AUSTIN — At the well-surrounded table in the center of the room, where the primetime players are propped up in front of cameras and reporters, Texas’ defensive No. 16 issued a declaration to the offensive No. 16 as the two swapped positions.
“The best player in college football,” safety Michael Taaffe boomed as he approached the scrum for his round of postgame interviews. “Arch Manning.”
Whether Manning is or isn’t wasn’t relevant Friday night or in the best stretch of college football that he’s played yet. What did is that he no longer plays “like a first-year starter,” as Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian put it, and that his performance has more closely resembled the five-star prodigy he’d been labeled as.
The best player in college football? He can’t claim that title yet. The doe-eyed newcomer? He can’t rightfully be described as that either. The guy who might’ve helped keep his team’s College Football Playoff aspirations alive for another week? He’d prefer that moniker.
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“Uh,” Manning said when asked for a self-description, “just a guy trying to win games.”
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Against previously undefeated Texas A&M, in a 27-17 win at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium Friday night, he and his offensive teammates met that makeup in a second half that ended with a stadium-wide singalong to Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration” and a nifty drone show that capped their third consecutive victory vs. their in-state rivals.
The No. 16 Longhorns (9-3, 6-2 SEC) outscored the No. 3 Aggies (11-1, 7-1) 24-7 in the second half courtesy of an offense that took two-plus quarters to shake itself into motion. They out-gained the Aggies 285-160 in the second half — and 185-35 in the third quarter alone.
“I just challenged them,” Sarkisian said of his halftime speech. “It was about pride for the next 30 minutes. It was about Texas fight. How much fight do we have left in us in the tank to fight for and with one another? We had to dig deep, we felt like we could control the game, but everybody had to give more.”
Manning, a sophomore, was chiefly among those who were required to reach a second level. He completed just eight of his 23 first-half pass attempts for just 51 yards and entered the locker room down 10-3 to an Aggies team that’d gripped momentum in the first two quarters.
Sarkisian said that Manning, who finished with 232 total yards of offense and two touchdowns, made the correct reads in the first half but had unsettled feet and was too keen for “escape lanes” on the ground after the Aggies’ defense allowed him holes to run. It didn’t help that his wide receivers couldn’t gain separation from A&M defenders, either, or that the Longhorns were left with far too many third-and-long holes to dig themselves out of.
Manning passed for 128 yards in the second half and found wide receiver Ryan Wingo for a 28-yard touchdown in the third quarter that gave the Longhorns their first second-half lead. He nearly overthrew Wingo — who was completely uncovered as the Aggies keyed in on the Texas run game — because he rushed a throw with fear that he’d nearly crossed the line of scrimmage.
Manning marched the Longhorns down the field on their final drive of the third quarter and benefited from suddenly open receivers — something he hardly had in the first half — to do so. He found wide receiver Parker Livingstone uncovered across the middle for a 19-yard gain and, two plays later, hit tight end Jack Endries for a 54-yard gain that moved Texas down to A&M’s 2-yard line. Tight end Nick Townsend scored a rushing touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Manning iced the game with a 35-yard touchdown run with 7:07 left in the fourth that gave Texas a definitive 27-17 lead. His A&M counterpart Marcel Reed, who entered the game a Heisman Trophy candidate, threw interceptions to Taaffe and cornerback Kobe Black after Manning’s run.
“I wasn’t playing well,” Manning said of the first half. “I think we kind of slowed down and I didn’t try to do too much. We were physical up front, our o-line played really well, [Quintrevion Wisner] ran hard, I really just had to hand the ball off.”
Wisner, a junior running back from DeSoto, rushed for a season-high 155 yards — the bulk of which was totaled in the third quarter — and helped unlock the Texas offense. He broke a 48-yard run to start the first Texas drive of the third quarter to move the Longhorns into field goal range. He rushed for 37 yards on four carries in the next drive and helped set up Manning’s pass to a wide-open Wingo in the end zone.
The Longhorns averaged 4.7 yards per carry on 13 first-half attempts. They averaged 7.1 yards per carry on 22 second-half attempts and were able to open up their pass game because of it.
“We controlled the game that way,” Sarkisian said. “I think we put them in some stressful situations offensively because of our ability to posses the football.”
Wisner rushed for 186 yards in last year’s 17-7 win against the Aggies at College Station’s Kyle Field. He was asked postgame if he is the “Aggie Slayer” for his multiple performances.
“I’m Tre Wisner,” he said. “I go to the University of Texas. We play high-level football and do great things on and off the field. I executed for my team tonight.”
Or, in other words, a guy trying to win games.
It worked Friday night.
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