For the first time this season, Texas football’s opening offensive drive resulted in a journey to the endzone.
Sophomore running back Jerrick Gibson ran the ball in for a 13-yard touchdown, and Texas never lifted its foot off the gas from that moment on, winning its last non-conference game against Sam Houston State 55-0.
“We’re really just proud of our players,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said postgame. “They really stay focused on the task at hand, and they continue to work. … I thought they played together as a team tonight. They were really well connected.”
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Arch Manning seemed to have found the rhythm he’s desperately been needing, throwing 18-21 with 309 yards and three passing touchdowns, before watching the rest of the game on the sidelines. Senior quarterback Matthew Caldwell and freshman quarterback KJ Lacey Jr. both had a chance for reps on the field. Caldwell took the field in the last half of the third, while Lacey had reps at the end of the fourth.
Manning also recorded two rushing touchdowns for himself, finding his way into the endzone for five and two yards respectively. Running his first touchdown of the day in the last 45 seconds of the first quarter, Manning stared down graduate linebacker Antavious Fish after dropping the ball off in the burnt orange. Somehow, the staredown did not incur a penalty.
“The ref came up to me, I was so scared,” Manning said. “The ref ripped my ass. … I didn’t say anything to (Fish).”
Manning’s connections with his receivers, aside from redshirt freshman Parker Livingstone, have been lackluster in recent games. That changed tonight, with redshirt sophomore Ryan Wingo walking away with two touchdowns and 93 yards and junior DeAndre Moore Jr., back from a mild concussion, catching five passes for 79 yards. One touchdown pass to Wingo was 53 yards, the longest of the game, during the first offensive drive of the second half.
Redshirt freshman tight end Jordan Washington also had his first touchdown of his career, catching a 32-yarder with 12 minutes left of the first half.
“(Manning’s) got his swagger back,” senior safety Michael Taaffe said. “And we’ve all known all the swagger that he’s got, and he’s just got to go play with it. I’m so proud of him. Everybody knew that it was in there, and he just had to stay the course. And so what he showed tonight is what we expect every single game.”
Texas looked worlds better than in the past three games in terms of third-down conversions and time spent in the red zone. The Longhorns converted on seven out of 11 third downs and went seven for seven in the red zone.
With some offensive rhythm figured out, the Longhorns are looking ahead toward SEC play, where dominance in all three areas of football is a requirement. Defensively, Texas looks great as the team continues to attack on that side of the ball and force turnovers, with junior safety Jelani McDonald intercepting his second career pick and adding another pigskin to Texcalibur’s blade.
The only piece of Texas’ play that needs work is the offensive line. Penalties, especially flags thrown for holding and false starts, set the Longhorns back a total of 70 yards this game. The pocket is collapsing a little too quickly for comfort against Sam Houston’s defense, which is ranked 126th in the nation.
The Longhorns will get some rest over a bye week before starting their long, month-long tour of the SEC, starting Oct. 4 against the Florida Gators in Gainesville.
