Texas Longhorns at Mississippi State Bulldogs

No. 22 Texas beats Mississippi State 45-38 in overtime

Ryan Niblett returned a punt 79 yards to tie the game with 1:47 to play in regulation as Texas erased a 31-14 deficit after three quarters.

“Once a year you have culture wins and that was our culture win (vs. Kentucky). I think we got a mulligan because this was our culture win,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of a group of guys. Our toughness was going to have to be the best it’s ever been for our program.”

The Longhorns (6-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) still trailed 38-21 with 12:29 remaining in regulation after Davon Booth had a 62-yard catch and run for a touchdown for the Bulldogs.

A 21-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Mosley with 9:34 left and Mason Shipley’s 26-yard field goal in the final five minutes made it 38-31.

Manning finished 29 of 46 for 346 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and he also had a rushing touchdown before leaving early in overtime.

The Bulldogs (4-4, 0-4) were led quarterback Blake Shapen, who had a career game and finished 26 of 42 for 381 yards and four touchdowns. It wasn’t enough to end what is now a 16-game SEC losing streak for the Bulldogs, 12 of which have come under Jeff Lebby’s leadership.

“We’re going to find out what kind of foundation we have as we go on the road and play another really good football team,” Lebby said. “We’ve got to find a way to knock that door down. Incredibly disappointing, frustrating to say the least. We’ve got to finish the game and go win it and our guys understand that.”

Mississippi State had 445 yards of total offense, the most surrendered by the Longhorns all season.

Texas finished with 428 yards.

The Bulldogs had five sacks and 12 tackles for loss, but the Longhorns’ seven sacks were the difference as Shapen was dropped four times in the final five minutes of regulation and overtime.

“It’s frustrating. We’ve got to be able to close games out better,” Shapen said. “It comes down to who wants it more. I think our team does want it more, but we’ve got to be able to show that more.”

The takeaway Texas: The Longhorns were dead in the water but continue to find ways to win despite not playing up to the No. 1 ranking they had preseason.

Mississippi State: For the better part of three seasons, the Bulldogs have found ways to lose SEC games. They did it again on Saturday in spectacular fashion and lost their 16th-straight conference game.

Up next Texas: Play host to No. 10 Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Mississippi State: Visit Arkansas on Saturday.