Having the first-quarter jitters might just be the key to Texas’ dominant wins.
In each of the three home games the Longhorns have played so far this season, they’ve thrown an interception within the first quarter.
But Texas has always turned around and delivered the victory following the early mistake, with Saturday night being no different.
Despite throwing two interceptions and going for a 51.7% passing completion, redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning propelled the Longhorns to a 51-3 win over the ULM Warhawks in his starting debut.
Manning had all 102,850 audience members inside Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium holding their breath when he threw an interception on the first play of his first drive. He soon followed up with a touchdown on each of his next three drives, but his passing inconsistency was quickly revealed following the turnover.
His first-quarter nerves seemed to linger in an awkward first-half showing, as he went 11 of 21 in passing completion against ULM before halftime, with his two interceptions coming within the first quarter.
“Obviously it’s a little easier said than done to just forget about those things,” Manning said. “But I think that’s all you can do is move on and keep trying to help your team win in any way, so you just got to flush it.”
The offense ultimately found the most comfort in running the ball into the endzone to pick up momentum, with junior running back Jaydon Blue totalling four out of seven total touchdowns made.
Blue assisted in Manning’s 28-0 first-half setup for the Longhorns by recording two rushing touchdowns and one short reception pass, making his much-awaited return against the Warhawks. He assured Texas fans that he was perfectly healthy following an injury scare against UTSA last weekend, running for a total of 124 yards on 25 rushes.
“I think Blue is a really good player for us,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “He’s taking care of the ball so much better than he ever did before in his younger years here. The versatility he gives us is something that we’re just really trying to take advantage of with him.”
ULM made its way onto the scoreboard with just less than two minutes left in the second quarter after getting within the Texas 15-yard-line and kicking a field goal to bring the score to 28-3. The Longhorns defense had yet to give up a touchdown to the Warhawks and only allowed 111 total yards of offense.
A rushing touchdown by Texas freshman running back Jerrick Gibson and the Warhawks sacking their own quarterback highlighted a lethargic third quarter, but Texas remained comfortably in the lead as it entered the final 15 minutes of the game up 37-3 on ULM.
Blue got a third rushing touchdown to kick off the fourth quarter, and redshirt freshman running back Ryan Niblett found his chance in the endzone for a rushing touchdown not long after. Out of seven touchdowns scored by the Longhorns, all but one were rushing for a combined 239 yards.
“It was a big test for me tonight, and it felt very good,” Blue said. “[The workload] surprised me a little bit. But, you know, I knew that if we had to do it, I’d be able to do it.”
Texas continued to leave ULM out of the red zone, with the Warhawks ending the game with a 16.7% third-down conversion rate, and came out on top 51-3.
Now officially done with non-conference play, the Longhorns must prepare for a new wave of competition as they face their first SEC opponent, Mississippi State, next Saturday at home.
