Texas Longhorns Tight Ends Show Up Big vs. Texas A&M

The Texas Longhorns emphatically capped their regular season, scoring a massive 27-17 upset win over bitter rivals, the No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies, in the Lone Star Showdown's first time back in Darrell K. Royal Stadium.

As always, all eyes were on quarterback Arch Manning and how he would perform, and while it wasn't the prettiest first half for the quarterback, he had completed eight passes on his 21 attempts for just 51 yards, but the second half was outstanding, completing six of his eight passes for 128 yards, a passing and rushing touchdown.

While both the Longhorns' offensive and defensive sides of the ball turned in solid performances that willed Texas to a victory, one offensive position group had one of its best performances all season against the Aggies.

Texas TE Room has Themselves a Day

Texas Longhorns tight end Nick Townsend (81) reaches for a pass during the second half against the San Jose State Spartans at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

The offensive position group that made a big-time impact on the Longhorns' victory against Texas A&M came from the tight end room, which turned out to be a big contribution on Friday night for the Longhorns' offense.

At the forefront of the tight end room's big night was tight end Jack Endries, who ended the night with four receptions for a season-high 93 yards, with Endries' biggest play of the game coming on a 54-yard reception late in the third quarter, which set up the Longhorns near the goal line at the start of the fourth quarter.

In the postgame press conference, Steve Sarkisian spoke about how Manning was able to settle into the game after his rough start by targeting Endries as the tight end became one of Manning's security blankets for key receptions in important moments.

"He found Jack Endries for the big pass to get us down there," Sarkisian said. "He finds Jack again on another pass. So, you know, to me, I think that was him just starting to settle down a little bit.

While Endries might not have had the biggest impact on the Longhorns' offense like previous Longhorn tight ends before him, as he finished the regular season with 28 receptions for 311 yards and two touchdown receptions, the junior tight end came up big when his number was called in the Longhorns' biggest came of the season.

Endries was not the only tight end to make an impact on the night, as after his a long catch and run at the end of the third quarter. The Longhorns scored on the very next play of the first play of the fourth quarter, with tight end Nick Townsend being drawn up for a running play, and he made his way into the end zone untouched for the two-yard rushing touchdown. The score put the Longhorns up by 10 and never looked back for the rest of the game.