Texas' offense looking for more from the opening script and on third down

When offensive gurus like head coach Steve Sarkisian are brought into programs and high-level teams, expectations are for the play-caller to install elite offensive systems and scripts.

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Scripted plays in particular are where the likes of Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay and the elite offensive play-callers make their money in the NFL. During the week leading up to a game, coordinators and coaches set up 15 or so plays to start the contest, a plan for what tone the offense wants to set up.

Alongside the first few possessions, it’s also on Sarkisian and his staff to prepare a plan for what they will do on each type of third down. When Texas faces Vanderbilt this weekend, the offensive staff will have to prepare the players for what play will be called on the first third-and-long, the first third-and-short, or even a third down in the red zone.

Despite the expectations of a Texas team led by Sarkisian being a top offense in these situations, it’s been a struggle in recent games.

The first offensive possessions for Texas in the last four games have gone as follows:

Apart from Manning’s strong drive against Mississippi State, the Longhorns’ first drives, and even first quarters, have been filled with mistakes of late. But that hasn’t intimidated Sarkisian or his players.

“I’m not concerned at all. I think we’ve had some opportunities on these opening drives that we just haven’t capitalized on,” Sarkisian said in Thursday’s Zoom with the media. “I think our players have a lot of confidence in what we do early in the game. We just haven’t hit exactly the way we wanted to, but we believe in our process to get our guys ready to play.”

Quarterback Quinn Ewers specifically has shown the ability to start games well under Sarkisian, one of the main reasons to expect a bounce-back performance this weekend. In week two against Michigan, Ewers led an outstanding drive in a hostile environment that didn’t lead to a score yet set the tone for the rest of the game. A week later against UTSA, Ewers completed 7-of-8 passes on an eight-play, 84-yard touchdown drive before he left due to injury.

One of the keys to Saturday’s game will be starting off strong. In the Longhorns’ first 20 plays against Georgia, Texas gained just 33 yards and turned the ball over twice. That cannot happen against Vanderbilt, a team that upset Alabama by scoring a methodical first touchdown drive and got the ball back quickly three defensive plays later via an interception. The Crimson Tide were down 13 points after seven minutes of game time.

On the other side of the ledger, Texas has struggled in its last three games in converting third downs, ranking among the bottom 40 teams in college football. The season-long stats show that Texas can be efficient in third-down offense. The team was 10-of-16 against the Wolverines in an extremely tough environment, but last week was just 2-of-15 against Georgia.

“I think the first part is you want to stay out of third-and-long,” Sarkisian said. “The further you get away from that first down marker, your percentage goes down, down, down, down, down. And so when you start playing 3rd-and-8, 3rd-and-10, 3rd-and-12, 3rd-and-13, it gets difficult, and you want to make sure that you’re really maximizing 3rd-and-6 and lower, and you’re converting those at a really high rate. And we missed some opportunities with that last week.”

Sarkisian added that what disappointed him was missing on the more “makeable” third downs, ones where Texas is within five yards of the line to gain that could extend key drives. Even in a far better second half against Georgia, Texas was just 2-for-7 on third downs.

The Longhorns have the players that can get it done on third down. Wide receiver Isaiah Bond is top-10 among SEC wide receivers in first downs, and Matthew Golden is top-20. Just two SEC tight ends have moved the chains more than Gunnar Helm.

With a usually fantastic pass-blocking offensive line plus Jaydon Blue’s emergence as a pass catcher (first in the SEC in first downs through the air for RBs), Ewers has the weapons to get the job done.

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It’s going to be up to Sarkisian and the rest of his staff to plan accordingly for this week’s matchup, and set his team up for success in a road game against a top-25 opponent.