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And I feel really, really good about this game for the Longhorns. Without going too deep into the conversation, I will say there is a lot of confidence inside the building right now.

Four-star WR Daylan McCutcheon has officially flipped his commitment to Texas from FSU.

OnTexasFootball is on the road in DFW this week seeing a number of top prospects. After a couple of stops Tuesday, there are three stops planned today. Mansfield High The first stop was Mansfield High 2026 4-star WR Zion Robinson. The 6-4, 185-pound WR put on a show at Texas Elite Camp June 1 earning an offer. Chris Jackson remains in contact with Robinson. He’s a maybe to make a Texas game this season. He’s been on campus at Texas A&M, TCU and OU already this season. His father is the head track and field coach at TCU. This will be a true academic/athletic combination recruitment.

Today marks the first SEC matchup for Texas as a conference member, which is big in its own right. Both @Gerry Hamilton and @CJ Vogel have you covered on the football recruiting front, as Sark and Co. will host prospects this weekend. They aren’t the only ones, however, as both the baseball and women’s basketball staff will use today to their advantage. Baseball: - Texas will host six recruits again this weekend. They’ve hosted a combined 13 over the previous two games, which went very well, and today will be no different. - Don’t be surprised if this results in more commitments after the visit. - Last weekend Schloss and staff hosted 7 total recruits. They already reeled in multiple commitments from that and I’m told they aren’t done with that group yet. The coaches feel really good about where things stand with a handful of those guys. - The entire baseball staff is putting in extra hours between practice and recruiting. It’s basically full throttle right now for everyone, from the head coach all the way down to the support staff. - On a related note, I’m told fall practice is going really well. Women’s Basketball: - By now everyone knows that the nation’s No. 1 recruit, Aaliyah Chavez, is on campus. I’m told that the visit is going GREAT. This isn’t just from the Texas side of things either. A source, who has no irons in the (recruiting) fire, said the Horns are knocking it out of the park. - Chavez’s visit continues today and she will take in the Texas vs. Mississippi State game later this afternoon.

We are separating the Texas-OU rivalry into two threads with the off week. This week, it's the OU Hate Week Thread. Post anything and everything you have on the Sooners and your hate! Next week will be game week thread.

2026 Waco Connally DB Jamarion Vincent will be at the Texas-Georgia game he tells OTF. Why is this significant? Well, it will be the third game of the season Vincent will have made the trip to Austin for and the fourth time since the end of July he has been on campus after he attended the Pool Bash. Texas is in great standing early on, though at the moment, I am not expecting a decision imminent.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is back speaking with media Monday morning ahead of the Oklahoma game this weekend in Dallas. We should be able to get an update on QB Quinn Ewers as well as some other Longhorns who have been dinged up here over the last few weeks. Texas is back to No. 1 in the country this week after Alabama was upset by Vanderbilt.

Texas has extended an offer to 2026 Bolles School (Jacksonville, FL) wide receiver Naeem Burroughs. The 6-foot, 175-pound wide out now holds 28 offers to go along with his 10.6 speed on the track. Burroughs' older brother is currently a wide receiver at Wisconsin.

Important note on Texas 4-star S commit Zelus Hicks One reason Texas isn't heavily pursuing another 2025 safety right now is there is still at least a 50-50 chance Zelus Hicks ends up reclassifying to the 2025 class. OTF would probably put it at a 75% chance he ends up in the 2025 class, as of today. Hicks, 6-1.5 and 190-pounds, committed to the Longhorns September 12. Safeties coach Blake Gideon and area recruiter Tashard Choice led the recruitment of Hicks. Hicks attended the Mississippi State game, and may be back for the Georgia game. The possibility also remains his family moves to the DFW area in the future.

A couple of nuggets on the running back room as Texas officially enters its bye week today. Reminder, there is no practice Friday morning or this weekend. *** – I am told Jaydon Blue has had a strong week of practice so far. The two fumbles suffered against Mississippi State have left him committed to bouncing back in a big way against Oklahoma in Dallas. Blue doesn't lack for confidence and right now is chomping at the bit to get the ball back in his hands in a meaningful game. – RB Jerrick Gibson is expected to be as close to full strength against Oklahoma as he has been all season long. The freshman back has been dealing with a lingering ankle, however after just four touches a week ago and the bye week, the former IMG Academy running back is expected to return to his healthiest form since the season opener. – Grad transfer RB Velton Gardner was inactive a week ago due to injury in what had become a pretty surprising development. I was told the injury was a cut above the eye that left Gardner sidelined last weekend. I would consider him questionable at the moment – have yet to hear a definitive update on him just yet. – RB Colin Page is recovering well, though I have yet to hear what his status will be for Oklahoma. Regardless, health is slowing returning to the Texas running back room.

Texas assistants Tashard Choice, Kenny Baker and Kyle Flood are on the way to Atlanta for some Friday recruiting. Sark in Houston Friday (from previous post) Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will have a busy day in the Houston area Friday. He’s going to be flying around town in a helicopter. Stops for sure include: Galveston Ball to see 5-star safety commit Jonah Williams. 12:30 will be Hitchcock High to see Texas A&M 4-star+ WR commit Kelshaun Johnson, and check in on Nebraska DL commit Malcolm Simpson. Those two stops will be with area recruiter Blake Gideon. He will then head to Hastings with Jeff Banks to see 4-star++ EDGE commit Smith Orogbo. Orogbo has knee surgery next Wednesday that will likely keep him out of spring practice. He will be ready to in the summer/August. Sark and Banks also scheduled to be at Dekaney High to see 4-star++ commit Nick Townsend. Texas also continues to look at 4-star USC pledge Tanook Hines. There will also likely be one more stop. Cornerbacks coach Terry Joseph is also expected to be moving around Houston. Commitment Caleb Chester and other targets.

Texas announced Thursday afternoon they have scheduled a home, non-conference game against Louisiana Tech for September 2, 2028 – likely the season opener.

2025 LHP Trey Morris has decommitted from Texas. The California prospect announced it via X just a little bit ago. The Texas coaching staff wasn’t taken by surprise on this. I’d call it an amicable parting of ways more than anything.

OTF on the road: Wednesday recruiting notes OnTexasFootball made a trio of school stops Wednesday in the Houston area. We will hit on two of those stops. Dekaney High OTF attended practice at Dekaney High in Houston/Spring. OnTexasFootball is very close to ranking Nicolas Townsend a 5-star prospect. The 6-3.25, 232 pound Texas commitment is arguably the most versatile football player in the country. He's a top 50 level prospect at TE or OLB. His combination of athleticism, football intelligence, physicality and ball skills is truly elite. How many positions has Townsend lined up at this season? Short snapper, long snapper, punt return team, kickoff return team, tight end, outside receiver, running back, wildcat quarterback, MIKE backer and outside linebacker. Townsend will attend the Georgia game October 19. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and Jeff Banks are scheduled to be by Dekaney High's game Friday vs. Westfield. Texas invited USC WR/ATH commit and OnTexasFootball 4-star Tanook Hines to a game this season. The Horns continue to take a senior look at a number of prospects, and Hines is one of those. Ole Miss, Texas A&M and others continue to try and recruit Hines. Word around Dekaney High is Texas is the one school that could make a big move with a push. Hastings High OneTexasFootball 4-star++ EDGE and #Hookem commit Smith Orogbo was off to a tremendous start this season before a knee injury cut his season short. The injury is considered something he was born with vs. a ligament injury on the field. Per Smith, he doesn't have ligament damage. Smith is choosing to have surgery (next Wednesday) now and get ready for the summer at Texas vs. trying to play through the pain this season, and not have surgery until he reports to Texas in January. Orogbo, 6-3.25 and 214 pounds, is scheduled to receive a visit from Steve Sarkisian and Jeff Banks Friday.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian will have a busy day in the Houston area Friday. He’s going to be flying around town in a helicopter. Stops for sure include: Galveston Ball to see 5-star safety commit Jonah Williams. 12:30 will be Hitchcock High to see Texas A&M 4-star+ WR commit Kelshaun Johnson, and check in on Nebraska DL commit Malcolm Simpson. He will then head to Hastings to see 4-star++ EDGE commit Smith Orogbo. Orogbo has knee surgery next Wednesday that will likely keep him out of spring practice. He will be ready to in the summer/August. And is also scheduled to be at Dekaney High to see 4-star++ commit Nick Townsend. Texas also continues to look at 4-star USC pledge Tanook Hines. There will also likely be one more stop.

A couple of notes to pass along from the recruiting trail. *** – On the topic of 2025 WR Daylan McCutcheon, I spoke to someone plugged into the area who said if there was a leader in the clubhouse to flip McCutcheon at the moment, it would be Texas. That may or may not be a surprise given he was on campus for the Mississippi State game and officially visit on June 14, but that was the word passed along. McCutcheon has been committed to Florida State since July 13 and is starting to hear more from schools like SMU and TCU in recent weeks. – I spoke briefly with 2026 Mansfield Lake Ridge OL Felix Ojo who mentioned he would be back on campus for the Texas-Georgia game. Ojo also says his communication with Kyle Flood and the Texas staff has remained in contact with Ojo several times each week according to the 6–7 prospect. – On the out of state front, a name to know is 2026 DB Simeon Caldwell out of Jacksonville, Florida. The 6-3 defensive back is a national top-100 prospect per the ranking services and is a candidate tor receive a visit from the Texas staff when the Longhorn coaches get on the road later this week. Caldwell told OTF he won't be able to make it to campus this month, however there is communication between the two sides there. – Going up to the northeast, Texas hosted NJ EDGE Jermaine Kinsler on June 1 for the Elite Camp and right now the two have remained in contact as the season has progressed. Kinsler told OTF he was "probable" but not 100% sure to make the Texas-Georgia game in Austin on October 19.

The Texas coaching staff will be on the road the last part of the week. There will be several stops for the staff, including Sark on Friday. Known games right now Chris Jackson will be in Jacksonville (Fla) to see Jaime Ffrench. And also watch a couple of younger kids - one 2026 LB/S Simeon Caldwell (The Bolles School). Nick Townsend tells OTF that Jeff Banks will be at the Dekaney vs Westfield game Friday.

A quick late night recruiting snack. *** First on the topic of five-star ATH Michael Terry III. I wanted to reiterate the confidence boost from our @Gerry Hamilton from last week. There has been a surge in confidence from the Longhorns' side in the past couple of days based off of conversations I have had in Austin and San Antonio. When I visited Alamo Heights a last week, the plan in place was a decision later in the cycle in December. That very well could be the case, but I think there will be a clear clubhouse favorite after the Georgia week where Texas will host the five-star San Antonio athlete for an official visit. Nebraska has been the top contender in this fight, however with where things stand currently, they will need a wave of momentum to take back the top spot. Texas holds a comfortable lead at the moment.

A quick look at the latest redshirt tracker for the Texas freshmen class. After five weeks of the 2024 season, the latest: *** No surprises on the burned redshirts so far – Ryan Wingo, Colin Simmons, Jerrick Gibson, Kobe Black, Alex January and Ty'Anthony Smith have all burned their redshirts through five weeks. As has punter Michael Kern. Perhaps a surprise here, DB Xavier Filsaime has not suited up in two of the past three weeks for Texas on the sidelines. Filsiame is on the redshirt course per a source. Only two games on the participation tracker for the McKinney blue-chipper. In that same breath, you can expect to see Jordon Johnson-Rubell's redshirt to be burned in Dallas. The staff really trusts his football IQ and has been impressed with how quickly he can diagnose what is in front of him. Other fringe redshirters include Brandon Baker, Parker Livingstone, Jordan Washington and Wardell Mack.

A quick look at the numbers that made this win possible for the Texas Longhorns on Saturday. *** Defensive Snap Count 75 possible defensive snaps. 72 – Barron 69 – Muhammad 67 – Hill Jr. 64 – Mukuba 59 – Guilbeau 49 – Broughton 47 – Moore 44 – Collins 43 – Sorrell, Taaffe, Gbenda 41 – Simmons 37 – McDonald 36 – Holmes 23 – Lole 21 – Burke, Blackwell 19 – Norton 9 – Vasek 8 – Lefau 6 – Jordon Johnson-Rubell 4 – Alex January Few takeaways: – 41 snaps is the most we have seen by Colin Simmons this season by a wide margin. He is on the Anthony Hill Jr. path where eventually it will be tough for him to be sideliend at all. He might already be there. – This is the start of Vasek seeing meaningful snaps. – Jordon Johnson-Rubell will not be redshirted, the staff really trusts him. – Tia Savea might be redshirt candidate. *** Offensive Snap Counts 64 possible snaps 64 – Helm, Manning, Majors, Banks, Conner, Williams 54 – Golden 52 – Bond 43 – Campbell 34 – Wisner 31 – Moore 25 – Davis 21 – Hutson 20 – Blue 18 – Wingo 10 – Gibson 7 – Cook 4 – Bolden 1 – Niblett – Gunnar Helm seeing every snap. He has been irreplaceable this year. *** Texas All-Time As an SEC Member A look at the record of the Texas Longhorns since joining the SEC. All-Time: 5-0 In SEC Play: 1–0 Not too bad! *** Top 15 Everything Scoring Offense: 11th (45.0) Scoring Defense: t-2nd (7.0) Total Offense: 8th (513.4) Total Defense: 6th (234.8) Tennessee, Texas, Indiana and Ohio State are the only four programs to be ranked top-15 in all four of those categories this year. Tennessee, Texas and Indiana are the only schools to have no trailed a single minute this season. *** Arch Manning Start 1 to Start 2 It was a magnificent development for Arch Manning in his second career start. Of course, after the UTSA game, perhaps expectations were a bit too high for the first time starter against ULM, but there were considered leaps in performance that led one of the best individual performances by a quarterback in all of the country this season. Completion Percentage ULM: 51.7% MSST: 83.9% ADOT ULM: 14.2 MSST: 8.4 Passes Beyond 20+ Yards ULM: 10 MSST: 4 Rushing Yards ULM: -4 MSST: 33 INT ULM: 2 MSST: 0 Overall, it was a fantastic performance from No. 16.

A few visitors that were on campus for this game outside of the ones that were reported. Mostly in the 2026 class. *** Texas did host 2025 Midlothian OL Nelson McGuire for the Miss State game. McGuire holds 24 offers and took official visits to Texas Tech and Arkansas in the summer and has trips to Clemson, Vanderbilt and Auburn squared up for this season. Kyle Flood has yet to offer, McGuire is a possible senior evaluation with a stop in Sulpher Springs possible for the Longhorn staff. *** Of course the highlighted player in the 2026 class was DL Dylan Berymon who spoke with our @Gerry Hamilton after the visit. Get a look at what Berymon had to say to OTF: *** Willis 2026 star athlete Jermaine Bishop Jr. made it to campus. Bishop is one of the top overall athletes in the country. *** 2026 Sulphur Springs OL Vincent Johnson Jr. was on campus for the visit. Johnson Jr. stands 6-foot-5 and north of 300 pounds already. He holds offers from Oklahoma, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas State, Texas Tech, UTSA, UTEP and UNT. Really strong start to the DFW prospect's recruitment. Johnson is one to watch for Texas in the 2026 class. *** A handful of Prosper prospects were on campus for the Miss State game as well. The first being 2026 OL Bryce Gilmore. Already a national top-250 prospect in the country for the 2026 class, Gilmore holds 23 offers at the moment. Texas has yet to offer but obviously there is interest. The other being 2026 DL Jake Johnson who was on our pregame visitors list. Johnson holds North Texas and Washington State offers early. *** 2026 WR Mike Brown out of Legacy the School of Sports Sciences in Houston, Texas was back at Texas again on Saturday. Brown is the son of former A&M linebacker Reggie Brown, who was a first round pick in the NFL Draft. Brown has visited Texas three times since receiving his offer at the Elite Camp on June 1. Texas is going to be a player here for the junior with 10.9 sophomore speed.

Texas HC Steve Sarkisian is at the podium for his weekly presser. Notes and quotes in the comments below.

I know folks have differing opinions on Pro Football Focus, but I did want to share this about QB Arch Manning after last night. PFF gave Manning a grade of 94.2 for his performance against Mississippi State – that was the highest grade given out to a quarterback in all of college football for week five. Not just that, but it is the highest individual game grade given to a quarterback all season by PFF. Pretty high praise for a kid making his second career start and his first ever against an SEC team.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is speaking with the media after the Longhorns victory over Mississippi State. It was ugly and I am sure there will be some changes coming. But a win is a win, especially now in SEC play where they matter a bit more. Notes and quotes in the comments below.

Update: 4-star LB Madden Faraimo OnTexasFootball exchanged messages with a person locked into the recruitment of 4-star++ linebacker Madden Faraimo (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./JSerra Catholic) a little while ago. As expected, Texas linebackers coach Johnny Nansen continues to make an all in recruiting run at the high-end linebacker. According to the source, Nansen and Faraimo are discussing a game day visit this season, but a date has not been locked in yet. The source said Nansen and Faraimo spoke last week, at least once. Faraimo has a top three of USC, Notre Dame and Texas. The Trojans have made the most impactful run thus far this season.