“Let the fire Sark and bench Manning talk begin”: Fans troll Texas for dropping out of Top 25 AP Poll ranking after Florida loss

Maliha
Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning (Credit- Getty)
Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning (Credit- Getty)

Fans reacted as Texas dropped out of the latest AP Poll released on Sunday, marking the Longhorns’ first absence from the rankings since 2022. The fall came after their 29-21 loss to Florida on Saturday.

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Steve Sarkisian's program opened the season as the nation’s No. 1 school in the preseason AP Poll two months ago. Entering Week 6, quarterback Arch Manning's Longhorns were ranked No. 9, but their loss against Florida erased that status.

Fans had hilarious reactions to the Longhorns’ massive downfall.

“Let the fire Sark and bench Manning talk begin. Can this young man not get a full season under his belt to help get the feel of the game? Not a Texas fan but I hope he develops into something special,” a fan said.
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“Logo bias doesn’t win games,” one said.
“From one to none,” a person said.
“This team has shown they ain’t even a top 40 team rn,” one said.

Meanwhile, Texas fans also vented their frustrations.

“We did not deserve to be ranked #1 with a new o-line, a largely untested QB and a new set of receivers. I have no issue being unranked given the body of work thus far. I hope it’s wake-up call,” a fan said.
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“Not good enough. Sark needs to go full on Augie Garrido this week in practice,” a person said.

Meanwhile, Penn State also fell out of the rankings after losing 42-37 to UCLA. The Nittany Lions were the No. 2 program in preseason, marking the first time in AP Poll history that both preseason No. 1 and No. 2 programs went unranked during the same season.

According to Fox Sports, the last time two top-10 programs dropped out in the same week was Sept. 16, 1986, when No. 8 Tennessee and No. 10 Ohio State both vanished from the poll.

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Steve Sarkisian reflects on Texas’ loss to Florida

Texas returned from a bye week to face Florida in Week 6, but instead of extending their winning streak to four, the Longhorns suffered an eight-point defeat.

Steve Sarkisian opened up about the loss following the game.

“Obviously a disappointing loss in the fact that we just didn’t play great,” Sarkisian said (via On3). “We didn’t play very good especially early on in the ball game.
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“We struggled to get stops defensively. We really were not very good on the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball early.”

However, Sarkisian praised his players’ effort.

“Had some opportunities, missed some opportunities, but we battled and competed and competed until the very end,” Sarkisian said. “I love the fight of the guys, but we’ve got to play better. We just didn’t play good enough, and that’s on me. We’ve got to get that fixed.”

Sarkisian's squad will try to adress the Week 6’s mistakes in practice ahead of their upcoming game with Oklahoma next week.

Edited by Maliha
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