People keep acting like losing the starting QB means Texas is gonna fall apart in the red zone this season and I just cannot get on board with that take at all. The Longhorns finished 12th nationally last year converting 73.5% of red zone trips into touchdowns. That was with a specific QB. But here is what nobody wants to talk about: the offensive line returns four starters who maul people inside the 20 and the running game was the real engine of those numbers anyway. Texas averaged 4.7 yards per carry inside the red zone last season and that was with defenses stacking the box knowing we had to throw. The new QB is going to benefit from a scheme that creates easy reads near the goal line and Sarkisian has always been elite at scripting red zone concepts off play-action. This offense is built around the run game and the tight end position and neither of those things disappeared in the portal. The concern about the QB change is valid for the deep passing game but inside the 20 the margin for error shrinks and that actually helps a new starter because the reads are condensed. Texas has recruited too well at the skill positions for the red zone efficiency to crater. The Longhorns will still score touchdowns on over 70% of red zone trips this season and that puts them firmly in the top 20 again. People are overthinking this. The infrastructure is still elite.