No. 1 Texas is headed into its SEC opener with a familiar number next to its name and a much less familiar setting ahead.
The Longhorns opened as 5.5-point favorites for next Saturday’s first-ever trip to No. 15 Tennessee, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.
Texas is 3-0 after Saturday’s 30-6 win over UTSA, and now the top-ranked team in the country walks into Neyland Stadium for the first time. The 101,915-seat building has a reputation that needs no sales pitch.
Texas and Tennessee have only met three times before, and all of those games came in the Cotton Bowl. Tennessee won the first one, 20-14, in 1951. Texas answered with wins in 1953, 16-0, and 1969, 36-13.
The Volunteers, meanwhile, have opened 3-0 under sixth-year head coach Josh Heupel. They’ve rolled through Furman, Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State, piling up points at a fast clip. Tennessee is averaging 47.7 points per game and 298.7 rushing yards per game, with freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon and running back Desean Bishop driving the offense.
Brandon has completed 60.5% of his passes with five touchdowns and no interceptions. Bishop has 43 carries for 286 yards, a 6.7-yard average, and four scores.
That tempo and spacing is nothing new to Texas. The Longhorns saw it against Texas State on Sept. 5, and linebacker Justin Cryer said the preparation has been building toward this week from the start.
“We went through the wide splits and tempo against Texas State,” Texas linebacker Justin Cryer said. “We saw some tempo again tonight [against UTSA]. We've been kind of building up for this [Tennessee] game, and now we're playing as a team with the talent and means to to go out there and play effectively.
“The challenge is what it is. They go deep.
They have their freshman quarterback [Faizon Brandon], who I think is a really great athlete. Super live arm.
They're big up front. They have a lot of playmakers outside, too.
So, it's definitely going to be a challenge for us just to go out there and get lined up, ready for that tempo. To see those wide splits again is kind of annoying, but that's how college football is these days - it's a copycat league.
We'll have our hands full. But that's why we practice.”
Texas’ defense will have to be sharper against the run than it was in the broader numbers entering Saturday night. The Longhorns had been last in the SEC in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert 50% of the time, which ranked 125th nationally out of 138 teams. But against UTSA, Texas held the Roadrunners to 1-of-11 on third down.
Tennessee’s offense will face a different look on the other side too, especially with Jim Knowles now running the Vols’ defense after being let go at Penn State when former head coach James Franklin was fired. Knowles also served as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State and was Ohio State’s DC in 2024, when the Buckeyes beat Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinals and then won the national title.
His scheme is known for being complicated, and players usually settle in only after spending time in it. Opponents are averaging 138.0 rushing yards per game against Tennessee, at 4.3 yards per carry.
Texas’ offense didn’t look nearly as clean against UTSA as it did in the comeback win over then-No. 1 Ohio State. Against the Roadrunners, the Longhorns managed just 10 second-half points and never found much rhythm after scoring touchdowns on three straight, double-digit-play drives in that 24-23 win in Columbus.
Arch Manning finished 16 of 32 for 161 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions against UTSA, and he said the performance wasn’t up to standard.
“I didn't play well,” Manning said. “On offense, we were a little sloppy. Got to be better if we want to beat Tennessee.”
Next Saturday also carries a family note for Manning, whose uncle Peyton Manning played quarterback at Tennessee before going on to win two Super Bowls in the NFL.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian called the win over UTSA a “choppy” offensive game and said Manning “fell in love with his legs a little bit.”
“Clearly, we're going to need to play better next week in Knoxville in a tough environment against a very good football team,” Sarkisian said. “So, hey, it's good to win our 12th straight at home.
I think we're 23-and-one now in our last 24 games. We know we're tough to beat here at home, but now we've got to go do it on the road, and I think that's the that's the next challenge for this team.”
In Other News...
Texas Leaves UTSA With An Offensive Concern Fans Can't Ignore
A 30-6 win usually leaves a team feeling pretty good about itself, and Texas had plenty to like on the defensive side after holding UTSA to field goals and keeping the Roadrunners out of the end zone. But the offense left a more uncomfortable conversation behind, because the Longhorns were not nearly as sharp finishing drives as they had been in their first two games.
Against UTSA, Texas managed to get moving enough to control the game, but the red zone was a different story, and that kind of drop-off is hard to ignore this early in the season. With Tennessee next on the schedule in the SEC opener, the margin for settling for three instead of seven figures to get a lot thinner, which is why the way Texas turns possession into points now feels like a real issue to watch. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Looked Like No. 1 Until One Ugly Warning Sign Emerged
Texas finished its non-conference slate with a 30-6 win over UTSA, and the result was enough to push the Longhorns to 3-0 and into the No. 1 spot in the Top 25. Steve Sarkisian had plenty to like on the defensive side, where Texas again looked like a team built to control games, but the night also served as another reminder that the margin for error gets much thinner once SEC play starts.
Arch Mannings box score was solid enough on paper with two touchdown passes and no interceptions, but the offense never looked especially sharp and the quarterback absorbed multiple hard hits while trying to extend plays. Texas also piled up eight penalties for 88 yards after being flagged only twice against Ohio State, and that kind of sloppiness is the sort of warning sign a No. 1 team cannot ignore for long. [Read more 🡒]
Sarkisian Just Sent A Message About Texas Emerging Defensive Edge
A fast start from the Texas defense helped turn Saturdays in-state meeting with UTSA into a showcase of where Steve Sarkisians team is trying to separate itself. Texas controlled the game in a 30-6 win, and the Longhorns defense looked far sharper than it had at times earlier in the season, especially on third down and against the run. UTSA never found much rhythm offensively, and Texas spent most of the afternoon forcing the Roadrunners into long, uncomfortable possessions.
The opening sequence hinted at how the day would go, with Texas immediately putting pressure on UTSAs offense and never really letting it settle in. For a program looking for a more defined edge on that side of the ball, that kind of early statement matters, especially against a team that had been so consistent in finding the end zone. The bigger question now is whether this was just a strong home performance or the start of something the Longhorns can carry into a tougher stretch. [Read more 🡒]