Texas A&M may be 11-0 with a playoff ticket in hand, but that record is far from the whole story. Coming into the matchup, Texas is tested in ways that box scores can’t show. And this one key advantage could put Texas ahead in the race.

“I always felt like this was the case. You go to Vanderbilt, Georgia, or even Arkansas, they’ll give you a fit. They give every team a fit. This is a team that is pretty battle-tested here, the last three football games. Hell, you could go back and miss it. They fought for their lives.” Analyst Cousin Shane said on the SEC Podcast.

“And then on the other side, you got an A&M team that’s been kind of not sleepwalking, but they could. Right with a lot of these teams, South Carolina, I felt like that was a they tried to and almost, almost blew up in their face. But out there, it’s easy to feel like they have been locked in the entire time. I feel like there’s a slight advantage to a team like Texas.”

The Longhorns are coming off a punishing stretch against top-tier opponents like Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas. Even their non-conference slate wasn’t easy, with Ohio State, San Jose State, UTEP, and Sam Houston testing them early. By contrast, Texas A&M faces a much softer path, coming off games against Missouri, South Carolina, and Samford, all of whom struggled this season.

That grueling stretch has prepared Texas for its biggest challenge yet: the matchup against the Aggies. Their offense can be a major trouble for the Aggies. They recorded 490 yards, which is their second-best offensive output of the season, and it came on just 59 plays with 8.3 yards per play, which is the program’s second-highest average of the season.

Despite Fox Sports favoring Texas A&M with a -2.5 odds, Cousin Shane believes the Longhorns’ hard-earned lessons will push their luck. After falling miserably against Georgia, getting flagged nine times for 58 yards, where Georgia just recorded one penalty, Steve Sarkisian’s team learned its lesson pretty well. Let’s not forget it’s they who are going to face the Aggies, the same team that was trailing 30-3 at halftime against South Carolina. The Gamecocks recorded 23 points and 312 yards in the first half against them.

With all of that, even Arch Manning looks strong.

Arch Manning’s exceptional game stuns everyone

After battling through early struggles, Arch Manning stunned fans with his tricky play touchdown reception from WR Parker Livingston during the first quarter against Arkansas. Manning became the first Texas player to throw, catch, and rush for a touchdown in a single game for the first time since Bobby Layne back in 1946. He recorded six touchdowns for 389 yards. Even Steve Sarkisian couldn’t hold back his praise of him.

“Vince Young was high-fiving me,” Texas HC Steve Sarkisian said. “He said, ‘Man, I wish I would’ve had that play.'”

Arch Manning didn’t just stop at that; he completed three of his passes over 40 yards and distributed them effectively, with four wide receivers gaining at least 74 receiving yards. WR DeAndre Moore Jr. praised Manning’s accuracy on receptions, too.

“Oh, 10 out of 10,” Moore said. “I didn’t know he had that in him, man. I think he had to go back to those basketball days. He went up and caught that thing.”

This is the kind of improvement he made over the weeks that’s pushing the Longhorns’ chances to make it to the playoffs. As he bounced back from Georgia’s poor performance. There, he completed 27 of 43 passes for 251 yards and a touchdown and an interception.

“Even going into the game, he feels different in pregame than he did two months ago. Even in the moments tonight when things broke down a little bit, he just seemed so under control as he was avoiding the rush and keeping his eyes downfield,” Sarkisian said.

Now, this win sets them up for the most-awaited game of the season against Texas A&M.