A season that the Texas football team hopes ends in January began with a win in September.
Cam Coleman and Raleek Brown scored twice and Hollywood Smothers also made a good first impression in Austin as No. 5 Texas strolled to a 59-7 triumph over Texas State on Saturday. In the 52-point victory at Royal-Memorial Stadium, the Longhorns forced three turnovers while Ryan Wingo contributed 121 receiving yards and Arch Manning passed for 305 yards and four touchdowns while completing 20 of his 27 attempts.
The fifth season-opening win in Steve Sarkisian’s six-year tenure – and the third-biggest blowout of the Sarkisian era – preserves the stakes for next week’s scintillating home showdown with No. 1 Ohio State.
Texas doesn’t slow down after strong start
Texas (1-0) added 22 transfers this offseason, and a couple of those immediately introduced themselves to the fans who braved the 96-degree heat to get their first peek of the Longhorns in 248 days. Smothers ripped off a 45-yard run on UT’s first snap. After the North Carolina State transfer inched the Longhorns five yards closer to the end zone on two runs, Coleman hauled in a 6-yard touchdown pass – the ex-Auburn standout’s first score in burnt orange.
And with that four-play scoring drive, the Longhorns were off and running.
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Thanks to an 8-yard touchdown catch by Wingo, Texas exited the first quarter leading 14-0. Texas kept scoring during the second quarter as Brown, a former Arizona State Sun Devil, ran for a 13-yard touchdown and Graceson Littleton returned a fumble for a 59-yard score. An end-zone interception thrown in the final seconds by Manning prevented Texas from scoring on all four of its first-half possessions, but the defense scored as many points as its offensive counterparts from Texas State.
Up 28-7 at the break, Texas put the game in cruise control in the second half. Texas outscored the Bobcats 21-0 in the third quarter, and Texas State never got any closer than 42 points in the final frame.
Texas transfers make the most of their first games with Longhorns
Smothers finished with 70 rushing yards on 10 carries while turning three receptions into 28 yards and a 13-yard jaunt into the end zone. Meanwhile, Coleman scored on two of his three receptions. Brown added a 21-yard touchdown run after Manning was pulled midway through the third quarter.
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Those three weren’t the only transfers who had a successful debut with the Longhorns. On defense, linebacker Rasheem Biles intercepted a pass and forced the fumble on which Littleton scored:
- WR Sterling Berkhalter:
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- LB Rasheem Biles (Pitt): 5 tackles, an interception, one forced fumble
- RB Raleek Brown (Arizona State): 11 rushes for 34 yards and 2 TDs
- WR Cam Coleman (Auburn): 3 receptions for 70 yards, 2 touchdowns
- LB Justin Cryer (Florida State): 3 tackles
- DL Ian Geffrard (Arkansas): 4 tackles
- RB Hollywood Smothers (NC State):
- K Gianni Spetic (Memphis): 1-for-1 FG, 7-for-7 extra points
Texas also started transfers Melvin Siani (Wake Forest) and Dylan Sikorski (Oregon State) on the offensive line. Former Western Kentucky guard Laurence Seymore III also received some valuable reps on the offensive line during the first half.
No. 1 Ohio State is the next team up for Texas
In the leadup to the Texas State game, Texas insisted that its focus was on the Bobcats and not the following week’s showdown against Ohio State. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian even insisted on the SEC’s Wednesday conference call that “I know everyone is wanting to talk about next week, (but) this team we’re playing this week, don’t be surprised at the end of November if they’re not in the talk of making the college football playoff. I think Texas State’s a real good team. They’ve got our attention.”
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But with the Bobcats beaten, the eyes of Texas now shift to Ohio State. The top-ranked team in both the Associated Press and coaches polls, Ohio State opened its season Saturday with a 56-3 rout of Ball State.
As long as neither team slips in the AP poll, this will mark just the third top-five showdown in the past 25 years at DKR. One of those other marquee matchups was then-No. 1 Ohio State’s 24-7 win over then-No. 2 Texas during the second week of the 2006 season.
This article originally published at Newcomers Hollywood Smothers, Cam Coleman star as Texas begins year with Texas State rout.
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