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Texas football beats Mississippi State while making its SEC debut

Posted on by Kennedy
Texas football beats Mississippi State while making its SEC debut

(This story has been updated to correct a spelling/typo error.)

On Saturday, No. 2 Texas football advanced to the SEC with a win.

Arch Manning threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Longhorns to a 35-13 victory over Mississippi State at Royal-Memorial Stadium. This 22-point win came in UT's first conference contest since joining the league in July.

RELATED: Our staff's takeaways from Texas' victory over Mississippi State

In addition to being 1-0 in SEC play, Texas now has an overall record of 5-0. The Longhorns haven't trailed all season. The last time Texas avoided a deficit in the first five games of a season was in 1961.

To open Saturday's game, Texas stopped Mississippi State on a fourth-and-7 in UT territory. Manning then quickly drove the Longhorns down the field before Jaydon Blue's 1-yard plunge scored the first touchdown of the afternoon.

Router on, right?

Much to the chagrin of everyone who bet on Texas and a 38-point line, that assumption was wrong. With 1:56 left in the first half, Mississippi State got within 7-6 after the UT offense stalled behind Blue's lost fumble at the MSU 21 and Johntay Cook II's drop of a 62-yard touchdown pass.

Texas extended its lead to eight points by halftime when Manning, starting for the second straight game in place of the injured Quinn Ewers, delivered a highlight reel. With UT facing a third-and-9 near midfield, Manning faced pressure from the Mississippi State defense and fired a long shot just before taking a huge hit from linebacker Stone Blanton. The pass sailed downfield where DeAndre Moore Jr. easily caught it and completed the 49-yard score.

After halftime, self-inflicted wounds — notably another lost fumble by Blue and a confusing fourth-down call by head coach Steve Sarkisian — continued to hamper the offense. However, key sacks from Vernon Broughton and Colin Simmons prevented the Bulldogs from capitalizing.

Manning ended the third quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run, and Texas then prevented Mississippi State (1-4, 0-2) from getting closer than 15 points in the final frame. Moore added a 27-yard touchdown catch with 9:30 left for his second score of the game, and Isaiah Bond later ran for a 26-yard score.

Texas has next week off. The Longhorns' next game is the team's annual meeting against Oklahoma on Oct. 12 in Dallas.

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