Rock bottom was staring Texas right in the face.
As if the Oklahoma and Florida deadly double wasn't enough, the No. 19 Longhorns nearly made it one titanic of a trifecta Saturday night with an epic third-quarter collapse against No. 7 Ole Miss.
The 34-27 win at Royal-Memorial Stadium wasn't aesthetically beautiful. Frankly, it was Medusa ugly with the Horns committing 14 penalties for 134 yards while quarterback Arch Manning committed three turnovers - including an inexplicable interception thrown into double coverage, to a tight end whose name wasn't Jermichael Finley. Manning threw a touchdown and ran for two others but has six turnovers in his last three games, the latter of which had some of us in the press box wondering if Steve Sarkisian would pull the trigger in the 24-24 game and hand the ball to backup KJ Lacey early in the fourth quarter.
Sark stuck with this starter and the Horns survived a wild one.
Texas' 24-3 halftime lead disappeared quicker than a gold digger at a bankruptcy hearing and visions of the Las Vegas Bowl crept into our thoughts after the Longhorns' special teams played the worst quarter of the Sarkisian era. Emmett Mosley V flubbed an onside kick recovery and Graceson Littleton missed on his stab of the deflection, and the stage was set for a choke job that would've been much bigger than the Red River disaster two weeks ago.
Not until safety Jelani McDonald came down with an interception on Trinidad Chambliss' final pass into the end zone could the 104,306 fans at DKR exhale.
Manning attempted only one pass - a short one to Ryan Wingo - in the last 13 minutes of the fourth quarter but scored on a bootleg carry to put the Horns up for good. That came after the long stalled run game came to life on the backs of Michael Terry and Raleek Brown who combined for 78 yards to set up Manning's score. The Horns came in ranked No. 100 in rushing offense but those yards were sorely needed.
With any hopes of a College Football Playoff hanging in the balance, the Longhorns found it from somewhere. Manning has become a feast or famine quarterback and it's something the coaching staff still must address.
The team has a real quarterback problem, but it will be a lot less strenuous to diagnose and scheme these problems after a win. It wasn't a question of effort or toughness, but the turnovers are troublesome.
"I thought Arch competed his tail off," Sarkisian said. "The guy keeps coming back. We're lucky to have him as our guy."
A ship that was taking on water almost witnessed the hull fall out completely, life jackets included, but here the Longhorns stand at 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the SEC. They don't appear capable of running the table over these next five games, but should be a heavy favorite to take down Mississippi State next Saturday followed by road games against Missouri and LSU.
Saturday was a great show of resilience against the family alma mater - sorry, Uncle Peyton - and evidence that Texas' embattled second-year starter isn't going gently into that good night. Arch shrugged highly paid wideout Cam Coleman dropping another deep pass and later found his other speedster Ryan Wingo with a 50-yard dime that put the Horns up 17-3.
Sign up for Ced's Corner
Sign up for Cedric Golden's newsletter for hot takes and expert analysis each Tuesday on Texas Longhorns football and beyond delivered straight to your inbox. It's called Ced's Corner, from the NSMA's 2025 Texas Sportswriter of the Year.
The win didn't come without casualties. Left tackle Trevor Goosby was carted off with a leg injury in the first quarter and Coleman left with what appeared to be a shoulder injury after landing hard on a catch attempt on the first play of the third quarter.
The Horns aren't dead yet. The SEC is a real grind and they figured out a way to stave off the undertaker.
On to the next one.
Sign up for the Daily Briefing from the Austin American-Statesman. Start your day with the must-read headlines from Austin's most trusted news source.
This article originally published at It wasn't pretty, but No. 17 Texas pulled it off and all must-wins are beauties | Golden.