After complaining and wailing for two months straight about Texas football’s inability to play a complete offensive game, I am finally satisfied by what I saw last Saturday against Ole Miss.
By no means was Texas’ game against Ole Miss perfect — giving up a 21-point lead is apparently an aim that only the Longhorns can aspire to. Still, watching the Longhorns play quick snaps and actually move the chains was an exhilarating relief following the hell that this expensive roster has wreaked over the last few weeks.
The preseason promises finally came to fruition, thanks in large part to the movement in the run game. Despite senior running back Hollywood Smothers being out for the game, and freshman running back Derrek Cooper barely making an appearance, the Longhorns ran for 207 yards and three touchdowns.
Fifth-year Raleek Brown headlined that production with 157 rushing yards, with running back sophomore Michael Terry III following with 41 yards and a touchdown.
“I was proud of (Brown) tonight, knowing he was going to have to have his number called,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said postgame last week. “We were going to have to lean on him. Derrek (Cooper) had been banged up and sick this week. Hollywood (Smothers) was out. And really proud of Michael (Terry III). His first real action, and I thought he stepped up really well for us tonight.”
Brown and Terry’s rushing effort contributed to one of Texas’ best offensive games of the season, ending the night with 419 yards in a must-win against Ole Miss, which boasts a highly-explosive team as well. The question going into last week wasn’t whether Texas would be able to contain Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss’ fifth-year quarterback; it was whether the Longhorns could outperform him.
This week, the question looks a little different and is a returns to what I’ve been asking all season long.
Can they do it again?
Texas tends to perform at its best during moments of desperation — the fourth quarter against Ohio State, the last five minutes against Tennessee and now this past week against Ole Miss. With no room for error, the Longhorns are technically still in desperation mode, but the feeling after such a big win isn’t as desperate heading into this matchup against the unranked Mississippi State Bulldogs, whose backs are up against the wall after losing three games in a row.
In the aftermath of a shoot-out against a top-10 ranked team, Texas’ running back room has answered the question of how it can perform at its best.
Now, it needs to sustain that momentum into another week of play to keep the offense moving, because — clearly — Sarkisian’s scheme is at its best when it has at least a decent run game pushing it forward.
That’s especially true against Mississippi State, which owns a run defense that limits teams to 3.66 yards per carry. If Texas wants to prove that its running back room is truly elite and capable of carrying its fair share of the offense, having a second-straight impressive outing this Saturday will be critical.
And with Cooper and Smothers poised to rejoin the rest of the group, Texas could head into this game with a four-headed monster in the backfield.
