- You ready for some more Arch Manning Heisman hype? Here comes another round, after Manning picked apart Michigan in a bowl victory for Texas.
- On its best day, Texas was a College Football Playoff team. It had too few best days and too many flops.
- Bryce Underwood throws three interceptions as new Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham observes.
Can’t spell Citrus without U-T.
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
Steve Spurrier’s quip rings as true today as it did when he uncorked it in 1997 at the expense of Tennessee and Peyton Manning.
A different UT and another Manning finished a season at the Citrus Bowl. Say this much for the Mannings: They don’t lose these also-ran bowl games in Orlando.
You ready for some more Arch Manning Heisman hype? Here comes another round, after Manning picked apart Michigan in this 41-27 bowl victory for Texas.
Buckle up, Arch Manning fuels some fresh Heisman hype
Manning concluded his seesawing first season as Texas’ starter on a crescendo. He looks miles better than he did at the beginning of the season. Also, coach Steve Sarkisian gradually accepted he must embrace Manning’s best quality — his speed. He’d smoke his uncles in a foot race. Manning rushed for a career-high 155 yards against Michigan.
Heisman voters relish a dual-threat quarterback. Just saying.
With three pass rushers in Manning’s face and Texas trailing in the fourth quarter, he somehow wriggled out of trouble to move the chains on a pivotal fourth-down scramble. A few plays later, he tossed a go-ahead 30-yard touchdown strike.
Heisman moments! Just kidding. Manning will have to settle for a Citrus Bowl bow — for now, anyway.
Manning will put the NFL on hold to return to Texas in 2026. Buckle up for another offseason of Manning mania.
How did Texas fail to reach College Football Playoff? Good question
Let’s learn from our past mistakes and keep the hyperbole in check, shall we? In the span of several weeks this fall, Manning went from being the nation’s most ballyhooed quarterback with the famous surname to ‘a man synonymous with failure,’ if you believed the New York Times’ absurd narrative.
Manning is not some superhuman blend of Tim Tebow meets Joe Burrow with a dash of Cam Newton. He’s got talents of his own, though, and they were on full display against the Wolverines.
Manning played well enough that it remains difficult to understand why Texas’ season ended here and not in the College Football Playoff.
What a waste, for Texas, of a talented roster backed by a well-funded war chest.
A Texas team good enough to beat Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Michigan should have reached the playoff and not lost three games, but the Longhorns were maddeningly inconsistent and not especially fundamentally sound.
In that way, Texas’ bowl performance reflected the regular season that preceded it.
Texas, the SEC’s most penalized team, attracted 12 flags in this one. Its wide receivers betrayed Manning by showing the holiday spirit hadn’t softened their hands of stone. Michigan enjoyed some success working against a reconstructed Texas defense affected by opt-outs.
And, still, Manning played well enough that a Texas season marred by a few bad games, including a crippling flop in The Swamp, ended in triumph.
On its best day, Texas could look like one of the nation’s 12-best teams. The Longhorns didn’t make the playoff for a few reasons. For one, this CFP format isn’t designed to produce the 12-best teams. Also, on any given Saturday, Texas was as likely to flop as it was to dazzle.
The same Texas team that looked miserable in a loss to Florida (which finished 4-8) and needed overtime to fend off Kentucky and Mississippi State beat four opponents that finished with at least nine wins.
Go figure.
Kyle Whittingham gets eyes on Bryce Underwood
Manning outplayed Michigan’s Bryce Underwood, himself a former five-star quarterback recruit.
If Underwood returns to Michigan, new coach Kyle Whittingham must engineer more consistency than the Wolverines got from the true freshman. Underwood interspersed brilliance with blunders. Texas intercepted him three times.
Not unlike Manning, Underwood requires more wide receiver help, too. He also needs to gain some of the polish Manning acquired throughout his first season as Texas’ starter.
Of course Manning would play well in Orlando. Uncle Peyton’s career included two triumphs in the Citrus Bowl, while Spurrier’s Gators played in more premier bowl games. Peyton came up just short of the Heisman Trophy in his final season at Tennessee.
Texas kept the UT in Citrus this season, but Arch isn’t done yet.
Manning for 2026 Heisman? That campaign begins now.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
