When the Texas football team hosts Vanderbilt Saturday, it appears that the Longhorns will be at full strength on offense.
Quarterback Arch Manning was removed from the SEC-mandated availability report Friday night. That clears the way for him to play for No. 20 Texas (6-2, 3-1) against No. 9 Vanderbilt (7-1, 3-1) at Royal-Memorial Stadium. Manning had been in concussion protocol since exiting last week’s overtime win at Mississippi State.
Had Manning been unavailable, Texas would have turned to backup quarterback Matthew Caldwell.
Instead Texas will likely have the services of Manning, who has thrown for 1,795 yards and 15 touchdowns this season while rushing for 199 yards and a team-high six scores. Manning has been able to participate in practices this week.
In other injury news, Texas also removed starting center Cole Hutson (undisclosed) from its availability report. Hutson has missed UT’s last two games. And senior safety Michael Taaffe was designated as doubtful. Like Manning, Taaffe has been able to practice this week. Taaffe needed surgery after suffering a thumb injury during an overtime win at Kentucky on Oct. 18, and he wasn’t able to play during last week’s trip to Mississippi State.