Texas played its best football for 30 minutes, went quiet in the third quarter, woke up to rebuild a double-digit lead, then intercepted a Hail Mary as time expired to hold off Ole Miss and end a two-game losing streak with a 34-27 victory Saturday night.
The No. 19 Longhorns (5-2, 2-2 SEC) took a 24-3 halftime lead at home, but three Arch Manning turnovers helped No. 7 Ole Miss (5-2, 3-2) claw back and tie the game early in the fourth quarter with 21 unanswered points. A beleaguered Manning regained the lead on a naked 1-yard bootleg midway through the fourth quarter. The Longhorns earned the victory as running back Raleek Brown came to life, rushing for 157 yards despite the Longhorns being held to minus 1 yard in the third quarter.
Ole Miss kicked a field goal for a touchdown with 1:22 left, then recovered an onside kick to give quarterback Trinidad Chambliss the opportunity to tie or win the game with no timeouts remaining. The Rebels drove to the Texas 29-yard line, but Jelani McDonald intercepted the Hail Mary pass in the end zone.
“We’ve been saying it all week, whatever it takes,” Manning said on ABC after the game. “We saw it in the fourth quarter.”
Texas has won four straight home games against AP top 10 teams. The Rebels’ loss leaves Georgia and Kentucky the only one-loss teams remaining in the SEC.
The victory may not silence Texas’ critics or calls for Manning to sit on the bench, but it puts the Longhorns back in the win column and keeps them alive in the College Football Playoff race.
Fans and media heavily criticized Manning after the Longhorns lost to unranked Oklahoma and Texas in back-to-back weeks. Coach Steve Sarkisian challenged him during practice, saying this weekend that his quarterback seemed “pissed off” before the showdown with the Rebels. Manning handled the pressure well in the first half. He threw for 171 yards and a touchdown, and threw an interception before halftime, leading the Longhorns to a 21-point lead, but struggled in the second half. He finished with three turnovers, two interceptions and a strip-sack recovery for an Ole Miss touchdown.
Texas avoided the embarrassment of ending the night on the wrong side of history. The Longhorns were in danger of becoming the first team since 1957 to lose three straight games after entering the streak No. 1 in the AP poll. They were also in danger of becoming the first ranked team to lose three games in a row after leading by double digits.
The Longhorns’ playoff chances jumped to 46.7 percent with the win, according to CBS Sports Forecasting and Projections. Ole Miss’ odds fell to 20.6%.
The Longhorns host Mississippi State and the Rebels host Auburn on Halloween.
Gn sports
