A 7-5 season and Arch Manning to NFL?<\/a><\/p>\nThose setbacks mean all hands will be on deck Saturday.<\/p>\n
Those injuries force starting end Lance Jackson and backup Zina Umeozulu to step up even though they have combined for just two sacks this season. Also reserve Brad Spence and little-used Colton Vasek will be called upon to try to contain Chambliss, arguably the best quarterback in the nation. This after Florida backup Trammel Jones Jr. dissected Texas in his first college start to lead the Gators to a 27-24 upset of the Longhorns.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got four really good players still,\u201d Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday, adding that the versatility of his interior defensive linemen and tremendously athletic linebacker Rasheem Biles will complement those four players. \u201cSo we\u2019ve got enough depth in there. We\u2019ve got quality players in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
But enough quality to contain Chambliss, a very accurate, athletic quarterback who ranks second in the SEC and 13th nationally with 279 yards passing a game as well as 14 touchdowns. Texas\u2019 Arch Manning doesn\u2019t rank in the top 10 in the SEC, having thrown 11 touchdown passes with five interceptions.<\/p>\n
Losing Simmons is a lethal blow to this 4-2 Texas team, which hopes to stop the bleeding after its first two-game losing streak since 2021. The Longhorns are in a world of hurt with the absence of consensus five-star recruit Wesley, who has seven tackles and six quarterback pressures this season, and the questionable status of running back Hollywood Smothers.<\/p>\n
“He’s totally dialed,” Longhorn defensive lineman Hero Kanu said of Wesley on Monday before his injury was disclosed. “I think physically he’s ahead of his time. He’s still young, but physically he’s so developed. I think he can go out there and make an impact as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
All-America left tackle Trevor Goosby gushed as well, saying, \u201cHe has more moves in the bag than your normal edge rusher.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Jackson is a very good player but missed six tackles against Florida and is hardly a speed rusher on the edge. Neither is Umeozulu the threat on the perimeter to make life miserable for Chambliss. Biles figures to blitz often even though Will Muschamp\u2019s defense blitzes less than any SEC team besides Missouri with a rate of only 16%.<\/p>\n
The extra problem is Chambliss is incredibly impactful against the blitz. The senior, who led the Rebels to last year\u2019s College Football Playoff semifinals, doesn\u2019t run often but moves well in the pocket to find open receivers and has completed 62.7% of his throws against the blitz for 608 yards and six touchdowns.<\/p>\n
![\"Mississippi]()
<\/p>\n
Mississippi quarterback Trinidad Chambliss (6) scrambles as he looks for an open wide receiver during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Missouri, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in Oxford, Miss.<\/p>\n
Rogelio V. Solis\/AP Photo\/Rogelio V. Solis<\/p>\n
Sarkisian knows what he\u2019s dealing with because Chambliss will be the best quarterback he\u2019s faced all season, with apologies to Ohio State\u2019s Julian Sayin, who has the luxury of the best receiver in the nation in Jeremiah Smith. Ole Miss is not devoid of talent at receiver with Duce Robinson and Caleb Cunningham.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s pretty hard to get on the ground,\u201d Sarkisian said of Chambliss. \u201cHe\u2019s a dynamic playmaker, and it\u2019s not always about him scrambling to run. It\u2019s him scrambling to buy time to create the second play in the passing game, the explosive plays down the field. So I think it\u2019s really important thaty we have really good rush lanes, that we try to contain him in the pocket. But he\u2019s going to get out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Sarkisian promises he\u2019s focused solely on trying to beat Ole Miss even though he is fully aware that a third loss would almost certainly eliminate Texas from the College Football Playoff race. No 9-3 team has earned an at-large berth in the 12-team field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think from an energy standpoint, we need to pour into this game,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cWe need to go 1-0 this week. I\u2019ve never seen the SEC look like this where every team\u2019s got a conference loss this early in the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not since 2007 has the SEC not had an unbeaten team this early in a season. That notwithstanding, Texas\u2019 offense has been so impotent, especially in the running attack that ranks 101st nationally. The absence of so much defensive firepower, however, puts more pressure on Sarkisian\u2019s offense, which has failed to deliver a consistent product halfway through the season.<\/p>\n
He promised to evaluate everything in his program following the loss to the Gators, but he has yet to name a single change in the starting lineup or mention exactly what this team will do differently after going 1-2 in SEC play. He was adamant that he needs to see more out of his beleaguered quarterback, Arch Manning, who said the same things himself. He did say he likes Manning\u2019s mental approach all week.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cI would use the word edgy,\u201d Sarkisian said to describe Manning\u2019s attitude. \u201cAnd I like it. He\u2019s edgy right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Someone texted Sarkisian this week and told him that Texas has \u201clost the aw-shucks kid and created something else.\u201d Sarkisian said everyone \u2014 reporters, fan base, social media, coaches \u2014 helped create the out-of-control expectations for Manning, whose record as a starter is 16-5, and the junior quarterback has evolved through that process.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt some point, he\u2019s got to fight back, and the best way for him to fight back is going out and playing really good football with his teammates,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cHe\u2019s edgy right now, and honestly I appreciate that about him. I\u2019m looking forward to watching him compete Saturday night.”<\/p>\n
Asked about trying to institute effective change in less than a week, Sarkisian said, \u201cThat\u2019s a bit difficult to overhaul. I think when you use the word overhaul, that\u2019s probably an offseason term in any aspect of your program. Like, overhaul is a really big word. Can you make adjustments? Sure you can. But just to overhaul, I know Coach (Darrell) Royal would love this, but we can\u2019t come out in the wishbone Saturday night. That\u2019s tough to do in a six-day span.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas edge Lance Jackson (40) tackled Florida running back Jadan Baugh (13) during the game at Darrell K…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-474232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}