No. 1 Texas vs. ULM final score: Longhorns race away from Warhawks for convincing 51-3 win

With Quinn Ewers out, Arch Manning had a performance with some highs and some lows that reflected his youth and inexperience.

AUSTIN, Texas — Arch Madness is officially here, for a week at least.

The redshirt freshman quarterback from New Orleans is receiving his first collegiate start for the Texas Longhorns after filling in for injured starter Quinn Ewers last week in a sensational performance during which Manning went 9-of-12 passing for 223 yards and four touchdowns in addition to a 67-yard touchdown run, the longest for a Longhorns quarterback since Vince Young in 2005.

One pressing question for Texas as kickoff approaches against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks at 7 p.m. Central on ESPN+ at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium is which running backs will be available to share the backfield with Manning — junior Jaydon Blue missed last week’s win over UTSA with an ankle sprain sustained against Michigan and sophomore Quintrevion Wisner left the UTSA game and did not return with an undisclosed injury. Sophomore CJ Baxter and freshman Christian Clark suffered season-ending injuries during preseason camp.

Also game-time decisions are redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Aaron Bryant (knee) and sophomore safety Jelani McDonald (ankle), both non-participants against the Roadrunners.

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Pregame warmups

Texas announced during pregame warmups that Ewers and sophomore safety Derek Williams (hamstring) are officially out against ULM, but Bryant was not dressed for warmups while Blue, Wisner, and were in uniform and participating.

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First quarter

With sophomore linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., senior left guard Hayden Conner, super senior defensive tackle Alfred Collins, and sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. serving as captains for Texas, Louisiana-Monroe won the toss and deferred to the second half, giving Manning and the Longhorns the ball to start the game.

On what initially looked like an aggressive onside kick by ULM off a Texas player, the ball had instead fallen off the tee, so the Warhawks kicked off again, this time high and short to Longhorns junior wide receiver Matthew Golden, who returned it out to the 27-yard line.

With Blue in the game as the starter for Texas at running back, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian dialed up a play-action pass for Manning, who sailed a pass intended for Golden as he took a hit from Warhawks Bandit Billy Pullen. After Blue gained five yards on second down, Manning moved the chains by connecting with Moore for just enough yardage to gain a fresh set of downs.

On a first-down pass, junior right guard DJ Campbell was flagged for holding, putting the Horns behind the chains before Blue gained six yards. But Texas recovered for another first down as Manning delivered a dime to diving senior wide receiver Silas Bolden on an out route at the chains.

After Blue picked up six yards on the ensuing first down, Sarkisian called the play-action rollout flood route that Manning likes, but after avoiding one defender, Manning took another hit and made an ill-advised throw that resulted in his first career interception. Ironically, the interception thrown by Manning echoed the interception thrown by Ewers to end the first drive of his first college start, also against ULM back in 2022.

Surprisingly, a Warhawks offense that skews 75-25 in favor of the run started the game with a play-action pass, a four-yard completion. When the Texas defense stuffed the second-down run for a one-yard loss, ULM ended up calling its first timeout before the 3rd and 7 play. Strong coverage down the field helped Hill get to Warhawks quarterback General Booty for a sack and a five-yard loss.

The first punt by ULM was negated by an illegal formation. The second saw Texas backed up thanks to a holding penalty on sophomore linebacker Liona Lefau with the Horns starting at their own 23-yard line.

Blue continued to pick up positive yardage with his first-down run, but settled for getting close to the line to gain on second down, setting up third and short, apparently a shot play in Sarkisian’s book with Manning connecting with junior wide receiver Isaiah Bond with the Warhawks defender narrowly saving a touchdown on the 56-yard gain.

Down into the red zone, Blue ducked his way out of a tackle for loss and took the edge for an important five-yard gain, taking the second-down carry for positive yardage as well, getting down to the 3-yard line. After picking up a first down near the goal line, Blue received his fourth straight carry, officially scoring from a yard out to make it 7-0. It was the first rushing touchdown of the year for Blue and the second of his career.

Texas appeared to quickly score a second touchdown when Hill undercut a throw by Booty and showed off the running back skills he honed at Denton Ryan with a 35-yard return for a touchdown, but it was negated by a block in the back thrown by junior edge Trey Moore near the goal line.

Under pressure, Manning took another hit and threw incomplete on first down before freshman running back Jerrick Gibson was stopped for a two-yard loss. On third down, however, senior tight end Gunnar Helm won on a slant route and was taken down on a horse-collar tackle flagged as a personal foul. Putting Manning on the move to his right, Sarkisian’s play call produced an easy three-yard touchdown pass to Blue and a 14-0 lead.

A tough run from ULM back Taven Curry gained eight yards and another pushed the pile enough to move the chains for the initial first down by the Warhawks more than 10 minutes into the game. Two pass attempts by Booty resulted in a throwaway along the sideline under pressure and a batted pass by Texas junior Buck end Ethan Burke, setting up 3rd and 10, another throwaway by Booty.

Trying to negate the pressure of ULM, a throwback screen to Blue that was set up for a big gain ended with a drop instead. Then Manning tried to hit freshman Ryan Wingo on a shot play, underthrowing it but producing a pass interference penalty nonetheless. Manning did connect with Wingo on the next play, a 25-yard gain. Two runs by Blue gained a first down and a fake screen pass freed up Wingo for an easy pitch and catch by Manning on the 17-yard touchdown pass.

So after failing to score during the game’s first 7:49, the Horns scored 21 points in 5:37 of game time.

Facing a 3rd and 5 on the ensuing drive, ULM closed out the first quarter by producing a first down on a throw to the running back created by three wide receivers creating a natural rub against man coverage by Texas.

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Second quarter

The Warhawks were quickly in a third and long to start the second quarter after a run stuff by the Longhorns front and a dropped pass at the line of scrimmage. Settling for a run, ULM had to punt after a three-yard gain.

A second special teams penalty on Texas junior tight end Amari Niblack backed the Longhorns up to their 13-yard line, where Manning delivered a 42-yard bomb to Bolden, who made a spectacular diving catch ruled incomplete on review. After an incompletion on second down, Manning found Golden on a post route that settled for 46 yards because it was slightly underthrown.

Manning made a better decision than he did on the first drive in taking a sack going for another shot play, but quickly made up for the lost yardage with a 19-yard completion to Bond, who was working against a big cushion. Consecutive runs by Blue picked up a first down, but Manning couldn’t hit Blue on a wheel route, leading to a short run from Gibson and a third and long. On a check-down to redshirt freshman wide receiver Ryan Niblett, a lead block from Helm helped set up a nice move in the open field and an 11-yard gain.

A false start by left tackle Kelvin Banks moved Texas off the goal line, but two more runs by Blue produced a two-yard score and a 28-0 lead with 8:15 remaining in the second quarter.

ULM picked up a first down when Longhorns super senior cornerback Jahdae Barronw was flagged for disconcerting signals because he was clapping on a 3rd and 2, but the Warhawks continued to struggle finding much running room as Booty continued to struggle completing any passes whatsoever. In fact, a batted pass by Barron set up 3rd and 7 and a near first down on a draw play, prompting ULM to line up to go for it on 4th and 2 near midfield before taking a 30-second timeout. On a keeper, Booty gained the necessary yardage on a quarterback follow run to at least allow the Warhawks to burn some clock with Hardy running hard and picking up another first down on two runs.

A play-action seam pass to the tight end was the longest gain by ULM through nearly two quarters, Texas redshirt junior safety Michael Taaffe was flagged for targeting, but an ineligible receiver down field at least negated the 20-yard gain. The flag for targeting was picked up on review and the penalty was enforced against the Warhawks.

Back to a similar play, Julian Nixon picked up 23 yards down the seam, beating coverage from Lefau and the Warhawks were in the red zone for the first time. Strong coverage from Texas senior safety Andrew Mukuba in the end zone forced an incompletion by Booty, who was sacked on the next play thanks to strong pursuit from Lefau on third down, forcing a 34-yard field-goal attempt by ULM that put the Warhawks on the scoreboard. More importantly, the 13-play drive took 6:29 off the clock, leaving the Longhorns with 1:40 remaining in the first half.

Looking to score again before halftime, Manning wasn’t able to connect with sophomore wide receiver Johntay Cook on a post route, but then made a more egregious mistake in overthrowing Blue, who was wide open on a post route that should have gone for a 69-yard touchdown. Targeting Blue again after a penalty on ULM, the ball bounced off Blue’s hands and turned into the second interception of the game for Manning.

Sandwiched around two unsuccessful shot play by the Warhawks that were well defended by Longhorns cornerbacks, ULM did pick up a first down that got them into field-goal range, but Collins blocked it to send the game into halftime at 28-3.

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Third quarter

A three and out by ULM to open the third quarter took less than 90 seconds off the clock and produced a 37-yard punt. Blue found enough space to rip off consecutive nine-yard runs, then Sarkisian tried to hit another play over the top. Manning threw incomplete over the middle instead while picking up a roughing the passer penalty. Back to Blue, Texas picked up 20 yards, the longest run of the game, and then gained another five yards on an illegal substitution by ULM. Gibson finished the drive with a two-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 35-3. The 66-yard drive took six plays and 2:20 off the clock.

The second three and out by the Warhawks in the second half featured Booty catching a deflected pass for a seven-yard loss, a play that encapsulated his evening. Texas wasn’t any better on its possession as Manning dropped the football executing a play-action fake and missed Bolden wide open down the field on an attempted check down on third down that fell incomplete.

The Longhorns got back the ball back quickly by forcing another three and out. When Blue picked up three yards on first down and Manning missed Wingo on a post route when he threw the ball over his shoulder, Texas ran the ball on 3rd and 7 and punted for the second straight time.

A short punt by freshman Michael Kern took a favorable bounce and was downed at the ULM 3-yard line, a situation compounded by consecutive false starts. Hardy was nearly tackled in the end zone for a safety on the eventual first-down play, barely breaking the plane, then took a delay of game penalty that was about as short as possible in football. Then Hardy was mobbed by a host of Texas defenders for the safety that was one play and three penalties coming.

The Longhorns finally found some rhythm again when Bolden five yards on a screen pass and Cook gained 15 on a slant, but Manning located the ball poorly targeting Wingo and Gibson rushed for three yards to set up 3rd and 7, a first-down gain by Gibson showing some nice feet in the hole. After a swing pass to Gibson, Bolden caught a glance run-pass option for 16 yards and Blue gained seven yards to the goal line to end the third quarter.

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Fourth quarter

Blue scored his fourth touchdown on a slice zone run up the middle to extend the lead to 44-3, likely finishing his day with a career-high 25 carries for a career-high 124 yards and three rushing touchdowns to complement his three-yard receiving touchdown.

Manning’s day also ended in favor of freshman quarterback Trey Owens as walk-on running back Colin Page received some carries, including a 20-yard run that tied the longest of the day for the Longhorns, who eventually scored on an eight-yard run by Niblett for his first career touchdown that was overturned on review, requiring the redshirt freshman to score on the next play for a 51-3 lead.

Playing backups, the Texas defense forced its sixth three and fifth of the second half — the only ULM possession that didn’t result in a three and out to that point was the safety.

As the Longhorns did in the two previous home games, the defense finished it with a big play when Cal Poly and San Jose State junior transfer cornerback Jay’Vion Cole ranged under a pass on a flea flicker for his first career interception at Texas to seal the 51-3 win.