AUSTIN, Texas — Mississippi State could not get its offense going on the road Saturday night, and Texas pulled away for a 31-3 win before a crowd of 103,586 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin.
The Bulldogs had a chance to strike first after taking the opening kickoff deep into Texas territory, but Kyle Ferrie missed a 38-yard field goal. Texas answered quickly, and Arch Manning found Cam Coleman for a 14-yard touchdown pass with 12:59 left in the first quarter.
Gianni Spetic added a 45-yard field goal midway through the second quarter, and the Longhorns defense delivered the biggest blow before halftime when Maraad Watson scooped up a fumble and returned it 61 yards for a touchdown, making it 17-0 at the break.
Mississippi State finally got on the board in the third quarter when Ferrie connected from 30 yards at the 8:58 mark. Texas came right back with a 75-yard drive capped by a 4-yard Manning pass to Raleek Brown, then put the game away in the fourth quarter on a 42-yard strike from Manning to Emmett Mosley V.
Quarterback AJ Swann threw for 97 yards for the Bulldogs, Fluff Bothwell led the ground game with 49 rushing yards and Marquis Johnson had 61 receiving yards. Manning passed for 220 yards for Texas, and Mosley caught passes for 98 yards.
Texas outscored the Bulldogs 7-0 in the first quarter, 10-0 in the second and 7-3 in the third before adding one more touchdown in the fourth. The game kicked off at 6:35 p.m. in 77-degree weather and ran three hours and 18 minutes. Mississippi State returns to Starkville next to regroup for the closing stretch of its Southeastern Conference schedule.
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