No. 1 Texas Answers Toughness Talk With 20-17 Win at No. 14 Tennessee
The short version
- No. 1 Texas beat No. 14 Tennessee 20-17 at Neyland Stadium to open SEC play at 4-0.
- Steve Sarkisian responded to an anonymous coach's "soft everywhere" comment in The Athletic.
- Colin Simmons tied a school record with five sacks and leads the nation with seven this season.
- Arch Manning completed 14 of 19 passes despite taking six sacks; Texas committed 11 penalties.
- Texas has a bye before facing Oklahoma in Dallas, then Florida, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
Steve Sarkisian's top-ranked Longhorns improved to 4-0 at Neyland Stadium after an anonymous coach told The Athletic the team was "soft everywhere."
No. 1 Texas opened Southeastern Conference play with a 20-17 win over No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday, Sept. 26, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. The Longhorns improved to 4-0 in front of a crowd of 109,915. The victory arrived amid pointed questions about the team's toughness.
In an interview with The Athletic, an anonymous coach assessed the Longhorns this way: "They look the part. They're fast. They can bend but they don't have an edge to them. They're soft everywhere." Coach Steve Sarkisian was asked about the remarks after the game. "I'm not sure who wrote the article today and what coach said we weren't a physical football team," Sarkisian said. "(They) may want to write another article."
Tennessee's running game came in averaging 298.67 yards per game, fourth in the nation. Texas held the Volunteers 228 yards below that average. "We were challenged," defensive tackle Hero Kanu said. "They told us we weren't physical or something like that. We had to show them. I don't know how many rushing yards they had, but it was definitely not 298."
Edge rusher Colin Simmons tied a school record with five sacks in the game. After recording two sacks over the first three weeks, he moved to seven for the season, which led the country as of Saturday. His second sack carried a cost: a celebration in which he simulated a bathroom break drew a penalty that turned a would-be fourth-and-29 into a Tennessee first down. Sarkisian said he will not discipline Simmons over the gesture.
On offense, quarterback Arch Manning absorbed six sacks behind a line that struggled in protection but still completed 14 of 19 passes. Texas was flagged 11 times. The Longhorns are 4-0 for the second time in three seasons even as their offense has been less explosive than expected following a heavy offseason outlay on transfers.
The Knoxville result was Texas' first road win over a ranked SEC opponent since the Longhorns won at Texas A&M in College Station in 2024. It came two weeks after Texas scored 21 fourth-quarter points at Royal-Memorial Stadium to hand Ohio State its first loss. Since the start of the 2023 season, Texas leads all Power Four programs with 16 conference wins.
The ending featured an officiating dispute. Former NFL referee Terry McAulay, now a rules analyst for NBC, said an onside kick that resembled a drop kick should not have been allowed. That forced Texas to defend a Hail Mary pass into the end zone, a situation McAulay said never should have occurred.
President Trump attended the game after picking Tennessee to win. He drew two ovations when he appeared on the Neyland Stadium scoreboard.
Texas now heads into a bye week. The Longhorns do not play again until they meet Oklahoma in Dallas in two weeks, with Florida, Ole Miss and Mississippi State to follow on the schedule.
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