Here's a recap of everything that happened in Texas college football's Week Three to prepare you for the Sunday dinner and the Monday water cooler conversations.

1. Arch Manning is good at football

Texas's Quinn Ewers was arguably the best quarterback in college football through two weeks, but he left the UTSA game after a quarter with a strained abdomen. Ewers, the potential QB1 in the 2025 NFL Draft, has not played an entire football season since his sophomore year at Southlake Carroll. Arch Manning came on in relief and threw a touchdown pass to Deandre Moore Jr. on his first snap, then scampered for a 67-yard touchdown run on his next drive. Manning finished 9-of-12 for 223 yards with four touchdowns.

What should've been a cakewalk the next two weeks against Louisiana Monroe and a struggling Mississippi State team just got a whole lot more interesting on the Forty Acres. Manning already gets the most media coverage of any backup, but Texas should brace for a firestorm after Saturday night. To be clear, Ewers has done nothing to lose his starting job and shouldn't miss an extended period of time. But Texas should be in good, famous hands while he recovers.

2. TCU is an explosive, albeit one-dimensional, offense

Josh Hoover has proven through three weeks why TCU bet the house on his development, proclaiming him the starter even after missing spring football. He was sensational in a heartbreaking 35-34 loss to UCF on Saturday night, completing 35-of-52 passes for 402 yards and four touchdowns, driving the Horned Frogs down the field with under a minute left for a last-second field goal attempt. Hoover leads the Big 12 with 1,022 passing yards in three games.

The flip side of Hoover's gaudy stats is that TCU isn't running the football well. The Horned Frogs are 14th in the Big 12 with 96.3 rushing yards per game. TCU had just 17 rushing attempts despite holding a 21-point second-half lead. TCU had the ball with 3:21 left in the fourth quarter with a chance to ice the game, but instead, it threw three passes, two of which were behind the line of scrimmage, and went three-and-out.

3. Texas A&M has a quarterback question

Texas A&M's Conner Weigman sustained an AC joint sprain in the Week One loss to Notre Dame and reaggravated the injury in Thursday's practice, earning a late spot on the injury list. After a lackluster pregame throwing session, Mike Elko handed the keys to redshirt freshman Marcel Reed, who hit the nitrous. 

Reed was efficient, 11-of-17 passing for 178 yards and two touchdowns, but his legs added a new dimension to offensive coordinator Collin Klein's scheme. Reed rushed for 84 yards on 13 carries, constantly evading pressure and making Florida defenders miss in a phone booth. The excellent relief performance is not the same as Texas's situation, where Quinn Ewers was playing his best football to date. Weigman had the nation's worst PFF passing grade against Notre Dame.

4. Joey McGuire masters the vibe

Joey McGuire is a DJ in the way he switches up the vibe. Texas Tech fans were angsty heading into Saturday's game against North Texas, and McGuire turned it into a party. The Red Raiders' 52 first-half points were the most since 2005. Every Texas Tech player had a personalized touchdown dance. The defense got back-to-back interceptions, and the offense responded with a flea flicker.

Of course, North Texas is not the caliber opponent to hang a banner. But for one afternoon, Texas Tech fixed the problems that plagued them early in the season. The secondary got torched by Abilene Christian, but it had three interceptions in six plays (two of which were drops that bounced high into the air). Behren Morton pressed without Tahj Brooks in Week Two, but he was surgical with 264 yards and five total TDs in the first half. Texas Tech was tied for 126th in the nation in penalties. McGuire hired referees to attend practice, and in the first half, they only committed three for 30 yards.

5. Give GJ Kinne the GM his flowers

Texas State made a statement in its 31-28 loss to a much-improved Arizona State squad on a short week after the emotional I-35 blowout win. The revamped defensive line held Cam Skattebo, who had 136 yards after contact against Mississippi State, to 2.6 yards per carry. 

Head coach GJ Kinne has completed a successful Extreme Makeover: San Marcos Edition in two years. Transfer quarterback Jordan McCloud has been surgical, while Ismail Mahdi and Joey Hobert have proved excellent evaluations from the FCS ranks. On defense, Tunmise Adeleye has been an imposing presence with last year's sack leader Ben Bell.

6. Houston is the best team in Houston

Willie Fritz's inaugural season looked doomed from the start after a disheartening 27-7 loss to UNLV in Week One. But since then, Houston has played inspired football, hanging with No. 15-ranked Oklahoma in a 16-12 loss and pummeling Rice for a 33-7 win. Houston's defense held Rice to just 159 yards of total offense.

On the other hand, Rice has stubbed its toe out of the gates in what was supposed to be their most complete team of the Mike Bloomgren era. The Owls have been blown out by Houston and Sam Houston.

7. Sam Houston is Texas's surprise team

Most who watched Sam Houston's inaugural FBS season knew they were a better team than the 3–9 record showed, but a 2-1 start with convincing wins over Rice and Hawaii has exceeded expectations. The Bearkats' offense, lifeless for large chunks of last season, has received a jolt from starting quarterback Hunter Watson. He's benefitted from throwing to receivers Qua'Vez Humphreys and Ife Adeyi, who missed most of the seaosn in 2023. Transfer running back Jay Ducker went off for 148 yards on 15 carries in the win over Hawaii.

8. Dave Aranda – Still a defensive wizard

Fine, Dave Aranda will do it himself. Baylor leads the Big 12, allowing just 9.7 points per game in the three games since Aranda took over defensive playcalling. Of course, Baylor hasn't faced the stiffest competition against Tarleton State, a Cam Rising-less Utah and Air Force. But the Bears are flying around the football. Linebackers Matt Jones and Keaton Thomas are both in the conference's top ten in tackles.

9. Texas's 2024 Recruiting Class is already making its mark

The fact that Texas has its deepest team in a decade and true freshmen are still contributing speaks volumes to Steve Sarkisian's talent evaluation and recruiting prowess. Running back Jerrick Gibson leads the Longhorns with 33 carries for 181 yards on the year, while receiver Ryan Wingo had three catches for 127 yards and a score against UTSA. Duncanville product Collin Simmons leads Texas with three tackles for loss and two sacks.

And speaking of five-star freshmen...

10. Micah Hudson is alive!

Texas Tech fans have been clamoring for more action for the five-star wide receiver from Lake Belton, and Hudson saw his most extensive action in the North Texas blowout win. He finished with three catches for 43 yards. 

Texas Tech has a wide receiver trio with Josh Kelly, Caleb Douglas and Coy Eakin they feel confident in, but look for Hudson to keep working into the lineup as the season progresses.