Arch Manning passed for 212 yards and accounted for three touchdowns and Raleek Brown amassed 157 rushing yards as No. 19 Texas outlasted seventh-ranked Ole Miss 34-27 on Saturday in a crucial Southeastern Conference clash in Austin, Texas.
Trailing 24-3 at halftime, the Rebels roared back to score three touchdowns and limit the Longhorns to just 19 yards of offense in the first 16:03 of the second half.
But Texas (5-2, 2-2 SEC) turned to its ground attack late to cement the victory, with Brown ripping off a 47-yard run to set the table for Manning’s 1-yard TD on a naked bootleg that put the Longhorns on top for good, snapping their two-game losing streak which dropped them from No. 1 in the AP poll.
Brown added a 28-yard run on Texas’ ensuing drive that allowed Gianni Spetic to give Texas a 34-24 lead on a 33-yard field goal with 2:25 to play.
Lucas Carneiro’s 39-yard field goal with 1:22 left brought the Rebels back to within seven points. Ole Miss then pounced on its onside kick to give itself one more chance but the drive stalled out just outside the red zone with Jelani McDonald coming away with an end zone interception on the final play of the game.
Trinidad Chambliss led Ole Miss (5-2, 3-2) with 250 yards passing. He threw two touchdowns to Horatio Fields but also produced a career-high three interceptions.
The teams traded early field goals, with Spetic hitting from 23 yards out at the 8:27 mark of the first quarter for Texas and the Rebels responding with a 46-yarder by Carneiro with 6:01 to play in the first.
Manning, who had two interceptions, put the Longhorns back on top with a 2-yard keeper with 55 seconds to play in the first, with the touchdown coming after a 43-yard catch-and-run by Ryan Wingo and a bruising 23-yard run by Brown. On Texas’ following possession, Manning delivered a 50-yard TD strike to Wingo, who caught seven passes for 111 yards, to push the Longhorns’ advantage to 17-3.
Michael Terry III expanded Texas’ lead to 24-3 with a 2-yard touchdown run at the 9:21 mark of the second quarter.
Ole Miss got back into the game on the opening possession of the third quarter when Blake Purchase forced a Manning fumble that was recovered by Kam Franklin in the end zone for a TD that cut the Rebels’ deficit to 24-10. Chambliss then hit Fields on a 6-yard touchdown pass with 6:46 to play in the third to make it a 24-17 game.
The Rebels evened things when Fields jumped over a Texas defender to complete a 27-yard scoring pass from Chambliss with 13:57 to play in the game.