AUSTIN - Arch Manning isn’t pretending Saturday’s Red River Rivalry won’t feel a little strange. It will. His former roommate, Parker Livingstone, is now wearing Oklahoma colors, and Manning knows exactly how that looks heading into Texas’ showdown with the Sooners.
“It’s going to be different. Obviously, being roommates and best friends, now he’s at a different school, but I’m not going to think anything of it. We’re going to try to go beat OU and win the game, and then I’ll say what’s up to him after,” Manning said.
When asked again about the reunion, Manning kept it brief.
“Maybe,” the Texas quarterback deadpanned.
That low-key response stands in sharp contrast to Livingstone’s louder exit from Austin and the noise that followed. After putting together 29 catches for 516 yards and six touchdowns for Texas in 2025, he hit the portal when it opened and said, “Never in a million years did I think I would be going into the portal looking for a new home. Some things are out of my control.”
His move quickly turned into a source-off. Texas’ side indicated the Horns offered the 6-foot-4, 191-pound receiver a “ mid-six figure NIL/rev share deal ” before he signed with Oklahoma over Indiana for $800,000, according to a Houston Chronicle report.
Livingstone added more fuel during the spring with a blunt shot at both rivals.
”When I was at Texas, I wanted to go and beat the crap outta OU. Now that I’m at OU, I want to go there and beat the crap outta Texas,” Livingstone said.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian didn’t exactly soften the edges at SEC Media Days when asked about seeing one of his former players on the other sideline in Dallas.
“I hope we kick his ass,” Sarkisian said. “It’s the Red River Rivalry.
He chose to go there. He’s on the other side.
That’s the way the game goes.”
The list of players who have moved between Texas and Oklahoma is short, but it does include some notable recent names. Quarterback Casey Thompson ended up at his father’s alma mater after stops at Texas, Nebraska and Florida Atlantic, while receiver Brenen Thompson left Austin for Norman before later finding success at Mississippi State.
Still, those transfers haven’t exactly produced big moments against the other school. Casey Thompson never appeared in a game for Oklahoma, and Brenen Thompson’s role was limited in OU’s 2023 win over Texas, when he caught three passes for 19 yards.
If Livingstone breaks that pattern and makes a real mark on Saturday, it would also be his first true impact showing for Oklahoma. Through 73 snaps over four games, the Lucas Lovejoy product has just five catches for 51 yards, one fumble and a long reception of 17 yards.
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For Texas, the concern is not just the flags themselves but the timing and the yardage they erase. In a rivalry game like this, one drive-killing mistake can change the feel of the entire afternoon, which is why Sarkisians message has centered on sharper discipline and better execution. He sounded optimistic that the extra preparation would help, but the Longhorns still have to show they can carry that progress into a setting where every mistake gets magnified. [Read more 🡒]