JT Geraci, a New Jersey native, made his commitment to the Longhorns after they beat out Ohio State, Alabama, Notre Dame, and Vanderbilt for one of the country's most versatile players. Geraci is the third member of the cycle and the first tight end for head coach Steve Sarkisian in the class.

The Longhorns' schedule includes an early battle at home against Ohio State and a slate of in-state opponents, including Texas State, UTSA and Texas A&M.

Manning's final performance entering the bowl game was the clutch effort against Texas A&M, his third win against a top-10 opponent. Texas scored 17 consecutive second-half points to snatch the lead from the Aggies after trailing 10-3 at intermission, which included several big-time throws from Manning.

Taaffe's charitable efforts this year were twofold: he not only raised money in response to the Central Texas floods in July, but also launched a campaign to raise awareness about fentanyl in honor of his friend and former teammate at both Westlake High School and Texas, Jake Ehlinger .

With Guilbeau opting out, the Texas secondary is now down two players who started for most of the regular season. All-American safety Michael Taaffe also will skip the Citrus Bowl in order to prepare for the draft.

When the Gordon Longhorns take the field at AT&T Stadium on Wednesday in the Class 1A Division I state championship game, they’ll carry more than their helmets and pads. They’ll carry the hopes of a North Texas community still rebuilding after an EF-1 tornado tore apart their school and destroyed their sports facilities back in May.

Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns are shaking up their staff in the Lone Star State with the addition of prominent coach Will Muschamp, the university rev