Texas vs. Mississippi State Week 5 Preview: Offensive Players to Watch

Can the famous veer-and-shoot offense out-gun a stacked Texas Longhorns defense?

Sep 21, 2024; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. (0) runs the ball against the Florida Gators during the fourth quarter at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-Imagn Images / Matt Bush-Imagn Images

Despite not having played the Bulldogs in the 21st century, the Texas Longhorns are very aware of the potential of Mississippi State’s offensive scheme.

Head coach Jeff Lebby enters his first year in Starkville after having spent the last two years in charge of the Oklahoma Sooners' offensive playcalling as the OC and QB coach. Lebby’s famous veer-and-shoot offense had the fourth most points per game of any team in the nation, and his work in tandem with quarterback Dillon Gabriel dismantled the Longhorn secondary in Oklahoma’s 34-30 win in last year’s Red River Rivalry game.

The veer and shoot offense was first popularized in the mid-2000s, but Lebby became a disciple of the playstyle while working in Waco, helping head coach Art Briles turn Robert Griffin III into a Heisman trophy winner. The offense itself can be easily summarized as the spread offense taken to the extreme.

Lebby tries to place receivers as out wide as possible, often having four pass catchers standing the maximum distance from the quarterback, allowing for favorable running looks and isolated matchups out wide. If the opposing defensive backs cheat out wide, running lanes can open up as the field has been made extremely wide for the running back. If the run game is working, Lebby’s QB can take chances downfield on wide receiver option passes.

Similar to how a read option allows for the quarterback to choose between handing the ball off or keeping it himself, wide receivers in the veer and shoot offense run option routes themselves, more commonly known as choice routes. With a dominant and smart receiver, the player is given the option to run one of two routes based on what the defense gives them. In a perfectly executed offense, the team works to run up-tempo, wearing out the defense and allowing for big plays to open up downfield.

“With a tempo offense like that it kind of changes the game up,” Senior cornerback Jahdae Barron said on Monday. “You can do a lot with those splits. Run, RPO, things like that.”

But one of the main things holding the potential of this famous offense back is the cards Lebby has been dealt with. He no longer works at a blue-blood program with the ability to bring in five-star recruits or transfers. He enters his first season with the Bulldogs, and a major blemish has already plagued his team.

Starting quarterback Blake Shapen, a former starter at Baylor, suffered a season-ending shoulder injury last week in a loss to Florida, thrusting true freshman Michael Van Buren Jr. into his first career start. 

“They've got the players on the perimeter that can hurt you, and then obviously, depending on the quarterback and how they utilize him, that's something we're gonna have to monitor in-game,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said on Monday.

On top of problems at quarterback, which won’t be made any better at a hostile Darrel K Royal stadium, the receiving core still has a ways to go before it can be called elite. An offense like this hopes for a star pass-catcher like Kendall Wright or Terrance Williams in Baylor’s heyday, but Lebby has yet to find that in 2024. Still, the Bulldogs are the Longhorn's first SEC opponent, and the prospects of this matchup cannot be overlooked by a Longhorns defense led by DC Pete Kwiatkowski. These are the top players to look out for in Texas' first-ever SEC conference game.

1. WR Kevin Coleman Jr.

Heading into college in the class of 2022, Coleman was one of the most sought after receiver prospects in the nation. 35 offers, a top-75 ranking on 247Sports' Class of 2022 player rankings. Expectations were that the Missouri native would commit to playing in Florida for a team like Miami or Florida State. Surprisingly, however, the deep threat chose to play for Coach Prime in the FCS-sub division, committing to Jackson State in the same class as budding star Travis Hunter.

With Deion Sanders moving to coach for Colorado in 2023, Coleman moved to Louisville, generating 362 yards on 26 catches for the ACC runner-ups. Coleman saw the potential in this Mississippi State offense and transferred to the Bulldogs this year, already making an impact on the outside.

Coleman leads the team with 287 yards in four games, accumulating 180 yards between Week 2 and 3 losses to Arizona State and Toledo. The playmaker has likely had one clip playing in the Texas defensive back meetings all week, as an intermediate pass from Shapen against the Sun Devils was taken 80 yards, almost all of it after the catch, blazing past the Arizona State defense and igniting the Bulldog offense.

In a game where the Longhorns are favored by six scores, Coleman is one of the few playmakers with the ability to completely take the top off the defense. The Longhorn secondary has held strong so far, but it may not be able to keep up if he can get an extra step on an unexpected passing down.

2. RB Johnnie Daniels

The Bulldogs took a big risk when they brought in Copiah-Lincoln C.C. standout RB Johnnie Daniels, the top junior college RB prospect this last season who had never come close to an FBS game, let alone an SEC one.

Mississippi State allowed Daniels to start slow, only taking eight carries in the first two games, but Lebby successfully thrust the Juco transfer to the top of the running back room these last two weeks. Between the Toledo and Florida losses, Daniels totaled 174 yards on 31 touches, an extremely efficient 5.6 yards per play.

Daniels may not be the starter for Saturday's game given the depth and experience that fellow RBs Davon Booth and Keyvone Lee provide, but Daniels is likely Mississippi State's best rusher at the moment and someone who could have a big impact if the Longhorns cheat more towards the passing side of this offense.

3. QB Michael Van Buren Jr.

Texas really doesn't know much about this young quarterback.

While the Longhorns expected to see Shapen as recently as last Saturday, injuries have given true freshman Michael Van Buren Jr. a chance to step up in arguably the team's toughest matchup of the season. Van Buren stepped in last week against Florida after Shapen went down, converting on seven of 13 pass attempts for 100 yards, a solid but far from awe-inspiring performance in his first college start.

Van Buren truly is the X-factor in this game for Mississippi State. If he's surprisingly a fantastic quarterback there could be upset potential from the Bulldogs, but if he plays like a backup QB, the Longhorns will comfortably win.

In defense of Van Buren, it's hard to expect any true freshman three-star quarterback to be able to compete on the road against the No. 1 team and a top-three defense in the country, but unfortunately, that's what the Bulldogs will have to ask from him. Lebby has to hope that his young QB has learned the offense well and that the running game can open up enough for his talent as a pocket passer to shine.