Arch Manning’s comfort content? Entourage and Napoleon Dynamite. Relatable. More on Hollywood Arch ⬇️ statesman.com/sports/longhor…

Arch Manning says Ari Gold from Entourage is his favorite character in TV history. Manning is now on his 2nd watch of the HBO comedy starring Jeremy Piven: “I went to one of his comedy shows this offseason with some guys on the team and he was hilarious. Got to talk to him before, we've kept up, talked on the phone.” “It's cool. He's probably my favorite character in all of television, Ari Gold, so being able to talk to Jeremy Piven and pick his brain, I guess, and you know, laugh, is refreshing.”

I suspect both of Arch’s uncles can throw a football over them mountains.

🍿 Important note on Texas’ QB1: Arch Manning says he watched Napoleon Dynamite this week to put him in a good mood after back-to-back losses.

Steve Sarkisian says Texas’ special-teams issues were “funky” on Saturday. Said he still wants Emmett Mosley V as the hands guy on onside kicks. Added he likes keeping DB Graceson Littleton as the guy to secure a potential miss from Mosley. Sarkisian adds Longhorns hope to add “confidence” in these situations through drills in practice this week.

I was surprised to see Steve Sarkisian go for it on this 4th-and-1 deep in Texas territory on Saturday. Sarkisian said he wanted to flip the momentum amid another sluggish third quarter. “We had really lost momentum of the game. … We had an opportunity to get the momentum back on our side, get the crowd back in our favor.” Adds: “You go for it in those situations when you really like the call.”

Steve Sarkisian began today’s press conference touting Texas’ home-field advantage: • Texas is 26-5 at home since 2023. • Texas has beat its last four top-10 opponents at DKR. • Texas’ 104,306 fans Saturday was fourth-biggest crowd in DKR history. • Four of Texas’ seven most highly-attended games in program history have come this season.

New @statesman: Steve Sarkisian blames Texas’ recent onside-kick failures on a simple case of “human error.” But is there a more pervasive problem within Texas’ special-teams unit and its $1.2 million coordinator? statesman.com/sports/longhor…

Sarkisian thinks it should have been. Odd quirk there: medical examiner can step in regardless of penalty vs. no penalty.

Texas will face Rick Pitino’s team at 11 a.m. CT. @ThomasJonesAAS with more on how you can watch Sunday’s scrimmage and what it means for Texas ⬇️ statesman.com/sports/longhor…

Sean Miller said this week he's thrilled for Texas to face St. John's at Madison Square Garden in today's exhibition. Michigan faced St. John's in a scrimmage at MSG on this exact date last year. Miller is happy for his team to face a similar test today: "When you play St. John's, it's like you're entering the athletic crucible. You have to have some toughness. You have to have the ability to get open, you have to play through contact, you have to play full court, you have to play through exhaustion. When the shot goes up, there will be no team that tries to get second shots more than St. John's. They are relentless in terms of their effort level."

Arch Manning on tonight’s Peyton-esque touchdown run: “Coach Sark just called it. We talked about it during the week, and we've had that play in all season. So it felt good, nobody was around.” Manning said Sarkisian did not show him a clip of Peyton's TD vs. Dallas. Justin Cryer interjects "I love that video.”

Here's Manning with his family postgame. xitter.cf/anneparkercole1/status…

Arch Manning said he “damn near bawled” with his family last Sunday. Embraced his folks after tonight’s win. Much different vibe for Texas’ QB.

Steve Sarkisian explained why Arch Manning had to be exit the game for one play after this hit. An independent medical examiner buzzed officials on the field and said Manning had to be removed for an evaluation. Sarkisian thought if it was ruled Manning was hit in the head, he could stay in the game. Not the case.

Steve Sarkisian on the injuries to WR Cam Coleman and LT Trevor Goosby. Both exited and did not return tonight. "Neither of them looked very good."

Sarkisian notes Texas has 17 wins against top-25 teams since 2023. Most in college football.

Steve Sarkisian’s opening statement: “What an SEC football game that was. It never ceases to amaze me the quality of teams in our conference.”

1 down, 5 to go ✅

Texas football: never boring.