Arch Manning passed for 220 yards and three touchdowns and 333-pound defensive tackle Maraad Watson scored on a 61-yard fumble return as No. 11 Texas dismantled short-handed Mississippi State 31-3 on Saturday in a Southeastern Conference dustup in Austin, Texas.
Texas (6-2, 3-2 SEC) captured its second consecutive game after losing on back-to-back weeks to unranked Oklahoma and Florida.
Manning went 16 for 20 passing and finalized the win with a 42-yard TD pass to Emmett Mosley V with 7:56 to play. Texas was not great on offense, amassing just 280 yards, but timely explosive plays combined with a dynamite defensive effort that allowed just 187 yards to keep the Longhorns in the middle of the College Football Playoff race with four contests remaining.
Mississippi State’s AJ Swann passed for 97 yards before being forced from the game with an injury late in the first half. His backup Parker Puckett managed just 22 yards through the air.
The Bulldogs (4-4, 2-4) lost star running back Fluff Bothwell to a leg injury in the third quarter and dropped their fourth straight game.
The Longhorns struck on their first possession, driving 62 yards in four plays to Manning’s 14-yard TD pass to Cam Coleman just 2:01 into the game.
After a 38-yard field goal attempt by the Bulldogs’ Kyle Ferrie clanked off the right upright, Texas marched 52 yards in 12 snaps to Gianni Spetic’s 45-yard FG at the 5:41 mark of the second quarter that pushed the Texas lead to 10-0.
Mississippi State had designs on producing points before the half and moved to the UT 34-yard line before Rasheem Biles sacked Swann and forced a fumble that was scooped up by Watson who, slowly, rambled 61 yards for a score that expanded Texas’ lead to 17-0 at the half.
Swann, already playing in place of injured starter Kamario Taylor, was forced from the game with a right arm injury suffered on the sack, forcing the Bulldogs to carry on with Puckett.
After a Manning fumble on a sack by Jaray Bledsoe at the UT 25, Ferrie culled Mississippi State’s deficit to 14 points with a 30-yard field goal with 8:58 left in the third quarter.
Texas responded, moving 75 yards in seven snaps to a 4-yard Manning-to-Raleek Brown TD pass with 5:35 to play in the third.