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Tracking Portal Entrants Across the Country *** Starting an ongoing thread for portal entrants this December and January. There will be a separate thread for Texas entrants, but this should provide an idea of which talent elsewhere is going to be on the move this offseason.

Monday night Malakai Lee Members of the Texas staff spoke with Michigan verbal and 4-star++ OT Malakai Lee (Honolulu, Hi./Kamehameha) for a while again today. Texas continues to feel like there is a shot at the 6-6.5, 315 pounder with an 85-inch wingspan and 10.5 inch hands.

3 Stars of the Game vs. Texas A&M *** Star No. 1: Tre Wisner – Hard not to pick Wisner. For whatever the reason, he dominates against Texas A&M. A 155-yard performance on 19 rush attempts and a season-long 48-yard rush to kickoff the second half. Wisner was again very good and deserving of the game ball against Texas A&M. Star No. 2: Ethan Burke – This felt like a game early on where Ethan Burke was going to will his team to a win. The senior did just about everything and ended up blocking his second field goal attempt of the season in the first half when the offense was struggling to move the rock. Nine tackles, a TFL and a blocked field goal. Fantastic work. Star No. 3: Jack Endries – It probably has felt like a frustrating season for Endries in his first season as a Longhorn, but man did he end the regular season off strong. Four receptions for 93 yards and a massive 54-yard catch and run on the final play of the third quarter. HM1 Liona Lefau: No Anthony Hill Jr. No TyAnthony Smith for the first half, and it didn't matter. Lefau was superb for the Longhorns. HM2 Trevor Goosby: One pressure allowed on Friday night while facing one of the SEC's leading pass rushers in Cashius Howell. That was teach tape for the big time LT.

The end of the regular season has arrived, as has the final AP Top 25 before conference championship season. Texas comes in ranked No. 14. *** Ohio State Indiana Georgia Oregon Texas Tech Ole Miss Texas A&M Oklahoma Notre Dame Alabama BYU Miami Vanderbilt Texas Utah Virginia USC Michigan James Madison North Texas Tulane Arizona Navy Georgia Tech Missouri

Another flip!! A fourth flip in the last week goes the way of the Texas Longhorns! This time, it is Temple EDGE/DL Jamarion Carlton, who had committed to Baylor over the summer. The Longhorns had hosted Carlton on campus three different times in the last month and sure enough, those efforts were enough to flip the 6-foot-5inch defensive lineman to the Horns. Carlton was heavily recruited by LaAllen Clark in the spring, got on campus for an official visit and after a brief stint being committed to Baylor, he ends up joining the Texas class. Big time addition for the Horns on the defensive side of the ball here. View full news story

For anyone wondering ... Jamarion Carlton is definitely going to be a 5-tech, and long limb 3-tech down the line. On a November visit to Texas ... he weighed 281 pounds. Texas staff expects him to carry over 300 pounds in time, and maybe fairly quickly.

Texas entering into Steve Sarkisian’s fifth season on the Forty Acres as the No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 doesn’t guarantee anything. Still, the history of preseason No. 1 teams since 1998 — the first season in which the Bowl Championship Series decided college football’s national champion — is a sign that the Longhorns can almost bank on a prosperous season. The proof will be in the pudding, whether Texas is destined for a third consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff under Sarkisian. Regardless, there’s a baseline level of success that the previous 27 clubs voted No. 1 in the preseason by AP Top 25 voters has reached. — Only one of the 27 previous preseason No. 1 teams failed to win 10 or more games. USC opened the 2012 season ranked No. 1 by the AP (LSU was No. 1 in the Coaches Poll) and went 7-6 with a loss to Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl. Lane Kiffin’s last full season as coach of the Trojans saw USC join Ole Miss (1964) as the only preseason No. 1 teams in history to not appear in the final poll. — Texas will attempt to join Florida State (1999), USC (2004) and Alabama (2017) as the only preseason No. 1 teams in the BCS/CFP era to win a national championship. — In the BCS era (1998-2013), four preseason No. 1 teams — Miami (2002), Oklahoma (2003), USC (2005) and Ohio State (2006) — reached the national championship game. The Hurricanes, Trojans and Buckeyes won their respective conference championships; the Sooners lost to Kansas State in the Big 12 title game. — While Alabama (2017) is the only preseason No. 1 to win a national championship in the CFP era (since 2014), nine other No. 1 teams made it to the CFP: Florida State (2014), Alabama (2016, 2018 and 2021), Clemson (2019 and 2020) and Georgia (2023 and 2024). Of those eight teams, four (Alabama three times and Clemson in 2019) reached the national championship game. — Nick Saban’s 2017 Crimson Tide won the national championship with a walk-off victory over Georgia, but the Bulldogs won the SEC title with a win over Auburn. Of the 27 previous preseason No. 1 teams, 14 won at least a share of a conference championship, while Oklahoma (2003), Florida (2009) and Georgia (2023) lost their respective conference title games. — Eleven preseason No. 1 teams since 1998 didn’t win a conference championship, reach the BCS title game or make the CFP: Nebraska (2000), Florida (2001), Georgia (2008 and 2023), Florida (2009), Alabama (2010, 2013 and 2022), Oklahoma (2011), USC (2012) and Ohio State (2015). The 2015 Buckeyes, the 2022 Crimson Tide and the 2023 Bulldogs are the only AP preseason No. 1 teams since 2014 to not qualify for the CFP in the four-team format. — Georgia was No. 1 to open the 2024 season, the first in the 12-team CFP format. The Bulldogs went 11-3 and won the SEC championship with an overtime win over Texas before falling to Notre Dame at the Sugar Bowl in the CFP quarterfinals. Final results for preseason AP Top 25 No. 1 teams since 1998 2024: Georgia (11-3, SEC champions, lost in the CFP quarterfinals to Notre Dame) 2023: Georgia (13-1, lost the SEC championship game to Alabama, Orange Bowl champions) 2022: Alabama (11-2, didn’t make it to SEC championship game, Sugar Bowl champions) 2021: Alabama (13-2, SEC champions, Cotton Bowl champions, lost the CFP national championship to Georgia) 2020: Clemson (10-2, ACC champions, lost in the CFP semifinals to Ohio State) 2019: Clemson (14-1, ACC champions, Fiesta Bowl champions, lost the CFP national championship to LSU) 2018: Alabama (14-1, SEC champions, Orange Bowl champions, lost the CFP national championship to Clemson) *2017: Alabama (13-1, didn’t make it to the SEC championship game, Sugar Bowl champions, CFP national champions) 2016: Alabama (14-1, SEC champions, Peach Bowl champions, lost the CFP national championship to Clemson) 2015: Ohio State (12-1, didn’t make Big Ten championship game, Fiesta Bowl champions) 2014: Florida State (13-1, ACC champions, lost in the CFP semifinals to Oregon) 2013: Alabama (11-2, didn’t make SEC championship game, lost the Sugar Bowl to Oklahoma) 2012: USC (7-6, didn't make the Pac-12 championship game, lost the Sun Bowl to Georgia Tech) 2011: Oklahoma (10-3, Insight Bowl champions) 2010: Alabama (10-3, didn’t make the SEC championship game, Citrus Bowl champions) 2009: Florida (13-1, lost the SEC championship game to Alabama, Sugar Bowl champions) 2008: Georgia (10-3, didn’t make SEC championship game, Citrus Bowl champions) 2007: USC (11-2, Pac-10 co-champions, Rose Bowl champions) 2006: Ohio State (12-1, Big Ten champions, lost BCS national championship game to Florida) 2005: USC (12-1, Pac-10 champions, lost Rose Bowl/BCS championship game to Texas) *2004: USC (11-0, Pac-10 champions, BCS national champions) 2003: Oklahoma (12-2, lost the Big 12 championship game to Kansas State, lost the Sugar Bowl/BCS championship game to LSU) 2002: Miami (12-1, Big East champions, lost the Fiesta Bowl/BCS championship game to Ohio State) 2001: Florida (10-2, didn’t make the SEC championship game, Orange Bowl champions) 2000: Nebraska (10-2, didn’t make Big 12 championship game, Alamo Bowl champions) *1999: Florida State (12-0, ACC champions, BCS national champions) 1998: Ohio State (11-1, Big Ten co-champions, Sugar Bowl champions) View full news story

OTF currently believes North Carolina has a better than 50-50 shot to flip Texas commit and 4-star+ DL Vodney Cleveland (Birmingham/Parker), currently. The early signing period begins next Wednesday.

Facing a 10-3 deficit at halftime of Friday’s showdown with No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 16 Texas headed into the locker room at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium needing its best second-half performance of the season under Steve Sarkisian to emerge victorious. Over the final two quarters of a 27-17 win, Sarkisian schemed up ways to move the football on the ground, Arch Manning kept extending plays with legs and the defense ended the Aggie offense’s last two possessions by intercepting Marcel Reed. The Longhorns dominated their counterparts from College Station, picking up a win that Sarkisian and the program desperately needed. Texas (9-3, 6-2 SEC) is the first team since LSU in 2019 to win three regular-season games against top-10 teams in the Associated Press Top 25. Two of those wins came over Texas A&M (11-1, 7-1) and Oklahoma, moving the Longhorns to 6-0 against their three rivals (the Aggies, the Sooners and Arkansas) since joining the SEC. Sarkisian has his third career win over a top-five opponent and his second (2-7) at Texas. Sarkisian’s second consecutive double-digit win over the Aggies marked Mike Elko’s first loss when his team entered halftime with a lead (was previously 15-0). Most importantly, the Longhorns left the College Football Playoff selection committee with an emphatic closing argument for why they’re worthy of a third consecutive CFP bid. Texas dominated Texas A&M on the scoreboard (24-7), on the ground (157-74), on offense (285-160 edge in total yards gained) and in the turnover battle (2-0) en route to keeping the Aggies from reaching the SEC Championship Game for the second year in a row. Friday’s win wasn’t a fluke. Texas suffocated Texas A&M over the last 30 minutes of regulation, looking like the team everyone in the country expected to see from the jump in 2025. The Longhorns can’t do anything except wait for the selection committee’s final verdict next Sunday. Regardless, an unforgettable second-half effort has them in the mix with the regular season in the books. *** Sarkisian’s play-calling and game management changed after a forgettable end to the first half. He put the game in Quintrevion Wisner’s hands and the junior delivered with 155 yards on 19 carries. Wisner’s 48-yard burst over the left side of the line on the offense’s first snap of the third quarter set the tone for the second half. Texas didn’t overpower the Aggies up front. Instead, the Longhorns used Texas A&M’s aggression and tendency to attack the line of scrimmage to their advantage, utilizing a mix of misdirection runs and pull schemes. The approach allowed Wisner and Manning (53 yards and a touchdown on seven official attempts) to exploit gaping holes at the line of scrimmage. The best example of how potent the Longhorn rushing attack was on Friday was the explosive runs. Texas, which entered the game with 14 10-plus-yard runs in SEC play, had nine against Texas A&M, including six in the second half. *** Whether it was run blocking or pass protection, Friday’s second half might’ve been the best job Sarkisian has done this season of helping the offensive line and not asking Kyle Flood’s group to do things it couldn’t pull off. Manning's 35-yard touchdown run up the gut with 7:04 left in the game closed out the scoring and answered a 6-play, 59-yard touchdown drive by the Aggies. Manning (14-for-29, 179 yards and a 29-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Wingo) had times where he had to work around pressure from an A&M defense that finished the game with two sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Still, Texas wouldn’t have won the game without the offensive line (led by DJ Campbell and Cole Hutson, who took the field at DKR for the last time) winning their battle against one of the most productive defensive fronts in the country. *** Similar to how Sarkisian and Pete Kwiatkowski won their chess match against Brent Venables and the Oklahoma staff in October, the Longhorn coaches got the best of Elko and Collin Klein on Friday. Elko’s defense surrendered 218 rushing yards (the most by Texas against a Power Four opponent this season) to an offense that came into Friday's game averaging 75.3 rushing yards per game in SEC play. Along with leaning on the ground attack, Sarkisian called a tendency-breaking jet sweep for Nick Townsend on the goal line, resulting in a 3-yard touchdown run (after Manning and Jack Endries connected for a 54-yard gain) to highlight how his staff befuddled the Aggies after halftime. The Longhorns won the explosive play battle (13-9) thanks in part to Kwiatkowski’s defense, which held Texas A&M to 17 points on five red-zone possessions. Texas also limited the Aggies to season lows in yards per play (4.6) and rushing yards (157) and total offense (337 yards). After allowing a late first-half touchdown on a short field, the Longhorns held the Aggies to 44 net yards on 15 plays (2.9 yards per play) and one first down while forcing four punts (three three-and-outs) on Texas A&M’s first four possessions of the second half to help the Longhorns pull ahead for good. *** One of the most raucous home crowds for a Texas football game helped the defense during the unit’s stretch of dominance. Two false starts on fourth-and-1 forced two of the Aggies’ four consecutive punts in the second half. In a game pitting two of the nation’s most penalized teams against each other, the DKR crowd played a big role in the Longhorns winning the penalty battle (seven accepted penalties to Texas A&M’s eight) for just the third time this season (also had fewer penalties than Oklahoma and Arkansas in those rivalry wins). *** Instead of trying to digest the merits of a nine-win regular season in the face of national championship expectations, I’d encourage Longhorn fans to savor the flavor of their team notching a well-earned victory over the Aggies. It’s been a tough year at times and nobody knows what's next for Texas. Nevertheless, there's nothing wrong with celebrating the Longhorns ending the regular season with nine wins, an undefeated home record and a résumé worthy of a trip to the CFP is nothing to belittle. View full news story

Past, present, future Longhorns all chimed in after the win at DKR over Texas A&M. The Longhorns had a field day — and deservedly so.

2027 Recruiting Class Nuggets *** Texas landed a massive commitment from 2027 Brother Martin (La.) WR Easton Royal Saturday morning. I mentioned it on a thread earlier, but will reiterate – this is the most excited I have been for a commitment at the wide receiver position in the Sarkisian era. Royal has 10.3 speed and is fantastic with his hands and body control. Additionally, I don't believe LSU is going to be a significant factor – yet. That could change if LSU hires Lane Kiffin, but for now, there was no indication from my meeting in New Orleans last spring that LSU was going to be the frontrunner for Royal. *** Clear Leader Texas is far and away the leader for Mansfield Summit EDGE Cameron Hall. Hall has made the trip to campus for two consecutive weeks and the Longhorns have established themselves as the team to beat. Should additional news come in the 2027 class, I would look here first. *** No. 1 Player on Campus The Longhorns hosted 2027 EDGE DJ Jacobs, a native of Blessed Trinity Catholic High in Roswell, Georgia. Jacobs is the No.1 player in the country per the 247Sports rankings. The Longhorns rolled out the red carpet for Jacobs as well. He was on the sidelines front and center watching Colin Simmons go through his entire warm up routine during pregame. Steve Sarkisian and the Texas staff stopped by pregame to say hello on their walk into the stadium as well. Texas is swinging big with 2027 prospects over the last two weeks. ** Additionally, Orange Lutheran (Calif.) DL Marcus Fakatou made the trip to Austin last night as well. *** Another Speed Offer An additional 2027 offer was extended late Friday night. The Longhorns offered Tyler High RB CaDarius McMiller following the win over Texas A&M. McMiller clocked 10.44 in the 100m in May. Oregon, Florida State, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Texas Tech, Arizona State and several others have already offered the speedy east Texas running back. Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/19167114/68f67032960816f8ff3bf61f

EDIT: Malakai Lee is not on campus in Austin. A Texas commit told me Lee was on campus. He is not.

November 25, 2025 *** The game... Texas (4-2) vs. Chaminade (2–2) Chaminade has wins over Alaska and Western Washington. Their two losses were Alaska Anchorage 57–53 and in Maui to Washington State 90–85. When: 10:30 p.m. CT Where: Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) - Maui, Hawaii TV: ESPN2 Line: Couldn't Find One Texas in the Maui Invitational ... Texas is making its sixth appearance in the Maui Invitational (one title in 2020), while Head Coach Sean Miller is making his fourth trip to the Lahaina Civic Center (one title in 2014). Texas 2025-26 roster Tramon Mark, CG, 6-6, Gr. (10.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists in 2024-25) Simeon Wilcher, CG, 6-4, junior (8.0 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists) Jordan Pope, CG, 6-0, senior (11.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists) Chendall Weaver, G, 6-3, senior (6.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists) Dailyn Swain, F/G, 6-8, junior (11.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.6 steals at Xavier) Camden Heide, F, 6-7, junior (4.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 39.2% from three at Purdue) Matas Vokietaitas, C, 7-0, sophomore (10.2 points, 5.4 rebounds at FAU) Lassina Traore, C, 6-10, senior (11.9 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists in 2023-24 at LBSU) Nic Codie, PF, 6-9, sophomore Declan Duru, F, 6-8.5, freshman John Clark, PF, 6-8.5, freshman - likely to redshirt Lewis Obiorah, C, 7-1, freshman - will redshirt

FYI - this is from Gerry Hamilton. Texas pledge Charlie Jilek did not visit Texas this past weekend. He is visiting the Longhorns this weekend instead.

AUSTIN, Texas — Arch Manning will lead Texas into the 2025 regular-season finale against Texas A&M on Friday (6:30 p.m., ABC), looking to extend the best stretch of football he’s played in his first full season as QB1 for the Longhorns. The career-high 389 yards Manning threw for and six touchdowns he accounted for (he and Bobby Layne as the only quarterbacks in school history to throw for, rush for and catch a touchdown in a single game) in Saturday’s 52-37 win over Arkansas earned him a Manning Award Star of the Week nod, a spot on the Davey O’Brien Award’s “Great 8” list and recognition as the Associated Press National Player of the Week. Manning’s historic afternoon made him the first Texas (8-3, 5-2 SEC) quarterback to record three 300-yard passing games in a four-game stretch since Colt McCoy in 2009, one in which Manning (against Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Georgia and Arkansas) has accounted for 14 touchdowns (11 passing, two rushing and one receiving). Doing his part to keep the Longhorns in the hunt for a third consecutive berth in the College Football Playoff over the team’s last four games, Manning is completing 65.1 percent of his passes (99 for 152). He's thrown for 1,314 yards and just two interceptions heading into Friday’s showdown with the Aggies at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The game has slowed down for Manning and, as a result, he’s thriving, Steve Sarkisian said on Monday. While praising Manning’s continued growth as a progression passer and decision maker, Sarkisian said that how the redshirt sophomore quarterback overcame his early-season struggles has led to Manning’s play becoming, arguably, the biggest strength of a Texas team standing between Texas A&M (11-0, 7-0) and its first-ever trip to the SEC title game. “I don't know if any college player has gone through what he went through before he even was the full-time starter,” Sarkisian said. “Part of that is his last name, part of it is our brand. I think those two things coming together made this such a big storyline before the season, but none of it was anything due to what Arch was doing. He just kept focusing on what he needed and tried to do. I'm sure there were moments when it was a lot — maybe, even overwhelming — but, to his credit, the guy showed so much resolve and resiliency and stick-to-itiveness to the task at hand. It wasn't a perfect journey to get to this point, but sometimes, it's good not to have a perfect journey. Sometimes, taking a road less traveled is good for you. "I said this earlier in the year — he was going to benefit from the journey that he had to go on and that he could learn how to overcome some of the adversity that he was faced with and some of the criticism he was faced with," he added. "I think he's better and stronger for it today and I'm really proud of him.” View full news story

Wanted to share some moments and tweets from the game on Saturday with a quick thread here on OTF. Let me know if there are any specific stats or plays you would like me to look into!

2026 Georgetown OL Kaden Scherer Flips to Texas *** Bang! Two days, two commits for the Texas Longhorns, both of which coming out of Georgetown High! Kaden Scherer becomes the latest to join the Texas 2026 class and it comes on the heels of an official visit over the weekend with the Horns. Scherer, a 6-foot-7, 285-pound offensive line, said he grew up rooting and watching the Longhorns as a kid in Georgetown and when the offer came in, it was a very big deal for him. Texas adds another offensive lineman to the class. Scherer told me last week Texas was pitching both tackle and guard to him, wanting to see how he would develop and progress physically. View full news story

Could be some interesting news that breaks today. I’ll be on the lookout.

3 Stars of the Game vs. Arkansas *** Star No. 1: QB Arch Manning Without question, the Texas quarterback gets the nod for player of the game. This is also the third time in four weeks where Manning was my player of the game. Manning collected six total touchdowns and threw for a career high 389 passing yards as the offense had one of its best days of the year. Star No. 2: WR DeAndre Moore Three receptions, three touchdowns for DeAndre Moore. Add 76 yards to the tally as well, and that is a heck of a day. Whether it was winning in one-on-ones, or getting open in the scramble drill, Moore had a heck of a day. Star No. 3: EDGE Colin Simmons I almost can't find three stars of the day without the inclusion of both Simmons and Manning. But I am sure Texas fans will take that exact trade off. A strip sack that resulted in a fumble recovery for touchdown was the highlight of the day, but Simmons also added six pressures on the quarterback and is now over 10 sacks on the season. HM1: Trevor Goosby had a clean sheet on the pass pro front. 36 pass pro snaps, zero pressures or hurries allowed. HM2: Two catches for 104 yards and a TD, plus a passing touchdown. It was quite the afternoon for Livingstone.

Texas-Arkansas visitor list thread CJ and I will be adding to the visitor list throughout the day. Official visitor list ... Brysten Martinez, OT, Gonzales (La.) East Ascension - *LSU commit OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star+ Kaden Scherer, OT, Georgetown (Texas) High - *Stanford commit OnTexasFootball ranking: 3-star++ Jett Walker, RB, Georgetown (Texas) High - *Minnesota commit OnTexasFootball ranking: 3-star++ Charlie Jilek, TE, Portage (Mi.) Central #AllGasNoBrakes OnTexasFootball ranking: 3-star++ Richard Anderson, DL, New Orleans (La.) Edna Karr - *LSU commit OnTexasFootball ranking: 5-star Rocky Cummings, LB, Carlsbad (Calif.) High - *Cal commit OnTexasFootball ranking: 3-star++ Josiah Vilmael, CB/N, Richmond (Texas) Fort Bend Travis OnTexasFootball ranking: 3-star++ Commits ... Richard Wesley, EDGE, Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon OnTexasFootball: 5-star James Johnson, DL, Miami (Fla.) Northwestern OnTexasFootball: 4-Star++ Hayward Howard Jr., DB, New Orleans (La.) Edna Karr OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star

Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. has been ruled out for Saturday’s home game against Arkansas (2:30 p.m., ABC). Friday’s SEC student-athlete availability report downgraded Hill from questionable to doubtful for the game. Issued 90 minutes before kickoff, the pregame availability report confirmed that the Longhorns will have to take on the Razorbacks without Hill, who suffered a hand injury in last Saturday’s 35-10 road loss to Georgia. Hill is the leading tackler (69 total tackles) for Texas (7-3, 4-2 SEC). He has recorded seven tackles for loss, four sacks and two interceptions as a junior. Hill’s absence adds a degree of difficulty to the Longhorns’ challenge slowing down an explosive Arkansas (2-8, 0-6) offense. The Razorbacks are fifth nationally in yards per play (7.22), 13th in total offense (470 yards per game) and trail only Ole Miss for the FBS lead in plays from scrimmage that have gained 10 or more yards (183). There were no Texas players listed on the pregame availability report other than Hill. Wide receiver Ryan Wingo, who has been dealing with a thumb injury since the team's 34-31 win over Vanderbilt on Nov. 1, wasn't listed on Saturday's availability report. Wingo, who leads the Longhorns in receptions (40), yards receiving (655) and touchdown receptions (six), was listed as probable on Wednesday and Thursday before he was removed from the availability report on Friday. View full news story