The Longhorns played their first night game of the season at Darrell K. Royal Stadium, and Texas fans had reason to cheer as the Longhorns defeated UTSA 56-7 to bring their season record to 3-0.
The game was not without its stresses, however. Quinn Ewers’ abdominal strain, which sidelined him in the second quarter, is a cause for concern. The severity of the injury for the Heisman candidate is still unclear, but it looks like backup QB Arch Manning is well on his way to becoming the star player he is supposed to be.
Overall, there were many exciting things from the game after this great victory.
1. Arch Manning is the future.
Right now, Arch should be the starter ahead of Quinn, but what Texas fans just saw from Manning was incredible.
Immediately after entering the game for the injured Ewers, Manning executed a play-action, comfortably rolling out of the pocket and throwing a dart on the run to DeAndre Moore Jr., who scored a 19-yard touchdown.
On the next drive, Arch took almost as long to reach the end zone, running past all of UTSA’s defenders on the second play of the drive for a 67-yard touchdown. A Manning who can run is just unfair.
Manning’s final stats with nine successful passes in twelve attempts for 223 yards and four touchdowns.
Although Arch was far from perfect, he showed off his ability to be both a pocket passer and a dangerous scrambler in many situations. His 75-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ryan Wingo was incredible.
Manning could be a starter for pretty much any college team today. His performance isn’t just because UTSA has a subpar defense, Arch looks like a natural quarterback. But for Texas, Quinn Ewers is still the obvious answer if the Longhorns want to compete for the national championship as planned. But Texas is lucky to have someone like Manning in case Ewers misses a week or two.
2. Jerrick Gibson can assert himself as a solid running back.
Gibson didn’t dominate, but still had solid games with running back Jaydon Blue unavailable. Gibson finished the game with 75 yards on 13 carries. He averaged 5.8 yards per carry, but none of them were longer than 11 yards. While that’s not a stellar performance, it’s good to know that Gibson only lost yards once in the game and can be a consistent option for short rushing attempts all season.
Jaydon Blue’s injury is one reason Texas is being more cautious than anything else. Blue should be ready for Week 4, but Gibson can easily hold his own against ULM if Blue isn’t healthy for some reason.
3. The defense must win the battle for possession against better opponents.
Winning the battle for possession usually means you’re in control of the game, and in the first two games, Texas’ defense was constantly giving up turnovers.
UTSA proved to be slightly better on the ball than Michigan and Colorado State, allowing only one turnover, which came late in the fourth quarter on a pick-six by Ethan Burke.
The defense was still able to keep up with UTSA’s offense in terms of points, with both scoring a touchdown, but SEC opponents will be better on offense and be able to create more scoring opportunities.
Losing the battle for possession didn’t affect the Longhorns in this game, but allowing Georgia two turnovers could easily lead to decisive points for the Bulldogs.
4. The defense line had its best game of the season.
Three sacks isn’t exactly amazing, but it’s a new single-season record for the Longhorns defense. For a team that allows just over six points per game, it’s really surprising how difficult it was for Texas to get to the quarterback.
The team recorded a total of 12 tackles for loss on UTSA’s offense. Players like Barryn Sorrell and Ethan Burke were a persistent problem throughout the game. Burke even turned an interception pass into a touchdown late in the game.
This back line can improve, but it was a solid performance on Saturday.
5. The Texas crowd is ready for the SEC.
I say this as a student, this was a loud game. This is my third year as a student at Texas and other than the Alabama game and the TCU game in 2022, this was the loudest game in DKR.
In the past, during games against weaker non-conference opponents, the student section may never fill up or may not fill up until kickoff. At both Colorado State and UTSA, the student section was nearly full an hour before kickoff.
Texas hasn’t been ranked this high in the AP poll (No. 2) since 2009, so it’s understandable that the hype was higher than usual. DKR doesn’t typically have a reputation for having an intimidating stadium as an opponent.
But with the arrival of new SEC teams this season, I think the assumption that the Texas crowd won’t matter will quickly be disproved.
Texas will return to DKR next week against UL-Monroe. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network at 7 p.m.
