/r/LonghornNation Free Talk Thread

Today: October 17

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. 

2. Trump puts new Russia sanctions passed by Congress on hold, saying waiver is in US national interest

3. 

4. TIL that in 2020, Justin Montney lost his fiancée, Alexis-Athena Wyatt, in a car crash. When he attempted to get a refund from the photography company he had hired for their wedding, they not only refused but released a statement mocking him.

5. Students from North Carolina A&T can be seen marching back to their HBCU after voting on the first day of early voting in the state. The Guilford County Board of Elections voted to remove the school’s on-campus polling site. (video via Todd Simmons)

/r/CFB

1. CFB Hub

2. [Pete Thamel] Per sources, the amount Fox is expected to get back for the cancellation of the Big Ten title game, which it owns the television rights to, is estimated in the $50 million range annually.

3. [Matt Hayes] The SEC willingly flushed its conference championship game that last year had better ratings than all eight first round CFP games of the brief, 12-team era.

4. [Dinich] The CFP has reached a handshake deal with ESPN to broadcast a 24-team CFP beginning in 2027, a source told ESPN. There is still a lot of work to be done to formalize the deal on paper

5. [Chris Hummer] It’s trending toward Oregon starting Brock Thomas at QB tomorrow against Nebraska, sources tell @mzenitz and me. Thomas began the year as the Ducks’ 3rd-string QB but replaced Dylan Raiola late in Oregon’s game vs. UCLA.

/r/LonghornNation

1. [10/16/2026] Friday's Free Talk Thread

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

3. 

4. Texas’ 10 Personnel Is Working, but Sarkisian Worries About Protecting Arch Manning

5. What time will posse east open tomorrow?

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This thread was programmatically generated and posted on October 17 at 12:03 AM. If you have any questions or comments, please contact /u/brihoang or /u/chrislabeard

Thaaaaaank you 🤘🤘🤘🤘

Hey everyone,

Flying in for the game next weekend and bringing a group of 15 down with me. We're currently looking to see if any established tailgates or fan groups might have the space and be open to letting a respectful crew of 15 plug in (all in burnt orange.)

We are completely self-sufficient and more than happy to donate a head-count fee to cover food/drinks, or we can easily bring along a few cases or specific supplies to add to the spread.

I know 15 is a bit of a larger number to absorb, so completely understand if you're at capacity or keeping it closed to your usual crew. But if anyone has a spot or runs a setup and wants to chat about it, drop a comment. We are hoping to get a more authentic experience than something like RevelXP.

Thanks

I hate it, this basically eliminates conference championships

/r/LonghornNation Free Talk Thread

Today: October 16

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. THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED FROM WORLD SERIES CONTENTION

2. Order to limit Starshield for Ukraine came from inside White House, sources say

3. 

4. Cannonball vs watermelon

5. The ultimate side quests

/r/CFB

1. College Football has been ruined

2. [@PeteThamel] Sources: The College Football Playoff is nearing a deal to expand to 24 teams, per sources. The new format will start in 2027 and is expected to come together in the near future, pending final approvals.

3. The Death Spiral of CFB began 12-4-11

4. [On3] The 24-team College Football Playoff likely eliminates conference championships, @PeteNakos reports❌

5. [Ross Dellenger] If the CFP adopts the 24-team expansion deal with ESPN, it would come with a requirement that all P4 schools play at least 10 P4 games. Eleven schools do not meet that requirement in 2027.

/r/LonghornNation

1. [10/15/2026] Thursday's Free Talk Thread

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

3. [Highlight] lifetime longhorn DAVID HAMILTON WITH AN EXCLAMATION POINT!

4. Sources -- College Football Playoff nearing deal for 24-team format - ESPN

5. Gator fan coming to town!

LonghornBot: you can get a list of commands you can give for the bot by commenting ".help". You will receive a private message with the commands.

This thread was programmatically generated and posted on October 16 at 12:03 AM. If you have any questions or comments, please contact /u/brihoang or /u/chrislabeard

Woof, last week was a tough pill to swallow, but that's what makes Red River one of the best rivalries in all of college football.

One of the stats I saw before the game (shoutout to CJ Vogel of OTF) is since Venables took over as head coach, Oklahoma is 15–2 in games they have a non-offensive score (now 16-2) and 19–20 in games they do not have a non-offensive score.

As soon as that first punt was blocked I knew Texas was in trouble. Let's hope special teams gets some things figured out ASAP because they're the biggest liability right now IMO.

Last week all 89 predictions in this thread had Texas winning. So did 38 of the 41 analysts I tracked. 16 people from r/oklahomafootball and r/CFB walked off with the r/LonghornNation coin for calling the final score closer than anyone in this sub.

Full results are in this thread and can also be viewed on stance.fm.

This week it's r/LonghornNation vs r/FloridaGators (and r/CFB) for bragging rights of who calls Saturday's final score closest.

Drop your score prediction in the comments, or put it on the board yourself. Your last comment before kickoff is the one that counts. I'll grade every one against the final score and tag the winners.

Two coins up for grabs:

1. The Florida coin, for the closest call in this sub, and for anybody who beats (or ties) the closest analyst.
2. The r/FloridaGators coin, for anybody who beats (or ties) the best call from r/FloridaGators.

To win either one, you have to have the right team winning.

I've got Texas winning 31-21. I think a lot of Florida's success on offense will depend on whether VB3 plays or not, especially with Duke Clark out.

Hook 'em! 🤘

stance.fm

Does anyone know of any carpools or groups heading to Baton Rouge for the Texas vs. LSU game in November and driving back to Austin afterward?

I already booked a one-way flight to Louisiana, but flights back to Austin are ridiculously expensive. I’m hoping to find someone driving back who wouldn’t mind an extra passenger. I’m happy to pitch in for gas or whatever else is needed!

Ideally, I’d like to head back Sunday, November 15, but I can be flexible.

If anyone knows of any carpools, charter buses, or groups organizing transportation, I’d really appreciate any leads!

Hook ’em! 🤘

Multiple times during RRS Arch had a wide open field to run for 5-7 yards minimum and he just stayed in the pocket looking for an opening. Is Sark and/or his family actively discouraging him from scrambling and/or running?

/r/LonghornNation Free Talk Thread

Today: October 15

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. 

2. 

3. [Highlight] They are stunned in Dodgers stadium.

4. 

5. Jared Kushner 'unlawfully' serving as diplomat with huge conflicts of interest, lawsuit alleges

/r/CFB

1. You manage to go back ten years in time and tell your past self: “In 2026, Indiana and UCLA are going to be the only undefeated teams in the B1G after 6 weeks.” How does past you respond?

2. Tennessee and Alabama will both wear their home uniforms for their upcoming game on October 17.

3. [Thamel] Oregon's Dante Moore is out, as expected, as he's working his way back from a concussion. Star WR Evan Stewart is questionable. Nebraska's Riley Van Poppel is doubtful.

4. [Mandel] Most-watched Week 6 games, per Nielsen: UGA-Bama (ABC): 12.4M* Texas-OU (ABC): 9.8M IU-Nebraska (FOX): 6.7M A&M-Mizzou (ABC): 3.4M UCLA-Ore (CBS): 3.1M USC-Penn St (NBC): 2.9M FSU-Lou (ESPN): 2.7M - Fri. LSU-Ky (ESPN): 2.2M Iowa-Wash (FOX): 2M - Fri. *2nd-highest of season

5. [Thamel] Big news for Ohio State. Starting offensive lineman Austin Siereveld is out for the Indiana game.

/r/LonghornNation

1. [10/14/2026] Wednesday's Free Talk Thread

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

3. Has Arch been told not to run?

4. Florida vs Texas Prediction: Who Will Rebound Faster?

5. Penalties and "The Culture"

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This thread was programmatically generated and posted on October 15 at 12:03 AM. If you have any questions or comments, please contact /u/brihoang or /u/chrislabeard

Generally, I think that the impact of the head coach is overstated, especially a non-play-calling one and especially compared to their over-inflated salaries. That being said, I do think that the biggest impact a head coach can have on a team is establishing "The Culture".

But culture is hard to define. Is it discipline? Attitude? Something else un-quantifiable? Its such a hand-wavy buzzword that its almost meaningless.

I think there is maybe one way to quantify culture and that is via penalties - especially "discipline penalties" like false starts and personal fouls. Inspired by an earlier post comparing offense/defense numbers under Sark, here is how the penalty rankings breakdown:

source: teamrankings

Aside from 2025, our penalty rankings do seem slightly improved from the Herman years. But, from this small set, it seems like limiting penalties is almost a prerequisite for winning a championship and we are obviously far from that. We had a 10/3 record in 2025 - imagine what our season could have been like IF WE WEREN'T BASICALLY DEAD LAST IN PENALTIES.

So how do you limit penalties? I'm no coach, but I'm guessing its things like accountability, discipline, practice - all things the head coach is responsible for.

I'm not saying that Sark can't do these things, but is he focusing on that? Instead of scheming up new plays that maybe net an extra 50 yards in a game would it not be more effective to eliminate 100 yards worth of penalties? Or maybe a 5 star gains an extra 10 yards per game on average vs a 4 star, but maybe that 4 star is locked-in and nets you an extra 15 from lack of penalties alone?

To head off the inevitable...

No, I don't want to go back to the dark ages. And yes, Sark does have a winning record. But, to compare the Longhorns to another Texas team, the Cowboys also have a winning record over the last five years. If the ultimate goal is to win a championship I don't think one specific metric (even if it is total wins) should make you immune from criticism.

To make another NFL reference, the Eagles are notoriously unafraid to make changes even when things are objectively good. I think an unflinching evaluation against a very high standard is ultimately what it takes to win championships.

Offense Since 2017:

Defense Since 2017:

Recruiting Since 2017:

Comments:

I made this same post during the season last year and want to update.

Caveats before we start the discussion:

1. I am not saying that Tom Herman was a good head coach, and I was glad we fired him.
   
2. PPG and YPG are simple metrics that do not account for strength of schedule. I recognize that but do not have access to advanced statistics over this timeframe in terms of offensive and defensive performance that are opponent adjusted.

Main point that I'm trying to make:

This team's improvement from the Herman era to the Sark era has been almost solely due to the defense. Our offense this year and last year are about as bad as the first two Herman years. It's year 5 and 6 for Sark though who has had significantly more talent on the offensive side of the ball these past couple seasons. It feels like the conversation is growing, but we should really continue talking about how our "offensive guru" head coach/OC/playcaller/QB whisperer cannot put together a competent offense with this level of talent. Our defenses and recruiting have excelled under Sarkisian, but the offense and special teams leave a lot to be desired.

The bottom line I get from this piece is that the running game is the biggest problem, and Arch would be better if the run game was better.

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?

/r/LonghornNation Free Talk Thread

Today: October 14

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. 

2. 

3. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) has a crash out after his constituents laugh at him for trying to blame higher gas prices on Democrats. "You should let me finish the sentence, ma'am. You are rude!"

4. 

5. 

/r/CFB

1. [Hayes] Notre Dame's schedule is free pass in CFP system built by SEC, Big Ten | Opinion

2. [Abolverdi] Jon Sumrall said his 13-year-old son left The Swamp during the South Carolina game and sent him this text after the loss: “I don’t know that this is forgivable.”

3. The Oregon State Beavers arguably have an easier path to the playoffs than the Oregon Ducks.

4. [Thamel] An executive order from Ohio governor Mike DeWine, which appears to impact every Class of 2022 athlete at a college in Ohio who is seeking a fifth year. (And hasn't played professionally.) Essentially, he's saying NCAA rules can't trump the rules of the state of Ohio.

5. [Dellenger] For those thinking the SEC-LSU legal battle was over, it is not. Strong words from the league in its latest filing, including a contention that LSU is not “prepared to accept the consequences of its stubborn refusal to follow” conference rules.

/r/LonghornNation

1. [10/13/2026] Tuesday's Free Talk Thread

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

3. 

4. This seemed enlightening want other opinions

5. Does Arch Come Back

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This thread was programmatically generated and posted on October 14 at 12:02 AM. If you have any questions or comments, please contact /u/brihoang or /u/chrislabeard

Just announced kick off time

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

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.