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3 necessary adjustments Texas must make during bye week

No. 2 Texas can come out of the bye week with more confidence and rest before OU if a handful of key issues on each side of the ball from the Mississippi State first half are cleared up this week.

By Andrew Miller

Cameron Williams, DJ Campbell, Texas football
Cameron Williams, DJ Campbell, Texas football / Tim Warner/GettyImages
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Tre Wisner, Texas football
Tre Wisner, Texas football / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Get other RBs involved in receiving game on offense

Injuries have been a big storyline for Texas's running back room since the start of fall camp. Texas had three running backs out for the last game in the SEC opener this past Saturday against Mississippi State on the conference-mandated injury report.

Many of the offense's struggles in the first half against Mississippi State in the SEC opener last weekend were caused by costly fumbles and the inability to set the tone with a consistent ground game. Texas was unable to consistently run the ball up the middle against Mississippi State in the game's first 30 minutes last weekend.

For the first time during Sarkisian's tenure as Texas's head coach last weekend, the Longhorns rushed for under 10 yards on the ground in the first half. When Texas faces teams like Oklahoma and Georgia coming out of the bye week, it must be able to pick up these key first downs in short yardage situations and on third and fourth-down on the plus side of the field.

Texas only picked up one first down on the ground last weekend against Mississippi State in the first half.

Part of the reason why Texas went away from the ground game later in the first half last weekend against the Bulldogs' defense was costly turnovers. Junior running back Jaydon Blue turned the ball over twice on two fumbles in the first half vs. Mississippi State.

After only getting one carry in the first half last weekend, sophomore running back Tre Wisner broke off an explosive run against Mississippi State for a team-high 38-yard rush in the second half. Wisner finished up with a game-high 88 rushing yards on just 13 carries for the best production day of his career in the SEC opener win last weekend.

Blue didn't get much work in the second half after the two fumbles before halftime against the Bulldogs.

"I feel like, when I carry the ball like I should, I'm pretty unstoppable. I just have to make sure that I carry the ball the right way going into the next, the next few games."

- Jaydon Blue

Texas showed its running back depth by being able to still pick up nearly 200 yards on the ground against Mississippi State, including over 180 yards rushing in the second half. Wisner led the team in rushing yards, largely thanks to his explosive 38-yard run to get the ground game going in the second half.

One area where the Longhorns didn't get much action against Mississippi State was the passing game to the running backs. Texas didn't have any backs with more than one catch against the Bulldogs.

Utilizing converted wide receiver Ryan Niblett and Wisner (Texas's highest-graded RB receiver on offense this season) in the receiving game out of the backfield could be a wise move to shake things up on offense coming out of the bye week.

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