A Season To Remember: Texas 31, Mississippi State 3: Biles Haunts the Bulldogs

AUSTIN — Rasheem Biles went out and got himself a three-piece before kickoff Saturday. He said so himself, grinning about it afterward.

Then he went out and got another one.

The Texas linebacker sacked Mississippi State quarterbacks three times on Halloween night, piled up four tackles for loss and forced two fumbles, and the No. 11 Longhorns turned a physical, sloppy-in-spots SEC game into a 31-3 rout at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

The Bulldogs never found the end zone. Their only points came on a 30-yard Kyle Ferrie field goal that needed a Texas fumble to set it up, and even that drive covered all of 16 yards.

A fast start, then a grind

Mississippi State won the toss and deferred, which gave Arch Manning the ball first. He didn’t waste it. After taking a sack on second down, Manning hit Cam Coleman for a big gain on third-and-long to flip the field, then found him again for a 14-yard touchdown. Four plays, 62 yards, 1:55. Texas led 7-0 with 12:59 still left in the first quarter.

It was the kind of opening that usually leads somewhere bigger. Instead, the offense spent most of the next hour fighting through injuries and protection problems. Texas ran just 53 plays all night, by Steve Sarkisian’s count, and only about 25 of them came before halftime.

“Offensively, it was kind of odd,” Sarkisian said. “I thought it was a great start, hitting Cam on a couple plays for a touchdown, we started getting banged up.”

That left the defense to carry the night. It was more than up to it.

The play that broke it open

Mississippi State had its best chance late in the second quarter, and it ended up costing the Bulldogs seven points instead of earning them any.

A Texas punt out of the shadow of its own goal posts gave State the ball in Longhorn territory. AJ Swann hit Zion Ragins and then Marquis Johnson for a first down. Two plays later, on second down, Biles came free and got to Swann, and the ball came out. Maraad Watson, a defensive lineman, scooped it up and kept running. Sixty-one yards later he was in the end zone with 1:13 left in the half.

Instead of 10-7 or 10-3, it was 17-0.

“What a momentum-building play at the end of the first half,” Sarkisian said.

It was the second time State came away empty in Texas territory before the break. Ferrie had already clanked a field goal try off the right upright early in the second quarter.

Let him loose

Biles has been on a tear lately, and he has a theory about why. He said he went to defensive coordinator Will Muschamp a couple of weeks ago with a simple request.

“Me and Muschamp did have a little talk,” Biles said. “I told him let me loose more, a little more. He told me ‘I got you,’ and that’s what y’all have been seeing the last two games.”

Muschamp kept his word. Texas brought linebackers all night, and Mississippi State’s three quarterbacks never settled in. Swann started, Parker Puckett took over after halftime, and Anthony Evans III even took a few direct snaps. Biles got to Evans on one of those in the third quarter and knocked the ball loose again, though State fell on it out of bounds.

Justin Cryer, Biles’ partner at linebacker, had a big night of his own. He dropped Puckett twice on one third-quarter series. The first sack was wiped out by a facemask flag on Cryer; the second one counted and forced a punt.

The two of them, Biles said, have basically stopped scheduling their film sessions because they no longer need to.

“As soon as we get done with class, we’re texting each other,” he said. “We don’t even have to text each other now anymore because it’s so repetitive. We know what time we’re both going to be here.”

Defensive back Jelani McDonald, who was in on tackles all over the field, kept his explanation for the defense’s play shorter. “Understanding your job, getting your job done, but having energy, having a little swag,” he said, “and having a little edge about yourself.”

State’s last real threat ended early in the fourth quarter. Down 24-3, the Bulldogs went for it on fourth down inside Texas territory, and Puckett’s throw for Evans fell incomplete.

Manning and Mosley find a way

The offense didn’t look pretty for long stretches, but it did enough. Manning threw three touchdown passes and leaned on his legs when the pocket collapsed, which was often.

“First of all, I thought Arch competed his tail off,” Sarkisian said. “We needed him early in the game to use his legs in a couple different situations, and that showed up.”

The protection was the problem. Texas moved Wake Forest transfer Melvin Siani from right tackle to left tackle this week and slid Andre Cojoe to the right side. Manning got sacked repeatedly, and one of those, in the third quarter, ended with Jaray Bledsoe knocking the ball loose and Zakari Tillman recovering deep in Texas territory. That gave State its only points.

“Clearly there were some issues in protection,” Sarkisian said. “I felt like it was a little more internal than it was external, but I’ll have to address that.”

Texas answered the field goal right away. Manning went deep down the left side to Emmett Mosley V, then hit Raleek Brown on a long completion down the same sideline. Brown finished the 75-yard drive by catching a 4-yard touchdown on third down, and Texas was up 24-3 with 5:35 left in the third.

Mosley put it away in the fourth. Facing third down at the State 42, Manning went deep down the right side and Mosley ran under it for a touchdown and a 31-3 lead with 7:56 to play. Sarkisian singled out Mosley for stepping up as other pieces of the offense were going down. Running back Hollywood Smothers was among those who left with an injury.

Gianni Spetic added a 45-yard field goal in the second quarter that capped a 13-play, 6:51 drive. Texas also had a Ryan Niblett punt return touchdown taken off the board by an illegal block in the back.

No Simmons, no problem

All of this happened without Colin Simmons, the edge rusher who had five and a half sacks against Tennessee and didn’t play Saturday. Texas still got home again and again.

Sarkisian has been saying since the Tennessee game that the sacks aren’t a one-man show. He made the point again, at length.

“Sacks don’t just happen,” he said. “You have to play tight coverage so the quarterback can’t get the ball out of his hands… And then you have to have timely calls. I thought Champ did a nice job tonight with some timely calls of bringing backers.”

He also gave credit to the run defense, which kept State in obvious passing downs most of the night. State’s running backs found little room, and some of the Bulldogs’ best gains on the ground came from Puckett scrambling.

“It’s gonna be mine”

Biles is a Butkus Award semifinalist. He wasn’t interested in celebrating that part.

“Semifinals, that’s cool, but I’ve got to go be the one,” he said. He told a story about walking into the Texas facility on his recruiting visit, seeing the award on display, and deciding that was why he was coming.

“The crazy thing is though, I just posted on my little story, I’m like, ‘man, I run these sacks up, keep getting these picks, it’s gonna be mine,'” he said. “Went to go get a three-piece today, so it’s time to go get it for sure.”

He got it.

Up next

The celebration won’t last long. Texas came out of this one beat up, and Sarkisian made clear the priority this week isn’t the game plan.

“If there’s one key to this week, it’s getting as healthy as we can,” he said. “We know we’ve got a big-time matchup on the road next week.”