To best prepare for Georgia after a bye, Longhorns have to look at themselves

AUSTIN (KXAN) — With a bye week between now and a huge Southeastern Conference showdown with Georgia on Nov. 15, it would be natural for the Texas Longhorns to use all of the available time to focus on the Bulldogs.

That's not how head coach Steve Sarkisian sees it, however.

Sarkisian met with reporters Monday and laid out the plan, saying it involves a look inward before they start to scheme for quarterback Gunner Stockton and company.

"We've gotta dig deep into who we are right now," he said. "We've gotta dig into the things that are causing us issues in all three phases ... and be forward thinkers. What are people going to do when they look at our tape, and how are they going to attack us? We have to make sure we have enough tools in our toolbox to combat that."

The obvious concern after the Longhorns' 34-31 win over Vanderbilt on Nov. 1 was the 21 fourth-quarter points the Commodores scored, turning a 34-10 blowout into a spread-covering nail-biter. Sarkisian said there were a couple of "disappointing" plays defensively that led to the game tightening up, the 67-yard touchdown for Vanderbilt on a busted coverage and a fourth-and-19 conversion from the 2-yard line.

While it's not an excuse that Sarkisian wants to use, the Longhorns didn't have their full complement of front-line starters in the secondary to help prevent those big plays. Michael Taaffe is still recovering from thumb surgery and was ruled out for the game in the pregame injury report, and Jelani McDonald suffered a concussion earlier in the game.

"Those kinds of things are uncharacteristic of us," he said. "It kind of caught everybody off guard and a little surprised."

The Saturday off the gridiron will certainly help with the healing process of everybody, not just Taaffe and McDonald, so Texas will be closer to full strength when they head "Between the Hedges" to take on Kirby Smart's squad.

Arch Manning's accuracy

Manning has played his best football for the Longhorns the past two weeks against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. He threw for more than 300 yards with three touchdowns in both games, becoming the first Longhorns quarterback to do that since Sam Ehlinger in 2018. Sarkisian said the first-year starter's improvement has been remarkable, and that Manning looks "less anxious" to him.

"He feels calmer, poised and a little more protected," Sarkisian said. "Everybody likes to throw the ball when you're not about to get hit. That feels better. But there were moments when he knew he was going to get hit, and he delivered a beautiful ball. He's worked at this. It hasn't been a smooth sail, an easy ride. He's trusting more."

After being declared the second coming of his uncle Peyton Manning by the national media before he took a snap as the full-time starter, and then being called the biggest bust in college football history by the same people, Arch has responded with his play on the field.

The next test is to have similar production against a vaunted defense like Georgia's, especially on the road. He'll have extra time to get ready for that, but clearly, that's the next big hurdle for him.

Sarkisian said Manning is quickly growing as a player.

"We weren't mature enough at quarterback early in the season, and that's fair, Arch would tell you that," Sarkisian said. "Arch has managed things much better, and he's making better decisions by taking the advantage throws."

What about the College Football Playoff?

There's a lot of football left to start really diving into the College Football Playoff scenarios, but with the first set of rankings by the committee set for release Tuesday, it's a natural time to start thinking about the postseason.

Sarkisian said that playing in the SEC "feels like a playoff game every week," so in his mind, the SEC deserves to have more teams in the 12-team bracket than it did last year. Three teams, including Texas, advanced to the CFP bracket last season.

"What the committee does with the teams in our conference, we'll see," he said. "This conference is really deep, and probably deserving of more than three teams this year, which was kind of laughable last year, but we'll see."

Texas moved up seven spots to No. 13 in the Associated Press Top 25 after the win over the Commodores, and a lot of times, the CFP rankings somewhat mirror the AP's list. However, the CFP typically uses head-to-head results in its rankings, which would put the Longhorns above the Oklahoma Sooners. As the AP poll sits this week, Texas is behind the Sooners by two spots despite retaining the Golden Hat in a 23-6 Red River Rivalry victory.