Changes are needed in Austin. 

Short-term and long-term. Some could be temporary and others permanent. 

But after a second consecutive embarrassing loss for Steve Sarkisian and his Texas Longhorns program -- this one a 27-24 loss to unranked Florida -- it's time to look in the mirror and realize the current operation isn't working. 

The play-calling isn't good enough. The quarterback play isn't good enough. The much-ballyhooed roster construction isn't good enough. 

For one of the most expensive rosters in the sport led by one of the highest-paid coaches, that is completely unacceptable. Sarkisian was given the keys to a Lamborghini this season, and he drove it into a ditch. On Saturday, Texas became the first top-10 team since 2003 to blow a double-digit lead in consecutive weeks to an unranked opponent. The Longhorns looked in command with a 17-3 first-half lead only to let Florida slowly come back and capitalize on Texas' anemic offense. 

Texas is now 4-2 with remaining games against No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 16 Mississippi State, at No. 13 Missouri and at No. 22 LSU. Its playoff odds dropped to 43 percent, according to CBS Sports' projections, following the loss to an unranked and reeling Florida team that had lost its last two games by more than 20 points and was playing its backup quarterback. Missing the 12-team playoff for the second consecutive season, given all the investment in this program, would be egregious for Sarkisian. 

In the short term, Sarkisian has to take a real look at his offense's deficiencies. Arch Manning looks closer to being benched than a No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick the way some predicted before the season started. He's still capable of a 'wow' play here and there, usually when the odds are the most stacked against him, but his confidence looks shaken, and his play is holding back an offense that should be considerably more explosive with players like Ryan Wingo, Cam Coleman and Hollywood Smothers. Manning does not look capable of guiding Texas to its preseason goal of a national championship. 

"Arch, you don't know what you're going to get," an SEC head coach told CBS Sports. "Whether it's good Arch or Dazed and Confused Arch." 

A salty Sarkisian said after the game everything would be evaluated, including even the quarterback position. 

"We're going to evaluate everything," Sarkisian said. "I don't know how many times I need to say it. We're going to evaluate everything from an offensive perspective. Part of that is play-calling."

Will Sarkisian give up the offensive play-calling? He should, given the results. Entering Saturday's loss to Florida, Texas managed just 3.66 yards per carry (117th best in the country) and had the worst three-and-out offensive series rate in the SEC at nearly 29 percent. Sarkisian has a reputation as one of the nation's elite offensive minds, but this year's lackluster on-field results don't match the hype. 

But the bigger question, particularly for this season, is who do you really trust on the coaching staff to do better? Quarterbacks coach A.J. Milwee? Offensive line coach/offensive-coordinator-in-name-only Kyle Flood? Those guys feel like a big part of the problem and not any potential solution. As I wrote earlier in the week, Sark's loyalty to long-tenured assistants like Milwee, Flood and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks has been an impediment. All of their respective units have been concerns, and it is staggering that Texas cannot better develop former five-star QB recruits such as Manning and Quinn Ewers. 

Frankly, Texas needs to clean out its offensive coaching staff and bring in some new ideas and energy to help the offense evolve. That's an offseason change, however, and should be a demand Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte makes if Sarkisian wants to remain the Longhorns' head coach (Sarkisian's buyout of $50 million is doable enough, especially at a school like Texas, that Del Conte has the leverage to make such an ultimatum). There need to be material changes in how the roster is put together, developed and coached. There need to be changes in how Sark holds himself and his team accountable, too. It was clear from Del Conte's strongly worded statement earlier this season that it's already an area he is keeping a close eye on. 

If Sarkisian is willing to actually change his ways and bring in a real offensive coordinator he empowers to be successful, there's a path to success in 2027. If the stubborn coach instead doubles down and doesn't want to fire his friends, Del Conte needs to think long and hard about whether Sark's the right man to finally carry this program over the mountaintop. 

The 2024 season was a disappointment. 

The 2025 season was even worse.

And now it is trending into a more precarious direction. 

Can Sark stop the bleeding and get Texas back on track? 

He'll need to change to do so. 

Ohio State can survive the Sayin injury

The Buckeyes suffered a significant injury when Julian Sayin went down with an arm injury in the fourth quarter of a 19-14 win over No. 5 Indiana. Ohio State coach Ryan Day said afterward that Sayin will be out "several weeks" but didn't provide any specifics. 

Let's start here: Losing your starting quarterback is never a good thing. 

But Ohio State finding a way to hold off the Hoosiers on Saturday gives it enough of a buffer that it should be able to survive the coming weeks and still be in the projected playoff field. The Buckeyes' playoff odds improved to 89.4 percent, according to CBS Sports' projections. 

If Sayin is out for the next month, for argument's sake, that would include next week's bye week, a road trip to USC and home games against Oregon and Northwestern. If Ohio State can go 2-1 in that stretch, it'll be sitting pretty as it heads into the final stretch of the season. 

Can Ohio State go 2-1? Absolutely. Even without Sayin, the Buckeyes are still one of the most talented teams in the country. It starts with star receiver Jeremiah Smith, who could become the first receiver-only player to win the Heisman Trophy since Alabama's DeVonta Smith in 2020. (Colorado cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter also won in 2024). The defense looks elite under defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, holding opponents to an average of 13.4 points per game. 

True freshman Luke Fahey understandably looked overwhelmed when he came in relief of Sayin. He went 0 for 2 in his limited action against the Hoosiers. If Day opts to stick with Fahey, it will be about limiting how much he has to do himself. With the defense playing as well as it has, you don't have to put up 40 points every game. Let Fahey be a game manager who prioritizes not making the big mistake, schemes up plays to get Smith open and rely on your run game. 

It might not look pretty, but there is enough surrounding talent around Fahey that the Buckeyes should still very much be in the playoff hunt next month. 

Schiano wins embattled Big Ten coach bowl

The two Big Ten coaches on the hottest seats met Saturday in College Park, Maryland. In a game both coaches desperately needed to win, Greg Schiano's Rutgers program bested Mike Locksley's Maryland team, 37-30. 

It wasn't a pretty game, to put it mildly, between the two Big Ten bottom dwellers, but Schiano notched a key victory as he fights to keep his job. A win over Maryland doesn't guarantee he'll survive, nor would a loss have ensured a firing given Rutgers' significant financial woes, but it at least keeps him on the path to a potential return in 2027.

Meanwhile, Locksley dropped to 2-20 in Big Ten games since 2024. After posting back-to-back 4-8 seasons in 2024 and 2025, Locksley needed to at least get to the 7-win mark in 2026 if he was going to remain the Terrapins' head coach. While that is technically still possible, everyone around the program knows it isn't happening with the way the team is playing under Locksley. 

Maryland AD Jim Smith has preached patience to supporters so don't be surprised if Locksley survives the weekend despite the 2-5 start to the season. Industry sources continue to reiterate that it is considered a matter of when, not if, Maryland moves on from Locksley. 

To this point, no Power Four program has fired a head coach, which can help schools like Maryland, Florida State and others considering a change not feel an urgent rush to make a move. A year ago was the polar opposite, as UCLA and Virginia Tech set off what became a firing spree as programs feared falling behind on their coaching searches. 

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