Arch Manning, No. 10 Texas Score 21 Unanswered Points to Rally Past No. 19 Missouri 34-20

Texas trailed Missouri by seven late in the third quarter with its playoff hopes on the line, then scored the game's last 21 points. Arch Manning threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead 23-yard strike to Raleek Brown with 5:03 left, and No. 10 Texas beat No. 19 Missouri 34-20 on Saturday at Faurot Field in Columbia.

Texas (7-2, 4-2 SEC) never led until the fourth quarter. Missouri (6-3, 3-3 SEC) went up 20-13 on a 72-yard touchdown pass from Austin Simmons to Naeshaun Montgomery with 4:52 left in the third, but the Tigers did not score again. Texas tied it on its next drive, went ahead in the fourth and put it away when Graceson Littleton returned a fumble 44 yards to set up a Brown touchdown run.

In a game both teams treated as a playoff elimination game, the loser now has three losses with three weeks left in the regular season. That is Missouri.

Missouri strikes first

Missouri's first drive covered 68 yards in seven plays. A Simmons touchdown run was overturned on review when replay showed the quarterback down short of the goal line, but two plays later Simmons threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brett Norfleet at 8:40 of the first quarter.

Texas answered in 2:30. Manning moved the Longhorns 65 yards and finished the drive with a 24-yard throwback screen to Derrek Cooper for the tying touchdown at 6:10.

Missouri took the lead back after a Texas mistake. Emmett Mosley V fumbled at the Texas 48 and Missouri recovered at midfield. The Tigers appeared to score on a 6-yard pass to Montgomery, but that call was also overturned, and Blake Craig kicked a 22-yard field goal with 1:06 left in the quarter for a 10-7 lead.

A blocked punt and a missed chance

The second quarter belonged to the defenses. Craig missed a 38-yard field goal at 6:50, and on Missouri's next possession Texas blocked a Tigers punt and recovered at the Missouri 39, the Longhorns' first blocked punt since the 2023 Red River game, and Gianni Spetic converted a 27-yard field goal at 1:57 to send the game to halftime tied 10-10.

Missouri had a chance to take control early in the third quarter. Craig made a 48-yarder at 11:51 for a 13-10 lead, and on the ensuing kickoff Ryan Niblett fumbled at the Texas 25. The Tigers could not cash in. Craig missed from 46 yards at 10:49, and Texas tied it at 13 on a 34-yard Spetic field goal capping a 10-play, 56-yard drive at 5:41.

Twenty-one unanswered

Missouri needed two plays to go back in front. Simmons hit Montgomery deep for a 72-yard touchdown at 4:52 of the third quarter, and Faurot Field was as loud as it had been all day with the Tigers up 20-13.

Manning's response was the turning point. Texas went 75 yards in nine plays, and Manning found Jermaine Bishop Jr. for a 25-yard touchdown at 1:52 to tie the game at 20.

The Texas defense then got Missouri off the field, and Manning led a six-play, 54-yard drive early in the fourth quarter. On the final snap, Manning threw 23 yards to Brown, who scored the go-ahead touchdown at 5:03 for a 27-20 lead.

Missouri still had a chance. The Tigers drove into Texas territory in the final two minutes, but Warren Roberson punched the ball out of Cayden Lee's hands at the Texas 49. Littleton scooped it up and returned it 44 yards, and 16 seconds later Brown ran 8 yards for the clinching touchdown at 1:25. Missouri turned it over on downs on its final possession.

Manning steady, Brown everywhere

Manning completed 28 of 38 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. Missouri sacked the Texas quarterback three times, and Manning finished with minus 29 rushing yards because of them, but Manning was at the controls for both drives that erased the 20-13 deficit and put Texas ahead, and both ended in touchdown throws.

Brown was the Longhorns' most important player on offense. The running back carried 17 times for 85 yards and the late touchdown and caught six passes for 48 yards and the go-ahead score. Mosley recovered from the early fumble to catch five passes for a team-high 85 yards, Ryan Wingo caught six for 53, and Bishop added four catches for 60 yards.

The Texas defense did its part after halftime, too. Missouri's only second-half touchdown came on one long throw, and the Longhorns otherwise held the Tigers to a field goal after the break and 84 rushing yards for the game. Derek Williams Jr., Justin Cryer and Rasheem Biles each made six tackles, Biles broke up two passes, and Colton Vasek had the Longhorns' only sack.

Spetic made both field goal attempts and all four extra points. Craig made two of four for Missouri, and the two misses from 38 and 46 yards proved costly in a game decided by the final 20 minutes.

Missouri's missed opportunities

Missouri will look back at three moments. Two touchdowns in the first quarter were overturned on review, leaving the Tigers with 10 points instead of a possible 14. Craig's two missed field goals came with Missouri in position to build a lead. And after Niblett's kickoff fumble handed the Tigers the ball at the Texas 25 early in the third quarter, they came away with nothing.

Simmons completed 23 of 43 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Lee, who entered the game with at least five catches in eight straight games, caught nine passes for 79 yards, Montgomery turned two catches into 81 yards, and Jamal Roberts ran 19 times for 66 yards. Ahmad Hardy, playing for the second straight week after missing the first two months of the season, carried once for 3 yards.

Linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez, who came in with double-digit tackles in seven straight games, made 12 more for the Tigers, and Santana Banner added 10. Missouri forced two Texas fumbles and recorded three sacks, with Darris Smith and Brian Huff getting one apiece.

The numbers that decided it were on third down and in the kicking game. Missouri converted just 3 of 16 third downs, while Texas went 6 of 13 and held the ball for 32:26. Texas outgained Missouri 373 to 336 and had 21 first downs to the Tigers' 17.

What it means

Texas has now won three straight since losing two in a row in October, including a 34-27 win over Ole Miss and last week's 31-3 rout of Mississippi State. The Longhorns stayed unbeaten in true road games this season and kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive heading into a trip to LSU on Nov. 14.

For Missouri, the loss ends a run of momentum that included a 34-10 win at Arkansas last week, a game that marked Hardy's return. The Tigers had been 25-4 at home since 2023 entering Saturday. The schedule does not get easier: Missouri plays at Georgia on Nov. 14, then hosts Kentucky and Oklahoma to close the regular season.

The result keeps Texas one game behind SEC leaders Georgia and Kentucky, both 5-1 in league play, while Missouri falls two games back with a trip to Georgia next. This was the first meeting between the programs as SEC opponents and their first since Texas beat Missouri 33-16 in the 2017 Texas Bowl.

Sources: ESPN box score (opens in a new tab) and play-by-play. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Texas Athletics (file photo).

Photos: Declan Greene/Mizzou Football.