No. 1 Texas Survives Tennessee Chaos: Recap & Takeaways From 20-17 Win

No. 1 Texas spent most of Saturday beating Tennessee and the rest trying not to beat itself.

The Longhorns’ defense overwhelmed No. 14 Tennessee, Raleek Brown scored twice and Texas survived 11 penalties for 115 yards, a punt-return touchdown and a frantic finish to escape Neyland Stadium with a 20-17 win.

Texas opened with a 75-yard touchdown drive, sparked by Arch Manning’s 43-yard strike to Emmett Mosley V and finished by Brown’s nine-yard run.

Tennessee answered with a field goal after Texas handed the Volunteers 30 yards on roughing-the-passer and pass-interference penalties.

The Longhorns’ pass rush took over from there, with Colin Simmons recording a sack before Texas drove back inside the Tennessee 5 late in the quarter.

1. Perfect road start - Texas marched straight down the field and immediately quieted Neyland.

2. Defense cleans it up - Tennessee reached the Texas 15 with plenty of help from penalties and still managed only three points.

3. Arch had answers - Manning attacked downfield early, though Tennessee’s pressure kept the offense from finding a consistent rhythm.

Texas settled for a 22-yard Garrett Spetic field goal to make it 10-3, then watched the defense continue suffocating Tennessee.

Manning’s biggest mistake came when Kaleb Lee intercepted him at the Tennessee 4, wiping away another scoring opportunity.

The Volunteers later mounted a 15-play drive, but Texas survived even after Simmons erased a 16-yard sack with an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty. Graceson Littleton broke up a fourth-down pass to end the threat.

1. This should be worse - Texas held Tennessee to 88 first-half yards and 2.4 yards per play ... yet led by only seven.

2. Defense doing everything - The Volunteers ran 36 plays in the half and scored three points.

3. Clean it up, Arch - Manning went 9-of-11 for 127 yards, but an interception, sacks and an illegal forward pass kept Texas from creating separation.

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Tennessee finally found the end zone without its offense doing it.

Quenton Moss returned a punt 57 yards for a touchdown, tying the game at 10.

Manning answered with a 30-yard strike to Cam Coleman, and a roughing-the-passer penalty moved Texas deeper into Tennessee territory. The drive stalled, but Spetic drilled a 44-yard field goal for a 13-10 lead.

Then Simmons wrecked another Tennessee possession with back-to-back sacks.

1. Tennessee finally got life - One special-teams mistake erased nearly two quarters of defensive dominance.

2. Simmons is taking over - His consecutive sacks turned a promising Tennessee drive into fourth-and-27.

3. Still leaving the door open ... - Texas reached scoring range in one snap after the return touchdown and still came away with only three.

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Texas’ offense finally produced the drive it had been missing.

After Manning took a sack, he converted third-and-eight with an 18-yard completion to Ryan Wingo, then found Wingo again for 14. Brown finished the 60-yard march with a four-yard touchdown to make it 20-10.

Tennessee eventually answered with an 80-yard touchdown drive, then recovered the ensuing onside kick with 1:22 remaining.

One last possession somehow survived a Texas sack, Tennessee holding penalty and Texas face-mask penalty before Faizon Brandon got one final shot with three seconds remaining.

Jelani McDonald knocked it away.

Finally.

1. That was the Arch drive - Manning didn’t need a touchdown pass. His two completions to Wingo on Texas’ biggest possession were enough.

2. Raleek closed it - Brown finished with 67 yards on 17 carries, but both Texas touchdowns belonged to him.

3. Seriously ... 115 penalty yards? - Texas survived 11 flags and nearly gave Tennessee one last opening with another penalty on the final drive.

Texas didn’t leave Knoxville looking unbeatable. It left 4-0.

Now it gets a week to clean up everything that nearly cost it Saturday before the margin for error gets even thinner.

Texas is off next weekend before meeting Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry on Oct. 10 at the Cotton Bowl.

Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT — and 11 penalties for 115 yards probably won't travel quite as well to Dallas as they did out of Knoxville.