Manning shines in the second half, leads Texas to win over A&M

The Longhorns are coming off the final regular season game of the year and yet another win over Texas A&M. The Longhorns took home a 10-point win, in part because of a remarkable fourth quarter from their QB1. Arch Manning’s evening mirrored Arch Manning’s season: Started slow, had a couple of misses but was nearly perfect late.

Manning finished the night 14/29 for 179 yards passing and 1 TD, adding 53 yards and another score with his legs. For a box score watcher, that is nothing more than pedestrian. However, much like other games for Manning this season, his performance was stronger than the box score will show at the end.

This one started rather frustratingly for Manning. In the first quarter, Manning went 3/9 with just 19 yards, albeit with two questionable no-calls on possible pass interferences. Manning was able to find enough with his legs early in the second quarter to give Texas the lead, but the pass game still looked stagnant and out of sync.

The first half as a whole was what Longhorn fans had seen much of the year. The run game was nowhere to be found, there were a number of drops, the OL struggled in pass protection and Manning struggled because of it. Manning wrapped the first half 8/21 with just 51 yards and took an absolute beating from the Texas A&M pass rush.

The second half was an entirely different Arch Manning. On the first five drives of the second half, Manning led four scoring drives, using his legs and arm really effectively. Manning got better protection from his OL and made A&M pay, going 4/5 for 106 passing yards and a beautiful TD to Ryan Wingo in the 3rd quarter.

That was just the start for Manning. Getting some massive help from the run game, Manning led a 83-yard TD drive to open the 4th quarter, including a 54-yard pass to Jack Endries to set up a Nick Townsend score. Manning began to look comfortable, on target and on time, which people have quickly learned is dangerous for opposing defenses.

After a pair of punts, Texas A&M was able to drive down the field, aided by some Longhorn penalties, and cut the lead back to three points, 20-17. Manning and the offense responded, driving right down the field in four plays, capped by the play of the game, Manning’s 35-yard TD run to push the lead back to 10.

The Texas defense handled business the rest of the way and Manning led the Longhorns to their 3rd top 10 win of the season with a nearly perfect finish. Manning finished the second half 6/9 for 129 passing yards, adding 26 more on the ground and two scores. When the Longhorn offense needed Arch to show up, he did and the Texas offense exploded in the second half.

This game was the perfect one to describe Arch Manning’s season. The first half was defined by poor run game, iffy OL play, drops from the WRs and misses from Manning. The second half was Manning handling the chaos, using his legs and arm effectively and looking like the player he was billed as coming into this season.

Whether or not the Longhorns deserve a shot in the CFP will be debated over the next eight days, but one thing is certain to me: Texas has a special QB going into 2026. The situation around Manning has never been close to ideal, but he has created on his own and made plays when Texas needed them.

There were valid questions early in the season, but Manning has put those to bed over the last month, capped by a special second half last night. What happens the rest of this season remains to be seen, but Longhorn fans should be ecstatic that Manning is under center for this team moving forward.

This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Manning's perfect second half leads Texas to win over A&M