Texas Football: Fixing Inept Offense Must Be Longhorns' Top Offseason Priority

HOUSTON, Texas—The Longhorns had the chance to end Charlie Strong's first year as the Texas head coach on a high note but fell short in a 31-7 loss to Arkansas in the Advocare Texas Bowl.

Texas somewhat had home field advantage with an in-state bowl game but played as if the team was in a different country with everyone rooting against them.

"It’s been a season that’s been up and down. You go out here tonight and you play against a good Arkansas team. You would have thought that we would have come out and just been better prepared," Strong said following the loss. "It falls on the head coach and the coaches, but at some point too, we’ve got to develop and we’ve got to get the pride back in this program."

The blame of this loss can be spread out to various positions, but the majority of it is on the offense.

Texas was held to 25 total offensive yards until the final offensive drive in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Longhorns had given up 29 penalty yards leading into the last drive. And that is not a typo.

"We didn’t execute on offense," said Strong. "What happens if you’re watching so much, when we have one bad play it leads to another bad play. It’s like we can’t retain our focus. We can’t get back on track. Nobody’s making a play. We’re not blocking anybody. We’re not running the ball. We’re not protecting the quarterback. There are no playmakers.”

Quarterback Tyrone Swoopes is going to receive a lot of the blame for the loss and rightfully so. The sophomore looked like a fish out of water most of the game and struggled to lead his offense.

Team	Rushing Yards	Comp-Att-Int	Passing Yards	Total Yards	Possession Time
Arkansas	191	12-23-0	160	351	41:10
Texas	2	13-25-1	57	59	18:50

The unit's performance is without doubt the reason Texas has ended its season with a losing record.

There are a number of instances that led to the offensive struggles in year one of Strong's career in Austin. Texas suffered injuries to its starting quarterback and center in Week 1 of the season and had an offensive line with limited experience, which led to the Longhorns run game being non-existent in various games this season.

The most important thing for the coaches to do is find a way to formulate an effective offense if the Longhorns are planning on winning games in 2015.

But putting together an effective offense may require having a new quarterback under center.

This may come off as harsh but there's no reason for anyone to believe Swoopes should be the automatic starter in 2015.

Can he change that statement during the offseason? Absolutely, but he will need to make significant progress in order to prove the starting role should be his.

Nobody expected Texas to be good in year one of the Strong era. And if any Texas fans expected the Longhorns to be in contention for the College Football Playoff then they had their expectations set way too high.

It will take time for a coach to turn around a program and it will take special players to help make it happen. Strong and his staff need to get their guys at Texas, most importantly, offensive players who can put up more than 59 total yards against a 6-6 opponent.

Can it be done? Sure, but the jobs of the offensive assistant coaches could be on the line if significant steps are not made in 2015.

"Texas has got to mean something," Strong said. "Right now, it doesn’t mean much. We have to play with passion. We got to play with energy. You have to have an edge to you. We don’t have that right now."

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

Taylor Gaspar is Bleacher Report's featured columnist covering the Texas Longhorns. Follow Taylor on Twitter: @Taylor_Gaspar.