Arch Manning came into Saturday night off his best performance this season against Oklahoma. He went to Lexington, aiming to get his first true-road SEC win. The redshirt sophomore was able to get it with a 16-13 win in OT, but it wasn’t pretty on the way there.

The offense was much more of what Longhorns fans saw in the first five games. Missed receivers, no run game to help and a terrible offensive performance put Arch Manning at the center of a storm all evening in Kroger Stadium.

Manning finished the night 12 of 27 for just 132 yards and no TDs. He had no more success on the ground, going for -1 yards and getting sacked three times. Like past poor Manning performances, the offense gave him no help. But Arch missed most of the few chances he was given. Outside of a big 3rd and 7 throw to DeAndre Moore, Arch Manning had a terrible day at the office.

The beginning of this game looked like the first five games for the Longhorn offense, including an inconsistent, inaccurate Arch Manning. On the first few drives, Manning missed Ryan Wingo on two passes that could’ve been explosive plays, including a “layup” on 3rd and 8. 

The OL was struggling to hold up, giving up 2 sacks and 5 TFLs before halftime, which made life tougher for Manning. The run game was relatively non-exsistent, both in production and play calling, leaving Manning to make the majority of the plays, and he fell short early. 

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Heading into halftime, Manning was just 7/15 for 70 yards and no TDs. The sole scoring drive came after a punt return from Ryan Niblett put the Horns at the 5-yard line. The Texas offense was given another short field after a great INT from Anthony Hill Jr., but gained just 7 yards on 5 plays. Missed receivers, lack of run game and poor OL play showed up for Manning and the Texas offense much like early in the season. 

Coming out of half, Manning spent much of the 3rd quarter on the sideline, as Kentucky continued to control position. Manning got back on the field only up 7-3 with just over four minutes left in the 3rd quarter. After a 31-yard strike from Manning to Emmett Mosley V, Arch missed Endries, the Texas offense stalled and they were forced to settle for a FG. The inconsistencies for Manning continued as he sat at 8/20 for 101 yards heading into the fourth quarter. 

The first time Arch saw the ball in the fourth quarter, the game was tied, 10-10. Manning missed a slant on 3rd down and the Texas offense went 3-and-out for the third time in the second half. The Texas offense got the ball back quickly, but gave it back to Kentucky just as fast, partly because of a clean miss from Manning on 2nd and 11. The defense gifted Manning and the offense another shot, with just over two minutes, aided by a huge 43-yard punt return from Niblett. 

After two Tre Wisner runs and a false start, Texas was faced with a 3rd and 7 just inside Mason Shipley’s FG range. Manning stepped up to the moment, throwing a perfect slant to DeAndre Moore for the 1st down, the first of the second half for the Horns. Manning completed another pass to Moore, setting up a 39-yard FG from Mason Shipley with 57 seconds left. Kentucky was able to tie it and send the game to overtime. 

In overtime, Kentucky had the ball first and the Texas defense was able to get a goalline stand to set Manning and the offense with a chance to win. Manning’s arm didn’t play a part in the overtime for Texas, but it set up a 45-yard FG for Shipley, which he nailed to bail out the Texas offense. 

In Arch Manning’s second road SEC start, he did little to calm Longhorns fans’ worries. The OL and run game was sub par, there were penalties out of his control and he only got to be on the field for just over 20 minutes, but he missed tons of big play opportunities. If Texas is going to get the win in Starkville next week, they need more from Arch Manning than they got tonight, but it was enough to get the win.

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