Joe Rutland
Writer
On a Saturday night in Starkville, Miss., the Texas Longhorns, ranked No. 22 in the AP Top 25 Poll at the time, were down and pretty much out against Jeff Lebby and his Mississippi State team.
Then, the Longhorns started to make a comeback. Texas was down 31-14 at one point. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, who already was on a heater due to a media report connecting him to possible NFL jobs, must have been ticked watching his team go through the motions.
But they never gave up, even after watching quarterback Arch Manning have to leave the game with what was later called a concussion.
Ryan Niblett’s nifty 79-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter put the Longhorns back in the game. It was late, though, so some “Sark Magic” in “StarkVegas” was needed in front of a packed house in Starkville, Miss.
Texas outscored Mississippi State 24-7 in the fourth quarter, ultimately forcing the game into overtime.
Manning led the Texas offense onto the field, but he took a vicious hit as the Longhorns were moving the ball from the Mississippi State 25-yard line in the first OT period. Manning was down on the field, and Texas medical personnel came to check on his health.
They got Manning up, but one medical personnel member held onto Manning’s uniform tightly and eventually led him into the medical tent on the Longhorns’ sidelines.
That led backup Matthew Caldwell to come onto the field in a crucial moment. Well, Caldwell delivered a sweet pass to Emmett Mosley, who caught the ball and got one foot in the end zone. After a video review, it was determined that Mosley was in bounds when he made the catch. Mason Shipley’s PAT put Texas up 45-38.
Mississippi State had one more shot to send the game into a second overtime period, but the Texas defense came up with a great play when it mattered.
After the game, Sarkisian had nothing but high praise for his players’ efforts.
“Once a year, you have culture wins, and that was our culture win (vs. Kentucky). I think we got a mulligan because this was our culture win,” Sarkisian said, according to The Associated Press. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of a group of guys. Our toughness was going to have to be the best it’s ever been for our program.”
But Sarkisian wasn’t too giddy in his post-game press conference.
On Saturday, Dianna Russini of The Athletic had a little tidbit about Sark and a possible move to the NFL in a roundup of NFL news for the media outlet.
Per Russini’s report, “I’m told that representatives for Texas coach Steve Sarkisian have let NFL decision-makers know that he would be interested in potential head-coaching openings, including the Titans’.”
It should be noted that Russini’s tidbit was located way down near the end of her article.
During his post-game press conference, Sarkisian made it clear that he was not happy at all with Russini and that this type of news hit the college football landscape before Texas played Mississippi State.
“It really pisses me off that one person can make a report that in turn the entire media sports world runs with as factual,” Sarkisian said. “I thought it was absolutely ridiculous… the fact that everybody ran with it is borderline embarrassing for the media…”
Well, Sark is mad, Arch is hurt, and the Longhorns gambled a bit and won in “StarkVegas” on a rainy Saturday night.
With the victory, the Longhorns are now 6-2 overall and 3-1 in Southeastern Conference play.
The Longhorns return home to Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium next Saturday, but it’s not going to be an easy game. Texas will face potential Heisman Trophy candidate Diego Pavia and the Vanderbilt Commodores.
Texas beat Vanderbilt last season in Nashville. This season, though, will have the Dores coming to the Lone Star State.
Texas fans also will have to monitor Manning’s health. It’s not determined at this time whether or not he’s entering concussion protocol. Sarkisian and the Texas medical staff will monitor his situation.
It will be an interesting week leading up to the Vanderbilt game.
Longhorns’ fans, though, can’t wait to see Texas get back onto familiar turf next Saturday.
Cody Croy
Writer
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