Arch Manning threw for 305 yards and a career-high tying four touchdowns in two and a half quarters of action as No. 5 Texas rolled to a 59-7 win over Texas State on Saturday afternoon in Austin, Texas in the teams’ season opener.
Manning, making his 17th career start, connected on 20 of his 27 passes and suffered one interception as the Longhorns (1-0) dominated throughout to set the table for next week’s titanic clash against top-ranked Ohio State.
Texas’ running back tandem of Hollywood Smothers (70 yards on 10 carries) and Raleek Brown (34 yards on 11 carries with two TDs) combined for 104 yards on the ground, and wide receiver Ryan Wingo caught seven passes for 121 yards with a touchdown, all in the first half.
Quarterback Brad Jackson led the Bobcats (0-1) with 177 total yards, 150 of those on 15-of-23 passing.
The Longhorns drove 56 yards in seven plays on their opening possession to a 6-yard TD pass from Manning to Cam Coleman and then added to the lead on an 8-yard shovel pass for a touchdown from Manning to Wingo on the following drive.
After an extended march by Texas State ended with a missed short field goal attempt, the Longhorns drove 80 yards in 13 plays with Brown producing a 13-yard TD run that expanded the margin to 21-0.
Texas’s defense got into the action when Graceson Littleton scooped up a fumble by the Bobcats’ Taji Atkinds and sprinted 59 yards for a score and a 28-0 lead with 5:56 to play before halftime.
Texas State ended the shutout when Davian Jackson ran four yards for a touchdown with 3:59 to play until halftime after a 32-yard scamper by Brad Jackson that set the table.
The third quarter belonged to the Longhorns. Manning passed 20 yards to Coleman for a score on their first possession and then 13 yards to Smothers for a second TD with 7:55 left that sent the majority of Texas’ starters to the bench. Brown added to the lead with a 21-yard touchdown run with 5 minutes still left in the quarter.
Texas’ Gianni Spetic had a 48-yard field goal and James Simon rumbled seven yards for a TD in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring in the runaway win.
