The Mississippi State Bulldogs have been the wild card of the 2026 season. With a 5-8 record, they’ve managed to pull off an upset against No.
12 Arizona State and have taken ranked teams like Texas and Tennessee into overtime. This speaks volumes about the strides they’ve made under head coach Jeff Lebby in his second year at the helm, especially after coming off a tough 2-10 season.
The big question now is whether they can keep this momentum going, and a lot of that will depend on Lebby's ability to build a team around their promising sophomore quarterback, Kamario Taylor.
The Bulldogs have every reason to be optimistic about 2026. Taylor is set to take the reins, and Lebby is bringing back defensive coordinator Zach Arnett, who has a track record of leading top-five SEC defenses from 2020 to 2022.
While the rest of the roster might not be the strongest, it certainly isn't lacking in potential. The backfield duo of Fluff Bothwell and Xavier Gayten is expected to be even more productive with a dynamic rusher like Taylor in the mix.
Expect Lebby to stick to a ground-and-pound approach this season. The Bulldogs ran the ball more than almost any other SEC team in 2025, and with Taylor stepping in for the pocket-passing Blake Shapen, they should be able to control the clock and limit possessions.
This strategy could be a recipe for an upset, especially against a Texas team that ranked 110th in the FBS in time of possession last year and 75th the year before. Although Texas has brought in new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp to instill a more aggressive defensive style, their pass-heavy offense might still struggle with time management.
Timing is everything, and this matchup comes right in the thick of Texas' SEC schedule. The Longhorns will need to bounce back quickly from games against Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, and Ole Miss, all while resisting the urge to look ahead to future clashes with Missouri, LSU, Arkansas, and Texas A&M.
In short, the Longhorns can't afford to overlook the Bulldogs, even with the comfort of playing on home turf. Mississippi State has shown they can be a thorn in the side of any team, and Texas will need to bring their A-game to avoid falling into the trap.
In Other News...
Texas May Be Closing In On A Rare Five-Star Lineman
Texas has been working hard to land five-star offensive lineman Ismael Camara, and the interest makes sense when you look at the profile. At 6-foot-6 and 345 pounds, Camara brings the kind of size and athleticism that can change an offensive line, along with the flexibility that lets evaluators imagine him fitting in multiple spots. The Longhorns have treated him like a priority target, and after recently bringing him to campus for an official visit, they have every reason to feel better about where things stand than they did a few weeks ago.
Camaras recruitment is getting extra attention because the usual timeline does not apply here. He is moving through high school on an accelerated schedule, which makes his path to college more complicated than most blue-chip linemen and leaves programs trying to balance urgency with planning. Texas is also intrigued by how quickly he could help once he arrives, which is part of why this is becoming one of the more interesting front-burner battles to watch. [Read more 🡒]
Arch Manning Sounds Like A Different Threat For Texas In 2026
Arch Mannings first season as Texas starting quarterback came with the usual growing pains, but it also gave the Longhorns a clearer picture of what he can become. He talked through an uneven start, then pointed to the way he settled in late in 2025, when the game started slowing down and his own comfort level grew. Manning also sounded focused on the broader job now in front of him, from handling leadership to carrying the lessons of a year that asked a lot of him.
The bigger takeaway for Texas is that Manning appears to be entering 2026 with a different body and a different edge. He said an offseason of physical changes followed foot surgery and helped reshape how he looks and feels going into the next season, while his comments on teammates and his preparation suggested a quarterback more intent on direction than hype. For a program that has been waiting to see what his second act looks like, the early signs are that the next version may be stronger, steadier and harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Texas May Have Found The Defender This Unit Desperately Needed
Texas had a clear need to address the middle of its defense after Anthony Hill Jr.s draft opened a spot that mattered plenty in a room built to play fast and punish mistakes. The answer arrived in the form of Rasheem Biles, who is transferring in from Pittsburgh with the kind of resume that makes a staff feel a lot better about how the next defense will be stitched together.
Biles is coming off a breakout 2025 season that turned heads well beyond Pittsburgh, and the Longhorns are betting that production travels. He arrives with a chance to be an immediate difference-maker in Austin, and with NFL evaluators already paying attention, the stakes around his move are bigger than just one roster hole. [Read more 🡒]