Texas Longhorns' College Football Playoff hopes dying after nasty loss to Florida | Golden

We knew as much about the Florida Gators coming into Saturday, but the Texas Longhorns provided visual evidence that the 2026 season will end for the second straight year with them on the outside looking in while the real national players compete for the College Football Playoff championship.

For those who are still holding onto the hope of Texas (4-2, 1-2) running the table to make the 12-team tournament, you haven't been watching. The Horns aren't very good at running anything these days, unless we're talking about running a season into the ground. It's over - not mathematically, but that will come soon enough, perhaps as soon as next Saturday against No. 9 Ole Miss or the following week against Mississippi State.

"We've got a better team that what we are right now," Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said afterward.

Boos emanated from the fans at Royal-Memorial Stadium who stuck around to watch the Gators in victory formation. A second straight 27-24 loss to an unranked team - and the second straight loss to Florida, which ended up keeping Texas from last year's CFP - left them angry, frustrated and hurt, all at once.

Arch Manning's first lost fumble of the season was a killer. Texas' surprisingly porous defense had provided a late stop after the Longhorns had cut their 27-17 deficit to 27-24. Manning completed a 62-yard bomb to Emmett Mosley V on fourth-and-7 and then a 9-yard TD pass to Cam Coleman with 4 minutes, 21 seconds left.

The Horns can stop thinking about the CFP and just try to win a game. The offense produced a measly 272 yards on only 50 plays and went 2-for-10 on third-down conversions. Manning completed a pedestrian 14 of 20 attempts for 173 yards against the SEC's worst defense and remember, 62 of those came on one play.

The defense gave it up to Florida backup quarterback Tramell Jones and old Longhorns nemesis Jaden Baugh, and Sarkisian had zero answers for any of it. During the pivotal opening drive of the third quarter, Jones authored five straight third-down conversions against what was supposed to be an elite defense.

It all added up to a Sarkisian-coached team losing a second straight for the first time since his 5-7 debut in 2021.

"Everything will be evaluated," a visibly upset Sarkisian said.

When asked if that included the starting quarterback, Sarkisian said, "Everything is everything."

This has to go down as the worst loss since, well, last week's to the Oklahoma Sooners. Florida had been outscored 83-36 over the last two losses to South Carolina and Missouri.

"We haven't given up," Texas defensive tackle Hero Kanu said. "We still believe."

Now 1-2 in the toughest conference in America, the Horns are back at home against Ole Miss in their next one, which will feature a much better quarterback in SEC player of the year candidate Trinidad Chambliss.

Sarkisian should evaluate himself before he looks at any players. The Gators came in allowing 268 passing yards per game, the worst at defending the pass in the SEC, but he stuck to his bullet-less guns and decided against airing it out with talented pass catchers Ryan Wingo and Cam Coleman on the outside. And when the defense showed some cracks, the Horns - a roster that costs in the neighborhood of $45 million - were an open book.

These are the times that will test a team's mettle. Texas got out-toughed and outplayed by a team that showed tremendous belief.

And just like that, Texas' CFP future is very much on the line.