Florida Sacks Arch Manning Five Times in 27-24 Comeback Win Over Texas

Florida scored 24 unanswered points after falling behind by 14 in the second quarter and held off a late Texas push to defeat the Longhorns, 27-24, Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Tramell Jones Jr. threw two touchdown passes to Lacota Dippre, Jadan Baugh rushed for 91 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown, and Patrick Durkin made both of his field goal attempts. Florida controlled the ball for 38:11, ran 81 offensive plays to 50 for Texas and outgained the Longhorns, 313 yards to 272.

Texas took control early. The Longhorns received the opening kickoff and went 75 yards in seven plays, with Arch Manning completing passes to Ryan Wingo, Cam Coleman and Jermaine Bishop Jr. before Raleek Brown broke a 32-yard touchdown run. A Florida pass interference penalty extended the drive. On its next possession, Texas moved 60 yards in eight plays, helped by a 14-yard Manning completion to Emmett Mosley V and a 14-yard Hollywood Smothers run, and Gianni Spetic made a 38-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead after one quarter.

Florida got on the board early in the second quarter when Durkin made a 45-yard field goal to finish an eight-play, 37-yard drive. Texas answered on special teams less than two minutes later. After a Florida three-and-out, Ryan Niblett returned an Alec Clark punt 63 yards for a touchdown to put the Longhorns ahead, 17-3.

The game turned late in the half. Texas drove from its own 3-yard line to midfield, but Ty Jackson and DK Kalu combined to sack Manning, and Jackson stopped Smothers for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-1 at the Texas 50. Florida took over at the Texas 49 with 2:44 left. Facing fourth-and-12 at the Texas 36, Jones found Dallas Wilson for 17 yards to keep the drive alive, then ran for 14 yards on a quarterback keeper to the Texas 5. Two plays later, Jones hit Dippre for a 7-yard touchdown with 18 seconds left in the half to make it 17-10.

Florida tied the game with the opening drive of the third quarter, a 15-play, 69-yard march that took 8:03 off the clock. Jones completed passes to Bailey Stockton, Wilson and Micah Mays Jr. along the way, converting four third downs, and found Dippre again for an 8-yard touchdown on third-and-3. Both defenses held for the rest of the quarter. Colin Simmons sacked Jones for an 11-yard loss on Florida’s next possession, while LJ McCray and Brendan Bett sacked Manning on the following Texas drive. Texas ran just seven plays in the third quarter and held the ball for 3:17.

Florida took its first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter. Starting from its own 33, the Gators went 57 yards in 14 plays, and Durkin made a 28-yard field goal with 10:40 remaining to make it 20-17. Texas responded by moving to its own 49, but Lagonza Hayward and Ben Hanks III sacked Manning on third down, and Bett stopped Manning for a 3-yard loss on a fourth-and-2 keeper. Florida took over at the Texas 45 and needed six plays to score. Baugh opened the drive with a 13-yard run, London Montgomery added runs of 9 and 3 yards, and Baugh finished it with an 11-yard touchdown run to put Florida ahead, 27-17, with 6:22 to play.

Texas answered quickly. After McCray sacked Manning on the first play of the drive, the Longhorns faced fourth-and-6 at their own 29. Manning connected with Mosley on a 62-yard completion to the Florida 9, and two plays later found Coleman for a 9-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 27-24 with 4:21 remaining.

Florida went three-and-out on its next possession, and Niblett returned the punt 17 yards to give Texas the ball at its own 46 with 2:32 left. On second down, Myles Graham sacked Manning and forced a fumble that Kanye Clark recovered at the Texas 39. Jones picked up 9 yards on a third-and-7 quarterback keeper to give Florida a first down, and the Gators knelt out the final 1:43.

Jones completed 22 of 35 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, and added 41 rushing yards on 10 carries. Baugh carried 25 times for 91 yards and caught two passes for 13 yards. Eric Singleton Jr. led Florida with seven catches for 43 yards, and Stockton added four catches for 31 yards. Montgomery finished with 133 all-purpose yards, including 105 on five kickoff returns. Clark averaged 51.8 yards on six punts.

Manning completed 14 of 20 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions, but was sacked five times for 29 yards. Mosley caught two passes for 76 yards, and Wingo led Texas with five catches for 49 yards. Smothers ran for 52 yards on 12 carries, and Brown added 47 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Niblett had 80 punt return yards on two returns.

Florida’s defense finished with five sacks and 11 tackles for loss and held Texas to 2 of 10 on third down. Graham led the Gators with seven tackles, a sack and the forced fumble, while McCray had 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. For Texas, Justin Cryer made a game-high 11 tackles, Jelani McDonald added nine, and Simmons had eight tackles, a sack and four tackles for loss. Florida converted 8 of 19 third downs and both of its fourth-down attempts.