Texas Longhorns Football

The Bijan Robinson-less Texas Longhorns fell to the Washington Huskies 27-20 in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Thursday night, but quarterback Quinn Ewers still put together one of his best performances of the season.

The freshman completed 31-of-47 passes for a career-high 369 yards, in addition to one touchdown in the loss.

Typically, the Longhorns would have relied heavily on Robinson, their junior running back, but he opted to not suit up for the game and declare for the 2023 NFL draft as he's expected to be a first-round pick.

In 2023 and beyond, Texas is going to have to rely more heavily on Ewers to lead the offense, and he gave fans plenty of hope that he can be the guy moving forward, even with the upcoming addition of Arch Manning.

Ewers, who reclassified from the 2022 recruiting class to the 2021 class, initially committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes out of high school. After riding the bench last season, he opted to enter the transfer portal, deciding Texas would be the best fit.

The 19-year-old had an up-and-down first season in Austin. Entering the Alamo Bowl, he had completed just 56.6 percent of his passes for 1,808 yards and 14 touchdowns against six interceptions.

Longhorns fans had questions about how Ewers would perform in the absence of Robinson, but Thursday's performance gave them confidence that he can lead the team to another winning season in 2023 without the star running back.

The top linebacker in the 2023 recruiting class is headed to the Texas Longhorns.

Tom VanHaaren of ESPN reported Anthony Hill, who was previously committed to Texas A&M before decommitting in November, chose the Longhorns on Thursday.

According to 247Sports' composite rankings, Hill is a 5-star prospect and the No. 19 overall player, No. 1 linebacker and No. 4 recruit from the state of Texas in the 2023 class.

Texas A&M landed the top-rated 2022 recruiting class by 247Sports' composite rankings, but it didn't even make a bowl game this season at 5-7 and is dealing with significant transfer portal fallout.

Cameron Ohnysty of USA Today's Aggies Wire noted 22 Texas A&M players have entered the transfer portal since Dec. 5. Watching a top-notch linebacker from within the state who was once committed to the program joining the rival Longhorns will surely do nothing to stop the negative momentum.

But A&M's loss is Texas' gain, as Steve Sarkisian has found plenty of success on the recruiting trail this year.

According to 247Sports' composite rankings, the Longhorns have the No. 3 class in the country behind only Alabama and Georgia. This is a program attempting to rediscover its place as a college football powerhouse ahead of a move to the daunting SEC, which is set for 2025, and recruiting is the quickest way to do just that.

Hill is one of the star players of what is a potentially cornerstone class for Texas.

Gabe Brooks of 247Sports provided a scouting report for the "thumper" who plays off the ball and possesses the ability to rush the passer, stuff the run in the hole and pursue ball carriers from sideline to sideline.

He is "one of the most dynamic defensive prospects in Texas and the country for the 2023 recruiting cycle," Brooks wrote. "Not a 'tweener as much as a situation- and scheme-versatile chesspiece who should be able to stay on the field in all scenarios."

That will certainly work for Texas as it looks to build a roster capable of competing in the SEC.

Texas and Oklahoma may be leaving the Big 12 for the SEC sooner than expected.

Brett McMurphy of The Action Network reported the "climate is right" for the two powerhouses to get out of their SEC contracts ahead of the 2024 season. Texas and Oklahoma are currently slated to join the SEC in 2025.

While the Big 12 appeared to be in danger of dissolving in the immediate aftermath of Texas and Oklahoma announcing their departures, the league instead rebounded to add BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston. The addition of those four schools helped the Big 12 land a new television contract and arguably helped pave the way for the Red River Rivals to leave early.

The SEC may also be motivated to bring Texas and Oklahoma into the fold in 2024 ahead of the College Football Playoff's expansion to 12 teams. The Big Ten will add USC and UCLA in 2024, potentially getting a year headstart on the "superconference" trend.

Adding Texas and Oklahoma in 2024 would keep the SEC on equal footing with the Big Ten. The SEC's new television contract with ESPN also starts in 2024 and includes a clause that requires the network to increase the value of the deal for new members.

"The Big 12 would like it to happen a year early, the SEC would like OU and Texas a year early, but FOX could care less and I'm not sure what ESPN will do," a source told McMurphy.

ESPN's desire to start paying out the Texas-and-Oklahoma-sized pay checks may ultimately wind up deciding whether the two schools wind up in the SEC in 2024 or have to wait.

The Texas Longhorns are, in fact, not back.

The No. 4 TCU Horned Frogs defeated the No. 18 Longhorns 17-10 on Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium as Texas dropped to 6-4 on the season.

It was an abysmal evening for the Longhorns as both the offense and defense had their fair share of issues.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers completed just 17 of 39 passes for 171 yards and no touchdowns against one interception. Jordan Whittington was the team's leading receiver with six catches for 78 yards, while running back Bijan Robinson rushed for 29 yards on 12 carries.

The Texas defense was particularly poor in the second half, allowing TCU running back Kendre Miller to rush 75 yards for a score and then quarterback Max Duggan to connect with Quentin Johnston for a 31-yard touchdown thanks to a breakdown in the secondary.

Duggan completed 19 of 29 passes for 124 yards and one score, and Miller rushed for 138 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries.

Following the game, Twitter ripped Texas for its poor performance:

With a talented roster not living up to expectations, Texas has a lot to figure out before the regular season comes to an end, especially if it wants an outside shot at one of the New Year's Six bowl games.

The Longhorns will next travel to face Kansas on Nov. 19 before closing out the regular season at home against Baylor on Nov. 25.

Arch Manning isn't waiting to get started at Texas.

According to Anwar Richardson of Rivals, Manning will enroll at the school in January:

Manning, the top overall prospect in the class of 2023 according to 247Sports' composite rankings, committed to the Longhorns in June over schools like Georgia, Alabama, LSU and Clemson, among others.

"He does have a big arm," a coach from an opposing school who recruited him told ESPN's Pete Thamel in June. "He's a lot more mobile than everyone thinks. He's not like a Manning who can't move. He can get out of trouble. He's not a statue in [the] pocket. He played basketball and can dunk. He's a prototypical kid that sees the field well. He's not going to make bad decisions and not make bad plays worse and will truly run the offense."

Manning's lineage is well chronicled. His uncles, Peyton and Eli Manning, were each NFL quarterbacks, with Peyton already in the Hall of Fame and Eli a contender for the honor.

His grandfather Archie Manning was also an NFL quarterback, while his father, Cooper, was set to play wide receiver at Ole Miss before spinal stenosis ended his football career in 1992.

Manning will bring to Texas one of the most legendary football legacies any recruit has ever possessed. No pressure or anything.

"What I've been impressed with is him living with the pressure," the coach who recruited Manning told Thamel in June. "He's got to live with that pressure and deal with all that. That may be a good transition for him. He's been doing it his entire high school career. No stage is going to be too big."

Returning Texas to national prominence is a sizable stage to conquer, however.

Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian apologized to the fanbase for not singing the school song after the team's 41-34 loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday:

"I owe an apology to Longhorn Nation," Sarkisian said (h/t ESPN's Dave Wilson). "I made a mistake at the end of the game in not singing 'The Eyes of Texas' when the game was done. That was not anything intentional. That was not anything that had to do with our players. I think our players just followed me up the ramp into the locker room, obviously upset by the way the game ended."

Sarkisian was seen quickly heading to the locker room after the final whistle of the road game in Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Only a few players remained on the field for the singing of "The Eyes of Texas."

The loss was certainly disappointing as Texas blew what was at one point a two-touchdown lead. The Longhorns scored just three points in the second half and were outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter.

Texas dropped to 5-3 on the season, with the team holding a fourth-quarter lead in all three of the losses.

Sarkisian is now 10-10 in two seasons with the program, featuring eight losses by eight points or fewer. It's clear the coach's frustrations boiled over when he left the field before taking part in the usual postgame ceremony.

It's particularly noteworthy given that Sarkisian was adamant when he joined the program in June 2021 that he and the players would sing "The Eyes of Texas." His predecessor Tom Herman had allowed players who took issue with the song's racist origins to leave the field or not sing, raising the ire of major donors.

"I know this much, 'The Eyes of Texas' is our school song," Sarkisian said at the time. "We're going to sing that song. We're going to sing that proudly."