AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 8 Texas Longhorns close a three-game homestand at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium with a matchup against the Sam Houston Bearkats on Saturday.
Kick is at 7 p.m. Central on SEC Network+ as redshirt sophomore quarterback Arch Manning tries to bounce back from a poor start to the season, including 10 straight incompletions in last week’s uninspiring 27-10 win over UTEP. The Horns are also dealing with a handful of injuries with junior running back Quintrevion Wisner, redshirt sophomore CJ
Baxter, sophomore wide receiver Emmett Mosley, and sophomore defensive tackle Alex January not listed on the depth chart. A handful of other players aren’t dressed during warmups — redshirt sophomore tackle Jaydon Chatman, sophomore cornerback Kobe Black, junior cornerback Warren Roberson, and redshirt freshman safety Xavier Filsaime, although freshman safety Jonah Williams is dressed after battling a hamstring injury since baseball season.
First quarter
After Texas won the toss and deferred to the second half, the Horns kicked off to the Kats to open the game, handled by redshirt senior Mason Shipley rather than senior Will Stone. Off to an aggressive start, the Longhorns brought a blitz on the first play from scrimmage, producing a sack for sophomore edge Colin Simmons on a twist. A throw into the flat to a running back produced nine yards on second down, but the Bearkats didn’t get the snap off and then had a false start to set up 3rd and 13. Quarterback Hunter Watson tried to scramble under pressure, but was stopped well short of the first-down marker by the Texas zone defense.
Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian dialed up a shot play on first down, a play-action pass that saw the pocket close around Manning and cause his check down to be deflected and fall incomplete. After sophomore running back Jerrick Gibson was stuffed for a short gain, Manning moved the chains by hitting junior wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. over the middle for a 16-yard gain, although the low throw took Moore to the ground.
Runs by Manning and redshirt freshman Christian Clark moved the chains and set up a screen to Clark that picked up 16 yards. Starting in place of senior center Cole Hutson, redshirt junior Connor Robertson was called for holding as Manning stepped up in the pocket and connected with freshman wide receiver Daylan McCutcheon for 16 yards, a big swing in field position. Moore nearly broke into the open field on a tunnel screen, but Sam Houston got him on the ground to keep Texas behind the chains, a situation exacerbated by a false start by Robertson.
Manning was able to get to third and short with a 15-yard completion to redshirt freshman wide receiver Parker Livingstone, and Clark showed some patience to pick up the first down. A double move by sophomore wide receiver Ryan Wingo produced a lot of contact in the end zone, but not enough to draw a flag as Manning’s pass sailed long.
Gibson did the rest on the opening drive for the Horns, finding a cutback lane for nine yards and then gashing the Bearkats defense up the middle to score from 13 yards out.
