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Instant Reaction: Texas notches first win of the season but has plenty more room to grow

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook09/06/25josephcook89
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Parker Livingstone (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

The No. 7 Texas Longhorns put together the performance needed to secure the first win of the 2025 campaign, defeating San Jose State 38-7. Here are a few instant takeaways.

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***One of the first things I wrote down for this article was “why is the offense so disjointed?” There was a little bit of blame put on Parker Livingstone for a holding that undid a quality play for the Longhorns and produced a three and out to start the game. Then, Texas went five and out on offense. It got to this point.

Notice who retweeted that.

After San Jose State’s corner fell while guarding Livingstone on the Longhorns’ third drive, Arch Manning found his roommate for an 83 yard score and Texas was off to the races for a five minute stretch that won them the game. The Longhorns scored four touchdowns in those five minutes late in the first quarter and early in the second to take control and put the Spartans away.

Manning was 11-for-18 for 180 yards and four touchdowns in the first half. He found Livingstone two times for scoring passes and did the same with Jack Endries. One of those passes to Endries was a slow-developing leak play-call that Texas believes is one of its best options.

Sarkisian wasn’t afraid to put the ball in Manning’s hands one week after a brutal outing at Ohio State. The Spartans defense is nothing like what the Buckeyes marched out last week, but it’s a unit that should help them make a bowl game. Texas passed it 18 times compared to 16 runs in the first half. When Matthew Caldwell finally replaced Manning, Texas had 30 passing attempts compared to 25 rushes.

Steve Sarkisian wasn’t afraid to tell his quarterback to go out there and make up for the miscues of last week. It took a second for Manning to get going, but once he did he helped the Longhorns look more like an offense that can score.

***It wasn’t all perfect for Manning, who had a few misses and a very bad interception that gave SJSU the chance at points before the intermission. As Sarkisian likes to say, it’s all about consistency. There was more this week, but there’s still progress yet to be made.

***The offense did remain disjointed for much of the game. Texas had 12 penalties for 115 yards. The Longhorns were 2-for-12 on third down, too. That’s not going to cut it.

***Texas amassed a brutal 2.8 yards per play through most of the third quarter until the Longhorns went on a scoring drive bolstered by a long pass to Livingstone and capped by Manning’s 20-yard scoring jaunt. Manning’s 19-for-30 day for 295 yards with four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown looks good on the stat sheet. And it was a good day. But there were a number of moments that SEC opponents will punish.

***Livingstone is Texas’ WR1. Four catches, 128 yards, and two touchdowns will earn you that title. His progress since last year is impressive. Maybe it’s a roommate thing. The same can’t be said — yet — of Ryan Wingo. He had four catches for 30 yards on eight targets. It’s evident he still is a slants and screens player.

***Without Quintrevion Wisner, CJ Baxter and Christian Clark got most of the first half action in the run game and throughout the contest. There were some moments, but only some. The non-QB run game tallied 15 rushes for 70 yards in the first half, and a good chunk of those 70 came when Baxter got a few touches toward the end of the half. The Longhorn run game did not clear paths at a high level against the Spartan defense in the first half and that continued for most of the second half. Maybe that comes later in the year, but it still has not shown up yet in a way that would make you think it’s championship quality. Texas ended up rushing 32 times for 155 yards.

***There was a moment in the first half after the sudden change that put Texas on the SJSU goal line. And ahead of that snap, Texas appeared to have only 10 men on the field. That’s unacceptable. Red zone scoring has already been a task for Sarkisian’s teams. Playing at a one man disadvantage cannot happen.

***The Texas defense remains a unit that can carry a team to championship contention. Texas notched four takeaways in the first half. That stands as Texas’ first four forced turnover game since 2021. Anthony Hill was violent, forcing two fumbles. Ty’Anthony Smith was active as well, forcing a fumble himself. The San Jose State offense didn’t put much pressure on the Spartan O-line against the Longhorn defense. They did not want Walker Eget to have to stand in the pocket against a stout team, and that’s part of the reason why Texas notched only one TFL in the first half. For the most part, Texas was sound and did what was needed to set up multiple long field goal attempts that the Spartans did not convert.

***You take the ball away over and over and over and over, and then score when you take the ball away, you win.

***That said, there were some coverage lapses. Graceson Littleton had plays made on him. So did Kobe Black and Malik Muhammad. Jaylon Guilbeau had some struggles despite his interception. It makes sense that the Longhorn secondary would have the challenge against the spread-and-shred, and they answered the call for the most part following a somewhat sleepy start. Again, four first-half takeaways is four first-half takeaways is four first-half takeaways.

***How much of that was caused by rotation? Over 20 players notched a tackle for Texas. The Longhorns rotated regularly at all three levels before cycling in backups at the end of the game. Pete Kwiatkowski’s unit did well to not give up very many big plays. San Jose State passed it over 40 times and had just one completion longer than 20 yards. Yes, there were opportunities missed by the Spartans and Eget. Just look at the scoreboard. There were also plays made by Texas

***San Jose State wide receiver Danny Scudero is a Power Five player. He ran a heck of a route against Littleton that a better quarterback turns into six points. He put some moves on Jelani McDonald that got him open. He had three catches on nine targets in the first half, but did surrender the football to Texas on a fumble forced by Hill. The 5-foot-9, 174-pounder will look good at a major program next year. He had seven catches for 66 yards.

***Special teams was once again a mixed bag in the first half. Texas was penalized for roughing the kicker on a punt block. It happens, those types of plays are either worth six points, two points, or cost you 15 yards. Ryan Niblett did fine as a returner. The one punt that bounced and bounced and bounced was a terrible kick that he correctly did not play. He actually communicated to one of his teammates to get out of the way on that kick. He did better in the second half, but one of his quality plays had another Texas special teams penalty undo much of his effort.

***Manning has always adjusted his shoulder pads. Manning has always had a Manning face when throwing the football.

***Jerrick Gibson made the most of chances in the 4th quarter… until he put the ball on the turf with 1:16 left.

***Jordan Washington and Nick Townsend are going to be difference makers this year. Townsend had an impact block where he stood over his defeated enemy and announced his presence. Look for him more.

***Lot’s of debuts for Texas. Lots of players got in the game. Maybe the Longhorns didn’t get the extended second- and third-string action they would have liked, but players played and got valuable reps.

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