Texas lost its second straight game on Saturday, falling 27-24 to Florida after Arch Manning was sacked and fumbled on the Longhorns' final possession with two and a half minutes left. Florida recovered the ball, and Texas never got another chance to answer.
The loss came after Texas had already spent most of the night trying to play from behind. Manning kept running into pressure and could not get away when the game tightened late. On the final possession, he tried to run for a first down on third-and-1 and lost a yard, then Texas went for it on fourth-and-2 and he was tackled behind the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs. That sequence only deepened the sense that the game slipped away when Texas needed one clean drive.
The biggest injury scare came earlier, when Colin Simmons was carted off in the fourth quarter with a left leg injury. Simmons, the NCAA leader in sacks, was one of the most important pieces on the field for Texas, and his exit added another blow to a day that already carried a second straight loss. Jadan Baugh, meanwhile, finished the job for Florida, scoring the fourth-quarter winning touchdown and powering the offense with 25 carries for 91 yards.
Texas was once ranked No. 1, but that status is gone now, along with any sense that the season can be managed without urgency. Manning entered the stretch with NFL attention around him, and Simmons has been viewed as a potential top-five pick in the 2027 NFL draft, which is why every hit they take draws more weight than an ordinary midseason setback. This one did more than leave a mark on the scoreline; it left Texas with a harder question about how quickly it can steady itself after back-to-back losses and whether Simmons will be available before the damage grows worse.
