Texas 34, Ole Miss 27: Manning answers after a 21-point lead disappears

No. 19 Texas led No. 7 Ole Miss by 21 points, lost all of it, and still won. After the Rebels scored 21 straight to tie the game at 24 early in the fourth quarter, Arch Manning finished a drive with a 1-yard run at 8:04, and the Longhorns closed it out 34-27 at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

The difference over four quarters was the ground game. Raleek Brown carried 23 times for 157 yards, Texas ran for 207 as a team, and it held the ball for 34:57 to Ole Miss's 25:03. Trinidad Chambliss threw for 250 yards and two scores but needed 52 attempts to do it and was intercepted three times.

How it was won

The kickers traded first-quarter field goals, Gianni Spetic from 23 yards for Texas and Lucas Carneiro from 46 for Ole Miss. Then Texas pulled away. Manning scored on a 2-yard run with 55 seconds left in the first, hit Ryan Wingo for a 50-yard touchdown at 12:38 of the second, and Michael Terry III ran in from 2 yards at 9:21. That made it 24-3, and the score held to halftime.

Ole Miss turned the game in the third quarter. Kam Franklin recovered a fumble in the end zone at 13:19 to make it 24-10, and Chambliss found Horatio Fields from 6 yards at 6:46. Fields scored again on a 27-yard catch at 13:57 of the fourth, and it was 24-24.

Texas answered with Manning's 1-yard run, then added a 33-yard Spetic field goal at 2:25 for a 34-24 lead. Carneiro's 39-yarder with 1:22 left brought Ole Miss within a score, but the Rebels got no closer.

The box score was close in most places. Both teams had 23 first downs and three turnovers. Texas outgained Ole Miss 419 to 363, almost entirely on the ground: 207 rushing yards to 113. Neither offense was good on third down; Ole Miss went 6 of 18 and Texas 3 of 13.

Manning was 18 of 30 for 212 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Wingo caught seven passes for 111 yards, and Terry added 41 yards on eight carries. For Ole Miss, Deuce Alexander had eight catches for 87 yards and Caleb Odom five for 59. Makhi Frazier ran six times for 47 yards; Kewan Lacy managed 36 on 16 carries.

Against the number

Texas closed as a 3-point favorite and won by 7, so the Longhorns covered. The closing moneylines were Ole Miss +142 and Texas -170, and the favorite delivered.

The total closed at 54.5. The teams combined for 61, and the over came in, helped by the defensive touchdown and the two late field goals. Closing prices and the line history are on the game page.

What's next

Both teams are 5-2. Texas had dropped consecutive 27-24 games to Oklahoma and Florida, so this one ends a two-game skid and gives the Longhorns a ranked win to go with earlier victories over Ohio State and Tennessee. They host Mississippi State on Saturday, October 31.

Ole Miss came in off a 31-3 win over Missouri and a 52-17 win at Vanderbilt. Both of its losses have come on the road, at Florida and now at Texas. The Rebels host Auburn on Saturday, October 31, on SEC Network.