AUSTIN — On a night when a quarterback at DKR looked skittish and uncertain and played well beneath his pedigree, the surprising news Saturday was that, for the first time this season, the guilty party wasn’t Arch Manning.
And then the second half started.
So who would pull it out?
Trinidad Chambliss, the sixth-year veteran and Heisman contender?
Or the guy whose job supposedly was in jeopardy last week?
Manning shook off a disastrous third quarter by the hosts with 10 fourth-quarter points to give the 19th-ranked Longhorns a 34-27 win over seventh-ranked Ole Miss before 104,306, most of whom had all the excitement sucked out of them by second-half mistakes typical of Texas' back-to-back losses to Oklahoma and Florida.
Hey, Steve Sarkisian: What does it say when you win after losing the war on turnovers, penalties and injuries, and you lose an onside kick when you’re trying to put the game away?
“Well, one, I think we got a pretty good team,” the Texas coach said.
“Two, it’s a dangerous way to live, right?”
The Longhorns are pretty used to walking on the wild side by now, and lately it hadn’t worked out well. Only a couple days ago, they were in freefall from the top of the polls. Manning was in danger of losing his job. His boss might have been right behind him had the losing streak reached three, a stretch not seen in Austin since his 5-7 debut.
Manning bailed them both out with an 80-yard, fourth-quarter drive, topped off by his 1-yard stroll into the end zone on a naked bootleg, and another drive that resulted in a field goal, proving the Longhorns had a finish in them at that.
Kinda.
Sorta.
First they had to make one last stop after the Rebels recovered an onside kick that might have passed through more hands than a collection plate. Only when the Longhorns had secured their third interception of the night on a Hail Mary with no time left was Texas' win assured.
Of course, it was only natural they couldn’t do it the easy way. They blew a 24-3 first-half lead because of 134 yards worth of penalties and a gift of six points. The Rebels' good fortune fueled their rise.
Until the third quarter, Texas' defense might have made Chambliss wish a state court judge in Mississippi hadn’t granted him that sixth year of eligibility after all. In the first half, Mel Kiper’s third-favorite quarterback and the sixth player overall on his big board completed just 6 of 18 passes for 63 yards with a pair of interceptions. He finished 25 of 52 for 250 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the second half to Horatio Fields, though his three picks were deal-killers.
Meanwhile, Manning, Mel’s sixth-favorite QB, finally lived up to the faith in his future. Or maybe it’s just faith in the family tree. Frankly, after throwing a couple of picks Saturday, he looks like he needs another season of college football. I think his father and uncles agree with me.
No matter how well he’s playing, he always seems a play away from disaster. Like the blindside sack after an Ole Miss defender beat Trevor Goosby’s replacement after the former left the field on a cart. The ball came loose and ended up in the end zone, where a Rebel fell on it to start Ole Miss' unlikely comeback.
The Rebels came back to tie it at 24 a minute into the fourth quarter largely on the back of Texas miscues and penalties. These developments usually are the mark of a poor football team. Or at least an undisciplined one. They’re the kind of mistakes that cost Texas dearly in the second half against the Sooners and Gators.
The reason they got away with it Saturday was because Manning, who took several big shots, came up big when the Longhorns needed him. Not as dramatically as he did in that 20-point, fourth-quarter comeback against Ohio State, but it was enough.
Manning played with an edge, maybe even a little swagger. Sark said he was glad to see it. Called him “a fighter.” His coach might have boxed him into a corner when he gave his backup, KJ Lacey Jr., more reps with the first-team in practice.
Sark apparently told ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit he wishes he’d done the same thing last year, because Arch was gangbusters in practice as a result. Not that you could have told by his early work Saturday.
Back-to-back passes late in the first quarter pretty much summed up Arch’s star-crossed tenure at Texas:
On the first, an out route, he threw late and behind Emmett Mosley V, and Jalyn Crawford made the first of his two interceptions, a potential game-changer. Texas' Justin Cryer bailed him out, though, picking off Chambliss on the next play.
On Arch’s next throw — a 40-yard pass to Coleman with a Rebel in his grill — he watched through the bottom of his face mask as his picture-perfect throw slipped through Coleman’s fingers.
Footballs weren’t the only thing dropping for Texas. Going into the game, the Longhorns were already down the nation’s best defender (Colin Simmons) and their lead running back (Hollywood Smothers). In short order Saturday, they lost their best offensive lineman (Goosby) and receiver (Coleman).
For the record: Three of the players above are first-round material, according to Mel.
From the looks of it, neither Goosby nor Coleman is coming back anytime soon. The Longhorns will miss them, especially on trips to Missouri, LSU and Texas A&M.
But, for one Saturday, anyway, they survived another brutal week in the SEC. Their pair of Top10 wins will go over well with the committee. Helped Saturday that the offense got 207 yards rushing, all but 50 of it from Raleek Brown, who might have enjoyed some rhythm for the first time this season with 23 carries. Sark might remember to call his number at least as much from here on out.
For that matter, he might even be able to count on his quarterback. He wasn’t always pretty, but he was at his best when Texas needed it. That’s twice now, if you’re counting. They’ll need more.
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