Texas Finishes Strong, Spoils Aggies’ Title Hopes Behind Wisner’s Breakout and Manning’s Second-Half Surge
The Texas Longhorns didn’t live up to their preseason billing as national title favorites, but they sure knew how to finish with a statement. In a rivalry game that had everything on the line for Texas A&M - including a potential first trip to a conference championship game this century - the Longhorns played spoiler in emphatic fashion, closing their regular season with a 24-7 second-half surge to take down the No. 3 Aggies.
The formula was old-school: run the ball, control the clock, let your quarterback get comfortable, and let the defense do the rest. Texas executed it to near perfection, and in the process, reminded everyone that this team still has the firepower to beat anyone when it puts it all together.
Quintrevion Wisner Breaks Loose
Let’s start with the ground game - because that’s where Texas flipped the script.
Coming into this one, the Longhorns had struggled mightily to establish anything consistent on the ground. But when it mattered most, Quintrevion Wisner delivered the kind of performance that rewrites narratives. The sophomore back carried the ball 19 times for 156 yards, notching the team’s first 100-yard rushing performance of the season - and doing it against one of the toughest defensive fronts in the country.
What made Wisner’s effort even more impressive was the timing. Fourteen of his 19 carries came in the second half, when Texas needed to control the tempo and protect a growing lead. He was responsible for nearly half of Texas’ 13 explosive plays, including the 30-yard dagger that iced the game and allowed the Longhorns to kneel it out in victory formation.
This wasn’t a one-off, either. Wisner has shown a knack for rising to the occasion in rivalry games.
Three of his five career 100-yard games have come against Oklahoma and Texas A&M. Against those two programs, he’s averaging 138.5 yards per game at a clip of 6.37 yards per carry - elite production in high-pressure situations.
Since 2000, only Cedric Benson and Cody Johnson have posted multiple 100-yard games against A&M in burnt orange. Now, Wisner joins that exclusive club.
Manning Finds His Rhythm When It Counts
Arch Manning’s final stat line - 14-of-29 for 179 yards and a touchdown, plus 53 yards and a score on the ground - doesn’t jump off the page at first glance. But the story lies in the second half, where Manning turned a sluggish start into a showcase of poise and playmaking.
The wind was swirling, and A&M’s secondary brought the heat early, but Manning settled in after halftime and started carving up the defense. He went 6-of-8 for 128 yards and a touchdown in the final two quarters - a blistering 16 yards per attempt that jumpstarted the offense.
Even if you take away the 58-yard catch-and-run to tight end Will Endries, Manning still averaged 10 yards per attempt in the second half, including a gorgeous 29-yard touchdown strike to freshman Ryan Wingo. That throw - and the way Manning extended the play with his legs - was a reminder of why the hype was real in the first place.
Yes, the early part of the season was rocky. Manning took his lumps, and the critics were loud.
But over the final month, he silenced most of them. In the last four games, Manning threw for 1,147 yards and nine touchdowns, completing 62 percent of his passes and averaging 8.5 yards per attempt.
That’s not just improvement - that’s a quarterback finding his groove.
He also made some history along the way. Manning’s four 300-yard games this season tie him for the fifth-most in a single year in Texas history, and he’s already sixth all-time in career 300-yard games - with half of them coming in just the last month.
Defense Delivers Against High-Octane Aggies
Texas’ defense doesn’t always get the same spotlight as the offense, but they absolutely earned it in this one. Coming into the game, Texas A&M had been lighting up scoreboards, averaging 38 points per game and topping 30 in all but one contest - a 16-10 slugfest against Auburn. But the Longhorns held them to just 24 total points, with only seven coming after halftime.
The key? Shutting down the run and making life miserable for quarterback Marcel Reed.
Texas held A&M to under 200 rushing yards - just the second time that’s happened in conference play this year. A&M came in averaging over five yards per carry, but managed just 4.6 against a swarming Longhorns front that stuffed five runs at or behind the line of scrimmage.
And when the Aggies turned to the air, things didn’t get much better. Reed had one of the worst outings of his career, posting just 5.6 yards per attempt - a career low - and throwing back-to-back interceptions in the second half. It was only the fourth time in his career he’s thrown multiple picks in a game, and it came at the worst possible time for A&M.
A Rivalry Win to Remember
This wasn’t the season Texas fans dreamed of back in August, but finishing with a win like this - against a top-three rival, on the road, with the conference title stakes hanging in the balance - is the kind of ending that can change the tone of an entire year. The Longhorns didn’t just beat the Aggies. They denied them history, knocked them out of the championship race, and walked off with bragging rights that will echo through the offseason.
For a team that’s had its share of ups and downs, this was a reminder of what they’re capable of when everything clicks. And if this version of Texas - with Wisner running wild, Manning in rhythm, and the defense playing fast and physical - shows up next year, the Longhorns might just live up to the hype after all.