Texas has what Ole Miss coach Pete Golding considers a one-two punch at running back that could start just about anywhere in college football.
There’s just one problem: Against Power Four competition, the Longhorns’ running game has done more sputtering than punching.
And with leading rusher Hollywood Smothers listed as doubtful for Saturday night’s game against Ole Miss, finding a spark could become even harder.
Smothers, who has rushed for 289 yards, was downgraded from questionable to doubtful on Thursday’s SEC availability report after suffering an upper-body injury against Florida.
Texas averages 135 rushing yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry, but those numbers benefit from 156 yards against Texas State and 231 against UTSA. Against four Power Four opponents, the Longhorns have averaged just 105.8 yards and 3.0 yards per carry.
They rushed for 141 yards against Ohio State, 61 against Tennessee, 122 against Oklahoma and 99 against Florida. Neither Smothers nor fellow running back Raleek Brown has reached 100 yards in a game.
Still, Golding knows the statistics don’t tell the whole story.
“I think they’re both really good football players,” Golding said Monday. “They’ve got really good balance and body control. They run behind their pads. I think they’re one-cut runners. They stick the foot and work vertically.”
Brown has rushed for 265 yards and five touchdowns, compared with Smothers’ 289 yards and two scores. If Smothers can’t play, Brown could handle more carries. Freshman Derrek Cooper, who has 98 rushing yards, was listed as probable Thursday after missing the Florida game.
More importantly, Golding said, the running game is the foundation of coach Steve Sarkisian’s offense.
“They’ve got to get that run game going to set up the play-action pass and the passing game and all those types of things,” Golding said.
That’s an encouraging matchup for an Ole Miss defense that has made significant strides since its bye week.
Florida gashed the Rebels for 302 rushing yards and six touchdowns in a 52-28 loss on Sept. 26. But Ole Miss held Vanderbilt to 103 rushing yards on 37 attempts and Missouri to just 39 yards on 26 carries.
That’s 142 yards on 63 carries over the past two games, an average of 2.3 yards per attempt.
Golding believes the key is putting Texas in obvious passing situations without having to crowd the line of scrimmage and leave the Longhorns’ talented receivers in one-on-one coverage.
“If you can’t slow down the running game and create negative-yardage plays on base downs to get them in obvious passing downs, it becomes extremely hard,” Golding said.
He expects Texas to use two-tight-end formations, shifts and motion to challenge Ole Miss’ communication and discipline.
“You’ve got to be able to stop the run game with four guys and not have to pressure to do it all the time,” Golding said.
If the Rebels can do that, they could put more pressure on Arch Manning, whose offense has struggled through consecutive losses to Oklahoma and Florida. Texas has already surrendered 17 sacks, while Ole Miss has collected five over its past two games.
Saturday offers Ole Miss another chance to prove its improved run defense is more than a two-game trend — against a talented Texas backfield that might be missing half its one-two punch.
