Overview
- The closed, full‑pad scrimmage took place Saturday and was disrupted by a flu outbreak that sidelined several expected contributors, including Rasheem Biles, Ty’Anthony Smith, Justus Terry, Brad Spence, Daylan McCutcheon and John Meredith III.
- Texas’ defense produced timely red‑zone takeaways — Graceson Littleton returned an interception for a 75‑yard touchdown and Jonah Williams intercepted in the end zone — prompting Sarkisian to say the defense ‘won’ the scrimmage.
- Coach Steve Sarkisian ran the session like an NFL preseason game by limiting reps for starters such as Arch Manning, who was inconsistent in limited action but remains viewed as protected and expected to improve with fuller reps.
- The absences gave freshmen and backups extended live reps with linebackers Tyler Atkinson, Kosi Okpala and Rocky Cummings singled out for valuable work, and transfer kicker Gianni Spetic made a 49‑yard field goal while missing only one of six attempts.
- Coaches plan to use next Saturday’s second scrimmage to finalize the two‑deep for the Sept. 5 opener, and the flu’s timing has intensified position battles and accelerated evaluation of young players and recent transfers.