning had his most inefficient yet versus Kentucky. Manning went 12-for-27 throwing the ball and finished with a QBR of 25 -- Kentucky's Boley finished with an 80.9.

The combination of poor pocket protection and Manning missing open receivers gave Texas little to build on over the course of the game. The Longhorns' longest drive of the day was 42 yards (which resulted in a punt, by the way). Texas had eight full drives that ended in six or fewer plays.

"You know, they can start shrinking the field on you," Sarkisian said. "And we were never able to get them out of that. We had opportunities to do it. We didn't take advantage of it. And so, but a credit to Kentucky. They came to play defensively tonight. They did a nice job."

Last week, we saw a balanced attack from the Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry -- this time around, there was no ability to establish the run or the pass. Next Saturday, Texas goes into another away environment, heading to Mississippi State, with, again, an opportunity to bounce back from offensive disappointment.