The last three minutes of the first quarter between Texas and Arkansas resulted in another touchdown for redshirt sophomore quarterback Arch Manning.
This time, Manning didn’t throw it in — he was the one in the endzone stretching toward the sky and plucking the ball out of the air as redshirt freshman wide receiver Parker Livingstone scrambled to the right and threw a four-yard touchdown.
After such a devastating loss to Georgia the Saturday before, there wasn’t much the Longhorns could do besides “control the controllable.” Those three words took up Monday’s press conference, yet when Texas stepped onto the field and beat Arkansas 52-37, the Longhorns were doing more than “controlling the controllable” — they were actually having fun.
“I feel like, us as an offense, all of us play better when we’re having fun,” Manning said postgame. “Just have to continue that. It’s fun to play at home in front of this crowd, and (we’ve) just gotta keep going for next week.”
The season is on the line after next week’s last regular-season game against undefeated Texas A&M. Playoff contention is questionable at best. If there was any time to really put the car in drive, it was last week.
Most other teams in this situation would have closed their fists, hunkered down in desperation and forgotten the reason they stepped out on the field in the first place. Not to win a championship or even a playoff seed, but to simply play football.
Texas had fun throughout Manning’s flawless first quarter, during which he threw 7-for-7 for 129 yards and a touchdown. That fun continued through the rest of the game when he finished with 389 yards and six total touchdowns, completing the trio of receiving, rushing and passing touchdowns with ease.
“He’s the first guy ever to throw a touchdown, rush for a touchdown and receive a touchdown in a game,” Sarkisian said. “He continues to get better and better, which is a good sign for us.”
The Longhorns’ delight showed itself during the third quarter when junior safety Jelani McDonald intercepted a botched pass from Arkansas redshirt senior quarterback Taylen Green. That interception turned into the second Longhorn touchdown within the same five minutes, and the fifth of the game.
And when junior linebacker Liona Lefau picked up a strip sack and carried the ball all the way to the endzone in the fourth quarter, the joy throughout the stadium was palpable.
Maybe the best thing for Texas right now isn’t to put its foot on the gas in a desperate, last-minute attempt to prove itself worthy. It definitely isn’t the time to hang heads and declare the season over. But it is, perhaps, time for the Longhorns to simply enjoy what’s in front of them — and savor what’s left.
“It’s not easy when you get knocked down and you’ve got to get back up off the mat, and you’ve got to continue to fight,” Sarkisian said. “As I told the team downstairs, from Monday they responded, and it was not easy for them either, but they fought back and they put forth a performance where we came out of the game healthy.”
Texas players danced as the fourth quarter started with a live rendition of Django Walker’s “Texas Longhorn” and joyfully skipped down the sidelines, hyping up the crowd. It was evident even in the trick play between Livingstone and Manning that made history.
The Longhorns had lived to see another day. They experienced a win after that loss. Better yet, they still have another week to play football.
