Arch Manning and Texas don’t appear like nationwide title contenders.
The No. 9 Longhorns fell to 3-2 with a 29-21 loss at Florida on Saturday. Texas’ offense struggled mightily for a lot of the game as Florida’s defensive entrance wreaked havoc.
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The Longhorns lastly obtained on monitor within the third quarter as Manning averted two rushers and stepped up within the pocket to discover a wide-open Ryan Wingo for a 38-yard TD to minimize Florida’s lead to 22-14.
The Gators instantly responded and pushed the lead again to 15 factors, nevertheless. DJ Lagway discovered freshman Dallas Wilson down the sideline and Wilson ran over a number of defenders as he scored on a 55-yard TD.
Texas’s possibilities of coming again took an enormous hit after Wilson’s rating thanks to an overthrow by Manning that was intercepted by Jordan Castell in Gators territory.
After reducing the Gators’ lead to eight with lower than 4 minutes to go, Texas obtained the ball again needing a TD and a two-point conversion with 55 seconds to go. But Manning was sacked shortly after Texas obtained previous midfield and time expired earlier than Manning’s third-down spike try hit the bottom.
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That third-quarter TD catch was Wilson’s second landing of the day after he caught a 13-yard TD within the second quarter that prolonged Florida’s lead to 10. Saturday’s game was the four-star recruit’s first in a Gators uniform after he missed Florida’s first 4 video games of the season as a result of of a left foot damage he suffered in fall camp.
Wilson was half of a recruiting class that ranked tenth within the nation in 2025 and in addition included receiver Vernell Brown III. As they each had been on the sector concurrently for the primary time all season, you could possibly see the tantalizing potential of Florida’s offense with QB DJ Lagway.
You might additionally see why Florida now could also be in much more of a training conundrum. The Gators are nonetheless beneath .500 at 2-3 after losses to South Florida, LSU and Miami in September. But Florida confirmed no stop on the finish of a disappointing season in 2024 beneath coach Billy Napier and clearly haven’t stop on 2025.
Napier entered the 2025 season with tenuous job safety as Florida’s schedule was one of the hardest within the SEC. But if Florida continues to play prefer it did on Saturday it’s greater than succesful of beating a number of of the 4 ranked groups remaining on its schedule. And every of these wins will make it increasingly more troublesome for Florida’s directors to justify a training change.
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Texas will get No. 5 Oklahoma in Week 7
Texas entered the 2025 season with 4 new starters on the offensive line. That inexperience confirmed within the Swamp on Saturday as Florida persistently obtained strain on Manning.
Between its first TD drive of the game and Manning’s move to Wingo, it’d be sort to say that Texas’ offense was caught in impartial. In that stretch, the Longhorns ran a mixed 13 performs for 15 yards and had a punt blocked that become a Florida security and two factors earlier than the top of the primary half.
Don’t get us unsuitable. Florida has expertise on the line of defense. But if the Longhorns can’t reliably block the Gators, how is Texas going to fare in opposition to Oklahoma subsequent week on the Cotton Bowl? The Sooners set a college file with 10 sacks of their win in opposition to Auburn and are 5-0 after beating Kent State on Saturday.