No. 7 Texas left Saturday with a 34-20 win over No.
18 Missouri, and the Longhorns had to grind through plenty of mess to get there. It was their fourth ranked victory of the season, pushing them to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in SEC play, but the performance itself was anything but clean.
That’s why the game produced such a split verdict: a few clear bright spots, and a few glaring problems that kept showing up again and again.
Raleek Brown was one of the biggest reasons Texas walked out with the win. With Hollywood Smothers out for the rest of the season because of a torn MCL, Brown was asked to handle a bigger share of the backfield work, and he delivered in a big way.
He opened with five carries for 44 yards in the first half, averaging 8.8 yards per carry, and the complaint at that stage was simple: Texas wasn’t getting him the ball enough. By the end of the day, Brown had 85 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown, 48 receiving yards, and a receiving touchdown.
It was the kind of all-around showing that made a strong case for him as the top running back on the 40 Acres.
Arch Manning also earned his place among the winners, even if the game around him was far from tidy. The offensive line didn’t give him much peace, and he spent plenty of snaps with defenders in his face or closing from behind.
Still, Manning handled the pressure with poise and put together one of the smartest games of his career. He completed nearly 75% of his passes, threw for 297 yards, and found the end zone three times.
With the regular season winding down, it looked like he was peaking at the right time, and Texas badly needs that version of him.
The other side of the ledger was less flattering. Texas’ offensive line, along with center Connor Robertson, had a rough afternoon trying to keep Manning upright.
Missouri consistently got into the backfield, and the Tigers finished with nine tackles for loss and three sacks. The line also played a part in a first-half fourth-and-short sequence that turned into a delay of game situation before Texas chose to punt.
The whole idea was to draw Missouri offsides, but Robertson did not snap the ball even as the defenders appeared to be over the line of scrimmage.
The officiating crew also took plenty of heat. The calls and non-calls drew widespread criticism during the game, with the overall consensus being that the SEC officials turned in one of the worst performances of the season.
One sequence in particular was ruled a non-fumble, and another drew questions about holding. For a conference that is supposed to be the premier league in college football, the standard on display was not close to good enough.
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