Texas falls from No. 1 to No. 19

Ole Miss wins by margin, Texas by discipline

Against Power 4 opponents, Ole Miss is +50 in point margin, 13th nationally and fifth in the SEC. The Rebels are 4-1 in those games, with the loss at Florida. Texas is -2 in the same games, 31st nationally and seventh in the SEC. In plain terms, Ole Miss has beaten Power 4 teams by a cushion, and Texas has played them nearly even.

Turnovers have hurt Texas more. The Longhorns are -6 in turnover margin, 83rd nationally and 14th in the SEC, while Ole Miss is -1, 46th nationally.

Possession is a wash, 27:51 a game for Texas and 27:48 for Ole Miss. Texas is penalized 51 yards a game, 32nd nationally, against 66 for Ole Miss, 59th. The Longhorns also average 12.6 yards per punt return, best in the SEC, though Ole Miss allows only 5.5, 29th nationally.

Where it's decided

When Ole Miss has the ball, strength meets strength. Against Power 4 opponents, the Rebels gain 449 yards a game, ninth nationally, and Texas allows 286, third nationally and first in the SEC. Third down mirrors it: Ole Miss converts 49.3%, 10th nationally, and Texas allows 32.3%, also 10th. Ole Miss scores 36.8 points a game, seventh nationally, and has scored on every red zone trip, second nationally, against a Texas defense that allows scores on 90.9%, 62nd.

The Rebels throw for 290 yards a game, best in the SEC, into a Texas pass defense allowing 185, 11th nationally. They run for 159 a game, and Texas allows 101 on the ground, first in the SEC.

Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss leads Ole Miss in passing yards with 1,676, with 14 touchdowns, 4 interceptions and a 67.6 completion percentage. His 20 total touchdowns rank second in the SEC, and his 14 touchdown passes tie for third. Deuce Alexander leads the Rebels in receiving yards and catches, 523 yards on 35, with 5 touchdowns, and Traylon Ray is second with 276 yards.

Kewan Lacy leads Ole Miss in rushing yards with 352 and has 5 touchdowns, one short of 30 for his career. Makhi Frazier adds 254. He was one of the transfers who brought in 2,440 rushing yards from last season, on top of the 85% of 2025 rushing yards Ole Miss returned. The Rebels also returned 84% of their 2025 passing yards.

When Texas has the ball, the offense has lagged behind its defense. Against Power 4 opponents, the Longhorns score 23.0 points a game, 12th in the SEC, and gain 313 yards, 57th nationally. They throw for 207 yards a game, 13th in the SEC, run for 106, 14th, and convert 32.7% on third down, also 14th. Ole Miss has given ground in the same games, allowing 26.8 points, 248 passing yards and 156 rushing yards a game, and opponents convert 48.1% on third down, 13th in the SEC. Texas has scored on every red zone trip, fourth nationally, against an Ole Miss defense that allows scores on 75.0%, 12th nationally.

Arch Manning leads Texas in passing yards with 1,298, with 11 touchdowns, 5 interceptions and a 64.1 completion percentage. Ryan Wingo leads the Longhorns in receiving yards and catches, 345 on 26. Cam Coleman has 322 yards and 6 touchdown catches, tied for the SEC lead and one short of 20 for his career.

Hollywood Smothers leads Texas in rushing yards with 289, and Raleek Brown has 265 with 5 touchdowns. Texas returned only 30% of its 2025 rushing yards, and transfers brought in 2,111, led by Brown's 1,141 and Smothers' 939.

Colin Simmons is chasing the record book

Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons leads FBS with 10 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss. His pace points to 20 sacks, which would tie for second in an FBS season, and 31 tackles for loss, which would rank fifth. He is one of 10 FBS players this season with two or more sacks in two games, and 2 more sacks would put him in the FBS career top 27, a line Marquis Haynes holds with 32.

Ole Miss keeps winning at night

Ole Miss has won 9 straight night games, dating to 2024. It has also won 3 straight night games against ranked opponents, dating to 2025.

Ole Miss is strong early, softer late

Ole Miss has outscored Power 4 opponents 72-17 in the second quarter. In all games, the Rebels allow 17.8 points a game in the second half, against 6 in the first.

Johntay Cook II faces his old team

Ole Miss receiver Johntay Cook II played at Texas in 2023-24, catching 16 passes for 273 yards and 2 touchdowns, and this is his first game against the Longhorns since he left. Ole Miss returned only 25% of its 2025 receiving yards, and Cook's 559 were the most of the 1,591 that transfers brought in.

Pete Golding coaches Ole Miss and has never faced Texas in 2 seasons as an FBS head coach. Steve Sarkisian coaches Texas and has never faced Ole Miss in 12 seasons as an FBS head coach.

Transfers anchor the Ole Miss defense. Blake Purchase came from Oregon and leads the Rebels in sacks with 3.5, and linebacker Luke Ferrelli, another newcomer, leads them in tackles with 37. Texas linebacker Rasheem Biles, a transfer from Pittsburgh, leads the Longhorns in tackles with 49 and has 2 interceptions. Coleman arrived at Texas as a 5-star transfer from Auburn, and Smothers came from NC State.

Texas had 6 players drafted, one each at linebacker, cornerback, edge, safety, guard and tight end. The highest was linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., taken 60th overall by Tennessee. Ole Miss had 2 drafted, receiver De'Zhaun Stribling 33rd overall to San Francisco and offensive tackle Jayden Williams in the seventh round to Arizona.

Texas leads a series that rarely meets

Texas leads the series 6-2 in 8 meetings since 1912. The last meeting came in 2013, a 44-23 Ole Miss win at Texas in which Jeff Scott ran for 164 yards.

Both teams finished that 2013 season 8-5. That Texas team had defensive lineman Jackson Jeffcoat, who won the Ted Hendricks Defensive End Award and made All-America along with kicker Anthony Fera.

Three things to watch

Simmons against Chambliss: the FBS sack leader faces the quarterback of the SEC's top passing offense against Power 4 teams.

The red zone: both offenses have scored on every Power 4 trip, and Ole Miss allows scores on 75.0% while Texas allows 90.9%.

Texas' path after two 3-point losses: a run defense allowing 101 yards a game and a punt return unit averaging 12.6, both first in the SEC.