KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Colin Simmons tied the program record with five sacks as top-ranked Texas held off No. 14 Tennessee 20-17 Saturday with President Donald Trump on hand in the Longhorns' first visit to Neyland Stadium.
Raleek Brown ran for 67 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and his 4-yarder with 5:41 left gave the Longhorns the winning margin in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. Giannis Spetic had a pair of field goals.
Recommended Videos
It was a defensive day with Texas (4-0) dominating with 10 sacks, led by Simmons. The linebacker's day for the record books also will be remembered for his vulgar celebration after one sack. He was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct with the referee saying Simmons was “simulating” using the restroom.
Tennessee quarterback Brandon Faizon made it interesting late, capping an 80-yard drive with a 30-yard TD pass to Mike Matthews with 1:22 left. Linebacker Arion Carter recovered the onside kick, and Jelani McDonald batted away Brandon’s pass to Travis Smith Jr. on the final play in the end zone.
Arch Manning also made his first trip to Knoxville, where his uncle Peyton played for Tennessee in the 1990s.
Manning threw for 201 yards while being sacked six times. He also was intercepted once with the Longhorns needing the smothering defensive performance to help on a day with too many penalties, including two illegal forward passes by Manning.
Tennessee (3-1) hadn't beaten The Associated Press' No. 1 team since 1985, and that drought continues.
Qua Moss returned a punt 57 yards for a TD with 11:14 left in the third quarter that tied it up at 10 for Tennessee. Cooper Ranvier had a 33-yard field goal.
The takeaway
Texas: The Longhorns have lots to clean up, particularly when it comes to penalties they can control. They piled up 11 for 115 yards with seven of those in the first half. Jermaine Bishop Jr. wiped out his own 22-yard punt return in the third quarter with a fair catch signal that officials caught.
Tennessee: The Vols came in 14th nationally averaging 516.3 yards total offense per game. They came nowhere near that with Brandon surviving a beating in his SEC debut. Brandon finished 17 of 29 for 145 yards.
Up next
Texas has a week off before visiting Oklahoma on Oct. 10.
Tennessee hosts Auburn on Oct. 3.
___
Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here