Texas heads into its first SEC road test of the season with a one-score edge over Tennessee, but nothing about this trip to Neyland Stadium looks simple. The No. 1 Longhorns are walking into a loud, high-stakes environment, and Texas quarterback Arch Manning will do it in the same stadium where his uncle Peyton Manning once climbed all the way to the No. 1 overall NFL draft pick.
That’s the kind of stage Arch is chasing this season. He already gave Texas a huge lift with the fourth-quarter comeback against Ohio State, a 20-point rally that turned into one of the defining wins of the early season. Now the question is whether he can deliver another signature performance on Rocky Top after an uneven outing in last Saturday’s trap game against UTSA.
Tennessee, though, has its own quarterback story. True freshman Faizon Brandon has not looked like a freshman through three games. He has run Josh Heupel’s offense cleanly, with no interceptions on 64 pass attempts, 552 passing yards, six touchdown throws and three more scores on the ground.
The numbers around him have been loud, too. Tennessee is averaging 510.3 yards of offense per game and 7.4 yards per play. But that production has come against Furman, Kennesaw State and Georgia Tech, and the first two were not exactly heavyweight tests while the Yellow Jackets surrendered 184 rushing yards to Colorado in Week 1.
Saturday brings a different kind of stress. If Texas edge rushers Colin Simmons and Lance Jackson can get into the backfield consistently, Brandon may be forced into his first real struggle as a college starter. He already put the ball on the ground once against Kennesaw State in Week 3, and backup offensive tackle Ory Williams has been a weak spot on the edge.
That makes this a real proving ground for the true freshman. So far, the Volunteers have survived on athleticism and speed, with Tennessee piling up 13 sacks and 25 tackles for loss in three games. That total is inflated by the six sacks and 16.5 TFLs against Furman, but the disruption has still been there.
There have also been subtle tweaks that have helped. Moving Jeremiah Telander from the Mike linebacker role he played under Tim Banks last season into an EDGE role has paid off for Jim Knowles.
Even so, Tennessee may have a problem where Texas can really attack. The Volunteers have given up 414 rushing yards through three games, and that opens the door for Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown to make noise on the ground. If they can soften things up, Manning could find room to work in the boundary flats and underneath zones, the same areas where he found momentum during the scoring drives in the fourth quarter against Ohio State.
There’s also the bigger-picture issue of Knowles’ system. It is historically difficult for players to absorb quickly, and Week 4 could be the kind of afternoon that reminds Tennessee how much sharper it still needs to be against top-tier SEC competition.
At the same time, Texas has a chance to keep building its case as the nation’s best team in 2026, and ESPN’s College GameDay will be there to watch it unfold.
In Other News...
Texas Just Revived A Discipline Concern Fans Hoped Was Gone
For a Texas team that had spent its first two games looking far cleaner than it did at times a year ago, the Saturday night win over UTSA offered a reminder that discipline can disappear in a hurry. The Longhorns were flagged eight times for 88 yards, a sharp jump from the previous two games, and the mistakes showed up in the places a staff least wants to see them - on offense, in the kicking game and in situations that were supposed to be routine.
Several of those flags came at damaging moments, from too many players on the field to a horse-collar tackle and a string of special teams infractions that changed field position and wiped away momentum. UTSA turned some of those openings into points on two drives, and Texas spent too much of the night trying to recover from self-inflicted problems instead of putting the game away on its own terms. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Freshman Turned One GameDay Moment Into A Massive Payday
A Texas freshman turned a Saturday spotlight into a life-changing moment on ESPN College GameDay, stepping into the networks Kicking is Easy challenge and calmly sending a 33-yard field goal through. Connor Kacena-Merrell had a crowd around him for the buildup, with fraternity brothers in the stands and encouragement flowing from Matthew McConaughey, Pat McAfee and Kirk Herbstreit before the kick that changed everything.
The prize ballooned to $1.2 million, and Kacena-Merrell immediately showed what kind of day it was for him by pledging half to the nonprofit Building Tomorrow. The rest, he said, will go toward his education and investments, turning a one-off GameDay opportunity into something with a much longer reach than the moment itself. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Faces A Colin Simmons Concern Ahead Of Tennessee
Texas got a scare in its win over UTSA when edge rusher Colin Simmons left early with a foot injury, and the early concern lingered afterward when he was seen in a walking boot. Head coach Steve Sarkisian initially downplayed the issue, suggesting Simmons would be fine, but the lack of a firm follow-up has kept the situation from settling.
The next real checkpoint comes Wednesday evening, when the first SEC injury report for Texas-Tennessee is released. Until then, Simmons remains one of the biggest questions on the Longhorns defensive side, especially with a trip to face Tennessee carrying plenty of attention and no shortage of stakes. [Read more 🡒]