How Texas Longhorns' Defense Helped Offense Get Back on Track

After three straight underwhelming performances (two of them more so than the third) to start the season, Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns' offense finally showed what it was capable of in a 55-0 win over the Sam Houston Bearkats in Week 4. With Manning completing 18 of 21 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns, and the Longhorns racking up over 600 yards as a team, it was exactly the kind of performance they needed before entering SEC play.

Not to be overshadowed, the defense also had itself quite the day. The Longhorns held the Bearkats to just 113 total yards and seven first downs on the night, and of course, pitched its first shutout since Week 1 of last year. Sure, it was against a team in just its third season of being in the FBS, but it was still a great performance all the same.

In fact, one of the Longhorns' defensive stars believes his unit's performance might've helped the offense get on track as well.

Trey Moore Says Texas Longhorns Played As One vs. Sam Houston

Sep 20, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns tight end Jordan Washington (84) reacts after scoring a touchdown during the first half against the Sam Houston Bearkats at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Following the game, Longhorns linebacker Trey Moore praised his team for playing, well, as a team. Each unit and individual player fed off each other's energy, and it helped propel them to a blowout victory.

“It’s understandable. You can get caught up in this game sometimes," Moore said. "The pressure and you’re trying to make plays and sometimes that happens, but when you really come down to it and remember that you’re playing the game that you love, you control what you can and you make the most of the opportunities and just enjoy the game and play for each other. I think that’s when plays are made, so it’s good to see that tonight.”

Moore, a senior from San Antonio, added that he loved what he saw out of the offense throughout the entire night.

“We’re a team. We lose as a team, we win as a team, and everything we do is as a team. We go as a team, so when they’re down, we’re going to pick them up. When we’re down, they’ll do the same for us. So it was good for offense, defense and special teams to have a good performance tonight.”

Obviously, the competition will ramp up considerably once the Longhorns enter SEC play (well, they start conference play against 1-3 Florida so maybe that's not entirely accurate). It remains to be seen if the offense will look as good as it did in this game, but at the very least, there's far more optimism now than there was before.