In the third quarter of Texas’ 35-13 win over Mississippi State this season, the Longhorns faced a fourth-and-8 at the Bulldogs 31 yard line. Sarkisian thought about it and decided to kick the 49-yard field goal. Bert Auburn’s kick hit the upright and doinked through for the three points. But Mississippi State’s Mario Craver was offsides on the play.
Sarkisian made the unconventional decision take the points off the board and go for it instead on fourth and three.
As soon as the offense trotted back out on the field, I got a text from a friend saying, “take the damn points!”
What happened instead was Arch Manning floated a pass out to the right sidelines that sailed over Isaiah Bond’s head and Texas turned the ball over on downs.
“I’m never going to apologize for us trying to stay aggressive because our players appreciate us being aggressive,” Sarkisian said after the game. “It wasn’t us going rogue. It was something that we believed in that hey, this was the number of where we were going to go and that number came up and so we went for it.”
Texas was leading 14-6 at the time and the turnover on downs could have led to a change in momentum. Had Mississippi State scored, the whole tenor of the game could have changed. But the opposite is true too. Had Texas converted and scored a touchdown on that drive instead, the Horns would be up 21-6 and on their way to controlling the game.
Sarkisian has shown he is not afraid to go for it on fourth down ... but is he calling the right plays?
