Arch Manning and Co. Seen Struggling During Practice as Steve Sarkisian’s Key Unit Turns Heads

Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns have received enough of a motivational boost to kickstart their 2025 run. After all, as per US LBM’s Coaches Poll in 2025, Longhorns have been placed at No.1, for the first time in program history. Talking about confidence? Sarkisian is running high on it and talked highly of his program on the 3rd and Longhorn show. 

He pointed out how the Longhorns are the best program, “Who’s the one school that’s gone to back-to-back college football playoffs, back-to-back semifinals? Who’s the one school their first year in the SEC that went to the SEC Championship game?…” Turns out that Sarkisian got yet another point to brag about. And that’s their defense. But what’s so special about the group?

The Longhorns held their first scrimmage of Fall camp on Saturday, August 9. Orangebloods.com reported some interesting updates from the event. Right after the fall camp, they tweeted, “The Longhorn defense DOMINATED in Saturday’s scrimmage 🤘“The offense could barely move against the defense. When they moved the ball, the defense eventually stopped them.” – A source told @AnwarRichardson.”” Another source told Jason Suchomel, “The defense is still in charge.” Last season, Sarkisian’s defense was ranked at No.3 in the nation, followed by Ohio State and Ole Miss. They averaged 283.4 yards per game, which included 109.6 yards on the ground. Sarkisian’s boys also recorded 46 sacks, 119 tackles for loss, and snagged 22 interceptions. 

As per On3’s ‘Top 10 defenses in College Football ahead of the 2025 season’ rankings, Sarkisian’s defense holds the No.2 spot. As Pro Football Focus’ Max Chadwick shared, “The Longhorns’ back-seven on defense is easily the best in college football, featuring both the top linebacker unit and secondary in PFF’s offseason rankings. Anthony Hill Jr. is college football’s top returning linebacker, Michael Taaffe is a top-five safety, and Malik Muhammad is the sixth-ranked cornerback.” They also have a sophomore, Colin Simmons, who was a part-time starter, rotating at edge rusher, but still produced nine sacks. Counting on Sarkisian’s defensive linemen? It is an army of transfers, including Maraad Watson, Cole Brevard, and Hero Kanu. But behind such a strong defense, Sarkisian is indebted to his coach.

That’s none other than Pete Kwiatkowski, the 58-year-old defensive coordinator. How has he been the gamechanger for Sarkisian’s defense? Armed with a Californian cool, Kwiatkowski has no personal interest in chasing the head coach seat. Rather, he gives his all to uplift Sarkisian’s defense. As Jeff Choate, the former Longhorn defensive assistant, shared, “He doesn’t get too wound up. He has his process, and he’s almost like an artist.” And now the art exhibition is clearly visible in Sarkisian’s camp. 

Other than counting on himself, Kwiatkowski has hired Johnny Nansen and Kenny Baker to handle the linebackers and defensive linemen. Sarkisian’s defense catching all the buzz is just one side of the coin. On the flip side, the head coach is worried about Arch Manning and the offense.       

Steve Sarkisian loses his sleep as fall camp ends  

After Sarkisian’s Texas wrapped up the fall camp, there came some concerning updates on their offense. Unnecessary Roughness tweeted, “Outside of a big Ryan Wingo touchdown from Arch Manning, the Texas offense struggled to move the ball during the scrimmage. Reportedly, the O-Line is struggling vs the D-Line. “The team is really being challenged by the defense.”” Is it something new for Sarkisian’s squad? Definitely not.

In the 2023 season, Texas averaged 36.2 points per game against power conference opponents who accumulated eight wins or more. Fast forward to 2024, and they had hit a massive low. They had everything. A returning quarterback? Yes. A loaded offensive line with NFL prospects? Yes. But even then, Sarkisian’s offense fell to 26.5 points against power conference opponents. And where are they standing now?

Manning is already in deep soup given the “unproven” part. Sarkisian’s Texas is now running with a revamped offensive line. Out of five, they now have only one returning starter, their right guard, DJ Campbell. Now that the defense is outshining Sarkisian’s offense, who is going to suffer the most? An absolute red flag situation for Manning. And Bud Elliot could not help but raise a wake-up call about Texas’ thinning offensive line depth. On the Cover 3 podcast, he said, “What is not in question is that their depth is like zero because remember they lost both their guys last year to the draft. So, that’s really concerning.” On top of that, injuries are plaguing Sarkisian’s squad.

Right tackle Andre Cojoe has been sidelined for the whole season after falling prey to a knee injury during practice. Brandon Baker is expected to step into the starting role. “If Texas has another tackle injury this year, they are like red alert, and that’s a real concern,” noted Elliot. Out of all these concerning updates, tight end Jack Endries gives Steve Sarkisian some glimmer of hope. Texas legend Drew Kelson gave him a big shoutout, “I played with Bo Scaife, David Thomas, and Jermichael Finley. I know what kinda hell a great tight end can cause. 😂 And each day I hear things convincing me Endries really is like that!” But again, Endries alone won’t be enough to steer the punctured offense.