A Season to Remember: Winners Find Ways to Win — Texas over Missouri 34-20

“We are big game hunters.” ~Steve Sarkisian postgame

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Some wins come gift-wrapped. This one came with because a team reached down and decided they had no other choice.  Coach Sarkisian commented during postgame, “The DNA of this organization is mental and physical toughness and I think that poured out of our pores in this ballgame today…like I said before we are big game hunters and we showed up again today.”

“We were at our best when our best was needed…There is a toughness in our organization that is undeniable…I think it’s a cultural thing, I think it’s a toughness thing, and I think it’s a leadership thing.”

Texas put the ball on the turf twice, trailed three separate times and watched Missouri break a 72-yard touchdown late in the third quarter that had Faurot Field shaking.

None of it stuck.

The Horns scored the game’s final 21 points, Arch Manning threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns, and Texas walked out of mid-Missouri with a 34-20 win on Saturday. That’s three straight wins since back-to-back 3-point losses to Oklahoma and Florida in October, and it pushes Texas to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the SEC.

This team knows both sides of a close game. It beat Ohio State by a point and Tennessee by three in September. It dropped the Oklahoma and Florida games by a field goal apiece. Saturday was tied going into the fourth quarter, and this time the Horns finished.

Winners find ways to win!

Gray sky, loud building

It was 44 degrees and overcast for the 11 a.m. kickoff, that flat November gray that makes a stadium feel smaller and louder. A crowd of 63,690 filled Memorial Stadium, and Mizzou gave them something early.

Austin Simmons took the Tigers 68 yards on the opening possession and found tight end Brett Norfleet from 2 yards out. Missouri 7, Texas 0.

The Horns answered by handing the ball to Raleek Brown.

The senior transfer from Arizona State ripped off runs of 13, 12 and 7 yards to march Texas into Mizzou territory. Then Manning dropped a 24-yard touchdown to Derrek Cooper, the true freshman from Lauderhill, Florida. Seven plays, 65 yards, tie game.

The defense that wouldn’t break

Here is where this game was really won, even if the scoreboard didn’t admit it until the fourth quarter.

Three times in the first 45 minutes, Missouri had the ball on a short field with a chance to grab the Longhorns by the throat. Three times, the Texas defense gave up a field goal or less.  The Texas defense said, hold my gatorade.

The first came after a fumble at midfield and a personal foul put the Tigers at the Texas 32. They reached first-and-goal at the 6. A touchdown pass to Naeshaun Montgomery was overturned on replay. Justin Cryer and Zina Umeozulu stopped Jamal Roberts at the 4, and Missouri settled for a 22-yard Blake Craig field goal.

The second was a 12-play, 77-yard Mizzou march that stalled at the Texas 20. Rasheem Biles and Kade Phillips stuffed Roberts for no gain, two throws fell incomplete, and Craig’s 38-yarder drifted wide right.

The third came early in the third quarter, when a kickoff fumble gave Missouri the ball at the Texas 30. Three plays. Three yards. Craig missed from 46.

Two takeaways. Three points. That’s a defense with a backbone, and it’s been that way all fall. Texas is allowing 17.4 points per game, and opponents are converting just 32% of their third downs.

Biles, a block and a 10-10 half

Biles, the senior transfer from Pitt who leads Texas with three interceptions, was everywhere. He broke up back-to-back passes in the second quarter to force a Missouri punt, and Jonathan Cunningham came screaming off the edge to block it, recovering at the Mizzou 39.

Manning hit Ryan Wingo for 22 yards. Michael Masunas got 10 of the 11 needed on third down. Gianni Spetic squared it from 27 yards out with 1:57 left in the half.

10-10 at the break.

Punch, counterpunch

Craig’s 48-yarder put Missouri back in front to open the second half, 13-10.

Emmett Mosley V, who’d coughed one up in the first quarter, went right back to work. He hauled in catches of 14 and 31 yards on a 10-play drive, and Spetic tied it again with a 34-yarder at the 5:41 mark.

Forty-nine seconds later, Mizzou landed its haymaker. Simmons found Montgomery on a short throw, and Montgomery did the rest — 72 yards to the house. Missouri 20, Texas 13.

The Horns didn’t blink.

Cooper picked up 5. Brown caught one for 12. A pass interference flag moved the chains 15 more. Even a strip-sack couldn’t kill it, because Mosley was there again, falling on the loose ball, and a penalty on the play gave Texas a fresh set of downs.

Then, on third-and-10 from the Mizzou 25, Manning found Jermaine Bishop Jr. for the touchdown.

Bishop is a true freshman from Willis, Texas. That was his moment, on the road, in the SEC, in a tie game. He caught it like he’d been doing it for years.

20-20 after three.

Fourth quarter belongs to Texas

The final 15 minutes looked like a different game. Texas held the ball for 10:02 of them. That’s nothing new. The Horns have outscored opponents 90-44 in fourth quarters this season.

Maraad Watson batted down a third-down throw to end Missouri’s first series. On the other side, Bishop kept moving the sticks with grabs of 14 and 12 yards. A 34-yard Mosley catch came back on a flag, and the drive ended in a Mac Chiumento punt, but the field was tilting.

Colton Vasek made sure of it. His 10-yard sack buried Missouri at its own 5, and the Tigers went three-and-out for minus-8 yards.

Texas took over at its own 46 and went for the throat. Brown ran for 12, then 6. Wingo caught a 12-yarder on second-and-4. Facing second-and-13 from the Mizzou 23, Manning threw deep down the right side to Brown, who caught it at the 2 and finished it.

Texas 27, Missouri 20, with 5:03 to play. The Horns’ first lead of the day.

Roberson, Littleton and the dagger

Missouri had one more shot after recovering a muffed punt at its own 43 with 2:06 left.

On third-and-5, Simmons hit Cayden Lee. Warren Roberson, the junior from Red Oak, Texas, punched the ball loose. Graceson Littleton scooped it and rumbled 44 yards to the Mizzou 6. It was his second fumble recovery of the season.

Three plays later, Brown bounced in from 8 yards out for his team-leading eighth touchdown of the season. 34-20.

Lance Jackson broke up a fourth-down throw on the Tigers’ last gasp, and Manning took a knee.

By the numbers

• Arch Manning: 28-of-38 for 297 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. The completions and attempts were season highs, and the yardage trails only his 305 against Texas State. It was his third three-touchdown game in the last five, and he’s at 2,024 yards and 18 touchdowns on the year.
• Raleek Brown: 85 rushing yards, six catches for 48 yards and two touchdowns. That’s 133 yards from scrimmage. He has 537 rushing yards this season and leads Texas with eight total touchdowns.
• Emmett Mosley V: five catches for 85 yards, plus the fumble recovery that saved the tying drive. He’s up to 504 receiving yards at 16.8 per catch.
• The freshmen: With Cam Coleman, the team leader with seven touchdown catches, and Hollywood Smothers not playing, the young guys answered. Derrek Cooper and Jermaine Bishop Jr. each scored touchdowns, and Bishop finished with four catches for 60 yards.
• Gianni Spetic: 2-for-2 on field goals. He’s 14-of-15 on the year, perfect on 34 extra points and leads the team with 76 points.
• Third downs: Missouri converted 3 of 16.
• Red zone: Texas went 4-for-4 and is 32-of-34 on the season.
• Rasheem Biles: six tackles, two pass breakups and three quarterback hurries.

The takeaway

This was the kind of game that ends up on the highlight reel of a season even if nobody remembers the box score.

Texas lost the turnover battle in the first half and didn’t panic. It gave up a long touchdown in the third and answered on the very next drive. And when the fourth quarter came, it was the Horns who looked fresher, tougher and more sure of themselves.

Missouri and Texas spent years trading blows in the Big 12. Now they do it in the SEC. On Saturday in Columbia, the Horns threw the last punch, and Texas is now 2-0 in true road games this season.

Winners find ways to win.

Next Up

LSU in Baton Rouge, LA – See you there Hook’Em