Texas football gathered its second loss of the season last weekend on a trip to The Swamp to face off against the Florida Gators. The Gators came out swinging and controlled the narrative of these two teams' meeting throughout. The 29-21 final hit the eject button on the Longhorns' top 25 stay, and the once number one overall squad was banished to the pits of... wherever teams go when they're not ranked.
Steve Sarkisian cites the Longhorns' challenging schedule for their early struggles, but perhaps more eyes should be on the hampered secondary?
Standout cornerback, Malik Muhammed, was absent from the field during the team's trip to Gainesville, and the defense was gashed for a season-high on the year. DJ Lagway and the Florida offense had their way, and Arch Manning's side of the field wasn't able to close the gap in time.
Per Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Muhammed is trending towards being listed as available for this weekend's battle against a top-10 opponent. His addition would be huge in boosting the Longhorns' secondary and slowing up their foe's offensive attack. In the case of a battle against an Oklahoma team that's made its name on exceptional passing offense, defense against air strikes will be critical.
This weekend, the Longhorns have an even bigger challenge ahead of them: another season of the Red River Rivalry. At the beginning of the season, who would have believed you had you predicted Texas would enter this game with two losses and out of the AP Poll, while the Oklahoma Sooners would be unbeaten and ranked in the top 10?
This will be a pivotal game for the slipping Longhorns, a team whose playoff hopes have been put on life support after sustaining two losses in the first five games of the season. One more collapse could be fatal for their hopes of reaching the promised land, or even the SEC title game.
Any boost for the defense is not only welcome, but necessary.
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