All that room in the middle

Something I’m very curious about…almost similar to the Quinn decision in 2024. Quinn almost certainly would have came back for 1 more year if not for the Arch hype.

But also, it was very clear there some “internal encouragement” for him to go pro…because folks were over him by the time the Ohio state semi final game ended.

So I am curious, what do we think Arch and Texas will decide to do once the season ends?

I’d highly assume it depends on how it goes. If we make the playoffs and maybe perhaps win a game, maybe there’s more optimism…but if we miss it completely and go 9-3 again….id imagine that door is almost completely shut.

You also have to consider we have two 5 stars waiting for their turn…in an era where people don’t like to wait too long, because why would they when they can go make 1-2M else where and play right away?

Tricky situation. Thoughts?

College football has become the ultimate reality show. There has definitely been a recent trend where my readers are far more interested in the sport’s train-wreck teams than those competing for a championship.

Which is why I ordered the first two questions the way I did.

Looking at the schedule, I can more easily see this Texas team at 7-5 than 11-1, largely due to an offense that is mediocre at best (a troubling trend during the Sark era). What record would put Steve Sarkisian on the hot seat and/or “force” him to hire an offensive coordinator? Or would simply a College Football Playoff inclusion be enough to continue the status quo? — Joel

I don’t think the Horns are going 7-5. While that was a bad loss to Oklahoma, they’re not a bad team. They’ve already beaten a top-five Ohio State team and a top-15 Tennessee team. Throw in Oklahoma, and they’ve faced three defenses ranked No. 26 or higher in yards per play allowed, meaning their offense has been tested more than that of other top-10 teams, such as Miami and Notre Dame. (The Irish do face BYU’s 12th-ranked D this weekend.)

But could they miss the Playoff? Definitely.

Texas gets a bit of a reprieve the next two weeks when it faces two of the worst defenses in the SEC, Florida and Ole Miss, both at home. But the Horns could certainly lose one of those games, and three more Top 25 teams, Mississippi State, Missouri and LSU, await after that.

Sark could be an interesting test case for what coach expectations look like in 2026. Let’s say the Horns sneak in at 9-3 — a real possibility with that Ohio State win on the resume — then lose in the first round. Given that the Horns have one of the five priciest rosters in the country ($45 million to $55 million), the high-profile portal acquisitions such as Cam Coleman and Hollywood Smothers and that this is likely Arch’s last season, most Texas fans would view the season as a failure.

But is it enough of a failure to justify paying Sark about a $50 million buyout plus many millions more to buy off his staff? (Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp alone signed a guaranteed three-year, $8.4 million deal when he was hired.) After making the Playoff for the third time in four years? You wouldn’t think so, but it’s all monopoly money for Texas. Especially with the price of oil up 60 percent this year.

Short of that, Sark will have to decide after the season whether it’s time to surrender play-calling, a decision guys such as Brian Kelly, Ryan Day, Lane Kiffin and Jimbo Fisher made before him. He was an excellent play-caller as a coordinator and was good enough to lead the Horns to a four-team Playoff in 2023 and a 12-team Playoff in ’24, but something has definitely gone awry the past two seasons.

Read the rest here for free: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7688156/2026/10/14/steve-sarkisian-arch-manning-georgia-better/?unlocked_article_code=1.IlE.GAcM.JstntdDiikY_&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta

Just announced kick off time

I’m seeing a ton of hate on both subreddits towards Steve Sarkisian and Arch, with some of the less enlightened calling for Sark to be fired and Arch to be benched.

Now, criticisms are completely valid. I think Sark needs to at least consider exploring hiring a playcaller to run his offense.

But Sark is 39-8 since 2023 and has 16 ranked wins (FBS leader)

Arch is 16-4 as a starter and has a 6-3 record against ranked opponents.

I remember this time last year everyone was dooming and we put together a satisfying conclusion to the season. Defenses and offenses adjust. Players grow.

I hope that just because we’ve had some success we don’t forget where we came from when we hired Sark.

The boys and I are coming down for the Texas game for our yearly football trip this year. We're from Wisconsin and love coming down to a SEC game every year. We'll be down Thursday night, to do some golfing friday morning, then look for some bars to hangout at Friday night. For Gameday, we usually just grab a case of beer and wander around the tailgate lots, where is the best place to do this? Or would we be better off paying for a tent of our own? Any Texas fans making the trip?

Any other recs for Bars, Golf Courses, Restaurants, etc. would be appreciated.

2026 SEC Spread Shootout — Week 6 Recap & Week 7 Picks

With Texas playing again in Week 6, participation rebounded to match our season-high of 19. The loss likely tampers enthusiasm, but hopefully we can still get close to that number again in Week 7!

Before we dive into the results, here’s the link to get your Week 7 picks submitted:

👉 Submit your Week 7 picks here 👈

🏆 Week 6 Results 🏆

Top Finishers:

1. /u/hungryvelociraptor - 20 points
2. /u/jbbflip - 17 points
3. /u/mostevilrichguy, /u/cquicky, and /u/nck2002 - 16 points

Perfect Guesses:

• Three perfect guesses this week, all coming from the Georgia/Alabama game. /u/cquicky and /u/nck2002 used the ten point picks to launch themselves onto the crowded podium this week, while /u/super_association787 managed to make it their only points-scoring pick!

Fun Facts:

• /u/yuiandme was the only one to score points on the Red River Shootout, picking Texas to win by 3. They weren't the most negative picker of the week, however, as /u/super_association787 picked OUsux to win by 21.
• /u/hungryvelociraptor becomes the first player to win a week in the same season as they collected a Platinum Sombrero.
• While all but one of our participants picked Ole Miss to beat Vanderbilt - many by double digits - nobody expected the scale of blowout that came to fruition. Only two players managed to score any points with their picks: /u/hungryvelociraptor and /u/lonestar_06.

Platinum Sombreros:

• The only award making its return from Reverse Sheep, the Platinum Sombrero is awarded to any player who successfully (?) scores zero points on all five games in a single week.
• Nobody joined the Holy Trinity of /u/yuiandme, /u/hungryvelociraptor, and /u/revmeeks in wearing the Platinum Sombrero this week! Good work, everyone!

📊 Full Leaderboard

If you want to check how you stack up against the rest of the field, here’s the live scoresheet:

View the 2026 SEC Spread Shootout leaderboard here

⏰ Reminder

Week 7 picks are due by Saturday at noon ET. Don’t wait until the last minute! Late entries will not be accepted.

👉 Submit your Week 7 picks here 👈

/r/LonghornNation Free Talk Thread

Today: October 13

Last Thread

Your go-to place to talk about whatever you want. From the dumb shit aggies do on a near daily basis, to the latest whatever happening wherever. What ya got?

Here's a look at upcoming Longhorn Sporting Event(s):

1. [October 17 at 11:00 AM 🏈 #7 Texas Longhorns vs Florida Gators](#)

Trending on Reddit

/r/All

1. Tuan was rehomed for being too clingy. Here's my first night with her.

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. Sheep Getting Cleaned

/r/CFB

1. Week 6 Game Thread and Postgame Thread Index

2. [On3] NEW: Oregon head coach Dan Lanning says DL Bear Alexander will not face any punishment for his play on QB Nico Iamaleava. Lanning said it was a “ball shot.” He added Alexander “feels bad about it.”

3. [Pete Nakos] UCLA head coach Bob Chesney says Oregon DL Bear Alexander’s punch of QB Nico Iamaleava “egregious.” Continued that “it’s a shame that it was missed.”

4. [Zenitz] UCLA standout QB Nico Iamaleava is expected to miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury he suffered during the Bruins’ win over Oregon on Saturday, sources tell CBS Sports.

5. “Worse Than the USC Player Hit on Dante Moore”: CFB Fans Rip Oregon DL Bear Alexander for “Throwing UFC Punches” on UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava

/r/LonghornNation

1. [10/12/2026] Monday's Free Talk Thread

2. Ticket Sales, Travel, and Gameday Megathread - week of 10/11/2026 to 10/17/2026

3. Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning deserve some grace

4. My dads HS class had 2 NFL Hall of Famers in the same backfield. Bobby Layne was AA at Texas, everybody knows Doak Walker who went to SMU

5. Texas drops to #7 in AP Poll, OU remains unranked after beating No.1

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This thread was programmatically generated and posted on October 13 at 12:02 AM. If you have any questions or comments, please contact /u/brihoang or /u/chrislabeard

Will the longhorns have a chance of winning? It’s my first UT game ever, well first college fb game ever, but I heard that their schedule was rough but im not caught up with the longhorns. I just wanna experience the fireworks if we win 😭 I watch college fb but they aren’t my team 😅

Pics (not very good) from his HS year book. Crazy thing is they lost in the state semis.

/r/LonghornNation Free Talk Thread

Today: October 12

Last Thread

Your go-to place to talk about whatever you want. From the dumb shit aggies do on a near daily basis, to the latest whatever happening wherever. What ya got?

Here's a look at upcoming Longhorn Sporting Event(s):

1. [October 17 at 11:00 AM 🏈 #1 Texas Longhorns vs #16 Florida Gators](#)

Trending on Reddit

/r/All

1. 

2. Politician turns the tables on a reporter.

3. 

4. 

5. TIL about 2-Nonenal, the natural chemical found on skin that is responsible for the distinct “old person smell.” It typically appears once humans turn 40 and is described as musty, greasy, or grassy. It is not hygiene related, as it cannot be washed away with standard soap and water.41198-4/fulltext)

/r/CFB

1. Week 6 Game Thread and Postgame Thread Index

2. Every one-loss SEC team is ranked in AP top-16 while every other power conference has at least two one-loss teams that are unranked,

3. AP Poll Week 6

4. Lane Kiffin claims line judge told him there was 'too much at stake' to call Kentucky QB sneak touchdown dead

5. [Helms] Random stat: Shane Beamer has more Top-25 road wins in his career than Lane Kiffin.

/r/LonghornNation

1. [10/11/2026] Sunday's Free Talk Thread

2. Ticket Sales, Travel, and Gameday Megathread - week of 10/11/2026 to 10/17/2026

3. Texas drops to #7 in AP Poll, OU remains unranked after beating No.1

4. My dads HS class had 2 NFL Hall of Famers in the same backfield. Bobby Layne was AA at Texas, everybody knows Doak Walker who went to SMU

5. Easton Royal flips to Florida

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This thread was programmatically generated and posted on October 12 at 12:03 AM. If you have any questions or comments, please contact /u/brihoang or /u/chrislabeard

I’m not a doomer but this is how I see the season going from here.

We are entering a GAUNTLET five weeks. If we play how we have been the last five games (barring the fourth quarter against OSU), we are going 8-4 at best. We will still be good enough to beat a couple of the mid teams in the SEC like LSU or Miss St, but we will probably be the underdogs and it’ll be a minor upset when we win.

If we get our shit together and figure out the offense, 10-2 or even 11-1 is not out of the question. It’s going to be a tough road ahead though.

I’m not calling for Sark to get fired or to bench Arch, but something’s gotta give. We cannot - and I mean CANNOT - keep playing how we have been lately. Our elite defense can only do so much before it’s not enough.

On another note, how about the Horns in the NFL. Watching the Eagles vs Jaguars. Jake Majors getting his 1st start and looking good. Leading the O line. Makuba is playing for the Eagles. Jayden Blue and Quinn Ewers both on the sidelines. Let's go Horns!

We’ve played one, maybe two, quarters of good offensive football.

How the absolute fuck is our passing game the weakest part of our entire team when we have Sark and Arch. Explain it to me like I’m five years old!

And if the answer is “well, what’s the better alternative”, then tell me what their money is for.

Over from Scotland and going to the Longhorns game against the Gators next weekend!

What’s the chances of getting cheaper tickets the day of the game or night before? We are in Austin anyway so not an issue

Seeing tickets for $170 right now, is this good?

A heads up that Texas vs Oklahoma in immersive 180° is happening LIVE TODAY with kickoff at 12:30pm PT / 3:30pm ET 🏈

No. 1 Texas meets Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry at the Cotton Bowl, with the Golden Hat on the line. Watch it live from the sideline in immersive 180°, 8K with Dolby Atmos.

How to watch on Meta Quest

From your headset: At game time, open the TV app on your Quest and select Texas vs Oklahoma. Then hit "Watch."

Or, from the web: Go to the event page and click "+ Watchlist" to get a reminder notification and add it to your TV app's watchlist. Or, at game time, click the "Open in VR" button on the page to have the game auto-open on your headset.

Make sure you are on the latest version of the TV app.

🔁 Can't watch live?

The immersive full-game replay will be on demand in the TV app for 7 days after game day. Highlights will be available the next day.

📅 What's next?

ESPN is bringing select immersive college football games to Meta Quest every week this season, through Conference Championship Weekend and the College Football Playoff, including the 2027 CFP National Championship in January.

More info on the Meta blog. Available in the US on Meta Quest 3 and 3S.

Disclosure: I work at Meta and worked on this. Would love to hear Longhorn Nation's thoughts if you check it out.🤘