The 13-yard pass gave Manning his fifth total touchdown on the night and put the Longhorns up 45-0 over Sam Houston in Saturday’s clash at Royal Memorial Stadium.
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After a poor showing last week against UTEP in which he completed 44% of his passes for 114 yards, Manning finally managed to dial in an explosive right arm that had spent most of the season’s first month misfiring.
Manning completed 18 of his 21 passes for 309 yards and three passing touchdowns before giving way to backup Matthew Caldwell with 7:59 left in the third quarter.
Manning also rushed for 11 yards and a pair of TDs.
Texas scored touchdowns on six of the seven drives Manning led, settling for a field goal only once. He averaged 14.7 yards per attempt after averaging 6.8 yards per attempt through the first three weeks of the season.
Sam Houston has the worst passing defense of any team the Longhorns have played so far. Coming into Saturday, the Bearkats had given up 314.7 passing yards per game.