Despite playing one of their worst games of the year at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns prevailed 35–13 thanks to a huge offensive explosion in the fourth quarter.
Texas prevailed in its first SEC game despite its difficulties, however the betting lines did not exactly reflect the five-touchdown lead. The Longhorns have a lot of coaching to do coming into the bye week as they prepare for the Oklahoma Sooners and Georgia Bulldogs after the break.
Texas can shore things up on both sides of the line
One of the biggest questions about Texas when the move to the SEC was first announced was its ability to play in the trenches of the SEC. While it appeared that the Longhorns had made the requisite moves to prepare themselves for the conference, their debut gave them plenty to coach going into the bye week.
Offensively, Texas surrendered two sacks, seven tackles for loss, and had just 10 yards on the ground through the first quarter. The line also struggled with the little things that turn out to be big — getting flagged for false starts/illegal snaps, plus three holding calls that erased chunk plays. Defensively, the Longhorns struggled with some of the looks and quick adjustments from Jeff Lebby’s offensive scheme and gave up six rushes of 10 yards or more, including the Bulldogs’ only touchdown of the game, a 12-yard scramble by quarterback Michael Van Buren in the fourth quarter.
Texas’s backfield is plenty of alternatives.
The explosive playmaker Jaydon Blue, who scored three touchdowns and rushed for 124 yards the previous week, had two fumbles and had trouble staying consistent. Quintrevion Wisner carried the majority of the ball as Texas needed to grind out yards. Thirteen total tries were made; twelve occurred in the second half and seven in the first quarter, three of which resulted in first downs.
With 13 runs for 88 yards at the end of the game—career highs—and an average of 6.8 yards per rush, the former unanimous three-star prospect looked like the featured back the Longhorns needed. Blue had plenty of room to improve in the bye week despite his problems, as he averaged six yards per carry and scored a touchdown.
Texas can really mess with the backfield.
Texas, led by freshman Colin Simmons, who once again looks to be ahead of schedule, concluded the game with 11 tackles for loss and six sacks. Pete Kwiatkowski’s Texas team has not had as many sacks as this one since they had eight against Iowa State in 2016.
Texas was one tackle shy of the season-high 12 tackles for loss against UTSA two weeks ago in the game, and they nearly doubled their sack total for the year. The Longhorns will be successful as they proceed through SEC play if they can maintain that pattern.
