Our weekly staff roundtable prepares for the Longhorns and the Bulldogs.
The Texas Longhorns have rolled through non-conference play and now enter their inaugural SEC slate undefeated. Describe the team’s performance through the first four games in one word.
Daniel Seahorn (@DanielSeahorn) – Dominant.
Gerald Goodridge (@ghgoodridge) – Confident.
Cameron Parker (@camerondparker) – Focused.
Jacob Neidig (@jneidig_2) – Hungry.
What player has been the biggest surprise for you?
Daniel Seahorn – Liona Lefau would be my pick. I was high on him as a recruit, but he is already looking like a certified stud ahead of schedule and is staking his claim to more snaps.
Gerald Goodridge – Colin Simmons. We all knew he was going to be an incredible athlete, but I went into the season thinking he would utilized like Anthony Hill was last year with specific packages and looks to allow for a longer development curve. Instead, he’s looked like a seasoned edge player rather than a 19-year-old and is nipping at the heels of Lefau and Hill for the team leads in sacks and tackles for loss.
Cameron Parker – Gunnar Helm. The fourth-year TE has taken a massive leap this season, both in blocking and pass-catching. He’s become a legitimate offensive threat at a position that some thought was going to be a weakness with the departure of Ja’Tavion Sanders. Helm has put himself in the conversation for the country’s best TE and has his NFL draft stock rising.
Jacob Neidig – Juan Davis. It’s been so fun to watch him serve as a two-man wrecking crew with Helm with Sark dialing up the two TE packages, something he does regularly. I’ve been impressed by Davis’ ability to do his role successfully, over and over again, even though it isn’t glamorous. Quite honestly, I didn’t expect to see Davis on the field much at all this year. With Helm serving as the H back last year and Texas securing the No. 1 TE in the transfer portal in Amari Niblack, I didn’t see a path to the turf for Davis. Yet, here we are and here I am, happily eating my words. Consider me a huge fan of 81.
It’s time for our obligated Arch Manning question! Assuming Quinn Ewers is inactive and Manning starts, what would you like to see the freshman quarterback accomplish against Mississippi State?
Daniel Seahorn – Better decision-making with the football and pocket awareness. Would also like to see him be more cautious about taking hits.
Gerald Goodridge – Sark mentioned it during his Monday press conference, but take the check downs. On both of his interceptions against ULM he had options underneath. You’ll never go broke making a profit, so take the five yards and keep things moving.
Cameron Parker – I’d like to see Arch let the game come to him. I’m sure the adrenaline and nerves were all over the place against ULM and we saw that with some missed and forced throws. Trust your arm, trust your scheme, trust your progressions, and go out and have fun.
Jacob Neidig – Get to his secondary progression. Manning seemed to lock onto targets a couple of times rather than moving on to the next read. I want to see him mentally be able to regularly jump to the next read and have his feet, hips, and shoulders quickly follow.
What is your score prediction for Saturday? Texas -38 or Mississippi State -38?
Daniel (4-0/3-1 ATS) – Texas 52, Texas 13. State conceded 40 points to a Florida team that isn’t good at all. Barring Texas playing with their food I think they will cover again and win soundly.
Gerald (4-0/3-1 ATS) – Texas 49, Mississippi State 10. I think State was an average team and then their best quarterback got hurt.
Cameron (4-0/2-2 ATS) – Texas 59, Mississippi State 13. The Bulldogs defense is not very good. However, I think this will be the best offense Texas will have faced all season long even with Michael Van Buren at QB. That being said – Arch Manning plays his best game of the season.
Jacob (4-0/3-1 ATS) – Texas 63, Mississippi State 7. If Texas doesn’t hang 60+ on the Bulldogs, it’ll be because Sark didn’t want to, not because Texas couldn’t. I happen to think he wants to send a message for Texas’ inaugural SEC matchup.