Arch Manning threw two first-half touchdown passes to Cam Coleman and Gianni Spetic hit three field goals as top-ranked Texas sleepwalked through a 30-6 win over UTSA on Saturday in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns (3-0) concluded a three-game, season-opening homestand with a third straight win but sputtered throughout, looking little like the team that roared back in the fourth quarter to beat then-No. 1 Ohio State on Sept. 12 to ascend to the top of the Associated Press rankings.
Manning finished 16 of 32 for 161 yards and ran for 50 more but looked flustered for most of the game, missing receivers badly at times and completing no pass for longer than 24 yards.
The Longhorns defense was the difference as UTSA (2-1) managed just 143 yards. Texas finished with more rushing yards (228) than the Roadrunners’ total output.
Owen McCown passed for 70 yards to pace the Roadrunners’ lethargic attack. UTSA was flagged for 12 penalties for 119 yards.
After an interception on a tipped pass by Texas’ Rasheem Biles on the game’s first snap, the Longhorns needed just four plays to drive 37 yards, with the march capped by Manning’s 24-yard TD pass to Coleman just 1:26 into the game.
McCown’s interception was the Roadrunners’ first turnover of the season.
UTSA swung back, moving 59 yards in 13 plays to Michael Petro’s 34-yard field goal that trimmed the Roadrunners’ deficit to 7-3. Texas answered with a 52-yard FG from Spetic with 1:26 to play in the first quarter.
The Longhorns added to their lead with the second scoring hookup from Manning to Coleman, this one from three yards away at the end of a seven-play, 57-yard drive. Spetic then booted a 34-yard field goal with 10 seconds to play until halftime to expand the Texas lead to 20-3 at the break.
Texas outgained the Roadrunners 228-70 over the first two quarters despite its uneven overall effort. Manning went just 11 of 20 for 116 passing yards in the half.
The teams traded field goals in a plodding third quarter, with Braydon Doane hitting from 43 at the 12:44 mark and Spetic following with a 23-yarder three snaps after he missed from 36 but was roughed.
Derrek Cooper rammed home from the 1-yard line with 8:57 to play to put Texas up by 24 points and end any fleeting chance of a Roadrunners upset.
