The Texas Longhorns will be headed back to Austin from their final game away from home in a four-game stretch with an improbable victory, after surviving Starkville with a 45-38 comeback win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Texas does not get the luxury of sitting around, with its matchup next week, as it will be hosting one of the top teams and stories in the SEC. As the Longhorns finally return home for a game at Darrell K. Royal Stadium, welcoming in a top 10 team in the country, the Vanderbilt Commodores.
Taking a closer look at the Longhorns after the comeback victory, here are this week’s position group grades.
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) passes the ball during warm ups prior to the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
Tough, gritty, or resilient, whichever word you choose to land on, will be a good description of Arch Manning’s Longhorns’ performance from yesterday. After a week of questions and criticisms after his performance against Kentucky, Manning stuck through early game struggles and led the Longhorns’ comeback.
The Texas signal caller finished the game 29 of 46 passing for 346 yards and three touchdowns, two of which came in the fourth quarter, and added another touchdown on the ground. The fourth quarter was where Manning was at his best, completing 12 of 20 pass attempts for 166 yards and the two scores through the air.
However, Manning would not be able to finish the comeback after taking a big hit on the first play of overtime and having to watch from the sidelines. With concerned faces on the sidelines for their starting quarterback, enter transfer quarterback Matthew Caldwell into the high-pressure situation. The veteran quarterback, who checked in and out of his only pass attempt of the game, made a well-placed throw into the back of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.
With the game getting out of hand pretty early on, it was no surprise that the Longhorns went away from the run game and heavily emphasized the passing game to work their way back into the matchup. And in the carries, the Longhorns running backs did get it was another average turnout, finishing with 72 yards on the ground, with leading rusher Quintrevion Wisner ending the game with 41 yards on 12 carries, a returning CJ Baxter received nine attempts, getting just 27 yards.
Texas aired the ball all over the yard yesterday, with seven different players recording at least one reception against the Bulldogs. Ryan Wingo had his best game as a Longhorn with five catches for 184 yards, with multiple explosive plays to get the Texas offense rolling on several drives.
On the afternoon, there were four touchdown receptions between Parker Livingstone and Emmett Mosley V, the latter of whom caught his first touchdowns in a burnt orange uniform. Livingstone finished the game with four receptions for 22 yards and the two scores, while Mosley ended the matchup also with four catches for 53 yards and two really clutch touchdown receptions.
Despite the victory, the Texas offensive line still had to work through its struggles in both pass protection and run blocking. Mississippi State was able to get to Manning at will, recording five sacks and hitting the quarterback an additional two times. Blocking for the run game was not any better for the Longhorns, with the Bulldogs’ front seven living in the backfield, tallying 12 tackles for loss.
The Longhorns’ defense did find itself struggling against the Mississippi State offense, with the Bulldogs finishing the game with 445 yards of total offense, while averaging 4.5 yards per play, and running more plays on offense than the Longhorns, with 86 to Texas’ 79. Quarterback Blake Shapen had plenty of success completing 26 of his 42 pass attempts for 381 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions.
However, like the defense has done all season, when needed the most, the unit will come up big, and no bigger was their performance in the fourth quarter, holding the Mississippi State offense to -21 yards on 17 plays on their final four drives of the game. The Longhorns’ front seven pressure heated up late, affecting every drop-back by Shapen, finishing the game with seven sacks and six additional quarterback hits.
While kicker Mason Shipley did miss a chip-shot 29-yard field goal attempt to start the third quarter, the biggest and most important contribution from special teams was once again punt returner Ryan Niblett, who, for the third straight week, made a game-changing play.
With the Longhorns still down a touchdown, the defense did its part, forcing a punt after a three-and-out, and on the return, Niblett made his mark on the game, making his way through traffic en route to a 79-yard touchdown return to tie up the ball game and give the Longhorns full momentum to end the game.