The Texas Longhorns' third losses prove fatal

Not much went right for the Texas Longhorns in Saturday night's 30-15 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, especially on one side of the ball than the other.

While the defense made some big plays to create some good opportunities, the offense just couldn't capitalize on them. The Longhorns finished the game with just 259 total yards and four turnovers, which was by far their worst offensive performance of the season.

There's no shortage of stats showing how bad the offense was, but perhaps the most concerning stat is that Texas converted just two of 15 third downs, both in the fourth quarter. There's no way around it, it's not good enough to get the job done.

“I thought early on we did some good things, and then we couldn't get enough positivity to convert a third down and make it last,” head coach Steve Sarkisian told reporters after the game. “When you finish the game, I think we were two of 15 on third down, that's not winning football. And we had some downs and yardage that should have been some viable third down opportunities. We kind of lived in Third and Mediums for a while there.

It's not as if the Bulldogs were incredible on third downs, as they converted six of their 17 chances. However, in a defensive game where neither team had 300 total yards, that's still more than enough to make a difference.

The lack of success on third down also contributes to another problem Texas has had on offense: slow starts. In the first half, the Longhorns had three separate three-pointers and another drive in which Quinn Ewers threw a pick on the third play. Their other possessions in the first half, which resulted in two punts and two fumbles, weren't much better.

A loss to the best team in college football in recent years isn't the end of the world, even if it was ugly. However, this game exposed some very concerning deficiencies for the Longhorns, and they need to work quickly to address them.