Takeaways: No. 21 Texas Grinds Out Overtime Win In Lexington

On a crisp October night in the Bluegrass State, the No. 21 Texas Longhorns entered uncharted territory — playing at Kentucky for the first time in program history — and emerged with a hard-fought 16-13 overtime win.

Why it matters

With the win, Texas improved to 5-2 overall, 2-1 in SEC play, showing that even on nights when the offense struggles for points, the combination of special teams and defense can still lead the team to victory.

“Tonight, these guys found a way to win when the game was sliding in the wrong direction,” Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian said. “Absolute credit to our defense. What a tremendous goal line stand in overtime. What a tremendous job by our special teams.. All in all, as I told the team, half the SEC lost today. We’re on the other half that won. We’ve got plenty of work to do, but man, what a win.”

Here are three takeaways from Texas’ win over Kentucky:

A Sluggish Offense, But a win is a win

The Longhorns’ offense was an issue early on in the season, and that story continued on Saturday against Kentucky. 

Texas had just 179 total yards in regulation. Quarterback Arch Manning struggled once again, throwing for only 132 yards, and running back Quintrevion Wisner’s one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter provided the only time Texas saw the end zone all game.

Kentucky’s defense limited Texas to 93 total yards in the first half.

“There’s little things we’re not doing offensively,” Sarkisian said. “We miss open throws. Clearly, I’m not calling enough stuff for our guys to feel good about what we’re doing.”

“We’ve got to find ways to get him more completions,” he said of Manning. “That’s our job as a staff to find that comfort level for him because there were some really good plays in there.”

Special Teams Flip the Script

With the offense struggling, Texas found its lifeline thanks to Ryan Niblett, who delivered two huge returns, including a 43-yard return in the fourth quarter that set up Shipley’s 39-yard field goal with under a minute to play to give Texas a 13-10 lead.

“You always want all three phases to be a well-oiled machine right now,” Sarkisian said. “We’re just not quite there yet on offense. It’s truly good to know that if you can play defense and play good special teams, you’re always going to have a chance.”

Defense Holds Firm

The biggest moment of the night came when Texas’ defense stood tall at their own 1-yard line late in the game — stopping Kentucky on four straight running plays to preserve their lead. Then, in overtime, Texas’ defense forced the Wildcats to settle for a field goal before Shipley iced it.

We’re fortunate enough that we’re playing really good defense right now,” said Sarkisian. “That’s a good place to start, playing good defense. We’re playing good special teams. You can ride that. To do that, you’ve got to play efficient offensive football. And we’re not playing efficient enough. We’re going to keep riding those guys because they deserve it and they’re doing it.”

Up next:

The Texas Longhorns are now 5-2 (2-1, SEC) on the season and will return to the field next Saturday when they face the Mississippi State Bulldogs.