ORLANDO, Fla. — In the whirlwind matchup between No. 13 Texas and No. 18 Michigan at the Citrus Bowl, one player stood at the center of it all: quarterback Arch Manning. Imposing his will through the air and on the ground, he seemed almost omnipresent as he steered the Longhorns to victory.
In a performance that grew more authoritative as the game went on, Manning racked up 221 yards through the air while simultaneously notching 155 on the ground. While the first half’s focus was composure, the second’s was about control. And by the end, Manning had overwhelmed the Wolverines in almost every facet, earning the title of bowl game MVP in the process.
That dominance didn’t arrive all at once, though. For much of the first half, the game remained tight as Manning struggled to settle in.
With roughly 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter, Michigan strung together a series of physical runs and long passes to jump out to a 17-10 lead. But rather than letting the Wolverines ride that momentum, Manning mounted an answer just minutes later to keep Texas in the conversation. Darting forward out of the collapsing pocket, he kept his cool as he scanned the field for a target. Locking eyes with tight end Jack Endries, Manning fired the ball 17 yards into the end zone to tie the game at 17, where it stayed heading into halftime.
That throw illustrated something that couldn’t be captured on the scoreboard alone. Through the first half, the Longhorns had totaled 134 passing yards to Michigan’s 17 — a snapshot of how Texas was already tilting the scales through the air.
But Manning wasn’t just confined to the aerial game. In the fourth quarter, the Longhorns leaned heavily into Manning’s command, especially in critical moments, moments where he showed just how mobile a quarterback he is.
With less than nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, Texas was down 27-24, sitting at 4th-and-2 at its 46-yard line. The Longhorns decided to go for it, but ran into trouble as there were no available options down the field. Suddenly, Manning took matters into his own hands and scrambled forward 15 yards to secure the first down.
While this wasn’t necessarily the most flashy play, it got the job done and preserved the drive, one that eventually culminated in a 30-yard passing touchdown. And with Manning on the move, the Wolverines were forced to confront reality – they could no longer key on one dimension of Texas’ offense.
“He’s an exceptional player,” Michigan interim coach Biff Poggi said. “He made some throws today that I thought were like, ‘Wow.’ And then, of course, when you look at him on the field, he’s big and strong. But I had no idea he was as athletic as he is. He’s a force to be reckoned with.”
Nothing was more illustrative of his athleticism than his 155 rushing yards — a figure that was higher than either team’s running backs recorded. As the game entered its late stages, Manning’s agility became the key to his game and was impossible for the Wolverines to ignore.
Up 31-27 with just over five minutes left in the game, the Longhorns regained possession off an interception. Here, Manning delivered the final blow. Wasting no time after the snap, Manning took off up the middle, outpacing the entirety of Michigan’s defense in no time. Sprinting toward the end zone, he reached paydirt for a 60-yard house call, cementing Texas’ lead and sealing the victory.
“It meant a lot,” Manning said. “Going back to (Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian’s) point, just staying the course and continuing to compete. We had a month of preparation for this and getting new guys acclimated, and it was cool to cap it off the way we did.”
Through the course of the game, Manning built his dominance throw by throw, decision by decision, until the Wolverines could no longer match pace. Texas didn’t need him to be perfect from the opening drive — it needed him to be complete by the final one. On Wednesday, Manning was, and Michigan couldn’t mount a response.
