In one of the most anticipated games in recent college football memory, Texas redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning made his first career start on Saturday. His three touchdown passes and Jaydon Blue’s four total scores were the biggest factors in No. 1 Texas’ 51-3 win over Louisiana-Monroe from Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Here’s what the players said.

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Arch Manning, QB

How would Manning grade his performance?

“Probably a C+, but a win is a win.”

On what he learned tonight:

“Just continue to try and take what’s there, not force anything, and knowing the shots will come with (Coach) Sark’s offense. Try and move ball forward every play, and one play at a time.”

Alfred Collins, DL

On him stepping into a bigger role this season:

“We waited our turn, you know what I’m saying. We have some great players, and now it’s our time. We’re trying to make the most of it. It’s our last time, last go around here. The standard has been set high for us, and we’re not trying to be the one to let it fall.”

Liona Lefau, LB

What’s the difference between you right now as a player compared to last year?

“I would just say my confidence is up a lot. Thanks to my teammates, of course, we push each other each and every day. I get to compete with Anthony Hill Jr., David Gbenda, Morice Blackwell Jr., Ty’Anthony Smith and the rest of the crew each and every day. Every day it’s a competition between us who can have the right energy and perform each and every day. It just helps me to build my confidence each and every day, especially when I can trust my teammates around me. It allows me to play freely and just have a good time out there, basically.”

How confident is the defense now after four games, four wins, and four really good performances?

“Our defense, we’ve been doing a pretty good job trusting each other and being able to play fast and physical, but we know that we can do better each and every week. We’re going to come back on Monday and do whatever we can to get better. There’s a lot to fix. We were able to make a lot of plays today, but there’s always plays out there that we leave and we can always come back and fix.”

Jaydon Blue, RB

On what he’ll remember about tonight’s four-touchdown performance:

“Just the team win. We played a lot of guys again. And of course, we got to play with five different running backs.”

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On being a veteran in the running back room:

“I’m the oldest guy in that room. So, I just try to do my best to lead, not only lead by example but stay with the younger guys and try to pave the way for them and do everything right so they could see the right way to do things.”

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