Five Takeaways From The Longhorns 51-3 Thrashing of UL-Monroe

In Arch Manning's first collegiate start, the Longhorns took care of business heading into the SEC slate of the schedule.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) advances the ball as the Texas Longhorns take on ULM at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. / Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Longhorns are now 4-0 after defeating the UL-Monroe Warhawks by a final score of 51-3.

The spotlight was on Arch Manning, who made his first collegiate start tonight. His performance was not perfect, but Arch still showed his dangerous arm power and his potential to be a dual-threat QB.

It was an all-around effort from both sides of the ball for the Horns. Texas has a lot of good things to look at as they start their SEC schedule next week.

1. Arch Manning still has some time before he's ready.

Just like Quinn Ewers, in his first collegiate start, Manning made a bad read and threw an interception on his first drive against UL-Monroe.

You could tell Manning was a little nervous, but once he settled, Manning once again flashed some great potential. On his second drive, he hit Isaiah Bond with a throw right over the defensive back shoulders for 56 yards. He was a little inaccurate at times with the deep ball but he did connect with Matthew Golden for a 46-yard reception and almost landed another 40+ yard pass to Silas Bolden before it being ruled incomplete.

Manning finished with 258 yards and two touchdowns while only completing 15 of his 29 passes.

Manning did force a couple of balls, which led to his two interceptions, but this shouldn't detour people from the hype surrounding him. Once again, I want to remind you that Quinn Ewers did throw a pick also in his first-ever drive at the college level against the same team. Manning is probably the starter for almost every other school in FBS play, he will be just fine.

2. Jaydon Blue will be necessary for SEC-play.

The Longhorns didn't need the running back for the UTSA win, and theoretically, the Longhorns probably would've still won Saturday without him again. But I don't want to take away any importance from Blue. He is dearly needed when the competition gets better.

Blue came back and had 124 yards on 25 carries to go with three touchdowns as well as a reception for three yards that landed him his 4th touchdown on the night.

His speed matched with his agility helped the Longhorns pick up lots of yards in the open field, and his tenacity in the red zone helped the Longhorns find the endzone multiple times.

Blue could've even done more damage if Manning didn't struggle with some screen passes and dump-offs intended for Blue, but regardless, Blue had the strongest performance of any Longhorn this game.

Texas will need his productivity in games against Georgia. His skill of finding additional yards when getting rapped up will be huge for games like that when the big plays aren't as abundant.

3. The wide receiver group might be the deepest in college football.

No receiver for Texas had more than three receptions on Saturday. Everyone played a role in the receiving group.

Isaiah Bond and Matthew Golden are the top targets of this offense and have each played their role well so far this season. But if Golden or Bond aren't particularly on, players like Ryan Wingo, Johntay Cook, Gunnar Helm and DeAndre Moore have been able to step up and make big plays for the team. Silas Bolden also seemed to catch a rhythm this game as a receiver which just adds to the options.

With Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Jordan Whittington all going to the NFL, the Longhorns seemed to have not missed a beat at all with the newcomers.

4. The defense keeps rolling.

The defense only allowed 111 yards on the night, the lowest they have given up on the season with Colorado State being second at 194 yards.

Giving up only 22 points in the first four games is just about as good as it can get, even if the Longhorns have only played one Power Four team so far.

The defense forced two interceptions on the night and also got a safety. UL-Monroe had no answer for Texas's third-down defense, the Warhawks only converted on two of their twelve third downs.

It's good to know that the defense can help Texas win games if the offense is struggling, with harder opponents on the schedule coming up, we'll see how the defense responds when the games are closer.

5. This team has been all gas no breaks.

One of head coach Steve Sarkisian's favorite sayings. This team has truly been all gas no breaks.

Texas on paper has been favored to win every game so far, but going out and executing is completely different than expectations.

Going into Saturday's game, Texas could have taken it easy on UL-Monroe. After all, they did reach the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll rankings. But Texas did not let the hype surrounding the team get to their heads. They still are on a mission to prove they are the best team in the nation.

Winning every game so far this season by at least three possessions just shows that this team has no intent of taking any opponent easily. It's obvious Sarkisian is not letting this team perform anything less than 100 percent every game, and because of that, Texas is No. 1.

Texas's first opponent in the SEC will be Mississippi State next Saturday. The game will be at DKR Stadium and will start at either 2:30 p.m. CT or 3:15 p.m. CT.