Behind a career day from quarterback Arch Manning, Texas football beat an old rival and kept its fading playoff hopes alive.
Manning threw four touchdown passes, ran it in from three yards out and even hauled in a 4-yard score as Texas recorded a 52-37win over Arkansas at Royal-Memorial Stadium on Saturday. With the win, Texas improved to 8-3 on the season and 5-2 in its Southeastern Conference contests.
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The 15-point victory also kept Texas in the playoff conversation, even if the Longhorns aren’t a major talking point for the 12-team bracket. Ranked 17th in the College Football Playoff rankings, Texas could not afford a fourth loss with just one game left against No. 3 Texas A&M on its schedule.
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) runs into the end zone for a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Arkansas Razorbacks in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.
Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman
Offenses explode early as Arch Manning, Mike Washington Jr. lead the way
Before Saturday’s game, Ted Koy and Bill Montgomery accompanied the Texas and Arkansas captains to midfield for the coin toss. Koy was a former running back at Texas and captain of the program’s 1969 championship team. Montgomery is still considered to be one of Arkansas’ all-time great quarterbacks. Both played in the 1969 showdown between these two teams that has long been billed as the Game of the Century.
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Fifty-six years after then-No. 1 Texas earned a 15-14 win over No. 2 Arkansas in Fayetteville, the stakes were not as high. Arkansas entered this weekend with an eight-game losing streak. Texas was a week removed from having its playoff hopes diminished by a blowout loss at Georgia.
But that doesn’t mean that things weren’t entertaining.
More: Texas football QB Arch Manning catches touchdown pass vs Arkansas
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After Arkansas (2-9, 0-7) the game with a 41-yard gain, the two offenses were off and running. Arkansas scored on its first four possessions, and a 22-yard touchdown run by Mike Washington Jr. in the second quarter featured the senior running through an attempted tackle by UT safety Michael Taaffe. Texas began its day with Manning throwing 46- and 54-yard touchdown passes and also becoming the first Texas quarterback since David Ash in the 2011 Holiday Bowl to record a touchdown catch.
Texas and Arkansas traded four punts during the middle of the second quarter before a last-second field goal by Mason Shipley lifted the Longhorns into halftime with a 24-20 lead. During the first half, the two teams combined for 520 yards of offense. Manning threw for 213 yards while Washington rushed for 101 yards against a top-10 rushing defense that had allowed just one 100-yard rusher all season.
Texas Longhorns linebacker Liona Lefau (18) chases Arkansas Razorbacks running back Mike Washington (4) in the second quarter of the Longhorns’ game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Nov. 22, 2025.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Manning, Longhorns pull away from Razorbacks after halftime
On the first drive of the second half, Manning scored on a 3-yard run. He then extended the Longhorn lead with an 8-yard touchdown pass that featured him scrambling around the backfield before he found DeAndre Moore Jr. in the end zone.
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Texas eventually took a 35-23 lead into the fourth quarter. After getting outscored by 21 points in the fourth quarters of its last two games against Vanderbilt and Georgia, UT was only bested by a 14-7 in Saturday’s final frame with seven of the Razorbacks’ points coming on a meaningless touchdown with 16 seconds left.
More: Texas football LB Ty’Anthony Smith suspended for first half of Texas A&M game. Here’s why
Manning finished with 389 yards on 18-of-30 passing. Those 389 yards were a career-high total and they ranked 14th in the UT record books. Manning was responsible for six total touchdowns, which was one score shy of the school record that Clyde Littlefield set against Daniel Baker in 1915 and Casey Thompson matched against Kansas in 2021.
Manning’s top target on Saturday was Moore, who scored three times. Parker Livingstone turned his two catches into 104 receiving yards and both Ryan Wingo and Emmett Mosley V had 81 receiving yards.
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Defensively, the Longhorns ended up allowing 512 yards of offense on Saturday. Texas did force two turnovers in the second half, the second of which was a fumble that Longhorn linebacker Liona Lefau scooped up and scored off of. That fumble by Arkansas backup quarterback KJ Jackson was forced by edge rusher Colin Simmons, who became the first Texas player with double-digit sacks since Jackson Jeffcoat and Cedric Reed in 2013.
It was worth noting that a Texas team that was already missing linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. lost sophomore Ty’Anthony Smith to a targeting penalty in the second half. By rule, Smith must miss the first half of the Texas A&M game.
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) catches the ball to score a touchdown in the first quarter of the Longhorns’ game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Nov. 22, 2025.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Up next: Texas hosts No. 3 Texas A&M for the first time in 15 years
Next week, Texas will host another rival at Royal-Memorial Stadium. This time around, Texas A&M will be making its first trip to Austin since 2010.
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More: See the best photos from the Longhorns’ game against Arkansas
This will be the 120th game of the Texas-Texas A&M series, and this might be one of the best Texas A&M teams that UT has ever seen. Following Saturday’s 48-0 win over Samford, Texas A&M is 11-0. The Aggies are currently a top-three team in the College Football Playoff rankings as well as the Associated Press and coaches polls.
Last year, Texas and Texas A&M met for the first time in 13 years. The Longhorns recorded a 17-7 win in College Station and now own a 77-37-5 lead in the series.
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