Texas got the result it wanted on Saturday, but the win over Mississippi State came with enough rough edges to keep the Longhorns honest heading into November.
The defense carried the night and then some. Texas held the Bulldogs to three points, piled up seven sacks and nine tackles for loss, and did it without star edge rusher Colin Simmons. Rasheem Biles was everywhere, finishing with three sacks and four tackles for loss, and the unit kept bailing out an offense that repeatedly put it in bad spots.
The play everyone will remember belonged to Maraad Watson. The 333-pound defensive lineman scooped up a fumble forced by Biles and lumbered 61 yards for a touchdown, turning a defensive takeaway into the game’s loudest moment.
Even when Texas handed Mississippi State the ball at the Texas 28-yard line after an Arch Manning fumble, the defense slammed the door and limited the Bulldogs to a field goal. Biles added a 15-yard sack on a trick play during that sequence, and that was the only scoring play Mississippi State managed all night.
That kind of dominance made the special teams issues easier to survive, but they were still hard to ignore. Punter Mac Chiumento averaged 38.2 yards on six punts and had a particularly rough night with field position.
His late-third-quarter 23-yard shank from the Texas 25 sailed out of bounds at the Longhorns’ 48, and earlier in the second quarter he dropped a 36-yard punt that gave Mississippi State the ball at the Texas 46. Over a stretch of three punts, Chiumento hit kicks of 36, 23 and 39 yards, and none of them pinned the Bulldogs inside their 20.
Texas got away with it because Mississippi State couldn’t do much with the opportunities. Against better SEC offenses, that kind of hidden-yardage problem can turn ugly fast.
The biggest warning sign, though, came up front on offense. What should have been a chance for Texas to reset its offensive line after a shaky stretch instead became another rough afternoon. The Longhorns gave up five sacks and eight tackles for loss to a Mississippi State defense that had been averaging just 2.3 sacks per game.
The run game never found traction either. Texas managed only 60 yards on 32 carries, a 1.9-yard average, after putting up 207 rushing yards against Ole Miss a week earlier.
The longest run went for just 12 yards. Strip away the sacks, and the backs still finished with only 50 yards on 19 carries, with just three runs going for more than five yards.
Texas can live with some of that against a team like Mississippi State when the defense is playing at that level. But with Missouri and LSU ahead, the Longhorns can’t keep asking Manning to cover for the problems in front of him. If Texas wants a real playoff push, the offensive line has to sort itself out quickly.
In Other News...
Texas Win Came With A Missouri Concern Fans Can't Ignore
Texas got the result it wanted against Mississippi State, but the win came with a longer injury list than anyone around the program would have liked. Several key players, including Graceson Littleton, Cam Coleman, Kade Phillips, Hollywood Smothers and Ryan Wingo, were unable to finish the game, forcing Texas to keep adjusting on the fly as the roster thinned out in real time.
Steve Sarkisian acknowledged the concern afterward, and the biggest issue now is not just who got hurt, but how serious those injuries might be. The press box observations offered some clues about the nature of the setbacks and the substitutions that followed, but for Texas the real answer will come later, when the team gets a clearer read on who can move forward and who may be limited heading into the next stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Cam Coleman Gave Texas A Spark Then Left Fans Worried
Cam Coleman gave Texas exactly the kind of early lift it needed against Mississippi State, turning his first two catches into 61 yards and a touchdown before the second quarter even settled in. He had only recently worked his way through a shoulder issue from the previous week, but after being cleared to play, he looked like a difference-maker right away and helped set the tone for the Longhorns.
Then came the sight that had Texas fans uneasy. Coleman was seen heading to the locker room in the second quarter without an obvious injury moment on the field, a development that immediately shifted attention from his big start to his availability for the rest of the game. For a Texas offense that had already leaned on his explosiveness, the next update mattered almost as much as the production he had already delivered. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Backfield Suddenly Has A Bigger Problem Than Fans Expected
Texas backfield took another uneasy turn against Mississippi State when Hollywood Smothers was injured and sent to the medical tent after absorbing a hard hit. It was already a game in which his role had been limited, and the moment only added to the sense that the Longhorns are still trying to sort out how much they can count on him in a rotation that has been shifting for weeks.
Raleek Brown has been the steadier presence in the run game, and his strong outing against the Bulldogs only sharpened the contrast. Smothers has already missed two games with a lower-leg injury, and Brown has outpaced him in both rushing yards and touchdowns this season, leaving Texas with a backfield picture that feels less settled than anyone expected. [Read more 🡒]