The Saturday Dispatch Section T · Texas
SEC · 2026 season · 5-2, 2-2 SEC · No. 11 in the Oct 25 AP poll

Texas Longhorns (11)

Current week · Week 9 · Mississippi State at Texas
Mississippi State at Texas (11)
Saturday, Oct 31 · 6:30 PM CT · ESPN (Texas Athletics lists ABC or ESPN) · DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium · the Saturday pregame read refreshes the line and availability; the recap follows Sunday
Scouting report → Two-minute read → Last week's recap →
This Week's Two-Minute Read
Scouting report · published Oct 26
36–15
Our call, on Monday's lines
−21
The market, Monday
~90%
Chance to win, by the moneyline
Texas by three touchdowns, and the shape of it is a Texas defense that is the best unit on the field against a Mississippi State offense that may be on its backup quarterback, and a Texas line without its left tackle against an ordinary Bulldog rush. Trevor Goosby is out for the season, Cam Coleman's shoulder does not "look very good," and Simmons and Smothers are still out; Kamario Taylor re-aggravated his right foot against Oklahoma. Both books have Texas at −21 on 50.5 and 51.5.
We think Texas wins by about three touchdowns. Texas's defense, the best unit on the field, meets a Mississippi State offense that may be on its backup quarterback, and Texas blockers without left tackle Trevor Goosby, out for the season, meet an ordinary pass rush. Receiver Cam Coleman hurt his shoulder, and Colin Simmons and Hollywood Smothers are still out. Mississippi State's starting quarterback, Kamario Taylor, hurt his foot again against Oklahoma. The betting line has Texas by 21 at both books.
Three tells, measured early: sacks and hurries on Manning over his first 20 dropbacks · Texas's first 15 carries by a running back · Mississippi State's first 10 third downs. Read the scouting report
Open the two-minute read →
Press conferences · Week 8 · Ole Miss
Coach · Oct 25 · Postgame press conference (Texas Athletics) · Steve Sarkisian addresses the media after the Longhorns' win.
Coach · Oct 24 · Postgame press conference (Texas Athletics) · Steve Sarkisian addresses the media after the Longhorns' win.
Coach · Oct 22 · Media availability (Texas Athletics) · Hear from Head Coach Steve Sarkisian Thursday afternoon before this weekend's matchup against Ole Miss
Coach · Oct 19 · Press conference (Texas Athletics) · Hear from Head Coach Steve Sarkisian as he reflects on this past weekend's game and looks ahead to Ole Miss
Players, as reported · Oct 25 · Steve Sarkisian on injuries to Trevor Goosby, Cam Coleman: ‘Neither of them look very good’ (Burnt Orange Nation)
Players, as reported · Oct 24 · No. 19 Texas vs. No. 7 Ole Miss live updates: Pressure is on Arch Manning to play well (Burnt Orange Nation)
Player interviews are posted on the official channel, youtube.com/@TexasLonghorns.
Checked Oct 25. Video is linked from the official Texas Athletics site, with no transcripts. When the school posts no player session, beat coverage from Burnt Orange Nation is linked instead, with no quote text.
Season archive
Week 9 · Mississippi State · Sat Oct 31, 6:30 PM CT, ESPN or ABC, DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium · Scouting report · the call is Texas 36–15 · the Saturday pregame pass, the Sunday recap This week
Week 8 · Ole Miss · W 34–27 · Recap · Two-minute read · Scouting report Graded
Week 7 · Florida · L 24–27 · Recap · Two-minute read · Scouting report Graded
Week 6 · Oklahoma, Dallas · L 24–27 · Recap · Two-minute read · Scouting report Graded
Week 5 · bye · no game Oct 3 · The bye week report Regraded
Week 4 · at Tennessee · W 20–17 · Recap · Two-minute read · Scouting report Graded
Week 3 · UTSA · W 30–6 · Recap · Two-minute read · Scouting report Graded
Week 2 · Ohio State · W 24–23 · Recap · Two-minute read · Scouting report Graded
Week 1 · Texas State · W 59–7 · Recap · Scouting report Graded
2026 Preseason Report · the season baseline, published Aug 26 2026 Season Card · the one-page season view
The words we use
The words we use
The call is the final score we are predicting. We write it down before the game and leave it alone, the way you would write your guess on a napkin before kickoff and not touch it after.
The market is the betting line, which is the number of points the people wagering real money expect the favorite to win by. Those people have been better at this than our computer so far, so our call leans on their number.
The model is our computer's own guess at the score, built from the season's numbers. We print it next to the betting line so you can see when the two agree and when they do not.
Tells are three early signs to watch in the first stretch of the game. If they show up, the game is going the way we said; if they do not, we were probably wrong, and you will know it before we do.
Edges are our answer, one matchup at a time, to the question of which team has the better side of it.
Graded means that on Sunday we go back over everything we said and mark each piece right, partly right, or wrong.
Gameday songs and yells
The Eyes of Texas · the school song, sung arm in arm after the game · Longhorn Band · the crowd at DKR · Lyrics
Texas Fight · the fight song, after every touchdown and extra point; the crowd swaps in "Give 'em hell, give 'em hell, go Horns go" · Longhorn Band · Lyrics
March Grandioso · the band's pregame entrance, wall to wall across the field · Longhorn Band · Traditions
The Texas Fight yell · half the stadium yells "Texas," the other half answers "Fight" · plus the Whisper Chant and the old yells, words on the Texas Exes yells page