Texas football beats Mississippi State while making its SEC debut

On Saturday, No. 2 Texas football advanced to the SEC with a win.

Arch Manning threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Longhorns to a 35-13 victory over Mississippi State at Royal-Memorial Stadium. This 22-point win came in UT's first conference contest since joining the league in July.

RELATED: Our staff's takeaways from Texas' victory over Mississippi State

In addition to being 1-0 in SEC play, Texas now has an overall record of 5-0. The Longhorns haven't trailed all season. The last time Texas avoided a deficit in the first five games of a season was in 1961.

To open Saturday's game, Texas stopped Mississippi State on a fourth-and-7 in UT territory. Manning then quickly drove the Longhorns down the field before Jaydon Blue's 1-yard plunge scored the first touchdown of the afternoon.

Router on, right?

Much to the chagrin of everyone who bet on Texas and a 38-point line, that assumption was wrong. With 1:56 left in the first half, Mississippi State pulled ahead 7-6 after the UT offense stalled behind Blue's lost fumble at the MSU 21 and Johntay Cook II's drop of a 62-yard touchdown pass.

Texas extended its lead to eight points by halftime when Manning, starting for the second straight game in place of the injured Quinn Ewers, delivered a highlight reel. With UT facing a third-and-9 near midfield, Manning faced pressure from the Mississippi State defense and fired a long shot just before taking a huge hit from linebacker Stone Blanton. The pass sailed downfield where DeAndre Moore Jr. easily caught it and completed the 49-yard score.

After halftime, self-inflicted wounds — notably another lost fumble by Blue and a confusing fourth-down call by head coach Steve Sarkisian — continued to hamper the offense. However, key sacks from Vernon Broughton and Colin Simmons prevented the Bulldogs from capitalizing.

Manning ended the third quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run, and Texas then prevented Mississippi State (1-4, 0-2) from getting closer than 15 points in the final frame. Moore added a 27-yard touchdown catch with 9:30 left for his second score of the game, and Isaiah Bond later ran for a 26-yard score.

Texas has next week off. The Longhorns' next game is the team's annual meeting against Oklahoma on Oct. 12 in Dallas.

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