No. 2 Texas football defeated UTSA at home 56-7, going 3–0 for the second year in a row. However, this Longhorn squad looked a bit different than the last two weeks.
Several of Texas’ important players experienced injuries, making the projected easy win slightly more challenging.
In the beginning of the second quarter, after making a handoff to sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner, junior quarterback Quinn Ewers went down and was out for the remainder of the game with an oblique strain. In his roughly 18 minutes of playing time, Ewers managed to total 185 yards going 14-16 in completion attempts.
Redshirt Freshman Arch Manning took Ewers’ place and finished with 223 total yards and five total touchdowns, including a touchdown on his first play and a 67-yard rushing touchdown, the longest rushing touchdown a Texas quarterback has had since Vince Young.
“I didn’t know you were fast like that,” Manning said, recalling what fifth year center Jake Majors said to Manning about his rushing score.
After Manning’s performance tonight, his odds at the Heisman Trophy have increased substantially, going from 150-1 to 20-1, giving top contender Ewers a run for his money; however, Manning is more focused on how his impressive game felt at the moment.
“Anytime you can get points on the board, hug your team, win games, it feels really good,” Manning said.
Third-string freshman quarterback Trey Owens made an appearance for a majority of the fourth quarter going 2-4 for 19 yards.
The wide receiver room also showed out with junior Isaiah Bond holding 103 receiving yards with two touchdowns and only five receptions. Freshman wide receiver Ryan Wingo accumulated 127 receiving yards, the team high and one touchdown and sophomore receiver Johntay Cook II scored two touchdowns on his three total receptions.
“I thought offensively, the explosiveness kind of came alive tonight,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “Which was something we were hoping to be able to do … We’ve been efficient the first couple weeks, but to create the explosive pass plays was big for us.”
Sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. obtained his first true touchdown of the season with a 19-yard touchdown from Manning, since his touchdown last week against Michigan was called back with a flag.
On top of quarterback injuries, the running back room also had its ups and downs. With sophomore running back CJ Baxter out before the start of the season, Texas found security in junior running back Jaydon Blue moving up to the top of the depth chart. However, it was announced minutes before kickoff that Blue would be out for the game with an ankle injury.
Despite losing its top two running backs, Texas found success with the rest of its running back room with Wisner and freshman Jerrick Gibson showing out for the Longhorns. The two held a combined 95 rushing yards.
Sophomore cornerback Malik Muhammad, senior wide receiver Silas Bolden and junior offensive lineman Kelvin Banks Jr. were also all injured throughout the matchup with the Roadrunners.
On the other side of the ball, Texas’ defense continued to do what it has done the last two weeks, only giving up seven points and holding UTSA to 260 yards in comparison to Texas’ 614. The defense played strong all the way through, getting a pick-six in the final minutes of game time by junior edge Ethan Burke.
“They’re going to play to the standard, and they’re going to raise the standard higher than anybody could possibly do,” senior defensive back Jahdae Barron said about his defensive squad.
Now with another win and a multitude of Texas starters on the sideline, Texas will look to recover in the next week before taking on ULM at home next Saturday at 7:00 p.m CT.
