Ole Miss had one heave left, and Jelani McDonald came down with it. His interception on a last-second Hail Mary sealed it: No. 19 Texas beat No. 7 Ole Miss 34-27 in Austin on Saturday night, according to On3’s live updates.
The win moves Texas Longhorns football to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the SEC. It also ends a rough stretch of two straight 27-24 losses, at Oklahoma on Oct. 10 and at home against Florida on Oct. 17, per the CBS Sports schedule. If you missed the first gut punch, here is how Oklahoma stunned Texas. In a league this brutal, one more loss could have turned the rest of the schedule into damage control.
How Texas Built Its Lead Over Ole Miss
Texas looked like the better team for most of the night. The Longhorns led 10-3 after the first quarter, then pushed it to 24-3 at halftime, based on an ESPN box score snapshot taken mid-game. Still, it was not all clean. Receiver Cam Coleman dropped what would have been a 59-yard touchdown. Arch Manning threw an interception, though Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss undid it on the very next play, according to CBS Sports’ live blog.
The Rebels Nearly Spoiled the Longhorns Win
Ole Miss did not go quietly. Texas kicker Gianni Spetic hit a 33-yard field goal with 2:25 left to make it 34-24, and Texas had run for 121 yards in the fourth quarter alone. That should have been the nail in the coffin.
It was not. Lucas Carneiro answered with a 39-yard field goal for Ole Miss with 1:22 to go, cutting it to 34-27. Then came the onside kick. Texas bobbled it (of course it did), and Ole Miss recovered.
So who is not sweating through that final drive? Nobody. One more score and the Rebels tie it.
Instead, the Hail Mary ended up in McDonald’s hands.
The Bottom Line for Texas Football Fans
Beating a top-10 team at home is the kind of result that quiets the noise for Texas Longhorns football. Texas had already beaten No. 1 Ohio State 24-23 earlier this year, so this team has shown it can play with anybody. Winning the close ones was the missing piece, and the Longhorns got one on Saturday. The poll fallout has been dramatic, too, as Texas fell in the AP poll before the slide.
However, the schedule does not get easier. Texas hosts Mississippi State on Oct. 31, then travels to No. 22 Missouri on Nov. 7 and No. 18 LSU on Nov. 14, before hosting Arkansas on Nov. 21. Those rankings are as listed before this game.
For now, Austin gets one night to enjoy surviving a Hail Mary. Then Mississippi State shows up, and the real question is whether Texas can keep this going.
