Colin Simmons ties program-record with 5 sacks as No. 1 Texas beats No. 14 Tennessee 20-17

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Colin Simmons tied the program record with five sacks as top-ranked Texas held off No. 14 Tennessee 20-17 Saturday with President Donald Trump on hand in the Longhorns' first visit to Neyland Stadium.

Raleek Brown ran for 67 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and his 4-yarder with 5:41 left gave the Longhorns the winning margin in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. Giannis Spetic had a pair of field goals.

“We win big games around here, we do,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I know we don’t win them all, but we won a lot of them. And what an incredible performance by our defense.”

It was a defensive day with Texas (4-0) dominating with 10 sacks, led by Simmons. The linebacker's day for the record books also will be remembered for his vulgar celebration after one sack. He was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct with the referee saying Simmons was “simulating” using the restroom.

“We took him out, we addressed it and put him back in," Sarkisian said. “At that point, I’m not going to give the guy a death penalty over an unsportsmanlike conduct. We got to fix it though. That can't continue."

Tennessee quarterback Brandon Faizon made it interesting late, capping an 80-yard drive with a 30-yard TD pass to Mike Matthews with 1:22 left. Linebacker Arion Carter recovered the onside kick, and Jelani McDonald batted away Brandon’s pass to Travis Smith Jr. on the final play in the end zone.

Sarkisian called it crazy in a game Texas also gave up a 57-yard punt return by Qua Moss for a TD. Sarkisian took a timeout that gave Tennessee a second chance at the onside kick after sending the first out of bounds.

“Next thing you know you're fighting to finish a game, which we were able to do,” Sarkisian said.

Arch Manning also made his first trip to Knoxville, where his uncle Peyton played for Tennessee in the 1990s.

Manning threw for 201 yards while being sacked six times. He also was intercepted once with the Longhorns needing the smothering defensive performance to help on a day with too many penalties, including two illegal forward passes by Manning.

Tennessee (3-1) hadn't beaten The Associated Press' No. 1 team since 1985, and that drought continues.

“Up front we weren’t good enough,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. "Quarterback was not good enough. We didn’t play smart enough, but I’ll take the effort.”

Texas: The Longhorns have lots to clean up, particularly when it comes to penalties they can control. They piled up 11 for 115 yards with seven of those in the first half. Jermaine Bishop Jr. wiped out his own 22-yard punt return in the third quarter with a fair catch signal that officials caught.

Tennessee: The Vols came in 14th nationally averaging 516.3 yards total offense per game. They came nowhere near that with Brandon surviving a beating in his SEC debut. Brandon finished 17 of 29 for 145 yards. He didn't talk to reporters after the game.

Heupel said the freshman: "Didn’t get rid of it when he needed to get rid of it.”

Texas has a week off before playing Oklahoma in Dallas on Oct. 10.

Tennessee hosts Auburn on Oct. 3.

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Texas defensive back Jelani McDonald (4) breaks up a Hail Mary pass intended for Tennessee wide receiver Travis Smith Jr. (1) on the last play of the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is escorted into Neyland Stadium before an NCAA college football game between Tennessee and Texas, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Texas defensive back Graceson Littleton (29) breaks up a pass intended for Tennessee tight end Ethan Davis (0) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

President Donald Trump is displayed on the scoreboard as he attends the Tennessee-Texas NCAA college football game in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (Sara Diggins/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A.J. Ewing hit a go-ahead, three-run homer, Ronny Mauricio went deep from both sides of the plate for his first career multi-homer game and the New York Mets defeated the Washington Nationals 7-1 on Saturday.

New York left fielder Juan Soto left the game in the ninth inning after he was hit on the right hand by a 91.7 mph sinker from Richard Lovelady. Mets manager Andy Green said X-rays were negative.

Mets rookie Carson Benge had three hits for his 44th multihit game and 13th with three hits or more. Benge also made a sprawling, backhand catch in right field with two on in the third on Abimelec Ortiz’s sacrifice fly, a grab reminiscent of Ron Swoboda's against Baltimore's Brooks Robinson in Game 4 of the 1969 World Series.

Ortiz's fly gave Washington a lead that stood until Ewing homered in the seventh on an 0-2 curveball from Jake Irvin (2-10), ending an 0-of-10 slide and putting the Mets ahead 3-1.

Mauricio connected on a fastball three pitches later for his first home run since May 1. Mets Nos. 8 and 9 hitters hit consecutive home runs for the third time this year. Mauricio added a two-run homer in the ninth.

Washington has allowed 22 home runs in the seventh inning or later that tied games or put opponents ahead, the most in the major leagues.

Dedniel Nuñez (2-1) struck out the side in the sixth.

New York clinched its sixth straight season series against Washington at 7-5.

Starter Connelly Early made his Nationals debut, retiring nine of 10 batters while allowing one hit in three innings. The left-hander was acquired July 26 from Boston for Curtis Mead and activated from the injured list Saturday after recovering from left elbow inflammation.

Mets starter Jonah Tong struck out a career high nine, allowing three hits in five innings. The rookie finished 2-2 with a 3.82 ERA in four starts and three relief appearances.

New York LHP Sean Manaea (6-7, 4.67 ERA) faces Washington LHP DJ Herz (0-1, 9.00) in Sunday’s season finale, which was moved up two hours to 1:05 p.m. because of rain forecast later in the day.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

New York Mets' Carson Benge scores a run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

New York Mets' Ronny Mauricio celebrates his two-run home run as he rounds the bases during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

New York Mets second baseman Ronny Mauricio, right, and shortstop Brett Baty, left, embrace after a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

New York Mets' Ronny Mauricio (0) celebrates his two-run home run with A.J. Ewing (9) during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

New York Mets' A.J. Ewing, right, celebrates his three-run home run with Francisco Alvarez (4) during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)