On the surface level, it’s all going according to plan for Texas: Hand over the quarterbacking reigns from Quinn Ewers to Arch Manning for a seamless transition to continue their status as contenders. But things in College Football hardly ever work out with so much smoothness and linearity. The transition was bound to throw up some curveballs. Here is one of them. Alongside Notre Dame and Ohio State, Texas played the most games in the FBS last season; One that was already longer than ever, owing to the extra regular season game and 12-team playoffs. This meant the players had to work harder than any of their predecessors. Owing to the sheer volume of games, the injury bug hitting them was always a looming possibility.

Despite head coach Steve Sarkisian’s proactive efforts to avoid this calamity, it has struck his camp. Alarmingly, Manning’s supporting cast on offense is seeing the worst of it. As many snaps as Manning has played in his time as the understudy, becoming the starter is its own kettle of fish. There’s been a turnover in the receiving room, with Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond headed to the NFL. This means spring camp was massive for building chemistry between the new QB1 and the new-ish receiving corp. Out of the returning receivers, DeAndre Moore Jr. was the most productive. This is the season where Moore can become a primary starter. But in a surprise turn of events, Moore is injured. Sarkisian announced he won’t be a full participant in spring camp. This renders a cloud of uncertainty over Arch Manning’s development and confidence in the system since getting reps with Moore was paramount.

Over on the “Locked on Longhorns” podcast, host Brad Kellner echoed the news that the player is nursing a toe injury. “DeAndre Moore is dealing with an injury and he apparently will not be a full participant in Texas Spring practice… it is a toe injury that lingered late into last season that DeAndre Moore is still dealing with early in 2025. Of course, DeAndre Moore is Texas’ leading returning receiver… In 2024 he had a very good chance to be the number one wide receiver and maybe he still does have a very good chance to be the number one wide receiver but this is a guy who was going to be a huge part of this Texas Longhorns offense. Him not being 100% for at least the start of Spring ball, that is not ideal for a team that doesn’t have a lot of of returning production in that wide receiver room.

“I mean it’s really DeAndre Moore and Ryan Wingo and I think this is an opportunity for Ryan Wingo to maybe showcase his stuff during spring ball and try to prove to the coaches that he can be the number one wide receiver even though he’s been on campus for one year less than DeAndre Moore.”

This could well be a line in the sand for Steve Sarkisian, Arch Manning, and Texas’ entire 2025 season. They play Ohio State opening week. Sure, Moore will heal well in time. But will he be on the same page as his new QB? A slip-up in week 1 against the defending champs won’t be a death nail, but it’s not ideal.

Moore put up 456 yards on 39 receptions last season, to go with 7 trips to the endzone. That’s the most Sark has in his WR room. Moore joins an injury list that already consists of two members on offense. Both are intrinsically linked to Arch Manning’s quarterbacking.

Running backs CJ Baxter and Christian Clark also won’t be full participants in spring practice. Now these two were expected to miss out, but that doesn’t lessen the blow. With RB1 Jaydon Blue off to the NFL as well, the backfield is just as void of experience as the perimeter. Arch Manning has a lot of roadblocks to deal with in his first off-season as the starter. On top of that, he won’t have the opportunity to play in front of the fans at a spring game, which is a bit of a travesty for the traditionalists. But understandable from Sark’s POV, as he explained the reality of why Texas won’t have a spring exhibition this season.

Steve Sarkisian’s reason behind the spring game call was a precaution against Arch Manning’s misery

The idea behind a spring game is that it gives fans a chance to come closer to the team they love. After all, it would be months away from the sport they love. Well, Arch Manning, his teammates, and fans won’t have this opportunity.

Steve Sarkisian wants to be careful and avoid burning his players out after a long season. Plus, he’s overseeing a massive roster turnover that he doesn’t want to expose to the demanding UT faithful just yet. Mind you, Texas just received the unwanted monicker of the most hated CFB program from a national analyst due to the fanbase. Sark said the following during his presser this week. “We’re not not having a spring game so people don’t tamper with our players. They could go out and catch five touchdowns on that Saturday, they couldn’t go in the portal anyway. That’s not the premise of what we’re doing. People are going to tamper with our players, whether we like it or not. That’s fine.”

“We’re not having a spring game because I got 27 new faces on my roster that I need to take time to develop,” Sarkisian said. “That development starts at the beginning of spring ball, where we’ve got to really build a foundation of understanding the whys of what we do, from how we practice to the drills that we do, to the foundational aspects of the offense, the defense, the special teams, of where we build and then where we grow from there.”

Further, the likes of Nebraska coach Matt Rhule have explicitly stated tampering at these games is the reason why his program isn’t holding one.

With so many new players coming into the team, Sark will be facing an uphill task to keep Texas’ contender status alive. Not to bang on this drum and reverberate concern around Austin but missing returning players in spring to injury only pours gasoline on this potential fire. The fervor around Arch Manning is keeping a lot of worries at bay right now. That isn’t all that bad. He, alongside his coaches, will look to iron all the chemistry concerns out before their big trip to Columbus on August 30.