Texas is on a bye this week, but the Longhorns won’t get a full break from the college football chaos. A few of the teams on their schedule are still out there taking swings, and Week 5 could say plenty about what kind of shape those future opponents are in when Texas sees them later.
The most combustible matchup on the slate might be Arkansas against Texas A&M. Neither team is ranked, but this one still has the feel of a survival fight.
Both enter with two losses, which leaves plenty of room for desperation to drive the night. A win here would at least give one of them a little traction heading into the back half of the season.
That matters for Texas, too, since the Horns will host Arkansas in the penultimate regular-season game and then travel to Texas A&M in the finale.
There’s also a ranked showdown that could ripple straight into Texas’s schedule: No. 7 Alabama against No.
14 Mississippi State. Texas gets a week off from Alabama, but Mississippi State is still on the slate, and the Bulldogs have been one of the surprises of the year.
They’re 4-0 under quarterback "Super" Kamario Taylor and head coach Jeff Lebby. Mississippi State already gave Texas enough trouble last season, and if the Bulldogs knock off the Tide to move to 5-0, they’d carry a wave of momentum that could make them even tougher when the Longhorns meet them.
Another one to keep an eye on is No. 8 Florida against No.
25 Missouri. Both teams will eventually cross paths with Texas, and both come in with something to prove.
Florida has stormed back behind first-year head coach Jon Sumrall and is 2-0 in SEC play. Missouri, after opening 3-0, stumbled against Mississippi State and dropped its first conference game.
This matchup could keep Florida rolling or give Missouri a chance to steady itself and slow down a Gators team that some may already be calling a pretender.
For Texas, the bye week doesn’t mean the schedule stops mattering. It just means the Longhorns get to watch a few of their future opponents reveal a little more about themselves before the Red River Rivalry arrives next week.
In Other News...
Hero Kanu Sends Clear Message On Colin Simmons Controversy
The postgame conversation around Colin Simmons did not linger long inside the Texas locker room, at least not if Hero Kanu had anything to say about it. The Longhorns defensive lineman stepped up to defend his teammate after a controversial celebration against Tennessee, framing it as a split-second mistake in the heat of competition rather than anything deeper about who Simmons is away from the field.
Kanus response fit with the broader tone from the program, where Steve Sarkisian has made it clear he would rather see celebrations shared by the whole team than spotlighting one player. For Texas, it is a small but telling reminder of how quickly a moment can become a talking point, and how important it is for teammates to close ranks when the noise starts building around one of their own. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Bye Week Has To Fix One Growing Offensive Concern
Texas heads into the bye week undefeated and sitting at No. 1, but the narrow escape at Tennessee also left a clear reminder that the offense still has room to grow. The Longhorns have won enough to keep climbing, yet they have not consistently stretched defenses the way Steve Sarkisians best attacks usually do, with explosive plays showing up too rarely and big completions or runs hard to find.
Sarkisian now gets a break in the schedule to clean up that side of the ball, and the focus is on execution rather than trimming the playbook to compensate. For a team with championship expectations, the challenge in the next stretch is obvious: keep the wins coming while making the offense more dangerous when it matters most. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Defense Could Expose Oklahoma Where It Hurts Most
Texas heads into the rivalry game with a defense that has earned the right to believe it can make life difficult for Oklahoma in several places at once. The Sooners have had trouble generating steady pressure on the quarterback, their run defense has been uneven, and their offense has not found much rhythm on the ground, which gives the Longhorns a chance to dictate the game with toughness and field position.
The bigger concern for Oklahoma is how often its offense has put itself in precarious spots, especially with John Mateer at the controls. Turnovers have been a recurring issue, and if Texas can keep forcing hurried decisions while also taking away the Sooners already limited rushing answers, the game could tilt quickly toward the Longhorns in a matchup where hidden mistakes tend to matter just as much as headline plays. [Read more 🡒]