How Texas Longhorns Position Groups Graded Out vs. Texas A&M

The Texas Longhorns will end a rollercoaster 2025 regular season with an exclamation point, defeating their bitter rival in the Texas A&M Aggies, for the second straight season since the return of the Lone Star Showdown. Now back in Austin, the Longhorns fought to a 27-17 win over No. 3 Texas A&M.

With the win, the Longhorns have given themselves a shot at having a case for a spot in the College Football Playoff with Selection Sunday schedule for Dec. 7. All Texas can do now is wait and hope for some result to go its way. The strongest point for Texas is that the Longhorns became the first team to beat three Top 10-ranked teams since the legendary 2019 LSU Tigers.

Taking a closer look at the Longhorns' big-time win over the Aggies, here are this week's position group grades.

Grading the Position Groups

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning throws a pass during the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Quarterback: B

Friday night was not the cleanest day for the Arch Manning from start to finish, with early first-half struggles as the quarterback headed into the locker room at halftime, completing just eight passes on his 21 attempts for just 51 yards.

In the second half, however, Manning put his cape on, completing six of his eight passes, passing for 128 yards and a passing touchdown after extending the play and finding time in the pocket to deliver a ball to wide receiver Ryan Wingo in the back of the end zone for the lead in the third quarter. Manning used his legs for the dagger with a long 35-yard rushing touchdown up the heart of the Texas A&M defense with seven minutes left to play.

Running Back: A

Finally. That's the best word to use when describing the Longhorns' finding their running game against the Aggies. With the star of last year's Lone Star Showdown picking up where he left off, as running back Quintrevion Wisner had the best game from a Texas running back all season, finishing the game with 155 yards on the ground on 19 carries.

Texas found the running game in the third quarter with Wisner having nine carries for 98 yards right after halftime, and that momentum rolled into the final quarter as Wisner was able to melt the final minutes away with 35 yards on five attempts.

Pass-Catchers: B+

The Longhorns' wide receivers and tight ends didn't have many opportunities with Manning completing just 14 of his 29 pass attempts, but they were able to capitalize when their numbers were called. Being the standout guy, tight end Jack Endries had his best game as a Longhorn with four receptions for 93 yards, and Wingo has continued to perform late in the season with four catches for 34 yards and the touchdown reception.

Offensive Line: B

While the Aggies were able to get plenty of pressure on Manning, the offensive line for the most part did its job, holding up against the team that entered the matchup with the most sacks in the SEC, giving up just two. The Longhorns were able to shut down Texas A&M star pass rusher Cashius Howell, who had just three tackles and a tackle-for-loss in the game.

The Defense: A-

Even without star linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., the Longhorns' defense contained what had been an explosive offense all season to just 17 points. Texas managed to limit the impact on the game from Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed as he finished the game 20 of 32 passing for 180 yards, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions.

The Longhorns' secondary came up big down the stretch with the two takeaways, who from safety Michael Taaffe down by the goal line that erased a potentially scoring drive from Texas A&M, and the game-sealing interception came from cornerback Kobe Black.

Special Teams: B

Longhorns' special teams once again turned in their usual solid performance, with kicker Mason Shipley making all five of his kicks. Punter Jack Bouwmeester was key in the positional battle early on with his seven punts accumulating 342 yards, three of which were down inside the Aggies' 20-yard line.

Return specialist Ryan Niblett didn't get much of an opportunity to make an impact as now teams kick away from the dangerous return man; however, Niblett did gain a total of 51 yards on two punt returns and one kickoff return. The Longhorns' punt coverage also did a solid job containing Texas A&M's dangerous punt return in KC Concepcion, who had 62 yards on four returns.