Arch Manning, Colin Simmons earn weekly SEC honors following Vanderbilt win

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas quarterback Arch Manning and edge rusher Colin Simmons earned weekly honors in the Southeastern Conference with their play against Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Manning was named the conference’s offensive player of the week after throwing for 328 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-31 win over the Commodores at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium. He completed 76% of his passes and didn’t turn the ball over.

Simmons tallied five tackles (3 solo), 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and a recovery to earn a co-defensive lineman of the week distinction alongside Ole Miss’ Kam Franklin.

For Manning, it was his second consecutive game with more than 300 passing yards and three touchdowns. It’s the first time a Longhorns quarterback has done that since Sam Ehlinger did in 2018. He was also honored as a “Great 8” performer by the Davey O’Brien Award committee and a “Star of the Week” by the Manning Award committee.

Simmons has made a habit of earning the weekly honor with this third acknowledgement in the past four weeks.

Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC) has a bye this week before a huge showdown against Georgia at 6:30 p.m., Nov. 15 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.