Takeaways: No. 21 Texas Grinds Out Overtime Win In Lexington
Texas escapes a defensive slugfest thanks to special teams and Mason Shipley’s heroics.
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.
