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Texas has reached consecutive College Football Playoff semifinals and posted 25 wins over two years. You have to go all the way back to when Colt McCoy was playing quarterback during coach Mack Brown’s heyday more than 15 years ago to find a better stretch.
There is no question that Texas is back.
But in the wake of their 28-14 CFP semifinal loss to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl on Friday, the Longhorns must turn the page at quarterback if they want to win their first national championship since 2005 next year.
They must embrace the paradigm-shifting potential of Arch Manning.
We’ve seen it in glimpses over the past two seasons, but now it’s time to see it in bulk. Manning is draft-eligible in 2026, and it’s now or never if Texas wants to realize the full capabilities of its prized Class of 2023 recruit.
McCoy was a great Texas quarterback who took the Longhorns to the doorstep of a national title, just as Quinn Ewers has done for the Longhorns the past two seasons. But Brown’s only national championship — and Texas’ only crown since 1970 — came behind the generational quarterback play of Vince Young.
Like Young, Manning’s dynamic play is capable of masking a team’s imperfections. Manning’s running ability could be particularly important in 2025 as the Longhorns could lose both their starting offensive tackles to the NFL draft and potentially four of five offensive line starters.
Quarterback isn’t the only question Texas must answer entering coach Steve Sarkisian’s fifth season, but it’s the most important. Out of the gate, the Longhorns will be asked to do something they couldn’t do in 2024: beat an elite team.
Sarkisian’s club accomplished plenty in 2024: finishing 13-3, reaching the SEC Championship Game during its first season in…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/whats-next-for-texas-after-cotton-bowl-loss-arch-manning-takes-the-keys-for-next-era-of-longhorns-football/
Author : David Cobb
Publish date : 2025-01-11 06:24:00
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