AUSTIN, Texas — Seventh-ranked Ole Miss takes its road show to Austin on Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff against No. 19 Texas, and the Rebels will see a Longhorns defense missing its most dangerous pass rusher.
Texas listed junior Colin Simmons and freshman Richard Wesley as out on Thursday’s SEC availability report. Simmons is the bigger loss by far. He leads the country with 10.5 sacks and has 16 tackles for loss in six games, which accounts for more than half of the 19 sacks Texas has piled up this fall. Without him, the rest of the Longhorns have combined for 8.5.
That is welcome news for Trinidad Chambliss. The Ole Miss quarterback owns 1,676 passing yards with 14 touchdown throws, plus six scores on the ground, and the Rebels have given up only five sacks all season.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday that his defense will not keep Chambliss in the pocket for a full game. The Longhorns plan to stay disciplined in their rush lanes and keep the secondary on assignment so a broken play does not become a long completion. Texas has been allowing 272.5 yards a game, with defensive coordinator Will Muschamp now left to patch the edge.
Ole Miss has health questions too. Two first-team blockers, Terez Davis and Brycen Sanders, carry a questionable tag into the weekend, a possible dent in the front that has kept Chambliss clean. Linebacker Suntarine Perkins leads a Rebels defense that will try to slow a Texas offense whose struggles have been a theme of the week in Austin. For Oxford fans, a win would add a marquee road result to a season that already has the Rebels in the national top 10.
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