Longhorns of the Week: Wisner, Burke shine vs. Texas A&M

Coming out of the Texas A&M game, the attention quickly turned towards the CFP and the Longhorns making their argument to the committee. There is plenty of time to get into that, but for now, let’s highlight the Longhorns who stepped up in a big way on Friday night. Two players on both sides of the ball really stepped up and carried the Longhorns to a massive rivalry win.

Offense: Tre Wisner & Arch Manning

Tre Wisner is the biggest reason the Longhorns won this game as far as I’m concerned. 155 yards in the game, the majority coming in the second half when the Longhorns needed him the most. Wisner broke a 48-yard run to start the second half and didn’t look back, tacking on positive gain after positive gain. Tre Wisner has always been a star against the Longhorns rivals, and it was none different against the Aggies.

Arch Manning’s stat line was far from special in this game. Less than 50% completion, less than 200 yards passing, but I’d argue the level of performance does not match the stat line. Manning made massive plays on 3rd down with his legs throughout this game, including the 35-yard TD run to put the game on ice. Despite a frustrating first half passing the ball, he went 6/9 for 128 yards and a TD pass to Ryan Wingo to give the Longhorns their first lead of the game, one they didn’t give back.

Honorable Mentions: Jack Endries, Nick Townsend, Ryan Wingo

Defense: Ethan Burke & Kobe Black 

Ethan Burke has played great football for the Longhorns for quite some time, but there’s an argument Friday night was his best game in burnt orange. Burke finished with a career-high 9 tackles, a PBU and a massive blocked FG early in the game. Burke also made a potential TD-saving tackle on a punt return in a critical moment. In what is likely Burke’s final game in DKR, he was special.

The undertalked about part of this game was the injuries Texas sustained in the backend. Malik Muhammad left briefly, but Kade Phillips went down early in the second half, and did not come back in. That made way for Kobe Black to step up, and he answered the bell, giving up just 4 yards on 2 targets and reeling in the game-sealing INT.

Honorable Mentions: Michael Taaffe, Jelani McDonald, Colin Simmons

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This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Longhorns of the Week: Wisner, Burke and Black shine in rivalry