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Collecting all the post-game analysis articles, including those behind paywalls, regarding the MSU game here: 

(Gerald Goodridge) No. 22 Texas 45, Mississippi State 38: Three things we learned

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The No. 22 Texas Longhorns were dead in the water when the fourth quarter started against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville on Saturday as the home team nursed a 15-game losing streak in conference play. But Arch Manning and the offense came alive in the fourth quarter, aided by another huge punt return from Ryan Niblett, to send the game to overtime after trailing the Bulldogs by 17 points to start the final frame. While Texas escaped Starkville with an unlikely win, there’s still a lot to be desired from the Longhorns if they’re going to continue to grow into the team they should be.

There need to be changes on offense

Despite the offense scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, they looked listless for most of the game, and Coleman Hutzler’s unit had its way with the Longhorns. The Texas running backs combined for 68 yards on 21 carries and no touchdowns. As a team, they went for 2.37 yards per carry and were stuffed on four of those 21 carries. The offensive line’s lack of athleticism also showed in a major way, getting beaten regularly by the Mississippi State front, giving up five sacks, three hurries, and 12 tackles for loss, keeping the offense behind the chains.

At the skill positions, Texas needs to continue to improve, especially receiver Ryan Wingo, who, despite putting up nearly 200 yards, received criticism for drops in key moments. Hurting the effort were the rotations — center Cole Hutson replaced by backup Connor Robertson, right guard DJ Campbell replaced for a time by former left guard Connor Stroh, and Stroh filling in for freshman Nick Brooks on the other side.

Texas can’t survive another bad defensive game

Going into the game, Texas had allowed just 11.3 points per game and hadn’t surrendered more than 30 points this season. Pete Kwiatkowski’s unit struggled with Jeff Lebby’s Veer and Shoot, giving up 445 yards and 38 points, seemingly struggling with the speed and aggression of the Mississippi State wide receivers. It seems like Kwiatkowski doesn’t trust the corners to play man, but they struggle with soft zone and leaving space underneath for opponents to make plays as quarterback Blake Shapen threw for 381 yards and four touchdowns.

That being said, the defense came up with major stops in the late game, with back-to-back three-and outs, a punt, and a turnover on downs for the Bulldogs’ final four drives. That level of fight and tenacity from the defense, in a game where most teams would have given up, speaks volumes for what Texas can and should build in to.

Arch Manning has the goods to grow into his potential

Arch Manning had the best game of his career, despite the struggles by the supporting cast, and it took every bit of it to come away with a win. The former five-star quarterback put up a career-high 346 passing yards and four total touchdowns, and even his one interception wasn’t truly on him — he put a catchable ball out to Parker Livingstone, who let the ball careen off his hands and to a defender.

He also used his feet effectively, despite the lack of called runs on the day for him, with just two called keepers for seven yards, one of which went for a touchdown. He also scrambled for 15 yards on a 3rd and 10 to keep a drive alive and for 13 yards in overtime on the play that resulted in his exit from the game. That’s not to say Manning was anywhere close to perfect — he missed a few passes — but this was easily his best performance of the season. If he is healthy and can build on this performance, the Longhorns have a chance to gain some momentum in the last stage of the season.

Grayce Raynor: Texas stuns Mississippi State with comeback win from down 17 as Arch Manning exits in OT

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Texas quarterback Arch Manning exited with an injury in overtime after engineering one of the most thrilling comebacks of the college football season thus far in the Longhorns’ 45-38 win at Mississippi State on Saturday. Backup quarterback Matthew Caldwell threw the game-winning touchdown to Emmett Mosley V on a play that was originally called an incompletion but was then overturned upon review.

Manning had gone down with an injury after the first play in overtime, when his head hit the ground while diving forward, and he stayed in the tent through the end of the game. Before leaving, he completed 29 of 46 passes for 346 yards, three touchdowns and an interception and also rushed for a touchdown in what will go down as one of his gutsiest performances in his college career thus far. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian did not have an update on Manning’s status after the game.

The Longhorns trailed by 17 points early in the fourth quarter and had gone into halftime looking like a team that again had no answers on offense. After opening the game with a two-play, 63-yard scoring drive, Texas combined for just 67 yards on the next eight drives, with Manning also throwing his sixth interception of the season. But the redshirt sophomore went to work in the second half, unleashing several deep balls and showing off his poise and arm strength with the Longhorns playing from behind. He also had a crucial 13-yard scramble in overtime to set Texas up for the winning points before the injury relegated him to the sideline.

Texas, which opened the season No. 1 in the AP Top 25, was a trendy pick to win the national title behind Manning. But the Longhorns dropped the season opener to Ohio State and had a disappointing loss to Florida earlier this month that only raised more questions for coach Steve Sarkisian and his crew to answer. Sarkisian and his players insisted after the Florida game that none of their goals were out of reach, and after Texas beat rival Oklahoma and escaped Kentucky in overtime last week, it again made sure it stayed alive in the SEC race with a dramatic win in Starkville — Mississippi State’s 16th consecutive SEC loss.

 

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(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Texas escapes Mississippi State in overtime

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Cowbells, cowbells in the deep. The Longhorns barely escaped from the “clanga! clanga!” of Starkville, MS but it cost them their wizard to get out alive. Arch Manning went down on an overtime scramble for a first down and bounced his head off the turf before struggling to get up off the field before the training staff reached him. Back-up Matthew Caldwell quickly executed a hand-off and then hit a fade to Emmett Mosley (fifth of that name) for what proved to be the winning touchdown.

Texas is now bowl eligible on the year, still technically alive in the playoff picture, and if the Horns didn’t just turn the corner on this season they at least avoided the bleak timeline that would have ensued after a loss. It was a miraculous win. Mississippi State out-gained Texas 445 to 428 despite giving away a lot of yardage late in overtime.

It took a number of mistakes by Jeff Lebby and the Bulldogs to blow this game. The Veer and Shoot offensive scheme is great at creating extra possessions and opportunities but it doesn’t discriminate between which team it chooses to confer those opportunities upon. The Bulldogs blew a big lead, were shredded for 24 fourth quarter points, and continue to be winless in SEC play. Texas survives and advances to Vanderbilt.

Quick thought no. 1: This team didn’t look ready to play

Texas football had a busy morning with a report Longhorn head coach Steve Sarkisian was interested in taking an NFL job this offseason. Sark’s agency quickly dispelled it, but not before a flurry of excitement and speculation bombarded the program. The team played as though they’d read the reports and believed them. Texas’ energy in this game was very inconsistent and the gameplans on either side of the ball weren’t exactly awe-inspiring.

Even kicker Mason Shipley got in on the malaise with a blocked field goal that barely cleared the uprights followed by a shanked field goal from just 29 yards out. Texas couldn’t come into this game like it was business as usual, this team hasn’t been good enough to win on the road in a “business as usual” setting. Particularly not against a team as competent as Mississippi State, with two very narrow losses against Florida and Tennessee preventing a previous win in SEC play.

However, the Horns took advantages of the 15 regulation possessions Mississippi State’s pace afforded and made enough adjustments on offense and defense to eek out the overtime win.

Quick thought no. 2: Special teams for the win

As was the case on the road against Kentucky, the Longhorns were bolstered considerably by Ryan Niblett’s work in the punt return game. As uncertain as Lebby and the Bulldogs looked in managing their late possessions with a lead, their handling of the sequence of events before Niblett’s return were a disaster.

Texas baited an early down run with a light box, which yielded very little, before a quick pass set up 3rd-and-1 for the Bulldogs at their own 22 yard line. Too afraid to line up quick to run a dive into the Longhorn defensive front, Lebby called timeout before sending in the wildcat package with back-up quarterback Kamario Taylor. The game theory of the moment would have suggested to call quarterback run play-action and try to score, but Lebby opted for the safer call of a quarterback stretch play and the Longhorns ran through the zone blocks to stuff the run and force the punt.

Later the Bulldogs opted to take a delay of game at midfield in order to kick a punt to close the game and play for overtime. I wondered if they’d just handed Niblett a chance to steal the game but instead Texas went all-in on the block and didn’t even field the punt
a questionable decison that resulted in a punt downed at the Longhorn one. A successful quarterback sneak by Manning averted the disaster of losing on a safety in the final moments and it was off to overtime.

That’s two games out of three featuring a crucial Niblett punt return touchdown and three out of three in which his returns were absolutely pivotal to Longhorn victories. Jack Bouwmeester was his normal terrific self with a 50+ yard punt and two pinned inside the 20.

Quick thought no. 3: A turning point on offense?

The offense struggled a great deal early on. The gameplan coming in appeared to be oriented around a somewhat simplified approach in the run game, with heavy doses of outside zone and (this week in particular) Duo runs downhill. Unfortunately for Texas, the run game did very little to Mississippi State and the continued attempts to set up long-developing, play-action shots down the field lead to some early disasters and five total sacks for the Bulldog defense. Tre Wisner had 41 yards on 12 carries at just 3.4 ypc while CJ Baxter’s return saw him get nine carries for 27 yards at 3.0 ypc.

Early and often the gameplan involved a boom/bust cycle with Ryan Wingo. He took a perimeter screen 62 yards at the beginning of the game and had a number of explosive gains over the course of the game while never finding the end zone. He was targeted 12 times, caught it just five while dropping three big plays, and produced 184 yards at 15.3 yards per target. That kind of explosiveness and inconsistency is pretty wild, but ultimately that’ll work if you get to run 79 plays and have a chance to cycle through enough boom plays. This whole offense depends on boom plays.

Eventually Manning worked out to create time for himself and evade the pocket, which he did before hitting a bomb to Wingo late in the game on a deeper inside post. Over the course of the game Sark called a lot more quick-hitting shots such as fade routes and other passes that didn’t require as much protection. The Bulldog pass rush also wore down due to the pace of the game and how often Texas had the ball in the fourth quarter.

Manning ended the day 29-46 with 346 yards at 7.5 ypa with three touchdowns to one interception while running it 10 times for six total yards (including sacks) and an early touchdown. It was probably his best and grittiest performance yet but ultimately the overexposure to hits and risk caught up to him in overtime.

Quick thought no. 4: Blake Shapen torched Texas’ zone

The Longhorns nearly lost this game on defense. While the offense was pretty spotty early, they did produce some points on both the opening drive and after a poorly conceived fourth down attempt by the Bulldogs went astray on the MSU side of the field. MSU quarterback Blake Shapen was 26-42 on the day for 381 yards at 9.1 ypa with four touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also 14 “carries” that ended up losing MSU 31 yards overall, mostly due to a parade of late sacks. Before those late sacks he was probably over 400 total yards of offense.

Until late in the game when the Texas pass rush and MSU’s “do we stay aggressive or try to run clock?” confusion took over, the Longhorn secondary was getting worked over. The gameplan was to play a good deal of Cover 3 zone and try to keep MSU in front of the Texas defensive backs and six defenders in the box for the run game. The problems came when Shapen would look off zone defenders time and time again before finding wide open hitch routes and deep crossers for consistent gains.

Anthony Hill, Jr. had a dominant game aligned in position to own the box and routinely blitz Shapen, especially down the stretch. He had 10 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, four quarterback hurries, and a forced fumble. Colin Simmons‘ box score wasn’t as loaded but his impact was also felt. Ethan Burke gave MSU fits with his run defense in the box and he added a sack and two tackles for loss.

The team had seven sacks overall and six quarterback hurries. They needed all of them to get out of there with a win. You wonder whether this would have been so harrowing a game had the Longhorns played more two-deep coverages and forced MSU to win more up front, like they did last year.

Quick thought no. 5: A season-defining win?

I don’t think the news will be great for Manning. We’ll see what there is to report but when a guy’s head gets bounced off the ground that hard and he struggles to get up, it usually portends some time in concussion protocol which is hard to clear in a week (although no longer impossible). It was only a matter of time until Manning incurred an injury that would see him miss games given the damage he was absorbing every week playing behind awful protection while also being asked to make the run game work.

Hopefully he gets some credit for helping Texas grit its way to such a miraculous and season-saving win. Hopefully we see him again before long and perhaps he’s able to take the next three weeks to heal up from all the visible cuts and bruises and whatever additional injury he endured on that hit before Texas travels to Georgia. Meanwhile, the Longhorns still cannot afford another loss and now have Vanderbilt coming into town fresh off another big win, making the Commodores 7-1.

If Sark has to roll with Matthew Caldwell, it at least corresponds to a clear direction for the offense moving forward. Texas needs to lean much, much more into the gun-option and RPO game which at times was explosive today and those are the very concepts Caldwell does his best work in.

The spread concepts helped get the ball out before the line could fall apart while the perimeter screen options Texas has used very sporadically with Manning are an easy way to maximize good wide receiver blocking and the pure speed of guys like DeAndre Moore and Wingo. Additionally, Caldwell can run real gun-option plays that don’t have predetermined reads, he knows the RPO game, and the guy can scoot a bit. Texas brought him in for such a time as this.

By surviving this game, the Longhorns bought another chance to collect themselves and put together their best shot at home against a ranked team in Vanderbilt. Then they get a bye week to heal and figure out the best way to approach the slate of rivalry games at Georgia and against Arkansas and Texas A&M. As ugly as this season has looked and as dire as everything seemed this morning amidst reports Sark may want out, everything is still on the table for the Longhorns. Because they survived and won in a game that looked like it was going to be a blowout loss and punctuation point on Texas’ apparent collapse, there’s now a chance to force a rewrite of this season’s story like they forced a rewrite of this column.

 

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19 minutes ago, satyanash said:

(Ian Boyd) Five quick thoughts: Texas escapes Mississippi State in overtime

 

I appreciate you posting these but Boyd calling his takes “quick thoughts” is hilarious.

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#5 A Season Defining Win?   Yes.  Because 7-5 is better than 5-7.

4 minutes ago, Bobby Western said:

I always thought the “quick” part was how soon he has them after the game, not the length of the thoughts. But then again, I’m not a very smart man

 

Bingo

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(Evan Vieth) Texas Airs It Out: Passing Game Ignites 17-Point Comeback vs. Mississippi State

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When Texas went down by three scores in the third quarter, and eventually heading into the fourth, most fans of this team had all but lost hope. The Longhorn offense had played poorly all day and had yet to show much reason for optimism this year, often failing to make key plays in the fourth to come from behind. For Texas’ offense, it seemed like they were either leading the game or they were going to lose.

But something changed about this offense, and specifically the passing game, in the fourth quarter. When the Longhorns got the ball back, down 17 with 18 seconds left in the third quarter, Texas quarterback Arch Manning went to work. Facing a 3rd and 10 on their own 35, Manning felt the pressure, moved left, and fired a ball deep downfield. Parked under it just so happened to be Ryan Wingo, adding 60 to his already over 100 yards receiving on the day.

The Longhorns had life, marching the offense down to the goal line. Despite an infraction, Manning was able to settle in on 3rd down, roll to his right, and deliver a strike to Parker Livingstone. Touchdown, Texas. The Longhorns’ defense let up yet another score, but the offense wasn’t out of it. Manning found Jack Endries, Livingstone, Quintrevion Wisner, and Livingstone throughout a 10-play, 75-yard drive. Facing a 2nd and 10 just outside the red zone, Manning took the 10th snap of that drive and lofted a pretty ball to the left side of the end zone, with Emmett Mosley camping underneath it for the score. Back to a 10-point game.

One drive later, Manning added another 47 yards in the air as Texas marched down the field, but they were only able to come up with a field goal after two drops in the red zone that could’ve resulted in Texas touchdowns. Not fazed, the Longhorns continued fighting. Ryan Niblett gave Texas the biggest boost possible, returning a punt 79 yards for a touchdown in what would’ve been Texas’ last offensive possession of the half. Instead, we headed to overtime.

With the game on the line, Manning made his move to convert a first down, but he wouldn’t be the one to win the game for Texas. The starting QB appeared to be concussed on that run, being taken out of the game and leaving the floor for Matthew Caldwell, Texas’ senior transfer QB2. On the second play Caldwell was in, he floated a pass to the right sideline of the end zone, targeting Mosley. Initially called incomplete on the field, replay showed Mosley made an inch-perfect catch, getting the one foot necessary down and completely controlling the ball. Touchdown, Texas. Caldwell’s throw capped off a 17-point comeback for Texas, resulting in a 45–38 win.

Texas hasn’t scored 45 points against a P4 opponent in nearly 12 months, dating back to the Florida home game last season. Manning ended the game with 346 yards and four total touchdowns, with Caldwell adding 10 yards and a TD to the overall passing total.

While Texas’ receivers struggled with drops, they ended up being the difference in this one. Wingo exploded for his first true breakout as a Longhorn, catching five passes for 184 yards. Though he had two key drops in this one and a third tacked on to his overall total on 12 targets, Wingo was the explosive receiver Texas needed, finding three separate plays for over 45 yards. Mosley and Livingstone combined for four scores, and DeAndre Moore caught six of his seven targets for 53 yards. It was the most complete game we’ve seen from passer and receiver for Texas all season, and a potential silver lining going forward as the Longhorns look toward Vanderbilt.

A lot went wrong for Texas today, especially in the first half, but the passing game erupted when it needed to most — 169 passing yards in the fourth and a key win that Texas seemingly stole from out of nowhere. The Longhorns are 6–2.

Justin Cook: Texas mounts a 24-point 4th quarter comeback to top Mississippi State in OT

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***The Texas Longhorns’ were able to win this game 45-38 in overtime thanks to a maniacal 24-point fourth quarter capped by a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown from Ryan Niblett. If it weren’t for the Texas defense making a stand with just under two minutes remaining, Niblett wouldn’t have had his opportunity. But the opportunity also wouldn’t have arrived if it weren’t for Texas’ offense making every play it needed to on offense in a comeback effort. Steve Sarkisian‘s side of the ball has been an easy target over the past few weeks, and with good reason. That side of the ball was insane in the fourth quarter.

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***Texas fight is often used as a cliche, and considering the news of the day surrounding Sarkisian, it would have made a lot of sense for the Longhorns to throw in the towel after Mississippi State went up 17 with 12:29 left. They did anything but quit and they escaped Starkville with a win as a result.

***Arch Manning was heroic, but so too was Matthew Caldwell. A 1-for-1 night for 10 yards and a touchdown in overtime was just a continuation of what he’s done this season as a calm, collected stand-in. What a play from No. 18 in the place of No. 16.

***The Texas defense gave up 445 yards and 5.2 yards per play on 86 plays, but the stands they made were at the best possible time: overtime. All Mississippi State could do in the extra period was move backward, and the 31-yard loss by Blake Shapen to end the contest put a damper on what was a great game for the Bulldogs’ signal-caller. When the Longhorns needed a stand, they made it.

***These is the type of day that could have burned through fan goodwill accumulated over the past two successful seasons. But the win made sure it didn’t. A report from The Athletic on Sarkisian from earlier today said “representatives for Texas coach Steve Sarkisian have let NFL decision-makers know that he would be interested in potential head-coaching openings, including the Titans’.” That’s the type of headline that a fan will look at and get upset at. They’re probably thinking, “What? Sark wants out? Why would he do that with Arch Manning at Texas? What type of leverage play is this after Texas gave him two separate extensions?” Sark and his representatives were cognizant of that dynamic with a statement vehemently denying the report. But the fact that it even got out put a bad taste in Longhorns’ fans mouths. Sarkisian’s program averted producing vomit-inducing flavor with its spirited comeback. While there’s plenty to clean up, again, the Longhorns get to clean it up in a win, again.

***After what seems like an endless emphasis on starting fast, the Longhorns
 started fast in Starkville. Ryan Wingo took a screen pass 60 yards on the first play from scrimmage and Manning ran it in for an opening score the next play. Lots of yards! Points! Fast! Texas started fast but certainly did not match the start. The Longhorn offense posted just 70 more yards in the remaining 27:01 in the half. The O-line failed to make much of anything in the ground game, Manning made several processing errors, and Parker Livingstone had a ball go off his hands and into those of a waiting Bulldog. Mississippi State had the bold idea to test Texas’ young offensive line, one that saw DJ Campbell leave for a short spell, with constant pressure. The Longhorns’ O-line couldn’t handle it in the first half.

***Texas was a machine on offense in the second half. 298 yards with 257 through the air. 5-for-10 on third down. 6.9 yards per play. 14 first downs. An insane job, including an 18-for-28 effort from Manning.

***Former Longhorns on Mississippi State had great days for the Bulldogs. Brenen Thompson scored before the first half and clearly flexed at the Texas Longhorns’ bench in celebration. He finished with six catches for 76 yards and two touchdowns. Derion Gullette had six tackles, including a first-half sack of Manning plus another half-sack later on. Jaray Bledsoe had two tackles and 1.5 sacks.

***Campbell’s brief absence in the first half illustrated how abysmal the interior O-line situation is at the current moment. With a backup center in Connor Robertson getting all the snaps, Texas had to deploy Nick Brooks and Connor Stroh at the guard spots for a brief stretch. A good start the interior OL wouldn’t last and Brooks was so prone to mistakes that the Longhorn coaches put in Stroh at left guard as soon as Campbell was healthy enough to return. Brooks didn’t see another standard down snap in the remainder of the game. Texas’ coaches are throwing everything they can at the wall and hoping something sticks.

***Manning was the object of Sarkisian’s praise postgame. He was 29-for-46 for 346 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, plus a rushing score. Sarkisian said Manning “grew up” postgame, and that was wholly evident on the field.

***The Texas defense has carried this team over the course of the past month. Amidst all the woeful offensive performances, Pete Kwiatkowski‘s side of the ball has held up its end of the deal and then some. It hasn’t been perfect considering the constant pressure it is under, but it’s been high quality and has directly led to Texas victories. This time, it was part of a complementary effort in the second half.

***Texas failed to make timely adjustments to the “veer” aspect of the veer-and-shoot offense, and the middle of the field was open to Shapen in a way it hasn’t been to other opponents and it took too long for Kwiatkowski and company to adjust. The idea to bow up in the red zone isn’t a terrible one, but Mississippi State had four opportunities in the red zone and scored on all of them.

***Is every part of this team volatile? Ethan Burke blocked a field goal, but Mason Shipley missed one wide left not long after. The punt team recorded a penalty and put Texas on its own five to start a drive at one point. Later, Niblett has his game-tying return.

***Wingo, Livingstone, and Mosley V did a high quality job of mostly rewarding Manning’s efforts and the one throw from Caldwell, too.

***Texas put quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee in the box for this game and moved assistant quarterbacks coach Mike Bimonte on the field. Milwee had been on the field for every game of his Texas tenure leading up to this point.

***Mississippi State was 0-for-its-last-15 in SEC play. They were so painfully close to 1-for-16. But Texas’ massive comeback means the Bulldogs will have to wait until next week.

***Texas in October without a game at DKR: 3-1.

 

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(RT Young) Day of Days: 'Texas Fight' wins out in Starkville

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A day of days. I couldn’t believe it was real. And when the cowbells were silenced and the white jerseys stormed the field I’ve never been more proud. But I was also shook. Saturday ran the gamut. There was already trepidation over the Longhorns’ trip to Starkville. Texas hadn’t been lighting the world on fire. Then, Steve Sarkisian was sliding into the DMs of NFL teams. Only for that to be called out for what it was.

But when the Longhorns were down 17 to Mississippi State in the fourth quarter, many were packing Sarkisian’s bags for Nashville for him. I’ll admit, I lost hope for this team in the second quarter. It was sometime after Ryan Wingo’s drop on a crosser, what seemed like more hopeless offensive line play and Jelani McDonald tipping a poorly thrown ball into the hands of a Bulldog receiver for a touchdown. 

I’d get in trouble if new UT President Jim Davis decides to audit my text messages from the third quarter. I’m a mental writer and I had my obituary fully planned out in my mind. It centered around the bookends which were last year’s Miss St game in Austin and yesterday. 

Still, I don’t know what to do with yesterday. I wrote last week in my Five Truths About Steve Sarkisian Football that his teams “never quit, for better or worse.” Sometimes it leads to frustrating almost comebacks like we’ve seen in Gainesville and against Washington. There’s a part of me that wanted the team to quit yesterday, it would have made the narrative easier. 

But they didn’t. The comeback overtime victory was Texas Fight on full display. Arch Manning had an excellent fourth quarter when the game sped up and spread out. He put his body on the line to win. Transfer wide receiver Emmett Mosley V was clutch, as was backup quarterback Matthew Caldwell. On defense, veterans Anthony Hill, Ethan Burke and Alex January straight up took over the game, they refused to go quietly. 

Oh, and then there’s Ryan Niblett. Are there any sculptors on Inside Texas? I’m ready to throw in some cash for the statue in the North Endzone of DKR.

A part of me wants to reach for narratives. A turning point? I have no freaking idea. Yesterday was clarifying in the sense that I believe in this program, but I have no idea what to make of this team. They sure like to make things hard on themselves. That includes the coaching staff. I’m done predicting or jumping to conclusions about the 2025 Longhorns. Will things get easier or will they be the flawed team that goes down swinging? Who knows. But they gave Longhorn fans a Saturday in Starkville they’ll never forget. 

(Kirk Bohls) 'A culture win': How No. 22 Texas battled back from the brink to stun Mississippi State in overtime

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STARKVILLE, Miss. — With the season hanging in the balance, a Texas team that was on the ropes found its bearings. And a whole lot of other stuff. Like, believe it or not, an offense that can actually score points. Like a defense that, even on an off day, can rise up and play with fangs when it has to. Like Ryan Niblett, the punt returner extraordinaire, who to be truthful never really left.

Altogether, the No. 22-ranked Longhorns combined those elements for their most improbable comeback in 18 years to record a gritty if unbelievable 45-38 overtime win Saturday over a desperate Mississippi State yearning for a conference win. Not until Ethan Burke had the final sack of Bulldogs quarterback Blake Shapen on fourth-and-20 in overtime did Texas not only rip out the soul of 52,680 hometown fans at Davis Wade Stadium and silenced the clatter of their unceasing cowbells.

Steve Sarkisian not only thoroughly celebrated this win to make Texas 6-2 and hugged nearly every player before he entered the locker room spoke of his team’s belief. But he also took time to angrily douse rumors by a national publication that he was interested in entertaining offers of an NFL job. He referred to last week’s narrow 16-13 overtime win at Kentucky as a “culture win” but backed off that and cited this a more genuine display.

“I think we got a mulligan because tonight was a culture win,” Sarkisian said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of a group of guys because when they go up 17 in the fourth quarter, and you guys have been covering football for long enough to know how many teams wilt with the game over at that moment. But these guys literally didn’t blink.”

Not since Mack Brown’s Longhorns overcame a 35-14 fourth-quarter deficit on the road at Oklahoma State to win 38-35 in 2007 has a Texas team rallied to win in such circumstances. Brown’s bunch also had the all-time comeback win in a 56-35 victory over the Cowboys in 2004 after trailing 35-7 at halftime. This one felt just as compelling and even more significant.

Texas has struggled to come up with any type of offensive production, but did so Saturday after MSU had its way for most of the night. The Longhorns did score on just the second play of the game on Arch Manning’s 3-yard run to punctuate a phenomenal start. Sophomore wide receiver Ryan Wingo had the game of his life with five catches for 184 yards with a 60-yard gain on the first snap, breaking three tackles to the doorstep of the end zone.

He’d have another 62-yard gain to set up a second touchdown and was the face of a troubled receiving corps that finally had the impact the coaching staff and fan base expected. Besides Wingo’s career game, sophomore Parker Livingstone had a pair of touchdowns from 1 and 6 yards, DeAndre Moore caught six passes for 53 yards and Stanford transfer Emmett Mosley V caught the game-winning pass in the extra period.

He made a spectacular grab of a 21-yard pass on a fade route and toe-tapped near the sideline for a touchdown that had to be reviewed by the officials before counting. “I thought I was out of bounds when I caught it,” Mosley said. “I had no clue.”  But Texas did. Finally. 

Not only did the receivers come through, but Manning had a career-best 346 yards and three touchdowns — two in the fourth quarter — and ran for another before leaving during the overtime. He scrambled for a 13-yard gain but was hit in the back and left with the undisclosed injury with no word on the severity. On came Matthew Caldwell, the journeyman quarterback who had five starts at Troy last year.

Suddenly after Longhorn Nation wondered if it even had a decent quarterback, Texas might now have two. Manning was far from perfect, completing 29 of 46 passes, but he had his best game as a Longhorn starter. And the calm, composed Caldwell entered the game, called an audible on an RPO and perfectly lofted the fade pass in the back corner of the end zone.

How were his nerves? “Not too bad,” he said. Probably a lot better than Sarkisian’s. He had to deal with the rampant rumor started by a story in The Athletic that he would entertain leaving Texas for the NFL.

Asked about it, Sarkisian said, “Bear with me for a second because it really pisses me off that one person can make a report that, in our, the entire media, sports world runs with as factual to the point of my agents have to put a statement out that they’ve never done historically. I had to do that to protect my locker room and my team, and I thought it was completely ridiculous.”

But probably not any more insane that this unbelievable rally. After trailing 38-21, Texas scored 24 unanswered points to take control of the game. The Longhorns scored the last four times they touched the ball, other than the Manning quarterback sneak from the 1 to kill the clock in regulation. Manning caught fire in the second half and threw two of his three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. Mason Shipley kicked a 26-yard field goal after missing a 29-ytarder to start the second half.

And Niblett worked his magic with a 79-yard punt return to tie the game with 1:47 to play. For Niblett, the Eisenhower product helped get the Longhorns over the top for a third straight game after running back two punts in the win over Kentucky and one for 75 yards and a score to seal the win over Oklahoma. And in so doing, the bedeviling Longhorns who have been searching for two months for any semblance of consistency thrust themselves right back into the SEC race with their third win in four league games.

And did they send a message to the rest of the SEC? “We’re a super resilient team,” said Burke, who also blocked a MSU field goal in the first quarter. “We’re always going to keep fighting. This team has been fighting all season. It’s not pretty, win, lose, whatever. But no one’s going to give up.” Until Mississippi State did.

David Eckert: Three questions facing Arch Manning, Longhorns after comeback win

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Somehow, Texas football emerged from the carnage Saturday with its season still intact. The Longhorns overcame a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Mississippi State in Starkville, 45-38.  Along the way, starting quarterback Arch Manning left the game with an apparent injury.  Ryan Niblett, who needed a last-gasp persuasive effort from coach Steve Sarkisian to keep him out of the transfer portal this offseason, continued his Devin Hester impression with another game-defining punt return.

A defense that had carried the Longhorns (6-2, 3-1 SEC) by the ear to respectability all season rolled over for three quarters. And, by the way, Texas played — and won — two consecutive overtime games for the first time in program history. As Texas carves through the chaos, here are three questions that require answers before the Longhorns host a top-10 Vanderbilt team next. 

How long will Arch Manning take to recover? And has he turned a corner?

A week of quarterback drama awaits the Longhorns after Manning suffered an apparent injury in overtime against Mississippi State. A Bulldog made forceful contact with the back of Manning’s head as he dove forward on the first play of overtime, ending his night.  Sarkisian didn't offer an update on Manning’s status after the game.

The earliest opportunity for him to address Manning’s status publicly will come Monday, but nothing obligates him to do so. Some coaches prefer to withhold updates on injured players to keep their opponents — in this case Vanderbilt — guessing and make them spend time preparing for multiple outcomes. The injury ended a remarkable night for Manning, who threw for a career-best 346 yards, racking up four total touchdowns to go with an interception that clanked off the hands of Parker Livingstone. 

Less than a week after Sarkisian said the Longhorns would opt to play more conservatively on offense and win with defense, his team finally resembles the explosive offense he set out to create at the beginning of the year with Manning at the controls. More than half of Texas’ 428 total yards came from seven big passing plays through the air.

Manning, again coping with an inordinate amount of pressure, used his arm talent and escapability to make plays down the field, but also found success closer to the line of scrimmage.  Was it all a mirage facilitated by a subpar Mississippi State defense? Can Manning ride this momentum into similar showings against better defenses, like the one the Longhorns will face next week? Will his injury situation even offer him the chance?

Will teams continue to kick to Texas returner Ryan Niblett?

Mississippi State’s special teams strategy indicated that opposing teams aren’t yet sufficiently terrified of Niblett to warrant booting the ball out of bounds and taking him out of the game entirely. Maybe they should be. Niblett has singlehandedly dragged the Longhorns out of the loss column in two consecutive weeks. After setting Texas up to score 10 easy points with long punt returns against Kentucky last week, he completed a 17-point, fourth-quarter comeback with a 79-yard punt return touchdown against the Bulldogs. Niblett is averaging 25.5 yards per punt return, and has collected six returns of 40 or more yards in the last six weeks. 

Also finding the end zone in the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma, Niblett is the fourth player in Texas history to return two punts for touchdowns in the same season, joining Jim Moore, Aaron Ross and Jordan Shipley. Nobody has ever done it three times. With the inconsistencies the Longhorns have faced on offense, will Niblett be given the chance by opposing punters?

Can the Texas pass defense hold up without Michael Taaffe?

With all of their starters in the secondary available, the Longhorns have played excellent pass defense. When forced to rely on their depth, though, it’s been ugly. Florida quarterback DJ Lagway ripped Texas up Oct. 4 when the Longhorns played without the injured Malik Muhammad. Lagway accumulated 298 passing yards and posted the most efficient outing of his season, averaging 10.6 yards per attempt. 

With safety Michael Taaffe on the sideline after suffering an injury last week, the Longhorns couldn’t slow Blake Shapen and the Mississippi State passing attack until the very end of the game. Shapen set a career high in passing yards with 381. Texas didn’t create a turnover until the final play of the game, when Shapen’s desperation on fourth-and-20 helped cause a fumble. 

Sarkisian didn’t give a timeframe on Taaffe’s return Wednesday when he was asked. Taaffe wore a cast on his left hand as he patrolled the Texas sideline Saturday. Before his injury, Taaffe, a second-team All-American last season, was the Longhorns’ leading tackler. Categorized as a safety, he offers Texas important versatility on the back end, with 79 snaps in the box and 52 snaps at nickel on his ledger this season. If he can’t play this week, Texas will face a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback in Diego Pavia without arguably their best pass defender. 

 

Posted
20 hours ago, Bobby Western said:

I always thought the “quick” part was how soon he has them after the game, not the length of the thoughts. But then again, I’m not a very smart man

There’s a “that’s what I tell my wife” joke in here somewhere I just need to work out the details


Posted (edited)

(Scipio Tex) 2025 Mississippi State Postmortem: Offense

Quote

Texas secured its second consecutive overtime road win over the bottom quartile of the SEC, but that framing – while accurate – doesn’t do justice to a gutty and improbable victory that saw the Horns rally to the win after trailing by 17 points with 11 minutes left in the 4th quarter. 

Texas kept fighting, late game desperation did the work of reason on offense, the Bulldogs blinked, and the Horns returned to Austin with a wild 45-38 overtime win.

Texas really played two games in Starkville. The first was suffering a 31-14 caning that lasted 3 quarters; the other was a 24-7 pummeling of the Bulldogs that lasted just a quarter and a brief overtime. The boxing equivalent would be a fighter dominating the other through nine rounds, seemingly in complete control, and then getting lit up for two standing eight counts before the final knockout in Round 12.

Tally it all up, and the Longhorns are 6-2 while the Mississippi State boards are overrun with Fire Jeff Lebby posts. On the 161st play of the game (this includes special teams), Mississippi State had a 98.6% likelihood of winning. Despite an opening touchdown drive, 10 of Texas’ 12 initial possessions ended in a punt, interception, or missed field goal with seven of those punts coming on 3 or 4 and outs.

I’m struggling to find the proper adjective to describe how I felt watching some of the initial game plan (catch-and-run-game to Wingo, excepted) and pass protection (featuring a DJ Campbell pull protection from the side that Texas is outnumbered; complemented by CJ Baxter doubling a blocked defensive end while an inside linebacker screams in untouched to destroy Arch) but let’s go with somewhere in the ballpark of the unbridled rage of Achilles. Our physical and technical deficits on the OL are well documented, but there’s no reason to give up scheme and assignment sacks.

Naturally, Texas last four offensive possessions of the game went TD, TD, FG, TD (with a Niblett punt return TD sprinkled in to tie the game at 38) to secure the win. Just as we all predicted sometime in the late 3rd quarter, right? What happened? 

  1.     Texas threw out its game plan, went faster, and Arch played Win The Game Ball, delivering multiple strikes in tough and chaotic circumstances.
  2.     Mississippi State wore out and their coverage couldn’t hold up.
  3.     Texas receivers started getting their heads around, running to grass in single coverage, and presenting themselves earlier.
  4.     Pass protection went from horrendous to average, partly because of Bulldog exhaustion and Longhorn focus, but we also stopped running auto-hit-on-Arch “schemes” meant to disguise some brilliant wrinkle whose conflicting read the blitzing LB never gave a shit about anyway.
  5.     Coleman Hutzler started to look like a DC left guessing instead of a coordinator systematically attacking Longhorn tendency.

Arch Manning played his best game this season, overcoming a non-impactful Texas running game and a middling game plan that was shelved by necessity, paired with a Bulldog offense that wasn’t quite sure how to win with a lead.

A Bulldog defense bereft of high level pass rushers managed 24 pressures and 5 sacks. Same deal as Florida and Kentucky. Please note the words “pass protection” rather than just OL play. While the Texas guards were often semi-truck sized colanders, Longhorn tight ends and running backs didn’t do their jobs either and we’re not always presenting Arch with hot routes.

The overall scheme and its implementation continues to be a disappointment. But Texas did what it says in our fight song and #16 fought like hell to win in Ehlinger-esque fashion. What an incredible comeback.

QB

Arch Manning battled all game, eluded rushers, got the ball off while being drilled, and put the offense on his back with often sporadic help from his supporting cast. He finished 29 of 46 for 346 yards with 4 touchdowns and an interception that wasn’t on him. He also had four receiver drops. He either ran or threw for every Texas touchdown that didn’t come from Niblett, son of Hermes, demigod of punt returns. He had a ton of great throws, seemingly always from perpetual 3rd and long or in some situation of maximum difficulty. 

After #16 went out with a concussion in overtime after a scramble and a helmet to the back of his head, Matthew Caldwell came in and coolly checked to the game-wining touchdown to Mosley on a fade route when he saw single coverage and nine Bulldog defenders inside the hash marks. Caldwell may start a game for Texas and drop 400 on someone, or he’ll be a cautionary tale about the dangers of trying to scale up small sample sizes, but right now all he does is come into games and make key plays.

Count up their defenders packing the middle of the field and note the single coverage on both sides of the screen. Bad guess, cowbell.

The most interesting statistical nugget for the Texas QBs? On straight drop back, with no play action, they were 25 of 38 for 300 yards. On play action, they were 5 of 9 for 56 yards. We’re not fooling anyone. This is a part of a longer trend that I’ve been pointing out all year. Texas is averaging a respectable 8.3 yards per attempt on straight drop back throws, a beggarly 6.5 yards per attempt on play action.

At a certain point, it doesn’t matter what your vision for the offense is. Your offense is telling you what it is.

RB

Mississippi State has a subpar run defense and Longhorn backs combined for just one carry of 10-plus yards. A Baxter run for exactly ten yards. Baxter and Wisner combined to average 3.2 yards per carry. Mississippi State treated our running game with a certain level of contempt and I can’t blame them. Wingo screen game and a couple of Wisner outlets were the only way we punished their blitzes and line games.

Cedric Baxter returned from injury (again), rushed 9 times for 27 yards and generally fell at first contact. He also gave up a sack in pass protection when he chose to double team a blocked defensive end rather than pick up the inside linebacker sprinting up the middle to murder our QB. Wisner ran behind his pads and was more physical than Baxter. He fought hard in pass protection and had a couple of nifty catches to go with some desperation check downs and a couple of badly executed screens. Texas ran gap 3:1 to zone schemes.

WR/TE

The wide receivers ranged from excellent to average all game, but finished on excellent, perhaps best embodied in a Ryan Wingo stat line of 12 targets, 5 receptions, 184 receiving yards, and 2 really bad drops. There’s a lot going on in that stat line, but we’ll take it. 

Mosley had his coming out party late, with 4 catches for 53 yards and two clutch touchdown grabs. Livingstone didn’t secure a tough catch that created an interception, but added two short touchdown catches, one of them a terrific connection from Manning on the roll.

The tight ends didn’t block very well in any facet. Jordan Washington surrendered a sack to a Bulldog edge on a play where Trevor Goosby, lined up beside him, never touched a Bulldog defender. Goosby did nothing wrong – that’s the protection. Ideally, you don’t want your freshman tight end on a defensive lineman while your best pass blocker blocks air. Endries caught 4 balls for 25 yards underneath. Nice downfield block on the big Wingo screen.

OL

The good news is that Connor Robertson played better and stopped constantly turning his shoulders, while Baker and Goosby were good in pass protection. The bad news is that Brooks, Campbell, and Stroh all struggled badly in pass pro and in run blocking while Baker got worked over at the point of attack a couple of times in gap short yardage runs. Robertson can’t get movement inside on any gap play. He’s a screener, at best.

Goosby is exceptional in the screen game. Terrific key block on the Wingo rumble in the third quarter. 11 tackles for loss surrendered against a defense not known for havoc. If you’ve read my postmortems since Ohio State or watched the film breakdowns, it’s all the same bullshit, but we also schemed up a couple of our sacks in Starkville.

Final Thoughts

Texas is 6-2 after an October that saw three road games and a neutral, but a remaining slate of three home games and a trip to Athens offers no sure wins, but no guaranteed losses against three current Top 10 teams and a dangerous Arkansas offense. May you live in interesting times. 

 

Edited by satyanash
  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
15 minutes ago, Ignatius said:

There’s a “that’s what I tell my wife” joke in here somewhere I just need to work out the details


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  • Haha 1

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