Texas football conquered its first-ever SEC opponent in conference play, overcoming Mississippi State 35-13. Despite advancing their 5-0 record, the Longhorns did not look like the No.1 team in the country.
The originally 37.5-point favorites struggled with efficiency on both sides of the ball.
“There’s a lot to be learned from this game,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said after the matchup. “There’s a lot to be gained from this game, but again, I think the poise and composure we exuded is going to be something that we’re going to be able to fall back on down the road because we’re going to be in some tough games. So, this was just a good start for us to kind of get exposed to it.”
With junior quarterback Quinn Ewers sidelined with an injury for his second game in a row, all eyes were on redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning once again. After his lackluster passing performance from last week against ULM with a 52% completion rate, Manning redeemed himself, going 26-31. Manning even had a 26-yard scramble and dive into the endzone, which was called back to the one-yard line.
However, the decline of the offense was largely due to errors or what Sarkisian calls “self-inflicted wounds.”
Junior running back Jaydon Blue, on whom Manning depended heavily last week, rushed for only 36 rush yards and fumbled twice. However, Sarkisian still sees Blue as a substantial player. Sarkisian said that he blames himself for a lot of today’s faults such as Blue’s fumbles or his choice to go for it on fourth and three, instead of an easy three-point field goal and keep it a one-score game.
“Coach Sark was getting cussed out in his own head,” Sarkisian said about how he felt after Blue’s fumble.
The Longhorn offense also struggled to follow the rules, accumulating eight penalties for a loss of 65 yards. The substantial holding and false start calls put a stop to many promising plays for the team.
On top of this, Mississippi State’s defense showed its strength, holding Texas to 10 rush yards in the first half and only allowing 5-12 for third down conversions. At one point, Texas found itself at the one-yard line and the Bulldog defensive line was able to shut them down.
Despite the offensive mistakes, there were still many triumphs for the team. Sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. had four catches for two touchdowns and 103 yards. Moore could also be seen in all aspects of the game, helping block for his teammates. Junior wide receiver Isaiah Bond also had an impressive performance with 74 receiving yards and 26 rush yards, while sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner, who took the place of Blue after he left the game following his second fumble, finished with 88 rushing yards.
“I would be doing my team a disservice if I didn’t go out there and give my all into the blocking game, the special teams game, the receiver game,” Moore said. “I got to give them my all.”
As for the defensive side, it started slow for the Longhorns, giving up the most points they have all season. The defense gave up 115 rush yards in the first half in comparison to only 35 in the back half of the game. Texas also registered six sacks with a loss of 45 yards. Senior linebacker David Gbenda, who finished the night with eight total tackles and six solo tackles, said that while he is happy that Texas won, there’s a lot the team needs to work on.
“It was a good game, but at the same time I have a lot to clean up,” Gbenda said. “They had 197 rushing yards, that’s too many leaky yards and we got to perform better as a defense.”
Texas’ offense and defense will have time to work on its mistakes as the team enters its bye week before heading to Dallas to face Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry matchup on Oct. 12.
