The Texas Longhorns went the first 28 minutes of Saturday's season opener against New Mexico State without scoring. After briefly trailing in the second quarter, the UT offense kicked it into gear with two last-minute touchdowns in the first half to propel the Longhorns to a 56-7 win.
New Mexico State vs. Texas 2013 game recap: Longhorns roll in opener, 56-7
The Longhorns started off slowly, but the offense took off late in the second quarter and never looked back.
David Ash was the story on Saturday evening, throwing for 343 yards and rushing for 91 more. He accounted for five total touchdowns, including a 66-yard strike to Daje Johnson with 1:06 remaining on the clock in the second quarter to give Texas some momentum heading into the break.
New Mexico State was unable to get much of anything going offensively. They led for all of 40 seconds after Andrew McDonald connected with Joshua Bowen on an 11-yard touchdown pass, as the NMSU defense would collapse shortly after. It seemed like the Aggies just ran out of gas in the second half.
There are some areas for Mack Brown and the Texas coaching staff to address this week in practice, most notably three turnovers from the offense, but there was a lot to like on Saturday.
Box Score Hero: David Ash's 55-yard touchdown run in the third quarter set a career-best for the junior quarterback. Ash led the Longhorns in rushing, as well. As a team, Texas racked up 715 total yards. Quarterback Andrew McDonald led NMSU with 50 rushing yards on 12 carries. His play was one of the few bright spots for the Aggies.
Rankings Ramifications: Texas began the week ranked 15th, and with no teams ahead of them falling via upset, it seems likely they’ll remain in the middle of the pack once the polls are released.
But Did They Cover? The Longhorns opened up as 42-point favorites, and most lines had them up to 44 points by kickoff. So yes, they covered.
For More On This Game: For more on Horns football, visit Texas communities Burnt Orange Nation and Barking Carnival.
Next Week’s Schedule:
9/7, 7 p.m. ET: Texas @ BYU
9/7, 8 p.m.: New Mexico State vs. Minnesota
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