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AUSTIN, Texas – Chris Warren III ran for 166 yards and two touchdowns as The University of Texas rolled to a 56-0 victory over San Jose State at Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the first victory of the Tom Herman Era.



"Really proud of our guys for tuning out all the noise and tuning out all the distractions that they could have allowed to creep in after last week's showing," Herman said after the game. "They got back to work and they knew what we had to do. They knew what we're capable of doing, and they did it. I couldn't be more proud of that team in there right now for responding the way they did."



In his first career start, true freshman quarterback Sam Ehlinger guided Texas to 623 yards of total offense, including 406 yards on the ground, to collect his first victory as a Longhorn. Ehlinger is the 10th true freshman to start for UT and the eighth to earn a win.



Defensively, the Horns held San Jose State to 171 yards of total offense and for the second straight game defensive back Holton Hill returned an interception for a touchdown. It is the first shut out for UT since defeating Kansas 23-0 in 2014.



"(Coach Herman) expects that from us every day," running back Chris Warren III said about today's performance. "He says it's fourth-and-inches every time we walk into the building. He has no less expectations for us than for us to come out and try our hardest regardless of the situation."



Texas started slowly offensively, failing to move the ball beyond midfield on its first two possessions, while the UT defense quickly pushed the Spartan offense off the field, forcing two three-and-outs.



The Longhorn offense began rolling after that, scoring touchdowns on four of the next five possessions to break the game open.



With UT in a third-and-15 situation at the SJSU 46-yard line, Ehlinger scrambled nine yards to the Spartan 37-yard line, then converted fourth down on a throw to Warren in the backfield, who scampered nine yards for the first down. On the next play, Warren caught an Ehlinger pass in the flat, sprinted down the left sideline and leaped over a defender for a 14-yard gain. Running back Kyle Porter picked up another five yards on a pitch to the right and Jerrod Heard finished the drive on the next play with a nine-yard touchdown run to give the Longhorns a 7-0 lead.



Warren and the Texas offense started their next drive at the UT 11-yard line and picked up right where they left off. After Warren closed out the first quarter with a five-yard run, he opened the second quarter with an 8-yard run up the middle, bouncing off a pair of his own linemen and pushing his way through a crowd of Spartans for a first down. On the next play, Warren shook off a defender and burst through the right side of the line, sprinting for a 26-yard gain. Two plays later, on second-and-24, Ehlinger scrambled to his left and fired downfield to slip a ball past an SJSU defender and into the arms of wide receiver Collin Johnson for a 23-yard completion at the Spartan 41-yard line. Warren took a direct snap on the next play, breaking a tackle at the line and shaking a defender at the 5-yard line to score, building the Horns' lead to 14-0.



San Jose State created its best scoring opportunity of the game on the next possession. After the kickoff was returned to the SJSU 44-yard line, the Spartans drove the ball to the Texas 10-yard line. Facing a fourth-and-1, the Horns defense held strong and stuffed Spartan running back DeJon Parker for no gain.



Texas added a touchdown at the end of the half when Heard scored on a three-yard run to close out a 10-play, 77-yard drive that took only 2:11 to complete, giving UT a 21-0 advantage. The highlight of the drive came on a 39-yard toe-tap sideline catch by wide receiver Lorenzo Joe at the San Jose State 17-yard line.



Texas scored on its first possession of the second half with a meticulous 16-play, 92-yard drive that featured 12 running plays and culminated with a 3-yard touchdown run by Porter, making it 28-0.



The defense got in on the scoring at the end of the quarter when Hill intercepted Spartans quarterback Aaron Montel and ran it back 45 yards for the score and a 35-0 lead. Hill is the first Longhorn to return an interception for a touchdown in back-to-back games since Alan Lowry accomplished the feat in 1971 and it is the first time that the Longhorns have returned interceptions for touchdowns in consecutive games since Brandon Foster and Marcus Griffin did so in 2007.



The Longhorns added a touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter when Warren scored on a 9-yard run to make it 42-0.



On the Spartans next play from scrimmage, defensive back Jason Hall forced a fumble that was recovered by defensive back Antwuan Davis at the SJSU 19-yard line. The Horns took advantage of the gift, scoring three plays later on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Ehlinger to wide receiver Amanti Foreman, who caught five passes for 51 yards.



Ehlinger on the day completed 15-of-27 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 48 yards.



Running back Toneil Carter tacked on another touchdown for UT with 2:46 remaining in the game, scoring on 4-yard run for a final of 56-0.



The Texas defense allowed the Spartans to succeed on only 2-of-12 third-down conversion attempts, while forcing four three-and-outs and two turnovers. Twenty-three Longhorns registered a tackle, led by linebacker Malik Jefferson with seven, and linebacker Edwin Freeman picked up his first sack of the season.



Offensively, the Horns scored touchdowns on all six of their red zone opportunities and converted on 10-of-15 third-down chances.



The Longhorns will look to build momentum next week as they take on USC for the first time since the 2005 BCS National Championship Game. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT on FOX at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.