Arch Manning’s Texas Longhorns pulled off a magnificent 27-17 win over in-state rival and previously undefeated Texas A&M at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. The win improved Texas’s record against the Aggies to 78-37-5.
Despite opening the season ranked No. 1 nationally, the Longhorns had at one point fallen out of the top 25 entirely. However, this win over Texas A&M strengthens their case for a potential College Football Playoff berth.
Arch Manning Shares His Take on Texas’ Playoff Scenario After Friday’s Win
In Friday’s game, Manning struggled early, completing only 8 of 21 passes for 51 yards in the first half. He turned things around in the second half, finishing strong by completing six of his final seven passes and ending the game with 14 completions on 29 attempts for 179 passing yards.
With the 10-point win over Texas A&M, Manning’s team maintained faint hopes for a third straight playoff berth, and he also sent a pointed message to the playoff committee.
“If you let us in, we can beat anyone,” Manning said postgame.
Texas now sits at 9-3 on the season and is ranked No. 19 on the PFSN CFB Playoff Meter following Friday’s win. The Longhorns have losses to Ohio State, Florida, and Georgia. The loss to the Gators is considered a major negative on their resume.
A three-loss team faces slim playoff odds, especially with several two-loss teams currently ranked ahead of Texas. For the Longhorns to make the playoffs, multiple teams above them would need to stumble in their final games this weekend.
Besides Manning, Steve Sarkisian also made Texas’ case for inclusion in the playoff.
“A lot of the pundits out there think they’re the No. 1 team in the country, we just beat them by 10,” Sarkisian said. “If you really look at the body of work, and you look at the Southeastern Conference of what we have to go through every week, you look at the non-conference schedule we played, to go to Ohio State in Week 1 and lose by seven when we outgained them by nearly 200 yards, we got a really good football team.
“It would be a disservice to our sport if this team is not a playoff team when we went and scheduled that non-conference game. Because if we’re a 10-2 team, it’s not a question. But we were willing to go play that game. Don’t play anybody and just have a good record, or play the best and put the best teams in the playoff. And, we’re one of the best teams.”
Before defeating Texas A&M, the Longhorns also notched wins over two top-10 teams at the time: Oklahoma (23-6 on Oct. 11) and Vanderbilt (34-31 on Nov. 1). These wins may also give the committee a lot to think about.
The fifth set of playoff rankings for the season will be released on Tuesday.
