No. 11 Texas 31, Mississippi State 3: Five observations and Sunday chat

And just like that, the No. 11 Texas Longhorns completed the sweep of the state of Mississippi.

The Mississippi State Bulldogs came into this matchup wounded and already down their star quarterback Kamario Taylor, then they lost their RB1 in Fluff Bothwell in the second half. It’s been a rough go for Jeff Lebby’s squad after starting the season 4-0. They have now dropped four games in a row and still have three SEC games left to play. They will need to win one of those if they want to go bowling, and from the looks of things they will be down to QB3 after AJ Swann hurt his shoulder last night.

On the Longhorns’ side of the ledger, they took care of business and covered a pretty big spread, which has been tough for them to do in recent memory. A win and a cover is always good for the home team and you will take them however you can get them. However, there are still plenty of nits to pick within the context of the game and we will get into that now.

The offense turned in a sub-par performance

Let’s get the positive out of the way. Arch Manning was 16-of-20 passing for 220 yards and three touchdowns, which is pretty effective, all things considered. The opening drive of the game consisted of a throw into tight coverage to Cam Coleman that went for an explosive play and was quickly followed up by another nice throw to Coleman for a touchdown to kick off the scoring.

Manning followed that up with a couple more touchdown tosses on the evening, including one to Emmett Mosley V where he broke free of the coverage and was streaking down the field for an easy score on third and short.

Now let’s get to the not-so-great aspects of the offense, and that includes Manning himself. Manning had another turnover that was a byproduct of him holding the ball way too long in the pocket instead of either checking it down, running, or throwing it away.

This is the type of sack that is not on the offensive line whatsoever. Not all sacks are created equal, and this is a play that didn’t need to happen. Manning has a clear check-down opportunity to Raleek Brown at the top of the screen and waits far too long before deciding to take that option. The indecisiveness and the internal clock for Manning has been an issue all year long.

On top of that turnover, Manning has to do a better job of protecting himself when he does decide to take off and run. Everyone can recall when he took a huge hit earlier in the year where his helmet popped off. Well, that happened again on Saturday against Mississippi State.

I am a fan of Arch using his wheels more to help move the offense down the field, but I am also a fan of him protecting himself when he opts to do so. He can’t keep taking hits like this and has to protect himself better if he wants to make it through the entire season.

Also on the negative side of the ledger, the Texas run game was horrific — 60 rushing yards on 32 carries for a whopping 1.8 yards per carry. A week after your best rushing performance of the year, the Texas offense turns in what is likely to be its worst. This falls on everyone in the offensive ecosystem, and the inconsistency continues to be maddening.

The 280 yards of total offense is not going to get it done against better opponents. Hell, it probably would not have got it done against Mississippi State had Kamario Taylor been healthy.

The Texas defense continues to be elite

Someone, please edit this play to have Chris Berman narrating Maraad Watson’s THICC-SIX from Saturday. The big fella was rumbling and stumbling all the way to the end zone, and I know he needed the oxygen tank after this play.

The Texas defense continues to play at a very high level. With Taylor out of the lineup, Will Muschamp made life hard regardless of who was under center for Jeff Lebby and the Bulldogs. The defense held the State offense to under 200 yards of total offense, only surrendered three points, and only allowed six conversions on 19 attempts on money downs.

The Texas defense tallied seven sacks and inflicted nine additional tackles for a loss on the night and this was all with Colin Simmons on the sideline. Just a fantastic job by this group all around.

If you want to pick nits, they did have a hard time tackling Bothwell during the game, but Bothwell ultimately was held in check and never got loose before going out with an injury of his own.

Rasheem Biles has been worth every penny

Number three in burnt orange has been gangbusters this year, man.

Biles was everywhere on Saturday for Texas once again. Biles tallied a career-high three sacks, forced two fumbles (including the one returned for a touchdown), and had an additional four tackles for a loss. Just an absolute stat sheet filler. Muschamp has unleashed him in a variety of ways on opposing offenses, and he has been incredibly tough to deal with. I will be stunned if he isn’t All-SEC come December with how well he is playing for the Longhorns right now.

Texas got banged up again in this one

Steve Sarkisian mentioned it after the game, but multiple players for Texas didn’t finish the game after multiple guys didn’t finish last week’s game against Ole Miss.

The longer these seasons get, the more imperative it becomes to try to keep guys healthy and make sure you have quality depth across the roster. Texas doesn’t have any easy outs on the remainder of the schedule, and they will likely need to win them all if they want to be in the playoff. Though, you can probably make a case for a 9-3 Texas with how this CFB season is playing out.

Regardless, Texas is going to need all of the guys Sark mentioned healthy for the home stretch of the season. Coleman going back out after leaving early last week is certainly something to watch. Ditto on Smothers, since he was previously hurt and held out.

Ryan Niblett got deprived of a touchdown

It should be illegal to run that far for a touchdown and it not count. But that is the Texas special teams in 2026. It is either plays like this getting called back or Niblett will have four to five guys unblocked running at him. It’s a shame Texas is not going to be able to maximize his ability as a returner this year.

Also, since this is technically a special teams portion, the Longhorns have to find someone better than Mac Chiumento this offseason, because the combination of a stagnant Texas offense and a mediocre punter is a very bad combination.

Chiumento had a punt last night that only traveled 23 yards. I don’t have to go into detail for you on why that is bad and not at all acceptable for a specialist at a place like Texas.

The W on Halloween brings Texas to 6-2 and when the polls come out they will be back in the top 10. They have two big road matchups back-to-back, starting with Mizzou next week. This two-game sequence will likely give us a firm idea of Texas’ postseason aspirations for 2026.

Spend some extra time on the training table this week to nurse the bumps and bruises. Pack a lunch and a hard hat for your trip to the Show Me State. The Tigers have a good defense and nice offensive core that will be a challenge for everybody in burnt orange.

Same time and place next week, y’all.