Texas heads on the road for the fifth straight week, where they will take on Mississippi State in Starkville at 3:15pm CST. This is a pivotal game for both teams for different reasons. Mississippi State defeated Arizona State in what was a big win in non-conference play, but things haven’t carried over to SEC play. Mississippi State has had multiple games they should’ve won in the SEC but find themselves winless in conference play. The latest was last week against Florida, where Mississippi State had the ball in field goal range in the late fourth quarter. Despite being in field goal range, quarterback Blake Shapen threw an interception to a Florida defensive lineman.
Texas, on the other hand, put together another disastrous performance on offense. The Texas offense reverted to their old ways after a good showing against Oklahoma. The Longhorns had what is statistically the worst offensive performance since Steve Sarkisian was hired in 2021. Texas had just 179 total yards and eight first downs. Frankly, it’s a miracle that Texas beat Kentucky 16-13. The offense played very little part in getting that victory. Now, a win is a win, but that will only be the case until the offense costs Texas another win. The defense looks to be an elite unit, and the special teams look to be trending towards being elite. The offense is holding the team back, plain and simple.
The Texas Offense Must Find an Identity
The Texas offense currently has no identity on offense. If you don’t have an identity on offense, it’s impossible to have a good offense. One week, Texas is trying to establish the run, and the next, they abandon the run. Moving forward, Texas needs to force the run, and it should help that CJ Baxter will be returning soon. Tre Wisner isn’t a between-the-tackles running back, but that doesn’t mean you can abandon the inside run. Any offense needs to be able to run and pass, but that is especially the case with an offensive line like Texas currently has.
Kyle Flood’s offensive line must play better. The current unit is becoming one of the worst that has ever played at Texas. It’s young group, and losing Kelvin Banks to the NFL Draft last season was massive. That being said, the talent is there, and they need to play better and they need to do so now. You can only scheme around a bad offensive line so much, especially in the SEC. Arch Manning needs to play better too, but he’s been taking a beating, and that never helps a young quarterback when he knows he’s getting hit every drop back. Florida doubled their sack total when they played Texas. Kentucky had just two sacks in three SEC games before playing Texas. They managed to sack Manning three times. The line simply cannot perform that poorly each week, or the pass nor the run game stands a chance.
The Jeff Lebby vs Pete Kwiatkowski Matchup will Determine Who Wins
Jeff Lebby versus Pete Kwiatkowski will be strength on strength. Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby is someone that Texas fans should be familiar with. Lebby was the offensive coordinator for Oklahoma in the lone win Brent Venables has over Texas. That was a 34-30 win for the Sooners, and the Oklahoma offense had no issue moving the ball. Lebby comes from the Art Briles coaching tree, which emphasizes a run-heavy and “throw it over the top” offense. The biggest thing is they like to control the clock and wear down the opposing defense. Styles make fights, and that will be shown on Saturday.
Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski runs the ultimate bend-but-don’t-break defensive scheme. He will test you to see if you have the patience to dink and dunk down the field all game. Many teams don’t have that level of patience, but Mississippi State will. We saw this issue for the Longhorns against Florida. Florida was able to get into third and short all game, and that led to an outbreak for the Gator offense. If Texas can’t stop Mississippi State on first and second downs, it will be a repeat of the Florida game. That means Texas may need to bring more pressure than they typically do. The Longhorns cannot play the bend-but-don’t-break defense, or they’re playing right into what Mississippi State wants, and it will be a long, frustrating day for Steve Sarkisian’s team.
