Dave Wilson is an editor for ESPN.com since 2010. He previously worked at The Dallas Morning News, San Diego Union-Tribune and Las Vegas Sun.
AUSTIN, Texas — In his most extensive action since arriving at Texas, Arch Manning put on a show in the Orange-White game Saturday, and he didn’t take long to do it.
Manning threw a 75-yard touchdown on his first pass attempt, started 10-for-10 and finished the first half 11-for-13 for 189 yards with two touchdowns. His first incompletion occurred with 12 seconds left in the second quarter, and his second on a throw off the hands of Isaiah Bond in the end zone.
Texas didn’t provide statistics, but according to ESPN Stats & Information, Manning finished with 355 yards and three touchdowns with one interception while completing 19 of 26 attempts. At least four of those incompletions were catchable passes. His pocket presence and confidence was an important showing considering Quinn Ewers missed five games in the past two years, backup Maalik Murphy transferred to Duke, and Texas returns just 16% of its receiving production from last season after losing its top five pass-catchers.
Sarkisian said the plan all along was to limit Ewers to one or two series, because he is entrenched as a third-year starter after throwing for 3,479 yards and 22 touchdowns with six interceptions as Texas made the College Football Playoff. On Saturday, Ewers’ first drive ended with defensive end Colton Vasek tipping a pass that was grabbed by defensive tackle Alfred Collins, who ran it back for a touchdown. Ewers said after the game that he knew his time would be short.
“I know what Quinn’s about,” Sarkisian said. “Quinn’s had a great spring.”
After Manning made an appearance in just two games last season, against Texas Tech in a blowout win and in the final series of the Big 12 title game, he got a chance to take the majority of his team’s snaps in this game for the first time.
“I wanted Arch to be able to just go play football. He hadn’t really played in a year,” Sarkisian said. “When he keeps his eyes up and steps up in the pocket, he can deliver those balls down the field the way we like to play. It was good to see, and it’s good to see some of the guys around him play with him the way that they did.
“We’re very fortunate at the quarterback position to have a third-year starter to have the backup that we have.”
Sarkisian told ESPN’s Chris Low this week that Manning has been patient, despite his famous last name and the proliferation of quarterback transfers around the country.
“The majority of guys like Arch have always been the best their whole life,” Sarkisian said. “Then they get to college and it’s like, ‘Wait, I’m not the starter?’ No, but we’re going to develop you in a way that when you do become the starter, you’re going to play great. You’re not going to have to go through some of these growing pains that some of these other guys go through with their freshman and sophomore year. We’re going to keep training you in a way that when your number does get called, you’re going to play really good football.”
He did that on Saturday, but Sarkisian also praised the performance of true freshman quarterback Trey Owens, a four-star recruit who helped offset Manning’s performance on the other team in a game Sarkisian called “the most exciting spring game I’ve ever been a part of.”
“Not to take a shot of those that put stars on quarterbacks, but I trust our evaluation, and we could probably recruit any quarterback in the country,” Sarkisian said. “But Trey Owens is really talented and can make a lot of throws, so I’m very encouraged with where we’re at, at the quarterback position.”
The Longhorns were excited to see the performance of freshman Ryan Wingo, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound wide receiver from St. Louis who was No. 33 in the 2024 ESPN 300. Wingo caught two touchdowns. Sophomore DeAndre Moore caught Manning’s 75-yarder to open the game. Bond, the Alabama transfer who led the Crimson Tide with 48 catches last season, worked his way into the offense.
Sarkisian possibly foreshadowed some transfer portal priorities when he said the Longhorns still need more “big humans” along the defensive line after losing NFL draft prospects T’Vondre Sweat, the Outland Trophy winner, and Byron Murphy II. But otherwise, he feels really good about the Longhorns’ outlook.
“I think we’re a very talented football team,” Sarkisian said. “What excited me today is that playmakers made plays and that’s something that you try to recruit to. … I think we’re very good. And I think that we have a chance to do some really good things.”
LAS VEGAS — Josh Berry raced to the first Cup Series victory of his career, taking NASCAR’s oldest team to victory lane Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Berry, in his first season driving the famed No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing, had the first victory for a Ford team through five races this season. William Byron opened the year with a Daytona 500 victory in a Chevrolet and Christopher Bell in a Toyota won the next three races.
Berry, meanwhile, had to run down Daniel Suarez following a restart with 19 laps remaining to take control. Although Harrison Burton won at Daytona last summer for the Wood Brothers, Berry’s victory is the first not at a superspeedway since Ryan Blaney won for the team in 2017 at Pocono.
It was the 101st victory for the organization spanning 20 drivers.
Suarez in a Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing finished second, followed by Ryan Preece in a Ford for RFK Racing. Byron was fourth for Hendrick Motorsports, followed by Ross Chastain of Trackhouse, Austin Cindric of Team Penske and Alex Bowman of Hendrick.
Joey Logano had late control of the race until Las Vegas native Noah Gragson hit the wall with 25 laps remaining to bring out the ninth caution of the race. Berry was in second when the caution came out and second behind Suarez on the restart.
Berry won in his 53rd Cup race and just his fifth race with the Wood Brothers, the team that signed him when Stewart-Haas Racing shuttered at the end of last season.
The 34-year-old Tennessee driver was a 40-1 underdog to win Sunday’s race and his win put the Wood Brothers back into the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
Bell to the back
Bell came to Las Vegas on a three-race winning streak with an opportunity to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four consecutive Cup races.
But his chance to extend his streak was stymied when Joe Gibbs Racing had to change the throttle body on the No. 20 Toyota after Bell qualified 13th and the penalty dropped him to the back of the field for the start of the race.
He never recovered in what was an overall subpar day for the four-driver JGR contingent.
Bell, who complained about the handling of his car most of the race, finished a team-high 12th. Only eight drivers have won four straight Cup races in the modern era of NASCAR that began in 1972.
Chase Briscoe was 17th and Ty Gibbs, who rolled a sprint car Saturday night at the dirt track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finished 22nd. Denny Hamlin, winner of more than $200,000 over two nights of playing slots in the Las Vegas casino, couldn’t convert his luck to the track and finished 25th.
Up Next
The Cup Series races next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a track that had been in the playoff rotation the last three years but has now been moved to a spring race. Tyler Reddick won last October and Bell won in 2023.
LAS VEGAS — Christopher Bell will have to start from the back of the field in his attempt to win a fourth consecutive Cup Series race after NASCAR penalized the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on Sunday for making changes to his Toyota.
Bell had been set to start 13th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he is trying to become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four consecutive Cup races. But JGR changed the throttle body on the No. 20 Toyota after qualifying, resulting in Bell forfeiting his starting spot.
Bell came to Las Vegas coming off victories at Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas in Texas and Phoenix. Only eight drivers have won four straight Cup races in the modern era of NASCAR that began in 1972. Among those who have accomplished the feat, seven are in NASCAR’s Hall of Fame and six are Cup Series champions.
Bell’s three straight wins are the Cup Series’ longest streak since Kyle Larson won three in a row twice in 2021, and Bell is the first to do it in NASCAR’s Next Gen car, which was introduced in 2022.
His three wins this year tie his career-high victory tallies set in 2022 and matched in 2024. At Las Vegas, Bell has five career top-10 finishes in 10 starts and three poles. He was the runner-up in Vegas’ past two fall races.
Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell captured pole position for the seventh time in his career during Saturday’s qualifying session for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
It’s the first pole for Spire, which has shown stark improvement with an infusion of cash brought by new majority owner Dan Towriss, who also controls Andretti Global in IndyCar and the Cadillac F1 team set to debut in 2026.
McDowell’s previous six poles all came during the 2024 season, his 17th in the Cup Series.
Christopher Bell qualified in 13th position but will start from the back of the field as he searches for a fourth consecutive win. NASCAR penalized the Joe Gibbs Racing driver Sunday for making changes to his Toyota.
He could become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four consecutive Cup Series races — an accomplishment that only eight drivers have achieved in the modern era of NASCAR that began in 1972.
Lackluster qualifying hasn’t been a deterrent for Bell thus far, as he started 19th before winning at Circuit of the Americas and 32nd before winning at Atlanta.
Joey Logano will start Sunday’s race alongside McDowell on the front of the grid, qualifying in the top two at Las Vegas for the third time in five races. Austin Cindric will start third, while Las Vegas native Kyle Busch starts in fourth.
Bell has received a congratulatory text message from Johnson after each win in this three-race streak, and he is hoping the seven-time NASCAR champion hits that send button again Sunday.
“It is still the coolest thing in the world to me that I have Jimmie Johnson in my phone,” Bell said. “He has talked to me, he has sent me a text message after every win so far. I’m still shocked every time I see his name pop up. I respect the heck out of him. It’s an honor to know that he thinks of me after the race to send a text message. That is so cool.”
Bell’s three straight wins is the Cup Series’ longest winning streak since Kyle Larson won three in a row twice in 2021, and Bell is the first to do it in NASCAR’s Next Gen car, which was introduced in 2022.
The three wins this year tie his season-high set in 2022 and matched in 2024, and setting a new mark isn’t out of the question at Las Vegas, where he has five career top-10 finishes in 10 starts and three poles. Bell, in his No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, was the runner-up in Vegas’ last two fall races.
He is not considering a fourth consecutive victory a lock, even as he has dominated the first month of the season.
“One thing is for sure: Nothing that has happened the last three weeks means anything for this week,” Bell said. “Everything is still ahead of me and nothing is set, and we have to go out there and perform. This has been a strong track for us in the past, but I’m just trying very hard to not get ahead of myself and understand it is a new week. It’s a different race, and everyone is going to be bringing their best stuff to try to beat me.”
Perhaps the greatest threat to end Bell’s hot streak is Larson, who has won at the “Diamond in the Desert” three times since joining Hendrick Motorsports. Larson’s first win with Hendrick came at Las Vegas in March 2021, and he has claimed two of the previous three races held at the track, winning the South Point 400 in October 2023 and the Pennzoil 400 in March 2024.
“I think since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, it’s probably been our best racetrack,” Larson said. “Getting a few wins, I think two other second-place finishes in that time has also been really good. The track is great, but getting to come to the city and have fun on the Strip and all the stuff that it has to offer, it probably makes it one of my three favorite races to get to.”
Logano is the most recent winner at Las Vegas, as his victory at the South Point 400 in October propelled him to his third NASCAR title.
The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.