San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
QB EHLINGER LEADS TEXAS TO COMEBACK WIN
Texas was trailing Texas Tech by 15 points with just more than 3 minutes to play when Sam Ehlinger walked over to his coach and delivered a message.
The No. 8 Longhorns weren’t out of it, the senior quarterback said. Far from it. Texas would leave the field a winner.
“(He) looked at me and said, ‘They left us too much time. We’re going to tie this thing up and win in overtime,’ ” Herman said. “And I believed him.”
So did the rest of the Longhorns.
Ehlinger delivered on his promise, rallying Texas from a 15-point deficit in the final 3:13 with touchdown passes to Brennan Eagles and Joshua Moore to force overtime, then finding Moore for another touchdown in a wild 63-56 victory.
“That’s the Tom Brady of college football,” Texas defensive tackle Keondre Coburn said. “That’s the leader we have.”
Texas Tech thought it had the game put away late behind a diving touchdown catch by T.J. Vasher and a 75-yard touchdown run by Sarodorick Thompson Jr.
Ehlinger just looked at the clock and did his thing with a brilliant finish.
Ehlinger first connected with Eagles for a touchdown and the Longhorns snagged the onside kick when the ball bounced high and slipped through the hands of a Red Raiders player. After finding Moore for another score to get within 56-54, Ehlinger passed to Eagles again for the 2-point conversion.
Texas (2-0, 1-0 Big 12) got the ball first in overtime and the Ehlinger-to-moore connection did it again. The only possession for Texas Tech (1-1, 0-1) ended with Alan Bowman forced to scramble before his pass was intercepted by Caden Sterns on fourth down.
“We learned we’re never out of it. You look around college football in 2020, there’s some weird things going on,” said Ehlinger, who finished with 262 yards passing with five touchdowns and also ran for a score. “All I can say is wow.”
No. 2 Alabama 38, Missouri 19: Mac Jones threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns in less than three quarters of work, many of his throws landing in the capable hands of Jaylen Waddle, and visiting Alabama began its Southeastern Conference-only schedule with a romp over rebuilding Missouri.
No. 4 Georgia 37, Arkansas 10: Stetson Bennett threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter and visiting Georgia rallied to beat Arkansas in the season opener for each school.
No. 5 Florida 51, Mississippi 35: Kyle Pitts caught four of Kyle Trask’s six touchdown passes and visiting Florida (1-0 SEC) spoiled coach Lane Kiffin’s Mississippi debut.
Mississippi State 44, No. 6 LSU 34: K.J. Costello passed for an Sec-record 623 yards and threw five touchdown passes in the Mississippi State debut of coach Mike Leach’s “Air Raid” offense, and the visiting Bulldogs knocked off defending national champion LSU.
No. 8 Auburn 29, No. 23 Kentucky 13: Bo Nix threw for 233 yards and three second-half touchdowns, including a pair to Seth Williams, and host Auburn scored twice in the fourth quarter to pull away from Kentucky in the season opener.
No. 10 Texas A&M 17, Vanderbilt 12: Isaiah Spiller had 117 yards rushing and Ainias Smith ran for a touchdown to help host Texas A&M overcome three turnovers in a mistake-filled game to beat Vanderbilt in the season opener for both teams.
No. 12 Miami 52, Florida State 10: D’eriq King threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns in three quarters and host Miami (3-0, 2-0 ACC) beat Florida State (0-2, 0-2).
No. 13 Central Florida 51, East Carolina 28: Dillon Gabriel threw for 408 yards and four touchdowns to help visiting Central Florida (2-0, 1-0) beat East Carolina (0-1, 0-1) to open its American Athletic Conference schedule.
No. 14 Cincinnati 24, No. 22 Army 10: Desmond Ridder passed for 258 yards and two touchdowns and Cincinnati (2-0) shut down the triple-option offense of Army (2-1) in the first matchup of ranked teams at Nippert Stadium since 2008.
No. 15 Oklahoma State 27, West Virginia 13: Chuba Hubbard scored on a 23yard run with 1:17 remaining to make up for two early fumbles and help host Oklahoma State (2-0, 1-0 Big 12) beat West Virginia (1-1, 0-1).
No. 16 Tennessee 31, South Carolina 27: Jarrett Guarantano threw a tiebreaking touchdown to Josh Palmer with 9:35 left and Tennessee won its seventh straight game with a victory at South Carolina in the SEC opener for both teams.
No. 19 Louisiana 20, Georgia Southern 18: Nate Snyder hit a 53-yard field goal on the final play to lift host Louisiana (3-0, 2-0 Sun Belt) past Georgia Southern (1-1, 0-1).
No. 20 Virginia Tech 45, NC State 24: Quincy Patterson II came off the bench to throw two touchdown passes and run for another score, leading host Virginia Tech (1-0, 1-0 ACC) past N.C. State (1-1, 1-1).
No. 21 Pittsburgh 23, No. 24 Louisville 20: Kenny Pickett threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns and host Pittsburgh (3-0, 2-0 ACC) sacked Louisville (1-2, 0-2) quarterback Malik Cunningham seven times.