The Texas Longhorns brought the house down on Saturday night against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (ULM). Quarterback Arch Manning steadfastly led the team to an explosive victory. In a game full of penalties and interceptions, several surprising calls were made. Some key reversals against the Texas Longhorns proved a minor annoyance at worst. The ULM Warhawks, despite running some good plays throughout, never garnered more than a field goal. If they were counting on a weakened Texas without Quinn Ewers, they were sorely mistaken.
Texas Longhorns Down ULM Warhawks
Arch Manning wasn’t the only Texas Longhorn to put forth a stellar performance. It was his first career college start and this game was full of historical stats. Jaydon Blue, Ryan Niblett, and several Texas players all put up impressive numbers.
1st Quarter
The Texas Longhorns had a semi-bumpy beginning before finding their footing. Quarterback Arch Manning was picked off early after being unable to avoid the ULM defenders. After a brief huddle with Quinn Ewers during the break, Manning returned with fresh grit and a calm demeanor. Showing off his aptitude for the deep pass, he threw a few to Wide Receivers Silas Bolden and Isaiah Bond. Opposing QB General Booty was sacked by Linebacker Anthony Hill, Jr. – the first of his career. Hill Jr. would later also score his first interception of the night.
After that first touchdown, Texas Longhorns Tight End Gunnar Helm was brought down by a Warhawks horse collar tackle. Another Arch Manning pass to Running Back Jaydon Blue later and the Warhawks were losing 14-0. A deep throw to freshman Ryan Wingo resulted in a 15-yard pass interference penalty on ULM Warhawk Defensive Back Travor Randle. Jaydon Blue burst through and grabbed another first down. Arch Manning threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Wingo and the Longhorns charged ahead at 21-0.
2nd Quarter
This was Texas’ most quiet quarter and ULM’s loudest. The Warhawks scored their only points of the game near the end of the half. A 42-yard reception from Wide Receiver Silas Bolden was reversed, setting the Texas Longhorns back. Arch Manning answered with another deep pass (46 yards) to Wide Receiver Matthew Golden. Jaydon Blue finished running it up to make it 28-0 about halfway into the quarter.
The ULM Warhawks Quarterback General Booty made some solid plays despite one pass batted down by Defensive Back Jahdae Barron. A targeting call on the Texas Longhorns Defensive Back Michael Taaffe was overturned. Tight End Julian Nixon of the Warhawks tried bulldozing through before the Texas Longhorns sacked Booty. Manning was picked off shortly after, but ULM failed to capitalize on this. They botched an attempted second field goal and ended the half with 3.
3rd Quarter
The game slowed down quite a bit in the 3rd quarter, but only for a moment. Some of that was due to penalties on both sides. The Texas Longhorns had already garnered five penalties in the first half and weren’t done yet. One player who didn’t slow down was Running Back Jaydon Blue. He became the first Texas player with more than 100 yards this year.
After the Warhawks got nowhere at the beginning, Arch Manning relied on Blue to move further down the field. Running Back Jerrick Gibson – the Baby Rhino– scored next, before penalties from both teams were offset. The ULM Warhawks were unable to materialize another field goal attempt. At the end of the quarter, the Texas Longhorns pushed through on a safety (pictured above) to make it 37-3.
4th Quarter
Within the first minute, the Texas Longhorns’ Running Back Jaydon Blue had scored his third touchdown of the night. This would also be the final play of the night for Arch Manning. His backup, freshman Trey Owens from Houston, came in and finished out the game. Near the end of the game, Wide Receiver Niblett scored his first career touchdown with the Texas Longhorns. That call was reversed by officials who deemed the pylon invalid here.
Nevertheless, Backup Trey Owens handed it back to Niblett on the next drive. He then determinedly rushed over the goal line and made his new stat official. In the final two minutes, Texas Longhorns Defensive Back Jay’Vion Cole of the picked off the Warhawks for his first interception.
Final Thoughts
Understandably, Arch Manning relied more on his passing game than rushing this time around. He’ll need to stay healthy while Quinn Ewers is on the mend. It’s a fine line to get reps in while maintaining your physical safety. The Texas Longhorns linemen did an excellent job protecting their commander, who had a lot on his mind. His own first career college start comes 56 years to the day from his grandpa Archie Manning’s first career start. Both had 2 touchdown passes in these first starts. Seems like winning is just another established Manning family tradition.
The Texas Longhorns will battle Mississippi State next week in their first major SEC contest of the season. They look to hold their No. 1 ranking as long as possible, especially through their Red River Rivalry. The rest of their SEC rivals are certainly watching. All eyes are on Texas to see if Arch or Quinn will start, but one thing is certain: they’ve got the full backing of a powerful, hungry team.
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