Texas beats Ole Miss 34-27 after blowing 21-point lead

Texas survives after blowing a 21-point lead

No. 19 Texas beat No. 7 Ole Miss 34-27 Saturday night at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, with Arch Manning's 1-yard touchdown run with 8:04 left in the fourth quarter putting the Longhorns back on top for good. Texas led 24-3 at halftime, then watched the Rebels claw all the way back to tie the game at 24 early in the fourth quarter before the Longhorns answered with the go-ahead score and two more field goals.

The win moves Texas to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in SEC play. Ole Miss falls to 5-2 and 3-2 in conference games. It is the Longhorns' first win over a ranked opponent since criticism built up over back-to-back losses to unranked teams, including a home loss to Florida the week before.

How Ole Miss erased the deficit

Texas built its 24-3 cushion on an Arch Manning touchdown run, a 50-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Ryan Wingo, and a short Michael Terry III touchdown run. Ole Miss got back in it to start the second half when Blake Purchase sacked Manning and Kam Franklin recovered the resulting fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, cutting the deficit to 24-10.

Trinidad Chambliss then threw two touchdown passes to Horatio Fields, a 6-yarder and a 27-yarder, the second of which tied the game at 24 early in the fourth quarter.

Manning answered with a 1-yard touchdown run with 8:04 left, set up by a 47-yard run from Raleek Brown, to put Texas back on top 31-24. Gianni Spetic added a 33-yard field goal, and Lucas Carneiro's 39-yard field goal with 1:22 left made the final margin 34-27.

The stat line

Texas out-gained Ole Miss 419 yards to 363, with Raleek Brown rushing for 157 yards on 23 carries. Manning finished 18 of 30 for 212 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, and also scored twice on the ground. Chambliss went 25 of 52 for 250 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions for Ole Miss. Each team turned the ball over three times, and Texas was flagged 14 times for 134 yards, a season high.

Ole Miss got a final chance when Texas receiver Emmett Mosley IV could not corral an onside kick with under two minutes left, giving the Rebels the ball back. Chambliss' pass into the end zone on the final play was intercepted by Jelani McDonald, who led Texas with 12 tackles, sealing the win.

Sarkisian on the penalties

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian pointed to the flags after the game. "We were not perfect tonight," he said, and noted that a sack and fumble handed Ole Miss a touchdown and a shift in momentum. The Longhorns had lost at home to Florida 27-24 the week before after leading 17-3, and fell to Oklahoma in the Red River rivalry before that. This time, the lead held, even after nearly slipping away twice.

Facts per ESPN box score. Opinion is the taproom's.