Texas heads into the final stretch of its SEC schedule with one clear offensive priority: get the run game right.
The Longhorns travel to Missouri this Saturday, coming off their first win streak since September and with the passing attack looking far sharper. But the ground game still hasn’t settled into anything dependable. Through eight games, Texas is averaging 134.6 rushing yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry, numbers that leave the program in the bottom half of the country in rushing offense.
There have been glimpses. There have just not been enough of them.
Against Ole Miss, Texas finally got the kind of production it had been chasing, piling up a season-high 207 rushing yards. Fifth-year back Raleek Brown was the engine, going for 157 yards on 23 carries and ripping off a 47-yard run in the fourth quarter - the Longhorns’ longest individual rush of the season - to help close out the win.
That looked like the start of something. Instead, the momentum vanished a week later.
Mississippi State held Texas to only 60 rushing yards on 32 attempts, a brutal 1.9 yards per carry. The offensive line never really found rhythm, and the Longhorns couldn’t create much of anything in the run game.
That kind of inconsistency puts more weight on senior quarterback Arch Manning and makes life easier for defenses that can focus on the pass rush. It also turns short-yardage situations into a much bigger problem than they should be.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian said the answer starts with the basics.
“I think (what’s important is) being consistent, executing, having a good plan and then ultimately playing with a real sense of physicality,” Sarkisian said. “There’s going to be some tough yards in there, and we have to go get the tough yards and not worry so much about the home-run runs.”
With senior Hollywood Smothers out for the season after an MCL tear, Brown becomes the clear lead back. Texas will also lean on its younger depth, including freshmen Derrek Cooper and Michael Terry III, both of whom have shown real promise.
The talent is there. The question is whether Texas can line it up, block it up and turn that potential into something steady.
Sarkisian said the Longhorns have to embrace the identity they want to play with.
“We’ve got to commit to who we are, we’ve got to do better at who we are, and we have to do it more consistently with the right amount of physicality,” Sarkisian said. “It’s a line of scrimmage league.
It’s big boy football, and forget what emblems are on anybody’s helmet. … Everybody plays a physical brand of football, and so we have got to attack our run game.
It’s got to come with us this week when we go on the road.”
For Texas, Missouri offers the kind of setting that can tell the truth about this offense. If the Longhorns can run it with force and consistency away from home, they can prove they’re more than a passing team with flashes on the ground.
In Other News...
Texas Just Lost A Backfield Piece It Couldnt Afford To Lose
Texas is already juggling a running back room that has had to absorb more than its share of hits, and Hollywood Smothers looks set to be the latest absence. He was listed out for the upcoming game against Missouri, and the expectation now is that his season is over, a frustrating development for a player whose availability has already been limited by injuries throughout 2026.
Raleek Brown has been asked to shoulder more of the load during Smothers absence, and that shift now looks even more important for the Longhorns. Losing a back with Smothers skill set at this stage of the year is the kind of setback that can ripple through a rotation, especially for a team trying to keep its offense steady while the calendar tightens. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Faces A New Receiver Battle After Missing On Top Target
Texas is already shifting its attention to the next wave of wide receiver recruiting after missing on Brysen Wright, who chose Miami. The Longhorns are working on several prospects in the 2028 class, and the board includes a highly ranked Texas native in Mays along with Wiley, who has made clear he is interested in the program.
The challenge now is not just identifying talent, but beating out a familiar group of rivals for it. Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Oklahoma are all in the mix for those receivers, which means the Longhorns will have to sell both their development track and their place in the states recruiting pecking order if they want to keep this class moving in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Just Lost A Key Rushing Threat At The Worst Time
Texas lost a valuable piece of its backfield at a brutal point in the season, with senior running back Hollywood Smothers out for the rest of the year after tearing his MCL against Mississippi State. He had already dealt with injuries throughout the season, but even with the interruptions he still ranked second on the team in rushing yards before going down.
The timing makes the setback sting even more, with Missouri next on the schedule and Texas needing every available option in the run game. Smothers absence leaves the Longhorns with one fewer proven threat to lean on as they try to keep the offense balanced and push through the final stretch. [Read more 🡒]