Orlando Florida — arch manning Had big plays with his arm and legs in the Citrus Bowl on Wednesday, throwing two touchdown passes and putting it away with a 60-yard scoring run. win 41-27 It caps a tough month for No. 14 Michigan.
Manning was an easy choice as Citrus Bowl MVP, and that was before he exploded up the middle on his 60-yarder, giving the Longhorns (10-3) a 38-27 lead, the first time either team led by more than one score all game.
Manning was 21 of 34 passing for 221 yards, and he rushed nine times for 155 yards.
he made a perfect throw Kalik Locket Texas led 31–27 on a 30-yard TD run for the first time since a field goal on its opening drive.
That was one play after he went 15 yards for a first down on fourth-and-2. Manning twice converted fourth downs with clutch runs, both times extending drives that resulted in touchdowns.
Manning said it was meaningful to end on a high note after an up-and-down season.
“I guess I’ll go back to coach [Steve Sarkisian’s] The point is, just stay the course and continue to compete, Manning said. “And I think we had a month of preparation before this and acclimated to the new guys, and it was good to finish the way we did.”
Kyle Whittingham, who arrived in Orlando to begin meeting with players on Saturday, watches from the box at the Citrus Bowl. longtime utah coach took over the michigan team (9-4) that produced a strong running game and played hard on defense despite missing its top two defenders, who opted out of the game.
But there was no answer for Manning, who accounted for nearly 80% of the Longhorns’ offense.
Texas also got great production from freshman running backs Christian ClarkWho scored one touchdown and ran for 105 yards on 20 carries. The Longhorns were without three of their leading rushers, all of whom are entering the transfer portal.
bryce underwoodMichigan’s freshman quarterback kept the Wolverines in the game until a pair of late interceptions sealed it. He was 23 of 42 for 199 yards and two touchdowns, as well as three interceptions in the final 18 minutes of the game.
Underwood, who ran for 77 yards, dived to touch the pylon for a 5-yard touchdown run, giving Michigan its last lead of 27–24 with just under 11 minutes remaining.
his pass was stopped Ty’Anthony Smith At halftime after Texas took the lead, and Smith sacked Underwood down the sideline for the second time on the next drive.
“We’ve got a great football team out there that I promise you a lot of guys don’t want to play,” Sarkisian said. “Probably a lot of teams were expecting us to miss the playoffs, and that’s OK. But our trajectory is where it needs to be. We’re a very good football team. We lost some tough ballgames. We battled. We have the right culture, the right mentality.”
Biff Poggi lost for the first time as Michigan’s interim coach. Poggi led the way in wins over Nebraska and Central Michigan after former coach Sharon Moore served a two-game suspension through 2023 related to the sign-stealing scandal.
Moore was fired from the school three weeks earlier due to “an inappropriate relationship with a staff member”, and he was later arrested and charged with three felonies for breaking into the woman’s home.
Whittingham brings a history of toughness and discipline during his 21 years at Utah, which Michigan hopes can go a long way in bringing some stability.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
