Texas Longhorns Might Have Their Next Star at Linebacker for Next Season

The Texas Longhorns concluded their 2025 season on the right foot with a competitive 41-27 victory over the Michigan Wolverines in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium down in Orlando on Wednesday. The Longhorns end their year with a 10-3 record and a third consecutive double-digit win season in Steve Sarkisian's tenure in Austin.

To nobody's surprise, it was another big performance from Arch Manning, who dominated against a stout Michigan defense, leading the Longhorns to victory and a spark of momentum that is sure to be carried into an important 2026 season.

Elsewhere, the Longhorns received a key performance from one of their young players on the defensive side of the ball, which should have the Longhorns' coaching staff excited for the player's potential heading into next year.

Ty'Anthony Smith Shows Out in the Citrus Bowl

Texas Longhorns Football Ty'Anthony Smith Michigan Wolverines Citrus Bowl — Texas linebacker Ty'Anthony Smith (26) forces Florida tight end Hayden Hansen (89) to fumble during the first half. | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One of the biggest concerns for the Longhorns was their depth at the linebacker position, where Texas was without three of its starting linebackers, with Anthony Hill Jr. and Trey Moore heading to the NFL Draft and Liona Lefau choosing to enter the transfer portal.

The trio combined for 173 tackles this season for the Longhorns this season, making the three opt-outs heavily important against a Wolverines offense that prides itself on the ability to run the football.

With the Longhorns being very thin at the linebacker position, the defense would need a big contribution from one of the other players in the second level of the defense. And Texas found exactly what it needed with sophomore linebacker Ty'Anthony Smith.

In Smith's first game as the focal point in the middle of the Longhorns defense, the sophomore turned in an impressive performance, recording a team-high nine tackles (eight solo), a tackle-for-loss, two quarterback hits, and two interceptions.

At the postgame press conference, Steve Sarkisian was full of praise when talking about Smith and his performance against Michigan and throughout the 2025 season.

"Coming into this season, halfway, and three-quarters of the way through the year, he was essentially a backup player who was earning more and more opportunities because of the way that he was playing," Sarkisian said. "And I would argue that by the end of the season, he was the leader in that linebacker room because of who he is on a regular basis, because of his practice habits and the way he goes about his work."

The sophomore's first interception was critical with the game still close, as the Longhorns held a four-point lead with a little over five minutes left to go in the ballgame. Smith dropped into coverage and jumped a route over the middle of the field for the key turnover. Manning would capitalize with a 60-yard rushing touchdown just one play later.

Signaling that the momentum was all burnt orange on the ensuing drive after Manning's long rushing touchdown, Smith would come up big again. The linebacker's second turnover of the game came with another interception, this time along the sideline, becoming one of the final daggers in the ballgame.

With his standout performance, the Longhorns might have found an important piece of their defense heading into the 2026 season, both on and off the field, as Sarkisian mentioned.

"I think that showed up for him today, and I think it gives him a great springboard into the offseason of 2026 from a leadership standpoint," Sarkisian said.