3 takeaways from Texas's Orange-White spring game

Texas football fans got to witness their new 2024 squad in person at DKR for the first time this offseason for the annual Orange-White spring football game on April 20. The rain and thunder/lightning held off for long enough for Texas to get through a full four quarters for the spring game on Saturday afternoon.

Texas football wraps up spring camp with the Orange-White Game on Saturday

Outside of a few upperclassmen who were held out of the action for the spring game on April 20, the Longhorns saw pretty much everyone get reps at DKR. Senior defensive back Jahdae Barron and senior defensive lineman Vernon Broughton were among the handful of upperclassmen who were inactive for the spring game.

It's also worth noting that redshirt junior quarterback Quinn Ewers' reps were limited in the spring game, giving way to more snaps for true freshman Trey Owens and redshirt freshman Arch Manning.

There was plenty of offense and some big throws as the quarterbacks stole the show early in the spring game. The defense, meanwhile, left something to be desired for the Longhorns for both teams in the spring game.

After a last-minute score, Team Orange topped Team White by a narrow margin of 35-34.

Here are three takeaways from the Orange-White Game on April 20.

Arch Manning quiets the doubters

Two years ago, it was Ewers who built up the hype with his arm talent with a nice deep ball connection for a touchdown to receiver Isaiah Neyor in the spring game. While that connection would never really come to fruition due to some unfortunate injury issues for Neyor in his two years at Texas, it was a sign of things to come for Ewers' development as the starting quarterback in Sarkisian's offense.

Manning showed off the arm talent with a beautiful deep ball connection of his own to sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. Manning found Moore in stride for a 75-yard touchdown pass on his first big throw of the spring game.

The big-time deep ball touchdown from Manning to Moore was the first of many highlight-reel throws for the redshirt freshman signal-caller. Manning was nearly spotless in this spring game, completing all but three passing attempts for around 200 passing yards and multiple touchdown tosses.

Manning also found junior running back Jaydon Blue for an explosive touchdown play late in the first half.

The exclamation point for Arch's performance in this spring game came on another 75-yard deep ball touchdown to junior wide receiver Isaiah Bond. That was Arch's third touchdown pass of the day.

Few Longhorns players had a strong of a finish to spring ball than Manning. Sarkisian said he had one of the best practices during Manning's time at Texas in the last two years earlier this week. He capped off spring ball with a very consistent and solid performance in the Orange-White Game.