Final 2025 SEC power rankings: 10 - Texas
There was no greater disappointment in the conference than the disaster down in Austin. The preseason number one team and pre-anointed Heisman favorite met reality in game one in Columbus, though it required a loss down in Gainesville for people around the country to start realizing what a mess things had become.
The really worrying thing is that there was no fundamental change in what Arch was doing throughout the year on a mechanical level— the supposed improvements came from a difference in play calling or a lack of competition from teams like Arkansas. It was the same old, same old from him the entire year— very sparse flashes of looking like a five star recruit with most of the time occupied by weird sidearms and off-target tosses.
The offensive line was horrible, of course, which played into Arch’s struggles in a big way. With no run game support and often very little time to throw the ball, Sark’s screen game became a complete crutch.
Offseason hype is already beginning after a big win over a coach-less team in the Cheez-It bowl, but discerning viewers ought not be fooled. This was a team operating basically on the level of Penn State by the end of the season.