The Longhorns won their fourth Top 25 game of the season, beating Missouri 34-20 on the road. Arch Manning had his best performance of the season and, in turn, the offense put together their best performance in SEC play.
The defense, as they always do, put together a great performance, shutting down Missouri’s run game and limiting Austin Simmons in the second half. Texas moves to 7-2 with the CFP still on the table but a massive road trip to LSU is on deck.
Before we turn to the other Tigers, let’s grade Texas’ performance yesterday.
Texas Longhorns Offense: B+
This was the most complete offensive performance in SEC play. Manning completed over 70% of his passes, throwing for nearly 300 yards and 3 TDs. In the run game, Raleek Brown averaged 5 yards/carry, racking up 85
yards and 2 total TDs(1 rushing, 1 receiving). Four different players caught at least four passes, led by the WR trio of Emmett Mosley(85 yards), Jermaine Bishop Jr.(60) and Ryan Wingo(53). Raleek Brown and Derrek Cooper both got in the endzone, Cooper on a screen and Brown on a wheel route. That’s an aspect of the offense that seems to be taking off.
Despite a frustrating first half, this was the best offensive performance since Texas State. Manning, outside of a few moments, was decisive and accurate, leading him to his best performance of the season. The run game finally married with the pass game, especially in the fourth quarter. Every healthy WR stepped up with Cam Coleman out, consistently making big plays against the Missouri secondary. If Texas can unlock that explosivity(6 passes over 20+ yards) moving forward, they could run the table.
Texas Longhorns Defense: A-
This defense continues to play at a championship level. They struggled with penalties early in the game but in the second half, they shut down the Missouri offense outside one explosive TD on a missed tackle. Austin Simmons was kept off balance, leading to a completion percentage barely over 50%. The run game with Jamal Roberts never got off the ground, averaging just 3.5 yards/carry.
Despite not racking up sacks and TFLs, the Texas defense still found a way to be disruptive. The front seven batted down multiple passes, including massive ones from Maraad Watson and Lance Jackson. The one sack Texas got came courtesy of Colton Vasek at a massive moment. Finally, the forced fumble by Warren Roberson that allowed Texas to put the game on ice. Even on a day where the defense struggled with penalties and pressure, the defense held a potent offense to 20 points and gave the offense a chance to dominate the fourth quarter.
Texas Longhorns Special Teams: C
Jeff Banks’ unit continues to be the most frustrating unit among many frustrating units. The game started well for the special teams, forcing a FG miss and getting a huge punt block from Jonathan Cunningham. After that, they undid all that great work. Ryan Niblett’s fumble on a kick return and a kickoff out of bounds from Gianni Spetic gave Missouri a chance to build a lead early in the second half. Once again, the Texas special teams needs to be more invisible on Saturdays because the good is often matched(or outdone) by the bad.
Texas Longhorns Coaching: B+
Once again, penalties were a massive issue for Texas, something that's been an issue for Steve Sarkisian every year in Austin. That continues to be a coaching issue that doesn’t seem to be getting fixed this season. Outside that, I thought the coaching staff had their best game of the season. Steve Sarkisian had brilliant play calling for much of the game, getting Arch Manning’s best performance out of him. Will Muschamp, as always, was brilliant to slow down an offense that seemed to be in consistent rhythm early. Overall, the coaching staff did exactly what was needed in a chaotic, ever-changing football game.
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This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Grading Texas Longhorns win over Missouri: Offense gets B+, Defense A-
