{"id":107455,"date":"2026-01-01T14:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T14:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/107455\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T14:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T14:10:09","slug":"how-the-longhorns-looked-in-win-over-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/107455\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Longhorns looked in win over Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although it fell a few spots short of the College Football Playoff, No. 13\u00a0Texas football <\/a>certainly looked like one of the nation\u2019s top teams in a thrilling 41-27 win<\/a> over No. 18 Michigan in Wednesday\u2019s Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla.<\/p>\n

Quarterback Arch Manning<\/a> set the table for what will likely be his final collegiate season in 2026 by accounting for 376 yards of offense and four touchdowns. A revamped defense overcame the absence of seven regular starters<\/a> this past season and forced three Michigan (9-4) turnovers, including two in the decisive fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Here’s how the\u00a0Longhorns<\/a>\u00a0(10-3) graded out in the 41-27 win over Michigan.<\/p>\n

Arch Manning<\/a> played an almost flawless game, considering that he threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns on 21 of 34 passing despite a handful of drops. He also ran for a career-high 155 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 60-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter that all but sealed the win. Legacies can be made in only a handful of games, and Manning met the moment.<\/p>\n

No Quintrevion Wisner<\/a>? No CJ Baxter<\/a>? No problem for redshirt freshman Christian Clark<\/a>, who carried the load for the first time and responded with 105 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Clark didn\u2019t even share the load while picking up just the second 100-yard rushing game by a running back this season; freshman Michael Terry III had the only other carry by a running back.<\/p>\n

Drops plagued almost the entire group, and injuries sidelined starters Ryan Wingo and Emmett Mosley V for much of the game. But freshman Kaliq Lockett took advantage of the increased snaps with two catches for 35 yards and his first career touchdown; tight end Jack Endries snagged his first touchdown catch since Week 2 against San Jose State<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Michigan played without a couple of likely NFL picks, but it still boasts a talent-laden defense, especially up front. No problem for the Longhorns\u2019 bunch, which paved the way for 456 yards of offense. Texas averaged 7.1 yards per carry, even factoring in an ill-timed snap by Connor Robertson that led to a 22-yard loss. Oh, and Manning didn\u2019t endure a single sack.<\/p>\n

Colin Simmons<\/a> took over as the SEC leader with his 12th sack, and Zina Umeozulu caused some havoc at the other end. Alex January had an active game inside, but the Wolverines did grind out 174 yards on 38 carries.<\/p>\n

Texas played without three starters because of various departures, but sophomore Ty\u2019Anthony Smith<\/a> stepped into the spotlight with two interceptions and a team-high nine tackles. Bo Barnes had three solo tackles and a sack while starting at middle linebacker in place of All-American Anthony Hill Jr.<\/a>, and the Longhorns survived their lack of depth at the position.<\/p>\n

The secondary played without three regular starters, and the youngsters made a few mistakes while allowing Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood to throw for 199 yards. But they also flew around with abandon; Warren Roberson delivered some crunching hits among his five tackles, Graceson Littleton capped an impressive freshman season with six tackles and a pass breakup, and Wardell Mack had his first career interception.<\/p>\n

Mason Shipley made both of his field-goal attempts, including his second from at least 50 yards. But Ryan Niblett lost a fumble on a return, and the Longhorns gave up 165 yards on six kickoffs.<\/p>\n

A team\u2019s effort in a non-CFB bowl game often serves as a reflection of the head coach and his staff. And Texas played hard in the Citrus Bowl, which is a credit to Steve Sarkisian. The Texas head coach also reached into his bag of tricks with a nifty 19-yard run for a first down by Manning on a sneaky direct snap in the first half. Interim defensive play caller Johnny Nansen helped calm down a young unit in the decisive second half.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although it fell a few spots short of the College Football Playoff, No. 13\u00a0Texas football certainly looked like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[38916,795,27,29,537,536,28],"class_list":["post-107455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-citrus-bowl","tag-michigan-wolverines","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-longhorns-football","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}