Game Preview: San Jose State versus No.7 Texas

In the much-anticipated 2025 season opener, Texas suffered a disappointing loss to Ohio State. The loss stings, but your season is not placed on life support for one loss – especially when it comes against the then-ranked No. 3 defending national champions. This is a new week and there is no time to dwell on the past if you are the Texas Longhorns. San Jose State heads to Austin on Saturday for another 11:00 am kickoff for the ‘Horns.

The Spartans come to Austin reeling from a tough loss themselves. They lost to Central Michigan 16-14, missing two field goals in the last three minutes of the game to take the lead. Although Texas is currently favored by 36.5 points in Saturday’s contest, San Jose State will want to get that bad taste out of their mouths. The Longhorns have the clear talent advantage, but they will still have to execute offensively. This was a glaring issue against Ohio State last week.

Red Zone Woes Must Get Resolved

Red zone issues have held Texas back from getting beyond the final four in the College Football Playoff the last couple years. Last week’s opener against Ohio State did nothing to ease those concerns. Texas got into the red zone twice and came away with zero points. The only touchdown came on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Arch Manning to Parker Livingstone. The first trip in the red zone gave Texas fans flashbacks from the CFP semifinal loss last season to Ohio State. Fourth and goal from the one yard line, Texas tried to go quick and use the tush-push. It did not work and the Longhorns were stopped at the one yard line, similarly to how their 2024 season ended.

Many are questioning what Texas must do in order to improve the red zone issues. Steve Sarkisian has plenty of talent on the offensive side and a good enough offensive line that talent is not the issue for the red zone struggles. Texas needs to get creative and more importantly develop an identity for the red zone offense. CJ Baxter made his return after missing the 2024 season with a knee injury. He is a player that needs to get more touches inside the five. He has a big frame and it should prove difficult to stop him from getting any yards inside the one or two yard line. Should Baxter prove to be a good goal line back, he will open things up for Arch as well.

San Jose St Will Test the Secondary

San Jose State head coach Ken Niumatalolo is a great example of how a coach’s philosophy can change over time. Prior to taking the San Jose State job, Niumatalolo was the head coach at Navy from 2007-2022. At Navy, Niumatalolo’s offenses ran the ball more than 90 percent of the time. Now at San Jose State his teams are expected to throw 40-50 times, regardless of opponent. That will be a test that the Longhorns’ secondary did not face last week.

Similar to Texas, Ohio State had what many would call a vanilla offensive game plan. The Buckeyes threw the ball just 20 times for 126 yards. While they were not tested much, the Texas secondary looked good for the most part when the opportunities came. Look for twice the pass attempts this week if not more. It will be important for the secondary to have the type of communication they did last year. This week will tell us more if this unit can be good or if it can be elite like the 2024 secondary was.

The Texas Pass Offense Needs to Improve

Against Ohio State the Texas passing offense never looked in sync. That goes for Arch Manning and the receivers both deserving blame. There were times that Arch missed open receivers and other times where receivers were not running adequate routes. Manning looked like he was trying too hard to play perfect and in doing that, he did not look like himself. His footwork looked sloppier than it had in any other outing. It was his first road start and he played against an elite defense. Regardless, Manning needs to play better and he knows that. Look for him to be much more effective this week.

The importance of Ryan Wingo to the Texas offense cannot be overstated. At times against the Buckeyes, it looked like he just wasn’t himself. Whether it was a false start or simply not being on the same page as Arch, those things must change. Wingo had an exceptional season last year for a freshman, but expectations are different this year – the Longhorns need Wingo to emerge as a clear #1 receiver. Saturday’s game against the Spartans provides a matchup that he should dominate and make big plays. The chemistry between Wingo and Manning is a major x-factor for the 2025 season.