AUSTIN, Texas — Mississippi State, the Starkville, Miss., SEC program, could not find any rhythm on offense Saturday night, and No. 11 Texas rolled to a 31-3 SEC win over the Bulldogs at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.
The Bulldogs finished with a season-low 187 yards in front of a crowd of 103,586. The loss leaves Mississippi State at 4-4 overall and 2-4 in league play, while Texas moved to 6-2 and 3-2.
Texas struck first on a four-play, 62-yard drive to open the game, finished by a 14-yard touchdown throw from Arch Manning to Cam Coleman. The Longhorns added a field goal in the second quarter before the play that broke the game open.
With 1:13 left before halftime, linebacker Rasheem Biles stripped Bulldogs quarterback AJ Swann, and Maraad Watson picked up the loose ball and ran 61 yards for a touchdown. That made it 17-0 at the break.
Mississippi State got on the board in the third quarter with a 30-yard field goal from Kyle Ferrie, but Texas answered each time. Manning hit 16 of 20 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns, including a 4-yard score to Raleek Brown in the third and a 42-yard strike to Emmett Mosley V in the fourth.
Biles had a big night against the MSU line with three sacks, two forced fumbles, eight tackles and four tackles for loss. Four other Longhorns also recorded sacks.
The Bulldogs defense had its moments, bringing Manning down six times, but it tired late after spending much of the night on the field.
Swann was making his first start of the year with Kamario Taylor sidelined, and the strip sack before halftime also knocked him out of the game with an injury. Taylor, who helped the Bulldogs to a 4-0 start, is out for the season after toe surgery.
Mississippi State has now dropped four straight.
The win was the 100th of Steve Sarkisian’s career as a head coach.
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