Last season, every Texas road game felt like an exercise in not pulling out your hair and clenching your fists so hard you drew blood. 

Texas hit the road five times, coming home with heads held low in defeat on three of those road trips. While they were the victors in two of those games — against Kentucky and Mississippi State — it took a slugfest and a miraculous comeback to find any sense of joy after the final snap.

On Saturday, the Longhorns return to the road to take on Tennessee. They’ll be entering one of the hardest environments in the SEC as favorites. Sounds a bit too familiar to a year ago, doesn’t it?

But before fans get flashbacks to what happened on that forsaken Floridian field, it’s important to remember that the Longhorns enter this matchup with something they had far too little of last time around: experience.

Can Thousands of Snaps Be the Difference?

According to ESPN, this Texas roster entered the season with more than 2,300 additional career snaps compared with last year’s roster.

That lack of road-game familiarity was apparent after Texas’ first SEC game in the steamy swamp of Gainesville, Florida, where, for all intents and purposes, its playoff hopes died.

Penalties were killer that Saturday afternoon as the team recorded five false starts — a trend that carried throughout the rest of the season as Texas went on to finish with 15 false starts in away games.

Neyland will certainly not be any nicer than the Swamp was that day.

But other than the names on the back of those Longhorns’ jerseys, that’s about where the similarities end.

The experience Texas brings on Saturday could prove to be the difference between a strong SEC start and an early misstep that derails its entire season. Arch Manning and the Texas offensive line don’t have to play perfectly; a pre-snap penalty won’t necessarily be the deciding factor.

But it could very well be the first roll of a snowball that turns into an avalanche. It’s how Texas responds to those penalties and the ensuing frenzy of 100,000 Tennesseans that will decide Saturday.

It’s whether Arch Manning can maintain composure in an environment he hasn’t experienced in over 300 days that will help determine if those slip-ups become something more.

If a more experienced Manning can help Texas bounce back in ways it wasn’t able to a year prior, the Longhorns have a good chance of entering the Red River Rivalry undefeated.

The Offensive Line Will Have to Be in Sync

It’s almost guaranteed that Texas will be operating under a silent count for much of Saturday. A lot of that burden will fall on fifth-year center Connor Robertson, who'll be tasked with keeping the offensive line in sync.

Texas can’t afford to repeat last year's road game woes by consistently playing from behind the chains if it wants to win. The line must not only play in sync — which it’s done well so far this season — but also provide a clean, comfortable pocket for Manning.

If the line can play to the standard they’ve set through three games, and Manning can bounce back from an erratic performance against UTSA, the biggest advantage Tennessee has could quickly be silenced.

Texas has dealt with environments comparable to Rocky Top before. 

Now, the Longhorns just have to see whether last year's experience is the answer to their traveling troubles.

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