If this is what a “culture win” looks like, Texas fans better hope culture travels. No. 21 Texas needed every ounce of special teams luck and a goal-line stand to escape Kentucky 16 to 13 in overtime at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky, a result that says more about the Longhorns’ problems than their progress.

Mason Shipley bailed Texas out twice, drilling a 39-yarder with 1:00 left, then the 45-yard winner in OT.

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The offense did almost nothing. Texas finished with 179 total yards and only looked competent when Ryan Niblett flipped the field on punt returns of 45 and 43 yards. The lone touchdown came after Niblett’s first long return when DJ Campbell fell on a fumble in the end zone. That’s not a recipe, that’s a rescue.

Steve Sarkisian framed it as grit.

“Once a year, you have a culture win, where the game is not pretty, but because the team is so close, find a way to win the game,” he said.

He is right that the defense and special teams carried the night. He is also confirming the obvious. The offense isn’t close to good enough.

Arch Manning threw for 132 yards and Quintrevion Wisner punched in one score. That’s the list.

Kentucky doubled Texas in yardage, 395-179, and still found a way to lose, missing a first-half 53-yard field goal and getting stuffed at the Texas 1 after four cracks.

Cutter Boley’s 16-yard keeper tied it at 10 early in the fourth and Jacob Kauwe’s 45-yarder with nine seconds left forced OT. Texas survived because the Wildcats stalled again.

Sarkisian called it “a tremendous goal-line stand” and “a way to win on the road at night in the SEC.”

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Fine, here’s the real truth: If Texas needs opponents’ mistakes and long returns to beat a 2-4 team, what happens at Mississippi State next week when the breaks don’t show up?

Sorry, Longhorns fans … Texas isn’t “back”!