Ole Miss has already started to eye the bigger test ahead, but the next hurdle comes first.
Coming off a 52-17 win over Vanderbilt in Nashville, the Rebels are back in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium this Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff against No.
13 Missouri. The Tigers will bring a few familiar faces with them, too, in former Rebels Austin Simmons, Cayden Lee, and Chris Graves Jr.
Then comes an even tougher assignment.
One week later, Ole Miss heads to Austin to face No. 6 Texas at 6:30 p.m.
CT on ABC, landing in the network’s primetime window for the week’s biggest game. The matchup gives the Rebels a shot at another ranked SEC opponent, and it now comes with a little more perspective after Oklahoma stunned Texas with a field goal as time expired.
Arch Manning’s late interception set up the Sooners’ final chance, and reigning SEC Specialist of the Year and Lou Groza Award winner Tate Sandell cashed in before overtime. For Ole Miss, that result at least showed a path to beating the Longhorns.
Still, the trip does not get any friendlier from here. Memorial Stadium in Austin is a difficult place to play, and doing it at night only adds to the challenge. Texas has won all 12 home games since a 30-15 loss to Georgia in October 2024, and it is the only SEC program that can measure up to Ole Miss’ current 14-game home winning streak.
Steve Sarkisian has pushed Texas into the SEC contender conversation, and his connection to Pete Golding adds another layer to the matchup, since the two coached together at Alabama.
Austin will be buzzing around the same time for more than football, with the Rebels and Longhorns sharing the weekend spotlight with the annual Formula 1 US Grand Prix.
Both teams have already taken one conference loss through the first six weeks of the season, which makes the Oct. 24 showdown even more relevant in the College Football Playoff race.
Texas will stay home this weekend to play Florida, a team that beat Ole Miss in Oxford before dropping back-to-back games to Missouri and South Carolina.
For Ole Miss, though, the path is simple: handle Missouri first, then turn the page to Texas.
In Other News...
Texas Just Learned How Costly That Red River Loss Really Was
The Red River loss to Oklahoma did more than just knock Texas out of the win column. A 47-yard kick by Tate Sandell sealed the 27-24 defeat and ended the Longhorns four-week run at No. 1 in the AP Poll, a stretch that had given the program some early-season breathing room at the top.
The fallout was just as jarring as the finish. Texas dropped to No. 7 in the AP Poll and No. 6 in the Coaches Poll, and with several other top-25 teams also stumbling over the week, the rankings shuffled around the Longhorns in a way that makes the defeat look even costlier in hindsight. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Suddenly Has A Coaching Question Fans Cant Ignore
Texas left the Red River Rivalry with more than a frustrating 27-24 loss to unranked Oklahoma. The Longhorns were undone by a messy special teams performance, highlighted by a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown and a missed late field goal, while the offense also had trouble sustaining drives and converting on third down.
Steve Sarkisian was asked afterward whether the special teams operation needs to be re-evaluated, a question that can linger when a game turns on hidden-yardage mistakes. For a Texas team with bigger goals, the concern now is not just the loss itself, but whether one phase of the game has become too costly to keep overlooking. [Read more 🡒]
Arch Manning Is Now At Center Of Texas' Biggest Debate
Texas left the Red River Rivalry with the kind of loss that lingers, a late field goal handing Oklahoma the win and putting Arch Manning right in the middle of the conversation. Manning was sharp enough in the first half and showed comfort on throws inside the numbers, but the finish turned on a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions that helped swing the game and reopened questions about how the Longhorns are putting him in position to succeed.
For Texas, the larger issue is no longer just one bad stretch in one rivalry game. Mannings decision-making is under the microscope, but so is the play-calling around him, with the debate centering on whether the offense is asking too much at the wrong moments or not enough to keep him on the right track. As the Longhorns try to move past a painful loss, those questions are only going to get louder. [Read more 🡒]