Texas Defense Credited for 'Putting Out Fires' vs. Mississippi State

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian praised his defense for being able to hold the Bulldogs to two field goals and one touchdown late in the game.

Mississippi State quarterback Michael Van Burn Jr. (0) is sacked by Texas Longhorns edge rusher Colin Simmons (11) during the game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Throughout its first four games of the season, Texas football has been nothing short of productive on both sides of the ball. The defense had allowed just two touchdowns from its opponents, while the offense was averaging over 500 total yards per game.

But that same team was unable to bring its usual efficiency and dominance against Mississippi State on Saturday. A messy first half left fans and spectators to do a double take as the Longhorns nearly rolled into halftime with a mere one-point lead, extended with less than a minute left in the second quarter due to a 49-yard touchdown pass caught by sophomore wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr.

A fumble in the first and third quarters highlighted an offense plagued by self-inflicted wounds, including eight offensive penalties for a loss of 65 yards. The Longhorns were only able to convert on 41.7 percent of third downs, and a failed 4th-and-3 attempt after taking a successful field goal off the board in the third quarter left Texas stuck with an eight-point lead.

Texas was still able to pull off a 35-13 win over the Bulldogs, finding offensive rhythm in the second half of the game as quarterback Arch Manning completed all but one of 12 pass attempts.

Although the Longhorns gave up two field goals in the first half and a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, head coach Steve Sarkisian praised one of the crucial elements that went into their first SEC victory during his post game press conference.

"[I give] a lot of credit to our defense to put out those fires when some of those miscues occurred on the offensive side of the ball," Sarkisian said. "They were on the field a ton in the first half of this game. They had 21 minutes that they were on the field, and then we were able to kind of even it out a little in the second half. But a credit to those guys to keep us kind of just hanging in there like a total team at halftime."

The Texas secondary recorded six sacks, the most in a game this season, and 72 total tackles. Despite giving up a total of 150 rushing yards and 144 passing yards, Mississippi State was unable to turn those into scoring opportunities until its first touchdown came in the fourth quarter due to a communication error.

The Bulldogs were held to just 28 offensive yards in the third quarter and 95 in the fourth, and Texas was able to even out the time of possession to be in its favor.

"I think right now we're playing a really good team defense, and I think the run defense is complimenting the pass defense, and vice versa," Sarkisian said. "This is a challenging offense that we played today because of the big splits that they put you in. And we kind of went in saying, we're going to make these people earn it."

Senior defensive back Jahdae Barron said the team understands that when the scale of production is uneven, the other side of the ball knows to pick up the work load.

"Sometimes the defense may slack, the offense may slack. That's what the team's for, you're there to pick up your brothers when things are not going their way, so they can get on board," Barron said. "So at the end of the day, I think it was a good win for us. We finished out the right way."

Texas will enter a bye week before traveling to Dallas for the program's annual Red River Rivalry game against Oklahoma on Oct. 12, giving it ample time to clean up mistakes and come back ready for another SEC win.