AUSTIN – Texas made some mistakes in its Southeastern Conference debut, but Arch Manning wasn’t one of them.

The redshirt freshman quarterback made his second career start against the Mississippi State Bulldogs and scored three touchdowns, including a 49-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Moore in the second quarter.

“I think we need to clean it up,” Manning said. “Three quick penalties, possession of the ball, a lot of it goes to me. I have to be a leader in space and on offense. We’ll take care of it during the bye week and get ready for OU.”

Manning set up a touchdown of his own in the third quarter with a 26-yard scramble to the goal line, giving the Longhorns a 21-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

With a week between Saturday’s game and the Red River showdown against Oklahoma in Dallas on Oct. 12, First Street quarterback Quinn Ewers is expected to be fully recovered from his early-season injury. But Manning has proven he can take on the starting role.

Ewers will likely still start against the Sooners, but for once he will have a solid challenger at the position. However, there is no rivalry between the two.

“(Ewers) was great for me,” Manning said. “(I) just rely on his advice.”

Whether Ewers or Manning would start in the conference opener wasn’t decided until Friday, but Manning, now more experienced in the college game, prepared like he would any other weekend.

“All week I wanted to prepare the same way I did,” Manning said. “Once it’s game time you have to loosen up and have fun, that’s what it’s all about. Last week I didn’t have as much fun as I wanted, today I had a little more fun, even if it was a little rocky.”