All coaches know one important rule. Never apologize for winning ugly. A win is a win.
That’s exactly what No. 1 Texas got Saturday with a 35-13 win over Mississippi State. All that matters is UT is 5-0 overall, 1-0 in the SEC.
To hear the Longhorns tell it afterward, a sloppy, frustrating win might have been the best thing that’s happened yet this season.
“Actually, I’m happy we got some adversity,” defensive lineman Vernon Broughton said, “because you never know, but I’m so glad that happened. But at the same time, we bounced back.”
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Defensive back Jahdae Barron said, “Sometimes you going to go through things, and you’ve got to learn how to adapt and stuff like that. So, it was a good challenge for us, and just it shows that we’re good team. We got fight to us, too.”
Even defensive tackle Alfred Collins admitted, “SEC, it’s what it’s about.”
The Longhorns haven’t been pushed around like that all season. Even in what was supposed to be Texas’ toughest game against No. 10 Michigan, the Horns were never really threatened.
Most of Saturday was their own doing. Eight penalties. Two fumbles by Jaydon Blue. Johntay Cook II dropped a wide-open touchdown catch. Multiple missed tackles by multiple defenders.
“I think we better get used to games being hard fought,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “You know, through it all, we didn't play a great game today. Missed opportunities. We fumble in the red area. We end up dropping a touchdown pass. We fumbled the first play to start the second half.”
Sarkisian even ripped himself. “I don't know whoever the head coach is for Texas, but he took three points off the board and went forward on fourth down, and we lost that opportunity.”
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But some of the bright spots were awfully bright.
Running back Quintrevion Wisner came off the bench and had 88 rushing yards on 13 carries, averaging 6.8 yards per attempt. Moore had 103 receiving yards on four catches, along with two touchdowns.
There’s not a coach on this planet who would turn down six sacks. Freshman Colin Simmons had two of those along with three tackles for loss.
In the second half, the Texas defense held MSU’s running game to 35 yards on 20 carries. Most of the Bulldogs’ 150 yards came in the first half as coach Jeff Lebby tried to shorten the game with running plays, huddles and milking the play clock.
“Like I told the team at halftime, I'm glad we're getting this adversity right now,” Sarkisian said. “We needed it. We had four straight games of smooth water, smooth sailing, and we needed some adversity to learn about the character of this team. And I thought what showed up was a team that had poise and composure, resiliency, didn't panic, and ultimately was able to pull away in the game and finish on top.”
Film sessions are always more palatable after a win. That will be the case this week as the Horns are idle. Texas’ next game is the Red River rivalry matchup against Oklahoma on Oct. 12. There’s plenty to talk about internally until then.
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