Arch Manning overcame some early struggles, scoring on a pair of first-half touchdown runs and adding a short touchdown pass in the fourth quarter as No. 7 Texas did enough to beat UTEP 27-10 on Saturday afternoon in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns’ much ballyhooed quarterback completed only 11 of his 25 passes for 114 yards and was intercepted once.
Even with Manning’s struggles – and an injury to starting running back CJ Baxter on the contest’s first snap – Texas (2-1) was too much for the Miners. The Longhorns finished with a 340-259 edge in total yardage, with 226 of Texas’ yards coming on the ground.
Malachi Nelson passed for 209 yards to lead UTEP (1-2), which has never beaten Texas in seven games between the teams.
After a ragged start, Manning scooted around the right end with a 2-yard scoring keeper at the 5:26 mark of the first quarter. UTEP got on the board with a 39-yard field goal by Carlos Arreola with 1:55 to play before halftime.
The Texas signal caller scrambled for his second rushing TD, this one from 5 yards out, with one second remaining in the half to give the Longhorns a 14-3 lead and a little something to build on in the second half.
Aside from the touchdowns on the ground, it was a first half to forget for Manning and the Texas offense. He went 5-for-16 passing for 69 yards over the opening 30 minutes, missed on 10 of his last 11 throws and uncorked an interception in the end zone that denied Texas points. The Longhorns converted just one of their nine third downs before halftime.
Texas dominated the second half, if not producing an overly impressive performance. The Longhorns added to their advantage with a pair of field goals from Mason Shipley, from 31 and 30 yards away, respectively, in the third quarter.
UTEP managed just 16 yards of offense in the third quarter when the game was still in reach and when it limited the Longhorns to Shipley’s field goals.
Manning then threw his lone touchdown pass of the game – a 4-yarder to Ryan Wingo at the end of an eight-play, 47-yard drive to push the lead to 27-3 and all but put the game on ice.
The Miners got a window-dressing 2-yard TD run from backup quarterback Shay Smith with 1:57 to play.
