Texas closed out Saturday with another victory after defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs 35-13 in their first SEC game.

Although the score made it seem like Texas dominated, Mississippi State kept it a game going from the second half, but a mediocre offense led to their downfall as Arch Manning and Texas started to find their stride.

There were a lot of mental mistakes for the Longhorns throughout the game and Mississippi State dominated the time of possession, but a win is a win, and I doubt Texas can complain too much about that. Here are the five lessons from the game:

After appearing to struggle a bit against ULM last week, Arch Manning was firing on all cylinders today. Despite not knowing if he will start until the morning of, Manning completed 26 passes on 31 attempts for 324 yards and two touchdowns. Manning also added 33 yards on the ground and a touchdown on six attempts.

Manning looked more grounded in this game, not getting too impatient and looking to hurl it downfield on every other play. Instead, he opted for more check-downs and quick passes, which would work quite often.

Once he got his legs moving in the second half, the Bulldogs had no answer for the quarterback, either on the ground or in the air.

With Ewers coming back soon, Arch made sure he went out with a bang. Hopefully this performance will keep any doubters from thinking Manning isn’t worth the hype because he showed he belonged on Saturday.

Flags, flags and more flags.

Texas had many plays called back for holding, and had multiple false starts during the game.

Two sacks also tied for the most allowed for the season. Texas still has a very strong offensive line, but they could never really get it done on Saturday.

These types of mistakes will get Texas in trouble in bigger games. Fortunately, Mississippi State still struggled to capitalize on the holding calls and false starts, but film will be difficult for Texas’ o-line.

It’s crazy to say that 13 points is the most the defense has given up so far this season. They only allowed six points in the first half, but Mississippi State put a lot of pressure on them.

Texas struggled with the run game in the first half, the Bulldogs had more yards on the ground than through the air with 150 rushing yards in the game. Mississippi State was able to get consistent short wins, allowing them to continually pick up third-and-shorts, keeping them on the field for longer periods of time.

In the second half, it looked like the defense had a lot more control with the run game, and they didn’t let Mississippi State get going with the passing game.

Collin Simmons deserves a lot of recognition in this game in my opinion. He continued to pressure the QB and was a defining presence in the run game.

The defense would have shut down Mississippi State in the second half if not for one big pass followed by a QB rush that ended in a touchdown.

Once they settled down, another show was expected from this defense. A bye week will hopefully provide some help for the run defense.

Texas opted not to run it as much early in the game, but negative yards with two minutes left in the first half should never happen against a defense like Mississippi State.

Once the second half hit, Texas went running, scoring two rushing touchdowns in the second half, including a nice 26-yard rushing sneak play with Isaiah Bond.

Jaydon Blue didn’t get much going after a four-touchdown performance last week, though he wasn’t all that involved. He rushed for just 36 yards on six attempts and a touchdown. He also had trouble keeping the ball, with two fumbles that Mississippi State recovered.

Tre Wisner was the leading rusher on the day with 88 yards on 13 carries. Jerrick Gibson didn’t get any carries until the third quarter, gaining 16 yards on four attempts.

The one-dimensional play in the first half seemed to stall the Texas offense several times, the offense seemed to move much more freely in the second half, including the running game.

There were a lot of mistakes. Lots of flags, lots of missed tackles. Not to mention a quizzical move by head coach Steve Sarkisian to take back a field goal and make it a two-possession game only to end up with a turnover on downs on a 4th-and-3.

But fans shouldn’t hit the panic button just yet. Texas wouldn’t release much tape ahead of a bye week, and Oklahoma and Georgia wouldn’t be playing one of the conference’s worst players. The execution was poor for the most part, but there were flashes of a Texas team deserving of the number one ranking.

The Longhorns still won by multiple touchdowns, when it looked like the game could have gone into overdrive many times over. The team is resilient and they never got desperate despite how close it was.

Even if you want to panic, the SEC’s top brass hasn’t exactly had a good week. Ole Miss lost at home to Kentucky, and Georgia, at least as I write this, looks like a dumpster fire.

Texas performed great compared to them. I believe they will be fine.

Texas gets to rest before heading to Dallas to take on Oklahoma in the Red River Showdown. The date is set for October 12 and kick-off is at 2:30 PM.