Three Players a Texas Insider Believes Tennessee Fans Should Know About

The Tennessee Volunteers and the Texas Longhorns are set for battle. This is truly the battle of the UTs, and the stakes are extremely high.

While Texas is loaded with talent, there are three players on the field that every Tennessee fan should know when it comes to the Texas Longhorns.

To discuss the three players, Eric Henry from Horns247 joined Vols On SI to share why fans should know these three players ahead of kickoff.

Before continuing on, please make sure you guys check Eric Henry and Horns247 out, as he does great work for a great brand. You can follow Henry on X here, and you can follow Horns247 on X here.

Arch Manning

"I think the first player that Tennessee fans need to know about, or be worried about, is Arch Manning. When it comes to games like this, it tends to be won at the line of scrimmage, and I think that in games like this, whichever team has the best quarterback is probably going to win the game. Arch Manning is certainly no higher-profile name in college football. You know, when Arch has been good, he has been really good. You take a look at the last six or seven games of the 2025 campaign, I think you can make the argument that he is one of the better quarterbacks in the SEC and all of college football. I think if you take a look at Arch Manning vs. Texas State, and no, I'm not comparing Texas State to Tennessee, but I think at least for these fans here in Austin, that was a glimpse into the Arch Manning that they could get on a more consistent basis. Now, of course, the offense as a whole struggled against Ohio State, and some of that wasn't Arch. Ryan Wingo dropped a sure touchdown early in the game, or Cam Coleman with that flukey play where the ball bounced out of his hands; that's not on Arch Manning, but if you take a look at last week's film against UTSA, he didn't look comfortable at times. Steve Sarkisian said himself that Arch shouldn't turn to his legs as much, and Arch kind of said the same," Henry said.

Colin Simmons

"I think it is probably a toss-up between him and the kid from South Carolina, Dylan Stewart. Simmons probably has the quickest first step in college football. Again, in my opinion, it's between him and Stewart for best EDGE. Colin Simmons can wreck a game by himself. In terms of natural pass rush ability, nobody does it like Colin. Colin tends to play his best in big games. Take a look at the way that he has been used in Will Muschamp's system as a pass rusher; I think that is key. Also, Colin is probably going to be eager to show that some of the struggles that he had last year early on were just by nature, more of pressing to try to make plays, but I would say that he is the second player worth mentioning here," Henry said.

Trevor Goosby

"Trevor is someone that Texas had to, I don't want to say, convince him to come back, but at bare minimum he was a second-round pick, if not a first-round pick depending on how he would have performed at the NFL combine, and Texas convinced him to come back, as Trevor is one of those guys who felt like the job wasn't done. His younger brother is actually a five-star recruit on the basketball team, and that helped in terms of spending a year on campus. He is at his best when he is at left tackle, and is one of the best left tackles in all of the nation. Texas wants to establish the run, and it really starts at left tackle," Henry said.

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