{"id":446154,"date":"2026-09-24T10:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T10:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/446154\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T10:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T10:58:09","slug":"arch-manning-visits-stadium-where-uncle-peyton-dominated-in-texas-1st-trip-to-tennessee-wtop-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/446154\/","title":{"rendered":"Arch Manning visits stadium where Uncle Peyton dominated in Texas\u2019 1st trip to Tennessee \u2013 WTOP News"},"content":{"rendered":"

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 Arch Manning finally visits Neyland Stadium where his uncle Peyton made quite the legacy for himself when top-ranked Texas<\/a> visits No. 14 Tennessee. <\/a><\/p>\n

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian doesn\u2019t want his quarterback trying to live up to anyone else on Saturday. Not grandfather Archie nor either of his championship-winning uncles, Peyton and Eli. Don\u2019t compare the current quarterback to Colt McCoy or Vince Young of the Longhorns\u2019 past either. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want him to be Arch Manning, and Arch Manning is plenty good enough to put us in position to win,\u201d Sarkisian said. <\/p>\n

The last time a Manning played at Neyland Stadium, Peyton led the Volunteers to a win over Vanderbilt on Nov. 29, 1997. This time, his nephew leads the Longhorns (3-0) against Tennessee (3-0) in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. <\/p>\n

The quarterbacks will be key. Manning struggled in last week\u2019s 30-6 win over UTSA<\/a> after the big comeback over then-No. 1 Ohio State<\/a>. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel, a former quarterback himself, said Manning has shown really good command and control this season.<\/p>\n

Tennessee counters with freshman Faizon Brandon<\/a> who came to Knoxville rated as the nation\u2019s No. 3 quarterback. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why he came to Tennessee, just to play a team like this, and we play the best of the best,\u201d Vols wide receiver Braylon Staley said. <\/p>\n

Longhorns get first road test of their maturity <\/p>\n

Texas\u2019 three losses in 2025 \u2014 Ohio State, Florida and Georgia \u2014 all happened on the road. The Longhorns also needed overtime to win at Kentucky and Mississippi State. <\/p>\n

This is the Longhorns\u2019 first road trip this season and a good test of their maturity. This Texas roster came into the season with more than 2,300 career snaps than last season. Sarkisian thinks will make a difference. <\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, when Saturday comes, having great poise and composure, and executing the plan to the best of their ability (is the difference), Sarkisian said.<\/p>\n

Waiting for DeSean Bishop<\/p>\n

Tennessee running back DeSean Bishop went down in the first half of the Vols\u2019 42-9 win<\/a> over Kennesaw State with what appeared to be a hip injury. Bishop returned for a series in the third quarter before going to the sideline for the rest of the game. Heupel called Bishop\u2019s departure cautionary.<\/p>\n

Bishop has rushed for 286 yards and four touchdowns and is a big reason why the Vols have the nation\u2019s fourth-ranked rushing offense averaging 298.7 yards a game. If Bishop can\u2019t play, the Vols will turn to Daune Morris, who is rushing for 78 yards a game, and Javin Gordon (39.5).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll make sure he\u2019s fully ready to go on Saturday,\u201d Heupel said of Bishop.<\/p>\n

Texas defense has been dominant under new DC Muschamp<\/p>\n

Former Florida and South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp returned to Texas for the defensive coordinator job he held from 2008-2010, and he has the unit humming. Since allowing 20 points in the first half against Ohio State,<\/a> the Longhorns have surrendered just three fields since. <\/p>\n

Texas allowed just 142 total yards to UTSA and ended the Roadrunners\u2019 streak of 74 consecutive games with at least one touchdown. Texas also stopped 10 consecutive third-down plays.<\/p>\n

Texas\u2019 big-play offense looking for production<\/p>\n

Texas hit the transfer portal hard for playmakers on offense. Wide receiver Cam Coleman leads the team with four touchdowns, and running back Hollywood Smothers has scored three times. <\/p>\n

Yet Texas is not stretching defenses with big plays after Smothers went 45 yards on the first play of the season. <\/p>\n

Texas ranks 10th in the SEC in \u201cexplosive\u201d plays of 20 yards or more with nine total. Part of that is on Manning, who overthrew several open receivers last week. The Longhorns will face new Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Knowles<\/a>, who helped Ohio State win the national title<\/a> for the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

More than Arch Manning\u2019s first visit<\/p>\n

This will be the fourth game between two of college football\u2019s winningest programs. Texas leads the series 2-1 with all three played in the Cotton Bowl, the last in 1969. Neyland will be packed as fans checker the stands in Tennessee orange and white. President Donald Trump also is scheduled to attend.<\/p>\n

\u201cExpect them to be at their best Saturday, 12 o\u2019clock when the ball is teed up,\u201d Heupel said.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here<\/a>, visit the Top 25 here<\/a> and see AP\u2019s full college football coverage here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 Arch Manning finally visits Neyland Stadium where his uncle Peyton made quite the legacy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-446154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446154","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=446154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}