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What No. 9 Texas players said following Horns' loss at Florida, 29-21

On3 imageby: Justin Wells10/05/25
On3 image
Arch Manning (Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images)

No. 9 Texas (3-2) arrived at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and ran into a motivated Florida Gators (2-3) squad. The Horns lost their SEC conference opener, 29-21, to UF from Gainesville on Saturday. Here’s what the players had to say.

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Arch Manning, QB

“We’ve got to start faster. As an offense we’ve got to play better if we want to win these SEC games. Florida came out and played their A-game. We’ve got to get better this week. Everyone knows we’ve got a big one this week.”

“Absolutely. It’s a long season. Anything can happen. We’ve just got to continue to get better each week and take it one game at a time.” – on if the season goals are still ahead of the team

“I think when you get down, you got to start trying to get those plays down the field.” – on having more chunk plays in the second half

“We have to play better as an offense and as a team. It starts with me being a better leader, and we’re going to have to do that starting tomorrow.”

“For the (Florida) D-line. They played a good game. There were some (hits) where I definitely avoided, but I got to get the ball out quicker.” – on taking a lot of hits

“As much as losses sting your heart, this one’s going to hurt. It’s always something to learn from. You win some, then you learn more. We’ll learn from this and get better.”

Ryan Wingo, WR

“I’ve been saying it a lot. Arch is a competitor, and he’s the reason our team goes. We’re behind him 100% and I know for sure we’ll all bounce back.”

“We got OU coming up, so we’ve got to put this game behind us. Like I said, we got to take each day, day-by-day.” – on what the mood of the locker room was after the game

“That’s on me, I’ll take the blame. Probably got a put a little more on it.” – on Wingo’s pass to Jack Endries during UT’s trick play

Hero Kanu, DL

“I mean, if you’re an institution like Texas, you are going to be disappointed after a loss, regardless of who you play. We’re pretty disappointed but nothing we can’t come back from.”

“It is what it is. You know we can only control so much, and the only thing we can control now is how we respond to it.”

Michael Taaffe, DB

“The positive is we still have a chance. The season is not over by any means. We lost an SEC game last year and still made it to the championship. We’re not hanging our heads thinking that this season’s over by any means.”

“(Florida) fought harder than us. They were the better football team today, which hurts, but that’s the truth of the matter.”

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