COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Arch Manning threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead TD pass to Raleek Brown with just over five minutes to go, and No. 10 Texas rallied to beat No. 19 Missouri 34-20 on Saturday and keep alive its College Football Playoff hopes.
Brown added 85 yards and a clinching touchdown on the ground, while the Longhorns (7-2, 4-2 SEC, No. 7 CFP) made a series of big defensive plays in the fourth quarter to help preserve their fourth win over a top-20 opponent this season.
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“Anybody can play good football when it's easy. How do you play it when it's hard?” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “We had some guys go through some hard moments today, and we didn't give up on them, and they went out and competed some more.”
The biggest defensive play Texas made came as the Tigers (6-3, 3-3, No. 18 CFP) were trying to match Brown's go-ahead score.
They had taken over near midfield with about two minutes to go, and Jamal Roberts was stopped for a short gain before Austin Simmons threw incomplete. On third down, Simmons tried to find favorite target Cayden Lee, but a defender knocked the ball into the air just as it arrived and Texas cornerback Graceson Littleton hauled it down for an interception.
Brown scored moments later, powering into the end zone to put the game away.
“Adversity was going to strike and we needed to hang together,” Sarkisian said. “We needed to be mentally tough.”
Simmons finished with 252 yards passing and two touchdowns for the Tigers, though a lot of it came on a 75-yard TD pass to Naeshaun Montgomery. Roberts, the Southeastern Conference's leading rusher, was held to 66 yards on the ground.
“They made the plays when they needed to in order to win the game,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said, “and ultimately we did not, and that's what it came down to. Didn't come down to officials. Didn't come to reviews. It came down to the opportunities we had.”
It was the first meeting between the former Big 12 rivals since the Texas Bowl in 2017, when they were in different conferences. And it was the first trip to Columbia for the Longhorns since 2011, when Missouri won a Big 12 matchup by the bizarre score of 17-5.
There was plenty of bizarre in this one, too, including five video reviews that all went against the Tigers.
The teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter, then each added a field goal, leaving it 10-all at halftime. But both teams were left to rue early mistakes: Ryan Wingo fumbled the ball away for Texas, leading to the Tigers' field goal, while Blake Craig missed a relative chip-shot midway through the second quarter that could have given the Tigers some breathing room.
It was 13-13 in the third quarter when Missouri regained the lead. Montgomery spun loose of Longhorns cornerback Jelani McDonald, managed to tip-toe along his own sideline and ran untouched the rest of the way for a 75-yard touchdown.
Then came the strangest of the video reviews.
Texas was trying to answer when Manning threw incomplete on third-and-10 at the Missouri 39, only for the officials to rule that a ball thrown 14 yards forward was actually a fumble recovered by the Longhorns for a first down. Replays seemed to confirm that it was indeed a pass, yet referee David Smith upheld the original call — and the Longhorns took advantage.
Three plays later, Manning hit Jermaine Bishop Jr. from 25 yards out, making it 20-all as the third quarter came to a close.
“I don't get explanations. I get the same thing you all do,” Drinkwitz said. “They review it and say it's upheld or it's not.”
The Longhorns' defense suddenly stiffened, forcing the Tigers into consecutive punts, and Manning eventually made them pay.
He lofted a nifty ball down the sideline to Brown, who had come out of the backfield and run right past linebacker Dante McClellan, and the running back hauled it in for the eventual decisive touchdown with 5:03 remaining in the game.
“Like we say all the time, we're big-game hunters,” Sarkisian said, “and we showed up again today.”
Texas has bounced back from consecutive losses to Oklahoma and Florida — by a field goal apiece — with three straight wins.
Missouri has lost two of its last three, likely ending any chance the Tigers had at a College Football Playoff appearance.
Texas heads to No. 15 LSU next Saturday.
Missouri visits No. 2 Georgia next Saturday.
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