Ahead of its debut season at the Southeastern Conference, Texas football hosted its annual Orange-White scrimmage, where fans got the chance to enjoy the Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium energy and watch faces, both old and new, on the field.

For head coach Steve Sarkisian, on the other hand, the spring game is a chance to see how his freshmen and transfers fit in with the returning players, as well as work out the dynamics of this new team after the departure of key names such as Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy.

“We had a lot of new faces on this team this spring,” Sarkisian said. “We lost some really good players that are going on to the NFL, … guys that were really impactful players for our program. Between a lot of these mid-year high school kids and transfers that showed up in the program, we had to recreate ourselves this spring.”

Sarkisian’s decision to give younger players some game time came through as soon as the team rosters came out. Redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning and first-string junior quarterback Quinn Ewers were both part of the white team, while four-star recruit freshman quarterback Trey Owens would start for the orange. And it was Owens’ team that started on top with two touchdowns in the first quarter. 

“I think (Manning and Owens) did a great job showcasing how much they’ve grown this whole spring,” Ewers said. “It was fun to watch.”

Seconds after the orange team’s second touchdown, Manning stepped onto the field with a solid throw to sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. to score the first points for the white team before the end of the first quarter, and junior running back Jaydon Blue tied up the game. 

In terms of freshmen showing their worth, wide receiver Ryan Wingo made justice to his five-star recruit ranking and put the orange team back on the lead heading into halftime. In addition, Wingo scored the last touchdown of the game with 30 seconds left to give his team the 35-34 win. 

“We thought (Wingo) was a unique talent in high school,” Sarkisian said. “And then we loved his character and what he stood for. All those things are holding true for us right now.”

As summer approaches, Sarkisian and his team are getting ready for exit meetings, looking to get the team prepared for June and July practices and ultimately the start of the season against Colorado State and the first away in Ann Arbor against national champions Michigan.

“I’ll have individual exit meetings with every player,” Sarkisian said. “They’ll have exit meetings with their position coach so that they know where they’re at in the program, and then what they need to do in June and July to get ready for August for training camp.”