The Good, Bad and Ugly of Texas' Win Against UTSA

Here's what went right, wrong and horribly in the Longhorns victory over the Roadrunners Saturday Night.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning throws during the NCAA football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

No. 1 Texas stays undefeated in their final game before conference play starts after defeating UTSA, 30-6, on Saturday night at DKR.

Coming off their thrilling comeback victory against Ohio State last week, Texas wanted to show no signs of a hangover against a Roadrunners team that had nothing to lose coming into this matchup.

The defense was able to do that, the offense not so much.

Here is the good, bad and ugly of tonight's game.

The Good

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) cannot make a catch against Texas Longhorns defensive back Bo Mascoe (5) during the second half at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Texas' defense was elite from start to finish, pressuring UTSA Quarterback Owen McCown into bad throws and shutting down the road game.

Led by Defensive Edge Colin Simmons and Linebacker Rasheem Biles, who finished with four tackles. The Longhorns' defense held the Roadrunners to 142 total yards for the entire game.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian preached about opponents' third-down conversion and winning the turnover battle leading up to this game. His defense came up with a tip-drill interception on the first drive of the game, and UTSA went 1-11 on third-down conversions.

With how much time they spent on the field, defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has to be happy with the performance his unit put on.

The Bad

Texas Longhorns offensive lineman Trevor Goosby. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

To put it kindly, Texas' offensive line struggled heavily for the majority of this game.

While the run game wasn't necessarily bad, no specific running back was able to break through for the first three quarters of the game.

A strange snap that fumbled back into Arch Manning's hands early in the third quarter felt like an uncharacteristic moment based on the performance the o-line put on against Ohio State in the second half.

It felt closer to the vibe of last season's week one loss to that same team

The Ugly

Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr. (2) tackles Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) during the first half at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Like that 2025 loss to the Buckeyes, Texas Quarterback Arch Manning seemed to be running for his life as soon as the ball was snapped.

With 4:10 remaining in the second quarter, Manning took off and was met with three UTSA defenders and his helmet went flying off his head.

You could hear the audible gasp from the crowd at DKR as he went down.

Hard hits on the Longhorns' playcaller occurred throughout the entire night as Manning fought to try to give his offense some momentum that they continuously searched for.

Running your star QB into danger down after down before a hard stretch of games is not the way Texas wanted to play this game.

While Sarkisian will be okay with entering their conference schedule undefeated, there is plenty to look at and fix before the Longhorns matchup against Tennessee in Rocky Top on Saturday.

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