Arch Manning revels in cigar smoke: Texas leaves Neyland with win—and a warning for college football
No. 1 Texas escaped Tennessee on the final play behind a ferocious defense and another poised outing from Arch Manning.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Cigar smoke drifted from the Texas locker room Saturday after the Longhorns beat Tennessee on a final-play stop at Neyland Stadium, with Arch Manning doing just enough to leave town with a win.
The result handed Texas its second top-15 road win in fourteen days and sent a blunt warning through the SEC: the Longhorns are winning in different ways, and their defense is the reason.
President Donald Trump was in the stadium for a first-half appearance, and the early anticipation around his arrival was clear as Secret Service cleared a path while the national anthem played. But the game itself became a slugfest.
Texas’ pass rush set the tone. Colin Simmons recorded five sacks, and Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said the defensive pressure led to eight Tennessee players being helped off the field.
Tennessee quarterback Faizon Brandon spent much of the afternoon scrambling, as the Longhorns consistently collapsed the pocket and prevented the Vols from finding a rhythm.
Manning threw for 127 yards in the first half as Texas took a 10-3 lead into halftime. He finished with 201 passing yards and no touchdown passes, but he put the Longhorns in position to win, with Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo presenting problems Tennessee could not consistently answer.
Sarkisian made it clear he was not interested in style points. “For us, we’ve got more of these to go ... We have 7 ranked opponents we have still yet to play ... That's why I’m not gonna apologize for how we beat a top-15 team on the road, when others don’t even play them,” he said postgame.
The environment was built to be hostile, with more than 100,000 fans entering early around half-price alcohol offers tied to Trump’s arrival traffic. Texas answered with its defense on nearly every Tennessee series.
Inside the locker room, the noise carried a message. “We're the real UT, so they can stop talking,” one player said as equipment staff loaded the truck for the ride back to Austin.
Texas has now beaten Ohio State and Tennessee in consecutive road-style tests, both top-15 opponents. With seven ranked opponents still on the schedule, the Longhorns have more chances to show whether this defense is the sport’s defining unit.
Reporting by Fox News. Read the original report: www.foxnews.com.
Continue reading with a subscription
Get unlimited access to all articles and exclusive content.
Get more articles like this in your inbox
Sign up for our daily newsletter and never miss a story.
