– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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ORLANDO, FLORIDA — During the postgame press conference, a reporter asked Texas quarterback Arch Manning whether his performance in Wednesday’s Citrus Bowl measured up with the exploits of his uncle, Hall-of-Fame quarterback Peyton Manning, during his two games in Orlando as a collegian while at the University of Tennessee. The nephew, who probably is very familiar with the famous words of Peyton’s college nemesis, former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier, stated his intent to avoid a repeat trip to the Magic Kingdom.
“Nothing against the Citrus Bowl but I think [Peyton] played in it twice. don’t want to have to play in it twice.”
Manning and the Longhorns have loftier goals in 2026, and Manning’s performance to end 2025 will surely crank up the hype machine going into a new season where expectations will be to play in the national championship.
The sophomore quarterback dominated in his best collegiate game to date, accounting for 376 total yards and four touchdowns as No. 13 Texas scored the final 17 points of the game in defeating No. 18 Michigan 41-27 in the Citrus Bowl inside Camping World Stadium. Two of Manning’s four touchdowns came on the ground, including a 60-yard jaunt up the middle late in the fourth quarter that sealed the win and gave the Longhorns their 10th win of the season.
Manning, the preseason Heisman favorite coming into this season despite not having been a regular starter in college before 2025, had an uneven start to the campaign but emerged over the second half of the season. Arch threw for 14 touchdowns and rushed for five more over Texas’ final seven games of the season. However, the Longhorns started the season 3-2 and a November loss to Georgia ended their playoff hopes.
Against a Wolverines team that harbored hopes of a possible College Football Playoff appearance before their loss to Ohio State in the regular-season finale, Manning saved his game, and his best quarter, for last.
After Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood gave the Wolverines a 27-24 lead on a 5-yard touchdown run with 10:56 remaining, Manning led the Longhorns down the field for what proved to be the winning score, capped off by a perfect pass down the right sideline to Kaliq Lockett for a 30-yard touchdown.
Ty’Anthony Smith intercepted an Underwood pass in Texas territory on the ensuing possession to give the ball back to the Longhorns. On the very next play, Manning faked a zone read hand-off before exploding up the middle, outracing the Michigan secondary for his second touchdown run of the day.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Wednesday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Aaron J. Thornton. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 21 pictures in total.
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