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From weakness to strength, Texas' red zone efficiency has come a long way in a year

Eric Nahlinby:Eric Nahlin•10/09/24
Steve Sarkisian
Steve Sarkisian (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

We’ve seen it time and time again where Steve Sarkisian has taken a question mark and turned it into an exclamation point. In recent years the whole Texas ecosystem has become one giant narrative slayer (e.g., “meddlesome boosters” became the top NIL apparatus in the country) but no man has done more to fix what ails Texas than the fourth-year Texas head coach.

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Last year, the greatest impediment to maximizing on offense occurred with red zone efficiency.

YearGamesAtt.ScoresScore %TDTD %FGFG %
202314614980.333150.821829.51
20245272592.592488.8913.70%
I probably don’t need to write further, but I will

Red zone stats are kind of funny to parse because they combine touchdowns and field goals. With 14 touchdowns and five field goals, 1-5 Kansas is perfect in the red zone this season!

Of Texas’ 24 touchdowns this season, 13 have come through the air (to go with four from beyond 20 yards), tied for most with Pittsburgh. The offense has also pushed its way to 11 touchdowns on the ground, which is also one of the better numbers in the country.

So far we’ve seen dramatic improvement from Sark and his offense. So much so it’s hard to recall this time last year, after going 1-3 in the Red River Shootout, red zone issues were the most popular topic in Texas fandom.

You remember it well. Along with turnover margin, it determined the outcome of the game.

In the first quarter, on 2nd and 9 from the OU 13-yard line, Quinn Ewers was intercepted by Billy Bowman.

In the second quarter, Texas drove to the OU before stalling and settling for a short Bert Auburn field goal.

And, most painful of all, the Sooners goal line stand in the 4th quarter.

After the game, Sarkisian lamented he should have opened up the offense more on that ill-fated drive, but there were other issues, namely starting center Jake Majors‘ injury and generally poor execution from the blockers.

During August practice reports, Inside Texas mentioned how the offense was showing much more motion and shifts in the red zone. That they would often go empty. One source, when discussing Sark working to reverse the narrative showed supreme confidence in the head coach, because, “he’s so creative, so competitive, and you know he thought about it all offseason.”

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What we’ve seen so far in the red zone is not a red zone offense, but the Texas offense, and the Texas offense is damn good no matter where it is on the field.

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