The Good, Bad and Ugly of Texas' Week 2 Win Over San José State

The Texas Longhorns evened their 2025 record at 1-1 with a dominant 38-7 win over the San José State Spartans on Saturday.

Texas took a 21-point lead into the halftime break and shut the Spartans out in the second half to comfortably achieve its first victory of the Arch Manning era.

In a much better all-around showing than a week ago, here are the good, bad and ugly of the Longhorns' performance in Week 2:

Good

Aug 30, 2025; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) makes a catch over Texas Longhorns defensive back Malik Muhammad (5) in the first half at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

The 'Texcalibur' turnover sword returned in a big way at Darrell K Royal Texas-Memorial Stadium as the Longhorns forced four turnovers off of San José State in the first half of the game.

Texas recovered three fumbles and picked off Spartans quarterback Walker Eget once to jumpstart the Longhorns' scoring efforts after a rocky start. At one point, three consecutive turnovers by the away side translated into 21 points on back-to-back-to-back drives for the Texas offense, which needed just 8 plays and 71 yards to convert three touchdowns in that span.

"To be a great defense, it's not just about stopping people. It's about taking the ball off of them and it's about creating really good field position for your offense," head coach Steve Sarkisian said postgame, via Inside Texas. "That's how they can really impact the game, and our defense totally changed the momentum of the game today from the start by creating those turnovers."

In addition to the turnovers, the Longhorns' defense only allowed 188 passing yards to Eget and the Spartans, compared to the 308 they had last week against Central Michigan. Not everything was perfect in the secondary, but the Longhorns limited most downfield threats from having a disruptive impact on the game.

Bad

On their first two drives of the game, Texas recorded only 12 yards and used only three and a half minutes of clock time. San José State had the first good chance to get on the board with a 47-yard field goal five minutes in, but kicker Denis Lynch put the kick wide right to keep the game scoreless.

It took the Longhorns over 12 minutes to open the scoring, which came through an 83-yard Parker Livingstone touchdown. The Longhorns' offense then exploded with the help of the Spartans' turnovers.

But, the issues to start a half were again seen in the third quarter. Texas started the second half with 25 total yards and three points on its first two drives, using just five minutes of clock.

The Longhorns got away with their weak starts against San José State, but against stronger opponents, it might not be as trouble-free.

Ugly

Sep 6, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns running back Jerrick Gibson (9) runs for yards during the second half against the San Jose State Spartans at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Penalties. Texas' 12 penalties added up to 115 yards. That more than doubled the penalty yardage versus Ohio State, when six flags cost the Longhorns 50 yards.

The penalties came from each of the three phases of the game. Safety Michael Taaffe was called for roughing the kicker on a punt in the first quarter, which granted the Spartans a new set of downs. Edge Colin Simmons was caught offside twice and was flagged for roughing the passer. Right guard DJ Campbell was called for holding on a 34-yard completion to Livingstone, and the drive ended up resulting in a punt. Texas racked up multiple presnap flags as well.

Sarkisian acknowledged penalties as a point of concern postgame.

"My foot's got to get in their butt here on Monday morning, like that's unacceptable, and there's a standard with which we want to play the game, and 12 penalties does not meet that standard," Sarkisian said.

Through two weeks, the learning opportunities are definitely there for the Longhorns. Its next two non-conference matchups, against UTEP and Sam Houston State, are important chances to shore up the flaws ahead of Southeastern Conference play.