The No. 1 Texas Longhorns did what elite teams do against superior talent: They delivered a dominant performance and emerged fortunately healthy in a 51-3 victory over the ULM Warhawks at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. Texas could have been caught out heading into its SEC opener against Mississippi State, but looked sound defensively, with the offense showing what it needs to work on in the meantime.

Arch Manning is still a freshman quarterback

When Manning came in to replace Quinn Ewers against UTSA, there was talk of keeping his starting spot even after Ewers returned. He jumped up in the Heisman odds as Vegas tried to separate fools from their money, and the storyline continued to stir all week.

While Manning played well enough to help Texas beat ULM, there were times when experience would have paid off. Both interceptions came when he had other options, including throwing the ball away, but he chose to put the ball in jeopardy. Even when the ball wasn’t turned over, taking low-percentage shots instead of check downs forced Texas into bad moments and high-leverage situations.

Jaydon Blue is healthy for conference play

The speedy back has been struggling as health remains a concern in the running back room, with Quintrevion Wisner now out with an injury, along with two players already out for the season. While it may have been less noticeable and fans are still waiting for him to make a big run, Blue looked like an all-down back when he was on the field.

Blue averaged just under five yards per carry and scored three touchdowns on his career-high 25 attempts, in addition to his one short receiving touchdown. Perhaps most importantly, Blue appears to have taken a step forward in his skills as a pass blocker. The Longhorns will need that skill as Wisner heals and Jerrick Gibson grows into his role as an every-down back for the Horns.

The defense can be disruptive

Two games removed from Texas struggling to generate pressure against Michigan on the road, the Longhorns front spent much of the day on the other side of the ball. Texas took down ULM quarterbacks twice, adding five quarterback hurries and six tackles for loss. As a team, ULM accounted for 2.3 yards per carry, with its starting running backs a combined 3.75 ypc.

Perhaps most importantly, Texas saw its disruption come from multiple sources. Linebacker Liona Lefau, who led the team in tackles, blitzed the backfield several times, while Buck end Ethan Burke contributed a TFL and a batted-down pass. ULM couldn’t get anything going offensively for the effort, finishing with 111 yards of total offense for an average of 2.2 yards per play.