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Who's next for Texas football: A look at the Mississippi State Bulldogs

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook13 hours agojosephcook89
jeff lebby43
Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby

Texas’ October on the road continues Saturday with the Longhorns’ first trip to Starkville, Miss. since 1991. Here’s a look at the Mississippi State Bulldogs before their Southeastern Conference matchup.

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Upcoming opponent: Mississippi State

Head coach: Jeff Lebby (2nd season at MSU), 6-13 overall

2025 record: 4-3 (0-3 SEC)

Last game: Mississippi State lost at Florida on October 18, 23-21

Star offensive performer last time out: RB Davon Booth, 22 carries, 105 yards, 2 TD

Star defensive performer last time out: DB Brylan Lanier, 9 tackles, 1.0 sack, 2 INT, 1 PBU

Quarterback: Blake Shapen, 124-for-185, 1525 yards, 9 TD, 5 INT, 1 rushing TD

Offense: Lebby comes from the Art Briles coaching tree and also is part of Briles’ family tree considering Lebby married Art’s daughter Staley. Lebby may actually be the most prominent member or at least make up the largest branch of the Briles coaching tree since Lebby installed the Veer-and-Shoot offense for Josh Heupel at UCF before Heupel ended up at Tennessee. Lebby’s Veer-and-Shoot offense depends on fast tempo, wide splits, and deep choice routes from the wide receivers. Lebby has adapted and brought modifications to his offense in his years away from Waco, sometimes varying tempo and condensing the formation to make up for talent deficiencies.

Defense: Former Texas assistant Coleman Hutzler is Mississippi State’s defensive coordinator. Hutzler’s defense looks like a lot of other SEC defenses, playing with a four-man front most of the time with some odd looks filtered in. Mississippi State offers several different multiple deep-safety looks with 2- or even 3-deep.

Texans on the roster

Former Longhorns on the roster

This guy is on their team?

  • RB Fluff Bothwell – After a standout season for South Alabama in 2024 where he ran for 832 yards and 13 touchdowns, Bothwell transferred up to Mississippi State. This year, the 5-foot-10, 219 pounder has 456 yards and six scores and rushed for 134 yards against Tennessee one month ago.

All-time series: Texas leads 3-2

Last Matchup: In Texas’ first ever Southeastern Conference game, Arch Manning started at quarterback for the No. 1 Longhorns on September 28. 2024 in Austin. Manning was 26-for-31 for 325 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for a score. Jaydon Blue and Isaiah Bond had rushing scores, and DeAndre Moore had two touchdown catches.

Upcoming matchup:

  • Teams: Texas vs. Mississippi State
  • Date: October 25
  • Time: 3:15 p.m. CT
  • Location: Davis-Wade Stadium – Starkville, Miss.
  • TV: SEC Network

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