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Author: Associated Press

Top-ranked Texas likes the view from No. 1 but is focused on long season ahead

Written by Associated Press on . Posted in UT FOOTBALL.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas has seen the view from No. 1 and the Longhorns know the fall from the college football summit can be hard.

The goal now is to make sure they get more than a fleeting glimpse from the top.

Texas (2-0) jumped to No. 1 after a wild 24-23 victory over Ohio State, which knocked the Buckeyes from No. 1 to No. 6. The Longhorns play UTSA this week before starting Southeastern Conference play Sept. 26 at No. 15 Tennessee.

“A week ago, the narrative was we can’t win the big game,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday. “The opinion now is we’re the best team in the country, allegedly, and so everybody is patting us on the back.”

And he cautioned his team about getting carried away with it.

“This is the third straight year we’ve been ranked No. 1 at some part of the season,” Sarkisian said. “I don’t know how we handled it. And I don’t know how worthy we were of those rankings, of the opinions of others.”

The Longhorns look worthy of the top spot for now. How things shake out by season’s end is yet to be seen.

In 2024, Texas rose to No. 1 for the first time since 2008. The Longhorns stayed there for a month before losing to Georgia. They wouldn’t get back to No. 1, but made it all the way to the College Football Playoff semifinals before losing to eventual national champion Ohio State.

The fall last year was much farther and much harder.

Texas started the season No. 1 only to lose the first game at Ohio State. They were 3-2 a few weeks later and unranked. A 9-3 regular season left the Longhorns out of the playoff.

Senior linebacker Justin Cryer, a transfer from Florida State, seemed unimpressed with life at No. 1.

“It’s cool to post on Instagram or whatever,” Cryer said. “We have 10 more games to play.”

That’s where quarterback Arch Manning said the focus should be. He remembers the quick fall from No. 1 last season and getting left out of the postseason.

“The rankings don’t really matter until the playoffs,” Manning said. “We’ve got a lot to prove.”

Arch Manning throws four TD passes in season opener 59-7

Written by Associated Press on . Posted in UT FOOTBALL.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Arch Manning passed for 305 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Cam Coleman, and No. 5 Texas eased into the season with a 59-7 win over Texas State on Saturday.

Manning connected with Coleman for Texas’ first touchdown and with Ryan Wingo on the Longhorns’ next possession. Graceson Littleton’s 59-yard fumble return touchdown put Texas ahead 28-0 in the second quarter.

Coleman played his first two seasons at Auburn and was one of the top transfers in the country when he signed with Texas. He caught three passes for 70 yards in his Longhorns debut. Raleek Brown, who transferred from Arizona State, also scored twice.

“I liked how we got a lot of guys involved. We have a lot of playmakers who can do everything,” said Manning, who left the game in the third quarter with Texas leading 42-7.

Texas will host No. 1 Ohio State next week. The programs have an intense recent history. Ohio State beat Texas in the 2024 College Football Playoff semifinals, and again in the 2025 season opener.

And while Texas earned a relatively easy win Saturday, it wasn’t a perfect one.

Manning killed a touchdown drive at the end of the first half with a poor throw into triple coverage in the end zone. Texas’ first play was a 45-yard run by Hollywood Smothers, but the Longhorns managed just 111 yards rushing the rest of the way behind an offensive line that struggled to push the undersized Bobcats.

“The run game, we gotta look at and find ways to make it cleaner,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said “I knew we’d have some growing pains today, which we did. Now we have to fix those going into next week. ”

The takeaway

Texas State: The Bobcats (0-1) join the rebuilt Pac-12 this season after 13 years in the Sun Belt. Do-everything quarterback Brad Jackson passed for 150 yards and ran for 27 but was mostly held in check.

“It wasn’t a very good performance by us. Pretty terrible, to be honest,” Texas State coach G.J. Kinne said. “Obviously, that’s a really good team. Don’t want to take anything away from them. But we really got out coached more than we got outplayed.”

Texas: The Longhorns forced three turnovers and held Texas State under 350 total yards in new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp’s first game back at Texas. The former Florida and South Carolina head coach was defensive coordinator at Texas from 2008-2010, which included a loss in the national championship game in 2009.

Texas transfers deliver right away

Texas added firepower in the transfer portal and it delivered in the first game.

Coleman and Brown put up their highlight touchdowns. Smothers, who transferred from North Carolina State, had the big run on the first play. And linebacker Rasheem Biles, a preseason All-American from Pitt, punched out the fumble that Littleton scooped to score. Biles also had an interception in the third quarter.

“He’s a violent player,” Sarkisian said of Biles. “The play he made to cause that fumble was elite.”

Up next

Texas State hosts UTSA on Sept. 12.

Texas hosts No. 1 Ohio State on Sept. 12.

Cowboys Revamp Seek Playoff Run

Written by Associated Press on . Posted in NFL.

By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Pro Football Writer

It has been 13 years since the Cowboys missed the playoffs at least three consecutive seasons and more than 20 years since they had three losing records in a row. The expectation is that Dallas has done enough to end its recent slide by improving one of the NFL’s worst defenses enough to complement Dak Prescott’s potent offense. Brian Schottenheimer enters his second season as coach and offensive play caller with the same tools he had a year ago. Prescott had one of his best seasons with star receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, a productive running back in Javonte Williams and a tight end the Cowboys believe is still waiting on a breakout season in Jake Ferguson. Dallas brought in 34-year-old Christian Parker to replace Matt Eberflus, who lasted just one ugly season as defensive coordinator. The personnel at Parker’s disposal is significantly better, and he doesn’t have to worry about the Cowboys trading one of the league’s best defensive players. They did that a week before the season last year when they shipped disgruntled edge rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay, essentially setting up the epic failure that the defense became.

New faces

Edge Von Miller, S Caleb Downs, edge Malachi Lawrence, edge Rashan Gary, LB Jaishawn Barham, QB Sam Howell, S P.J. Locke, CB Cobie Durant, S Jalen Thompson, LB Dee Winters.

Key losses

CB Trevon Diggs, DT Osa Odighizuwa, S Donovan Wilson, special teamer C.J. Goodwin, LB Kenneth Murray, edge Jadeveon Clowney, edge Dante Fowler, CB Kaiir Elam.

Strengths

Prescott was a top-five quarterback by just about any measure last season, which helped Pickens have a breakout year coming off a trade triggered by a tumultuous start to his career in Pittsburgh. Pickens and Lamb are among the best duos in the game, which makes life easier for the third, fourth and fifth guys in the room. There could be an undrafted rookie among them in Camden Brown, who had a standout preseason. Williams’ arrival helped the Cowboys go from last in the NFL in rushing TDs in 2024 to the middle of the pack. Williams had 11 touchdowns, matching the total from his first four seasons combined in Denver. The interior of the defensive line, led by Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, could help Dallas be much better against the run. The Cowboys have struggled to stop the run for years, and they point to that as a reason they haven’t even reached an NFC championship game in 31 years.

Weaknesses

Until it proves otherwise, Dallas’ defense is known for having trouble getting off the field on third down or creating turnovers. The Cowboys were last in the NFL in third-down defense a year ago. Dallas gave up the most points (511) with the fewest interceptions (six) in franchise history. Logic says many of those numbers will improve with two first-round draft picks in Downs and Lawrence and the additions through trades or free agency of safeties Locke and Thompson and edge rushers Gary and Miller, a two-time Super Bowl champ who is joining his hometown team at 37. Durant was the NFL postseason leader with three interceptions last season for the Rams. The offensive line could end up being leaky if right tackle Terence Steele can’t find the form of his first few seasons or left tackle Tyler Guyton doesn’t progress as expected in his third season.

Camp development

Barham, a third-round pick, was among a handful of preseason standouts and could force his way into the lineup as a rookie even after Dallas traded for Winters believing a veteran was the anchor needed for a young group of linebackers. Barham, who went to Michigan, has shown great instincts at a position that has been a weakness for the Cowboys in recent years.

Fantasy player to watch

Pickens is coming off career highs in catches (93), yards (1,429) and touchdowns (nine). At his playmaking best, Pickens is unmatched on the Dallas roster, and now he’s playing for a big second contract. The former Georgia standout decided to accept the $27.3 million franchise tag without making a fuss, and the Cowboys won’t have a choice but to give him a long-term contract if he equals or surpasses his 2025 production.

Arch Manning leads No. 5 Texas

Written by Associated Press on . Posted in UT FOOTBALL. 

By JIM VERTUNO AP Sports Writer

No. 5 Texas

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — 2025 record: 10-3

Expectations

Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns fell flat least season. Early national title talk ended with two early losses and Texas missed the College Football Playoff.

To get back to the CFP, coach Steve Sarkisian has loaded up the offense around his star quarterback. Transfer wide receiver Cam Coleman was arguably the catch of the offseason and the offensive line is more experienced and should be improved. Manning overcame last season’s slow start with a strong finish and could reignite a Heisman Trophy campaign if Texas can notch big wins early.

Beware more early losses that could derail Texas again. Top-ranked Ohio State comes to Austin in Week 2, and the Longhorns open SEC play at Tennessee on Sept. 26.

Strengths include wide receiver and pass rush

Manning passed for 26 touchdowns last season and has a wealth of targets in 2026. None is bigger than Coleman, who was one of the most coveted players in the portal and gives Texas a new elite deep threat to pair with Ryan Wingo. Wingo led Texas last season with 834 yards, and seven touchdowns and the kind of burst that threatens TD every time he touches the ball. Texas hopes those two can replicate what Xavier Worthy and A.D. Mitchell did in 2023 when Texas made it to the CFP semifinals.

Texas also upgraded at running back with transfers Raleek Brown from Arizona State and Hollywood Smothers from North Carolina State.

Edge rusher Colin Simmons is an elite game wrecker. He has 21 career sacks and may be the best defensive player in the SEC. An interior defensive line anchored by Hero Kanu can be disruptive. Transfer linebacker Rasheem Biles from Pitt had 100 total tackles and 4.5 sacks last year.

Weaknesses include secondary inexperience

The Texas secondary needs a rebuild after losing cover corner Malik Muhammad and All-American safety Michael Taaffe to the NFL draft. Texas also would like to develop a pass rush threat on the opposite side of Simmons. Scheming this up is new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who came back to Texas from Kirby Smart’s staff at Georgia. Muschamp was the Texas defensive coordinator from 2008-2010, a stint that included playing in the 2009 national title game.

New faces

WR Cam Coleman (transfer from Auburn), LB Rasheem Biles (transfer from Pitt), RB Hollywood Smothers (transfer from North Carolina State), RB Raleek Brown (transfer from Arizona State).

Key losses

WR Parker Livingstone (transferred to Oklahoma), LB Anthony Hill (NFL draft), DB Malik Muhammed (NFL draft), DB Michael Taaffe (NFL draft), RB Quintrevion Wisner (transferred to Florida State).

Biggest games for the Longhorns

Ohio State (Sept. 12), at Tennessee (Sept. 26), vs. Oklahoma (Oct. 10), at LSU (Nov. 14), at Texas A&M (Nov. 27).