Quinn Ewers passed for 172 yards and three touchdowns as No. 22 Texas outlasted visiting Iowa State 24-21 Saturday afternoon in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns (5-2, 3-1 in Big 12) made just enough plays down the stretch and won their third straight contest despite being outgained by Iowa State 403-263 and making several big mistakes. Texas snapped a three-game losing streak to the Cyclones.
Bijan Robinson ran for 135 yards on 28 carries and had a 36-yard catch for the Longhorns.
Texas took a three-point advantage it would not relinquish after a 3-yard touchdown pass from Ewers to Xavier Worthy with 4:43 to play.
Iowa State's Xavier Hutchinson then dropped a wide-open deep pass from Hunter Dekkers at the Texas 10-yard line with under 3 minutes remaining that would have put the Cyclones well within range for a tying field goal. Later on the drive, Dekkers fumbled while scrambling inside the Texas 30-yard line, and the Longhorns were able to run out the clock.
Dekkers passed for 329 yards and two TDs and ran for a third score for the Cyclones (3-4, 0-4 Big 12). Hutchinson caught 10 passes for 154 yards while Jaylin Noel caught both of Dekkers' scoring tosses. Iowa State has started its Big 12 campaign 0-4 for the first time in coach Matt Campbell's tenure.
Those four losses, three of which have been to ranked teams, were by a combined 14 points.
The Cyclones lit the board first via a 5-yard touchdown pass from Dekkers to Noel with 57 seconds left in the first quarter. Texas answered on a 15-yard scoring hookup from Ewers to Worthy with 5:48 to play in the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7.
The Longhorns then took the lead on Ewers' 5-yard TD pass to Jordan Whittington with 13 seconds remaining until halftime. Texas added to its advantage with a 31-yard field goal by Bert Auburn on the initial possession of the third quarter.
Iowa State responded and cut its deficit to 17-14 with the second Dekkers-to-Noel TD pass of the game, this one from 54 yards away with 4:27 to play in the third quarter. Dekkers then put the Cyclones back on top with his 11-yard scoring scramble with 10:58 remaining that set the table for the furious finish.
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