HornSports Staff

All photos by Greg Hammer for HornSports. #13 Jaylon Guilbeau #14 J’Mond Tapp Larry Turner-Gooden

#7/11 Texas (6-1, 0-0 Big 12) at #23/25 Seton Hall (7-1, 0-0 BIG EAST) Big 12-BIG EAST Battle Tipoff time: 5:30 p.m. Central Prudential Center (18,711) - Newark, N.J. Game will be televised on FS1

The Texas Longhorns (4-7, 2-6) look to finish a disappointing season with a win against the Kansas State Wildcats (7-4, 4-4) at Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Texas and K-State will meet for the 22nd time all-time, with the Longhorns holding a slight 11-10 advantage in the all-time series record. Led by quarterback Sam Ehlinger, Texas defeated Kansas State 69-31 decisively last season in the Little Apple. Quarterbacks Casey Thompson and Hudson Card were both injured in last week's loss to West Virginia, and Wildcat quarterback Skylar Thompson suffered an injury last week as well. Texas brings a six game losing streak into Saturday's game in hopes of finishing the season on a positive note. What: Texas Longhorns (4-7, 2-6 Big 12) vs Kansas State Wildcats (7-4, 4-4 Big 12) Venue: Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium Location: Austin, TX When: Friday, November 26th, 2021 Time: 11:00 a.m. (CST) TV: FOX On the Call: Aaron Goldsmith, Mark Helfrich All-Time Series: Texas leads Kansas State 11-10 Last Meeting: Texas defeated Kansas State 69-31 (12/5/2020 - Manhattan, KS)

Add LB Demarvion Overshown to the list of players that won’t be playing today. He’s out with a toe injury.

The Texas Longhorns (4-6, 2-5) head east on Saturday to face the West Virginia Mountaineers (4-6, 2-5) at Milan Puskar Stadium. Both programs have had their share of adversity this season, but it's the Longhorns that have lost five-straight are in jeopardy of missing out on a bowl invite for the first time since 2016. Texas has won the last two games between these two in Morgantown, but they will be without running back Bijan Robinson, who essentially was the spark on the Longhorns' offense each week until his injury last week against Kansas. West Virginia is in the top 50 in total defense amongst FBS teams, and the Longhorns will need to find a way to move the ball, one way or another, as well as stop Mountaineer running back Leddie Brown if they want to have a shot at a road win. What: Texas Longhorns (4-5, 2-4 Big 12) vs Kansas Jayhawks (1-8, 0-6 Big 12) Venue: Milan Puskar Stadium Location: Morgantown, West Virginia When: Saturday, November 20th, 2021 Time: 11:00 a.m. (CST) TV: ESPN2 On the Call: Anish Shroff, Mike Golic Jr., Taylor McGregor All-Time Series: Texas and West Virginia are tied at 5-5 Last Meeting: Texas defeated West Virginia 17-13 (11/7/2020 - Austin, TX) Relevant Information: Depth Chart: Texas vs West Virginia Scouting Report: West Virginia Mountaineers Staff Predictions: Texas vs. West Virginia Four Things To Watch for as Texas heads to Morgantown

After thrashing Houston Baptist University 92-48 in their season opener this week, Texas Basketball (1-0) heads to the Pacific-Northwest to face the top-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs (1-0). The game will serve as an early season barometer for Chris Beard's team, which consists of several returning players and a slew of highly-coveted portal transfers. The task will be tall for the Longhorns, as they have never beaten an AP No. 1 team in program history. Texas has never beaten Gonzaga, but came close in 2017 when the two teams went to overtime in Portland. The Bulldogs emerged with the win 76-71. The basketball season just started and anything can happen, but Beard says his team wins regardless of the final outcome on the scoreboard. "We’re going to learn so much about ourselves." "It’s exactly what we need early on in the season, to kind of see where we’re at.” The Longhorns had six players reach double-digits in scoring in Tuesday's win against the Huskies. They also held HBU to 32.7 percent shooting from the floor. Beard spread the minutes around to his players as well, with ten Longhorns averaging at least 14 minutes on the hardwood. This year marks the second straight year in which Gonzaga begins the season at the top of the rankings. The Bulldogs beat Dixie State 97-63 in their opener last week. Julian Strawther had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Chet Holmgren had 14 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and seven blocks. Rasir Bolton added 15 points and Drew Timme chipped in 11. The Bulldogs held Dixie State to 35 percent shooting from the field. What: Texas Longhorns (1-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs Gonzaga Bulldogs (1-0, 0-0 WCC) Venue: McCarthy Athletic Center Location: Spokane, WA When: Saturday, November 13th, 2021 Time: 9:30 p.m. (CST) TV: ESPN2 All-Time Series: Gonzaga leads Texas 3-0 Last Meeting: Gonzaga defeated Texas 76-71 OT (11/25/2017 Portland, OR)

The Texas Longhorns are back home at Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday night after a bye week and a pair of road games in which they lost to Baylor and Iowa State respectively. Texas is still hopeful for a bowl invitation, but they will need to win two of their last three games in order to become punch their eligibility ticket. The Jayhawks are struggling, lightly put, winning their first game of the season against South Dakota and losing their next eight games. Saturday's contest will serve as Veteran's Recognition Day at DKR-TMS which honors and celebrates our nation's armed forces veterans who have served. The season has largely been a disappointment for the Longhorn players, coaches and fans, but a win at home against the Jayhawks would give the program a taste of what it's like to win again as they close out the season two weeks from now. What: Texas Longhorns (4-5, 2-4 Big 12) vs Kansas Jayhawks (1-8, 0-6 Big 12) Venue: Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium Location: Austin, TX When: Saturday, November 13th, 2021 Time: 6:30 p.m. (CST) TV: ESPNU On the Call: Roy Philpott, Kelly Stouffer, Lauren Sisler All-Time Series: Texas leads Iowa State 16-3 Last Meeting: Texas defeated Kansas 50-48 (10/19/2019 Austin, TX) Relevant Information: Depth Chart: Texas vs Kansas Inside the 40 Podcast, Kansas Week, featuring former OL JP Urquidez Scouting Report: Kansas Jayhawks Staff Predictions: Texas vs. Kansas Four Things To Watch for as Texas hosts Kansas

Texas leads 18–3, 11:40 left first half

HBU leads Texas early on 7-6, 17:00 remaining first half

Steve Sarkisian is only 9 games into his tenure at Texas, but he has reached a critical crossroads where tough decisions are about to have to be made throughout his program. Sarkisian himself is in no jeopardy of losing his job anytime soon, but the Longhorns currently sit a 4-5 on the season and it is his job to fix what is ailing the Texas program. The reality is there are 3 key components he will be evaluating throughout the final 3 games (and potential bowl game) and into the offseason as he attempts to set his team up for a successful 2022 season. Let's take a look at those components. Personnel Steve Sarkisian made an interesting comment after Saturday's game when asked about his defense giving up a WR pass for a touchdown for the second consecutive week. Sarkisian said "We told the (players) the exact play that was coming and it worked for them, so that's unfortunate." For obvious reasons, Sarkisian is not going to throw his players under the bus by saying they are not good enough but it becoming clear that the Longhorns are severely lacking talent-wise at several key spots. The areas Texas has been struggling at the most (OL, WR, LB), have been the positions Texas has recruited the most inconsistently for years. Many point to the top 10 classes Texas has signed the last 5 years, but the hit rate for the players in those classes has been very low. The lack of production from the 2019 class, which is made up of guys who would be in their 3rd year in the program, is really hurting Texas right now. So now the question is how is Sarkisian going to fill the roster holes that he has? Texas is set to return every starter on offense outside of Cade Brewer, Tope Imade and Derek Kerstetter, but the Texas defense could lose up to 7 starters. The obvious answer to filling these holes is through the transfer portal. Sarkisian tried to do this when he first arrived in 2021 but most of the transfers he took have been role players. Texas is going to have to attack the portal more aggressively this time around. The Longhorns could realistically be in the market for a quarterback, multiple wide receivers, multiple offensive lineman, a tight end, multiple edge rushers, an inside linebacker, a corner and a safety. It's unlikely Texas will be able to fill all those holes, but the majority need to be addressed. Texas is also set to sign a big 2022 recruiting class that could have a few prospects ready to contribute as early as next year. The Longhorns have loaded up at defensive line, a spot that has underperformed relative to expectations entering this season. Wide receiver and safety are also spots where you could see some freshman make an impact early. Finally, Sarkisian has to address the elephant in the room when it comes to personnel and that is the offensive line. The Longhorns have simply not been good all season up front and it is limiting the entire offense. Junior Angilau is the only Texas lineman who seems to consistently be playing at an acceptable level. If Sarkisian and Kyle Flood are unable to find solutions in this position room, it may not matter what other personnel moves are made. Scheme Despite some personnel limitations, Sarkisian has done some good things scheme wise on the offensive side of the ball. Texas has been able to consistently free up receivers down the field and find open space for Bijan Robinson and Xavier Worthy. It's far from perfect, especially considering the inconsistent quarterback play Texas is getting, but it's easy to see the direction the offense could be headed in if a few pieces fall into place. One thing scheme wise that Sarkisian needs to figure out is how Texas is going to attack drop 8 defenses because even if the QB play was improved, it does not appear he has found a solution for attacking defenses that spread the field. Iowa State and Arkansas owned the Texas offense with these schemes and the Longhorns are sure to see more of it in the future. Defensively, Sarkisian is going to need to ask some tough questions to Pete Kwiatkowski about what the identity of the Texas defense is going to be. Scheme wise, Texas shifted from Kwiatkowski's 2-4-5 defense to a 3-4 about halfway through the season. Neither scheme has produced the desired results. Texas is getting run over in the second half of games. As mentioned earlier, the defensive line was thought to be the strength of the team heading into the year but has been a complete non-factor for a lot of the season. Are all these things scheme related? Personnel related? Coaching related? Fatigue related? These are the questions Sarkisian needs to be asking himself and his staff. The Texas defense has been left out to dry a handful of times this year, but they also seem like a unit that has lacked an identity dating back to the first game of the season. Kwiatkowski has made some adjustments as the year as gone on, but it hasn't worked so far. Is this a sign of things to come or can it be corrected? Coaching The last component Sarkisian will be forced to evaluate ties into the scheme component, and that is the job of his coaches. No one likes to fire coaches or talk about firing coaches, but it is Sarkisian's job to maximize his staff and do what is best for the University of Texas. He will need to evaluate if his position coaches are getting the most out of their players. Do the strengths of this position coach align with what the coordinator wants to do and the scheme we want to deploy? Is this coach a plus recruiter? Is he getting through to his players? Do the players respond to him? These are all questions Sarkisian will be asking himself. One thing to keep in mind is every member of the defensive staff outside of Jeff Choate was hired before defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski. If Sarkisian or Kwiatkowski choose to go in the different direction scheme wise or are unhappy with the play of an individual unit, they will have to ask themselves if the position coach is a good fit for what they are trying to do. Offensively, Sarkisian handpicked all his assistants, including two holdovers from Tom Herman's staff. Is he satisfied with the job the offensive staff is doing teaching his scheme or does he feel like he can upgrade at certain spots? Final Thoughts Steve Sarkisian is going to be in full evaluation mode the last month of this season and rightfully so. He mentioned during his introductory press conference back in January that he felt the roster he was inheriting had a lot of talented pieces to work with. While that may have been true, he appears to also be discovering some of the limitations he has and will now need to make adjustments on the fly. The adjustments he makes will determine how successful the Texas program will be moving forward under his watch.

The Texas Longhorns won 12 in a row against the Baylor Bears from 1998-2009. Since that time, the Baylor program has taken 5 of 11 games from the Longhorns, many of them in lopsided victories. Both programs have new head coaches. Steve Sarkisian is learning his players and their strengths in his first year in Austin, while Dave Aranda has the Bears already bowl eligible through seven games in his second season in Waco. Saturday marks the fifth straight early kickoff for Texas, in a game that can make or break a season for both programs. A loss for Texas leaves Sarkisian's team sitting at .500 overall and 2-3 in conference play. A loss for Baylor drops their hopes of a Big 12 Championship appearance with the meat of their Big 12 schedule still remaining. The stakes are high in Waco for Baylor and Texas, but more so for the Longhorns who need a win to avoid dropping three straight with another road game against a ranked Iowa State team looming next week. What: Texas Longhorns (4-3, 2-2 Big 12) vs #16 Baylor Bears (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) Venue: McLane Stadium Location: Waco, Texas When: Saturday, October 30th, 2021 Time: 11:00 a.m. (CST) TV: ABC On the Call: Joe Tessitore, Greg McElroy, Katie George All-Time Series: Texas leads Baylor 79-27-4 Last Meeting: Texas defeated Baylor 27-16 (10/24/2020 Austin, TX) Relevant Information: Depth Chart: Texas vs Baylor Five and Five: Ten Things to Know About Baylor and Texas Ahead of Saturday's Game in Waco Scouting Report: Baylor Bears Staff Predictions: Texas vs. Baylor Four Things To Watch for on Saturday as Texas Heads To Waco Progress Report: What to Think of Texas Through 7 Games