Sports
Texas is college football’s new No. 1 team. What have we learned, and what’s still unclear?
Texas is back … at No. 1.
For the first time in nearly 16 years, the Longhorns are atop the Associated Press Top 25, surpassing Georgia when the latest poll was released on Sunday. That achievement has little tangible meaning now for the Longhorns; how they fare in their inaugural season of SEC play will determine how realistic their national championship expectations are. Still, it’s a landmark achievement for a program that has been through the wringer since its last appearance at No. 1 on Oct. 26, 2008.
Through the first three weeks of this season, Texas has been dominant. But there’s still a lot to learn about the 2024 Longhorns, who host Louisiana-Monroe in their nonconference finale on Saturday before their SEC schedule kicks off on Oct. 5.
And last Saturday, they got even more interesting, when starting quarterback Quinn Ewers went down with an oblique injury and Arch Manning came in to lead the rest of a blowout win against UTSA.
Let’s assess what we know — and what we don’t — about what is currently the best team in the land.
What we know
We can stop asking if Texas is back.
For years after ESPN play-by-play man Joe Tessitore declared, “Texas is back, folks!” when Tyrone Swoopes scored a game-winning touchdown against Notre Dame to open the 2016 season, the phrase was used as a punchline by opposing fans while the Longhorns spun their wheels.
Last year’s appearance in the College Football Playoff was Texas’ best season since 2009, and three games into this year, the undefeated Longhorns show no signs of slowing down. The roster is loaded, the coaching staff is stable and Texas’ recruiting is top notch. It’s still premature to say the Longhorns will repeat their 2001 to 2009 run, when they went 101-16. The new 16-team SEC will be a bear for years to come.
But the foundation is set and the pieces are in place for Texas to consistently be in the hunt for championships if the Longhorns can keep the machine running the way it is now.
The Longhorns are in great hands at QB.
Texas already had one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Quinn Ewers. He was playing better than he ever has in a Texas uniform before an oblique strain knocked him out of the Longhorns’ 56-7 win over UTSA on Saturday.
But all is well because the Longhorns also have Arch Manning.
The redshirt freshman with the famous last name has been the subject of intense curiosity ever since he emerged as a recruit, but before this season, he only had 27 college snaps to his name. His appearance in the season-opening 52-0 win over Colorado State included four series, 26 snaps and his first career touchdowns, but on Saturday, we got a real dose of what Manning looks like with the first team.
In just 29 snaps across two-plus quarters, he was magnificent. He threw four touchdown passes and showed off impressive speed on a 67-yard touchdown run. He operated the offense cleanly and efficiently, took care of the ball and didn’t commit major unforced errors.
Yes, it was an overmatched UTSA team that Manning faced, and no, it’s not always going to look as easy for him as it did on Saturday night. But so far, Manning’s skill set and command of the position is impressive. He looks plenty capable of leading the Longhorns for however long they need him to if Ewers is out for a game or two.
Don’t expect this to become a quarterback controversy while Ewers is sidelined. Ewers, who has three years of experience in this offense, is one of the team’s leaders and one of the best quarterbacks in the country. He, too, was once the No. 1 recruit in the country and is a potential first-round NFL Draft pick.
Manning is superbly skilled and talented but has only taken 82 college snaps. When Ewers returns from injury, he will still be QB1.
GO DEEPER
Arch Manning transferring from Texas never would have made sense
The new receivers are stellar.
One of the Longhorns’ biggest questions entering this season was how they would replenish their receiving corps after all three of their 2023 starters — Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Jordan Whittington — were drafted. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian hit the portal and the recruiting trail to address those losses, adding transfers Isaiah Bond (Alabama), Matthew Golden (Houston) and Silas Bolden (Oregon State) and signing four high school receivers, headlined by five-star prospect Ryan Wingo.
Through three games, Bond and Golden have quickly established themselves as impact players. Bond leads the team with 13 catches for 215 yards; Golden is second on the team with 12 catches for 125 yards. Each have three touchdown catches, and Golden also serves as the primary kickoff returner.
Bolden has been a rotational receiver but has been a reliable punt returner, a role he starred in at Oregon State. The biggest revelation at the position has been Wingo, who has quickly become a big-play dynamo. Six of his seven receptions have been for 15 or more yards, including three for 30 or more yards. He also had a 55-yard run against Michigan on a reverse. Wingo is averaging 31.5 yards per touch.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever been around a guy, through three games, that has had the explosive play ability that he’s possessed,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian told reporters on Monday. “He’ll tell you … he’s not a finished product. We’re still working on a lot of the details in his game, but he definitely has a very, very bright future.”
At tight end, the absence of Ja’Tavion Sanders, another NFL Draft pick, has also been smoothed over, but not with a transfer. Senior Gunnar Helm has emerged as a reliable pass catcher with 10 receptions for 189 yards.
So far, the passing game hasn’t missed a beat.
Texas’ depth is as advertised.
Coming into the season, Sarkisian said he wanted give snaps to as many players as possible early in the season — including first-half snaps — to help solidify depth for what he hopes is a title run deep into January. So far, that plan has played out as he hoped.
Through three games, no defensive player in the front seven has played more than 40 snaps in a single game, according to Pro Football Focus. Much of that is a function of the Longhorns gaining commanding leads, but even in the Michigan game, where Sarkisian shortened the rotation on both offense and defense, most of the defensive players played 40 snaps or fewer.
Texas went three-deep at most positions on defense against Colorado State and UTSA and in a handful of areas on offense in those two games. Even against Michigan, the Longhorns were able to get a solid helping of second-teamers in the game.
Sarkisian pointed out that against UTSA, 77 of Texas’ 120 players played, six players scored touchdowns, nine players carried the football and 11 caught a pass. On defense, 28 players recorded a defensive statistic.
They have a capable defense.
Losing key players like defensive linemen T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy, linebacker Jaylan Ford and cornerback Ryan Watts to the draft left at least some doubt as to whether the Longhorns would be as stout defensively as they were in 2023, when they ranked third nationally in run defense and second in third down conversions. It’s not as dominant as it was then, but it’s still a solid unit: The 2024 Longhorns rank 11th in third down defense and 44th in run defense.
And in the most important area — points allowed — Texas has excelled. The Longhorns have allowed just 6.3 points per game.
“We tackle really, really well,” Sarkisian said. “We’re attacking the football right now. Defensively, we’re creating turnovers and they’re having a lot of fun.”
They’re much better in the red zone.
Last season, red zone offense was one of the Longhorns’ biggest weaknesses. They ranked 120th nationally in red zone touchdown rate, finding the end zone on just 50.8 percent of trips inside the 20. This year, they’ve completely reversed the trend, ranking seventh nationally by scoring touchdowns on 14 of their 16 red zone trips. Sarkisian attributed the improvement to his team’s discipline, minimizing self-inflected errors in that part of the field, as well as simplifying his red zone call sheet to focus on a smaller set of plays that Texas has feverishly repped.
What we don’t know
How will Texas hold up in the SEC?
So far, everything points to the Longhorns being an SEC title contender. The Longhorns are big in the trenches, fast on the perimeter and deep at key positions thanks to the roster Sarkisian and his staff have built since his first year at Texas. But it’s one thing to prepare for the grind of an SEC schedule and another to endure it. Will the run defense hold up every week? Can Texas win its clunkers in conference play the way it did in its final Big 12 campaign, particularly against Houston and Kansas State? The Longhorns will need the mental discipline to get up for every opponent.
Can the Longhorns play from behind?
The Longhorns have not trailed in a game all season. Over 180 minutes of game action, Texas has only been tied for 21 minutes and 43 seconds, according to TruMedia. The Longhorns have led the rest of the time they’ve been on the field. How will they respond when they are in a hole, particularly in the second half?
How good is the run defense?
Last season, Texas was elite at stopping the run, allowing just 2.9 yards per rush and 82.4 rush yards per game. This year, opponents have found more room to run, averaging 3.5 yards per rush and 108.7 rush yards per game. It’s not as though the floodgates have opened. Texas is still in the top half of Power 4 teams in run defense, and the Longhorns held the one ranked opponent they faced, run-heavy Michigan, to just 80 rushing yards. But it will be worth watching how the Longhorns fare when they face higher-caliber opponents who try to run right at them.
Can the running backs hold up?
Texas has had significant hits to the running back depth chart this season.
The Longhorns lost starting running back CJ Baxter and true freshman Christian Clark to season-ending injuries in training camp. Jaydon Blue was next up as the starter and has performed well when available, but he missed the UTSA game.
Sophomore Tre Wisner has been solid, and Gibson has been an encouraging option as a true freshman. Getting Blue back to full health will provide a boost. The longer Texas can keep the trio of Blue, Wisner and Gibson healthy, the better.
Beyond those three, Sarkisian moved receiver Ryan Niblett to running back and has also given carries to walk-on Colin Page and transfer Velton Gardner, a former SMU running back that Texas pulled from the portal in August after the Baxter and Clark injuries.
How will they fare in crunch time?
In each of their first three games, the Longhorns entered the fourth quarter leading by at least three touchdowns. As they enter SEC play, those margins won’t always be so wide, and their mettle will be tested. Texas’ mid-October two-step against Oklahoma and Georgia figures to be first true challenge on the schedule.
(Photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
Sports
Law firm fighting for women’s sports in SCOTUS battle comments on ruling possibly impacting SJSU trans lawsuit
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A law firm leading the charge in the ongoing Supreme Court case over trans athletes in women’s sports has responded after a federal judge suggested the case’s ruling could impact a separate case involving a similar issue.
Colorado District Judge Kato Crews deferred ruling in motions to dismiss former San Jose State volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser’s lawsuit against the California State University (CSU) system until after a ruling in the B.P.J. v. West Virginia Supreme Court case, which is expected to come in June.
Slusser filed the lawsuit against representatives of her school and the Mountain West Conference in fall 2024 after she allegedly was made to share bedrooms and changing spaces with trans teammate Blaire Fleming for a whole season without being informed that Fleming is a biological male.
Meanwhile, the B.P.J. case went to the Supreme Court after a trans teen sued West Virginia to block the state’s law that prevents males from competing in girls’ high school sports.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is the primary law firm defending West Virginia in that case at the Supreme Court, and has now responded to news that Slusser’s lawsuit could be affected by the SCOTUS ruling.
“We hope the ruling from the Supreme Court will affirm that Title IX was designed to guarantee equal opportunity for women, not to let male athletes displace women and girl in competition. It is crucial that sports be separated by sex for not only the equal opportunity of women but for safety and privacy. Title IX should protect women’s right to compete in their own sports. Allowing men to compete in the female category reverses 50 years of advancement for women,” ADF Vice President of Litigation Strategies Jonathan Scruggs said.
Slusser’s attorney, Bill Bock of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, expects a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the legal defense representing West Virginia, thus helping his case.
(Left) Brooke Slusser (10) of the San Jose State Spartans serves the ball during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Oct. 19, 2024. (Right) Blaire Fleming #3 of the San Jose State Spartans looks on during the third set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. ( Andrew Wevers/Getty Images; Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
“We’re looking forward to the case going forward,” Bock told Fox News Digital.
“I believe that the court is going to find that Title IX operates on the basis of biological sex, without regard to an assumed or professed gender, and so just like the congress and the members of congress that passed Title IX in 1972, allowed this specifically provided for in the regulations that there had to be separate men’s and women’s teams based on biological sex, I think the court is going to see that is the original meaning of the statute and apply it in that way, and I think it’s going to be a big win in women’s sports.”
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared prepared to rule in favor of West Virginia after oral arguments on Jan. 13.
Slusser spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court on Jan. 13 while oral arguments took place inside, sharing her experience with a divided crowd of opposing protesters.
With Fleming on its roster, SJSU reached the 2024 conference final by virtue of a forfeit by Boise State in the semifinal round. SJSU lost in the final to Colorado State.
Slusser went on to develop an eating disorder due to the anxiety and trauma from the scandal and dropped out of her classes the following semester. The eating disorder became so severe, that Slusser said she lost her menstrual cycle for nine months. Her decision to drop her classes resulted in the loss of her scholarship, and her parents said they had to foot the bill out of pocket for an unfinished final semester of college.
President Donald Trump’s Department of Education determined in January that SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of the situation involving Fleming, and has given the university an ultimatum to agree to a series of resolutions or face a referral to the Department of Justice.
Among the department’s findings, it determined that a female athlete discovered that the trans student allegedly conspired to have a member of an opposing team spike her in the face during a match. ED claims that “SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but later subjected the female athlete to a Title IX complaint for ‘misgendering’ the male athlete in online videos and interviews.”
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SJSU trans player Blaire Fleming and teammate Brooke Slusser went to a magic show and had Thanksgiving together in Las Vegas despite an ongoing lawsuit over Fleming being transgender. (Thien-An Truong/San Jose State Athletics)
SJSU Athletic Director Jeff Konya told Fox News Digital in a July interview that he was satisfied with how the university handled the situation involving Fleming.
“I think everybody acted in the best possible way they could, given the circumstances,” Konya said.
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Sports
Myles Garrett cited for speeding a ninth time, an elite pass rusher seemingly always in a rush
Myles Garrett is in a hurry to become the greatest pass rusher in NFL history. The Cleveland Browns All-Pro defensive end set the single-season sack record in 2025 and has cracked the top 20 career leaders after only nine seasons.
“I’m going to take that down, and I prefer I take it down in the next five years,” Garrett told Casino Guru News last month.
Off the field, however, his urgency to get from point A to B is a problem. He’s accumulating speeding tickets at an alarming rate.
On Feb. 21, Garrett was handed his ninth speeding ticket since his NFL career began in 2017. He was cited for driving 94 mph in a 70-mph zone on Interstate 71 between Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.
The citation from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office says Garrett was driving his green 2024 Porsche at 1:35 a.m., returning home after attending a Miami of Ohio basketball game in Oxford.
Body cam footage shows the officer telling Garrett that she kept the charge under 100 mph so that a court appearance wouldn’t be mandatory. Garrett reportedly still holds a Texas driver’s license — he attended Texas A&M — and told the officer that he did not have an Ohio license.
Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett wears a jacket displaying his girlfriend Chloe Kim before the women’s snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy.
(Lindsey Wasson / AP)
The officer wrote that the famously affable Garrett was “kind and cooperative,” and that drugs and alcohol were not a factor.
Garrett’s need for speed flies in the face of his persona. He has written poetry since high school, peppers social media with inspirational sayings and donates time and money to several charities.
His girlfriend is two-time gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim, for whom he wrote a poem he shared on social media: “You enrapture fools to kings, and exist without a peer, put on this Earth for many things, but our love is why you’re here.”
Verse hasn’t slowed his roll. On Aug. 9 he was cited for ticket No. 8, clocked at 100 mph in a 60-mph zone in a Cleveland suburb a day after the Browns returned home from a preseason game at Carolina.
Garrett’s seventh ticket followed a frightening crash in 2022. He flipped his gray 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S off State Road in Sharon Township and he and a female passenger were injured. He was cited for failing to control his vehicle due to unsafe speeds on what had been a slick roadway.
A witness told a responding police officer that Garrett’s vehicle went airborne, took out a fire hydrant and rolled three times. Garrett sustained shoulder and biceps sprains and was sidelined for the Browns’ game that week against the Atlanta Falcons. His companion was not seriously injured.
Cleveland television station WKYC reported that in September 2021 Garrett was stopped twice in a 24-hour period — for driving 120 and 105 mph. The infractions occurred on Interstate 71 in Medina County, where the speed limit is 70 mph, and he paid fines of $267 and $287.
A year earlier, Garrett was cited for driving 100 mph in a 65-mph zone of Interstate 77 — again while driving a Porsche — and paid a $308 fine. He accumulated his first batch of speeding tickets in 2017 and 2018, and the police reports recite similar circumstances: Garrett driving well over the speed limit, cited without incident, paid a nominal fine.
The piddly fines certainly aren’t a deterrent. Garrett, 30, and the Browns agreed to a four-year contract extension in March 2025 that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at the time. The deal pays the seven-time All-Pro more than $40 million a season and includes more than $123 million in guaranteed money.
He set the NFL single-season sack record with 23.0 last season, surpassing the 22.5 accumulated by T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan. Garrett has 125.5 career sacks, averaging 14 a season, a pace that would enable him to break Bruce Smith’s career record of 200 in five years.
“That is definitely on my mind to go out there and get,” Garrett said. “That’s a goal I’ve had for years now since college.”
Garrett has declined to discuss his driving habits.
“I’d honestly prefer to talk about football and this team than anything I’m doing off the field other than the back-to-school event that I did the other day,” he told reporters after ticket No. 8 in August, referring to a charity appearance.
“I try to keep my personal life personal. And I’d rather focus on this team when I can.”
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Former ESPN broadcaster Keith Olbermann once again incited backlash on social media Wednesday after he called late legendary college football coach Lou Holtz a “legendary scumbag” in an X post on the day Holtz was announced dead.
“Legendary scumbag, yes,” Olbermann wrote in response to a clip of Holtz criticizing former President Joe Biden in 2020 for supporting abortion rights.
Olbermann received scathing criticism in response to his post on X.
“You’re a scumbag that needs mental help,” one X user wrote to Olbermann.
One user echoed that sentiment, writing to Olbermann, “You’re the real scumbag here. Lou Holtz had more class, integrity, and genuine decency in his pinky finger than you’ll ever show in your lifetime.”
Another user wrote, “You’re a grumpy, lonely, Godless man. All the things Lou Holtz was not.”
Keith Olbermann speaks onstage during the Olbermann panel at the ESPN portion of the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel July 24, 2013, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Olbermann has made it a pattern of sharing politically charged far-left statements that are often combative and ridiculed on social media, typically resulting in immense backlash.
After the U.S. men’s hockey team’s gold medal win, Olbermann heavily criticized the team for accepting an invitation from President Trump to the State of the Union address. Olbermann wrote on X that any members of the men’s team who attended the event were “declaring their indelible stupidity and misogyny,” while praising the women’s team for declining the invitation.
In January, Olbermann attacked former University of Kentucky women’s swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler for celebrating a women’s rights rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments for two cases focused on the legality of biological male trans athletes in women’s sports.
Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz listens before being presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec, 3, 2020. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“It’s still about you trying to find an excuse for a lifetime wasted trying to succeed in sports without talent,” Olbermann wrote in response to Wheeler’s post.
In 2025, Olbermann faced significant backlash after posting (and later deleting) a message on X aimed at CNN contributor Scott Jennings, that said, “You’re next motherf—–,” shortly after the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
Holtz was a stern supporter of President Donald Trump, even saying in February 2024 that Trump needed to “coach America back to greatness!”
Near the end of Trump’s first term, shortly after former President Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 election, Trump awarded Holtz with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States.
After Holtz’s death was announced Wednesday, several top GOP figures paid tribute to the coach on social media.
Those GOP lawmakers included senators Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.; Todd Young, R-Ind.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; representatives Greg Murphy, R-N.C.; David Rouzer, R-N.C.; Erin Houchin, R-Ind.; and Steve Womack, R-Ark.; and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; Indiana Gov. Mike Braun; U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon; and Rudy Giuliani.
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Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame football coach, addresses the America First Policy Institute’s America First Agenda Summit at the Marriott Marquis July 26, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
At the time of publication, prominent Democrat leaders have appeared silent on Holtz’s passing, including prominent Democrats with a football background.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who worked as an assistant high school football coach; Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who was a recruiting target for Holtz in 1986 as a college prospect; Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, who played in the NFL; and Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Ill., who played football for the University of Illinois, have not posted acknowledging Holtz’s death.
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