COLUMBIA, MO. - Texas has arrived.
Not that anyone truly knows where it's going, but it's probably somewhere good.
While its final destination might still be up in the air, the seventh-ranked Longhorns continued their intriguing journey by getting to a better place.
Texas finally played its most complete game of the season and revealed a clutch, productive offense to accompany its usual bone-rattling defense.
Just in the nick of time.
So cancel that APB for the offense.
After putting up 59 on Texas State and 30 on UTSA, Texas has now scored 30 points or more in three straight games.
It took until the ninth game of the season, but the Longhorns (7-2 overall, 4-2 SEC play) looked the part of an elite and complete top-10 team, scoring 21 unanswered points for a dramatic 34-20 road victory over No. 18 Missouri (6-3, 3-3 SEC) and winning their third consecutive game since those back-to-back losses to unranked Oklahoma and Florida .
Those setbacks seem so long ago in light of an emerging Arch Manning 's best game of the season and Steve Sarkisian's most creative script of the year.
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Manning didn't bite on that premise, saying he didn't know, but he did complete 28 of 38 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to his running backs, and now has 18 TD passes on the year. Even better, Saturday's game marked only the second contest all year he didn't have a turnover, playing as cleanly as he did against UTSA.
Well, he did have one fumble, arguably the best in school history since this was critical in the Longhorns' chase of their first national title in 21 years. That's because Texas ended up gaining 16 yards on the play after the ball slid out of Manning's right hand and receiver Emmett Mosley V recovered it downfield and advanced it 2 more yards. Missouri argued in vain it should have been a near-sack and an incompletion, but the call stood.
Three plays later, Manning found a wide-open Jermaine Bishop Jr. in the end zone for the easiest 25-yard touchdown of the season, which re-tied the game at 20-20.
The Longhorns went ahead for good two series later when Manning found Raleek Brown open in the right flat for a 23-yard TD. They sealed it with Brown's 8-yard scoring run with 16 seconds left in the game after Graceson Littleton's 44-yard return of a fumble when Longhorn Warren Roberson collided with Tiger wideout Cayden Lee.
It could have been a touchdown return, but the sophomore defensive back slid down at the Missouri 6 to burn more time off the clock.
Texas Longhorns wide receiver Ryan Wingo (1) greets family in the stands after the game against Missouri at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium in Columbia on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman)
With three games to play, including road trips to LSU and Texas A&M sandwiched around a home date against Arkansas, Texas is not only in the thick of things, but in firm control of its path. Potentially, the Longhorns could even fall to the Tigers at Baton Rouge and still reach the College Football Playoff since they can now claim four wins over ranked teams, two of them on the road.
Furthermore, Manning's confidence has been keenly rediscovered. He missed a few of his targets but looked in command, found better protection from his offensive line and extended his personal streak to eight wins in 10 tries against top-25 competition. That includes five consecutive victories since the loss at Georgia last season .
"We stepped up when we had to," Manning said. "I'm glad we had a gritty, little road win."
There was nothing little about this win.
This instills some confidence in these Longhorns, who played their best game collectively, even despite missing starters at left tackle, wide receiver and running and using banged up players like receiver Ryan Wingo and Littleton and Kade Phillips in the secondary.
Sarkisian took notice.
"I think if you put our guys in the lab and cut them open, the first thing you're going to see for what they're made of is their toughness," Sarkisian said. " We have a very tough football team, mentally and physically."
NO. 7 TEXAS 34, NO. 18 MISSOURI 20
| Texas |
7 |
3 |
10 |
14 |
- |
34 |
| Missouri |
10 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
- |
20 |
|---|
First Quarter
MIZZ_Norfleet 2 pass from A.Simmons (Craig kick), 8:40.
TEX_Cooper 24 pass from Manning (Spetic kick), 6:10.
MIZZ_FG Craig 22, 1:06.
Second Quarter
TEX_FG Spetic 27, 1:57.
Third Quarter
MIZZ_FG Craig 48, 11:51.
TEX_FG Spetic 34, 5:41.
MIZZ_Montgomery 72 pass from A.Simmons (Craig kick), 4:52.
TEX_Bishop 25 pass from Manning (Spetic kick), 1:52.
Fourth Quarter
TEX_R.Brown 23 pass from Manning (Spetic kick), 5:03.
TEX_R.Brown 8 run (Spetic kick), 1:25.
___
| TEX |
MIZZ |
|
|---|---|---|
| First downs |
21 |
17 |
| Total Net Yards |
373 |
336 |
| Rushes-yards |
31-76 |
24-84 |
| Passing |
297 |
252 |
| Punt Returns |
0-0 |
1-0 |
| Kickoff Returns |
1-28 |
3-39 |
| Interceptions Ret. |
0-0 |
0-0 |
| Comp-Att-Int |
28-38-0 |
23-44-0 |
| Sacked-Yards Lost |
3-1 |
1-10 |
| Punts |
5-36.0 |
6-41.333 |
| Fumbles-Lost |
3-2 |
2-1 |
| Penalties-Yards |
7-65 |
5-45 |
| Time of Possession |
35:26 |
24:48 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING_Texas, R.Brown 17-85, M.Terry 3-14, Wingo 1-6, Cooper 2-2, (Team) 2-(minus 2), Manning 6-(minus 29). Missouri, Roberts 19-66, Fowlkes 1-16, Hardy 1-3, Simmons 3-(minus 1).
PASSING_Texas, Manning 28-38-0-297. Missouri, Simmons 23-43-0-252, Zollers 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING_Texas, Wingo 6-53, R.Brown 6-48, Mosley 5-85, Bishop 4-60, Winston 3-9, Masunas 2-15, Cooper 1-24, M.Terry 1-3. Missouri, Lee 9-79, Olugbode 3-40, Norfleet 3-21, Fowlkes 3-14, Montgomery 2-81, Terry 1-9, Goodie 1-4, James 1-4.
MISSED FIELD GOALS_Missouri, Craig 46, Craig 38.
That shouldn't be questioned because Texas is proving itself against some of the best teams in college football. In its past 15 games played in November, it has won 14 of them.
Manning was at his absolute best. Brown has become a workhorse in the backfield. Rasheem Biles is having a year perhaps befitting the SEC's best defensive player.
Sark, too, showed up with probably his most creative game plan. He dusted off some good oldies like a reverse screen pass to running back Derek Cooper for a 24-yard touchdown, a wheel-route pass to Brown for a 23-yard score and several deep curl patterns for big gainers against Missouri's zone coverage.
This was the Texas team with one of the largest payrolls in college football and biggest hearts, considering it was without tackle Trevor Goosby, receiver Cam Coleman and, save for about a dozen plays, edge rusher Colin Simmons.
"Those three are probably going to go in the top 15 picks of the draft," Sarkisian said of those missing in action.
Simmons played enough to garner Missouri's attention and draw double-team blockers on long passing downs. But understudies like Roberson, Bishop and defensive tackle Colton Vasek all had big moments, and the Texas defense's ability to contain a potent Tigers offense when it was not at full strength was remarkable.
Missouri did score 10 points on its first three possessions - one was a field goal after Texas' goal-line stand, including a deflection by Biles - only 10 more points over the final 46 minutes of the game. The touchdown came when Naeshaun Montgomery caught an 8-yard pass, shook off a tackle by safety Jelani McDonald and raced 72 yards down the sideline for a third-quarter touchdown and a 20-13 lead.
But Texas came back after and scored the last three touchdowns of the game.
While the defense officially didn't score because of Littleton's decision to slide, it did have a takeaway, it did block a punt with linebacker Jonathan Cunningham, it did have a goal-line stand and it gave up the one explosive play for a touchdown and one more 68-yard touchdown drive with the help of two huge penalties for 30 of those yards.
All in all, Texas pretty much came together as a team Saturday with a man-eating defense, a more efficient offense and no matter who's on the field.
Kidded linebacker Justin Cryer afterward, "I think I'm pretty sure Texas does a good job recruiting. The people that are behind some of the guys who went down, like they're pretty good players. I won't lose sleep, knowing we have to have someone step up."
But that's the new-look Longhorns now, and they don't lose sleep or anything else lately.
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This article originally published at No. 7 Texas proves its mettle in gritty win over No. 18 Missouri that could be pivotal for CFP spot .
