Texas tries to keep its edge (rush) against Mississippi's Trinidad Chambliss minus Colin Simmons

AUSTIN - Texas may be forced to rush Trinidad Chambliss with one hand tied behind its back.

Or more accurately four hands tied behind its back.

That's because the 19th-ranked Longhorns will probably be without the best pass-rusher in America and two of their top four edge rushers when they host No. 7 Ole Miss on Saturday night in the biggest game of the season.

Junior edge rusher Colin Simmons, a sure-fire All-American and the leading pass-rusher in college football with 10½ sacks, has been listed as "doubtful" on Texas' SEC availability report, and true freshman Richard Wesley is out for this game and maybe out the rest of the season. Both have bad high ankle sprains.

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Those setbacks mean all hands will be on deck Saturday.

Those injuries force starting end Lance Jackson and backup Zina Umeozulu to step up even though they have combined for just two sacks this season. Also reserve Brad Spence and little-used Colton Vasek will be called upon to try to contain Chambliss, arguably the best quarterback in the nation. This after Florida backup Trammel Jones Jr. dissected Texas in his first college start to lead the Gators to a 27-24 upset of the Longhorns.

"We've got four really good players still," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday, adding that the versatility of his interior defensive linemen and tremendously athletic linebacker Rasheem Biles will complement those four players. "So we've got enough depth in there. We've got quality players in there."

But enough quality to contain Chambliss, a very accurate, athletic quarterback who ranks second in the SEC and 13th nationally with 279 yards passing a game as well as 14 touchdowns. Texas' Arch Manning doesn't rank in the top 10 in the SEC, having thrown 11 touchdown passes with five interceptions.

Losing Simmons is a lethal blow to this 4-2 Texas team, which hopes to stop the bleeding after its first two-game losing streak since 2021. The Longhorns are in a world of hurt with the absence of consensus five-star recruit Wesley, who has seven tackles and six quarterback pressures this season, and the questionable status of running back Hollywood Smothers.

"He's totally dialed," Longhorn defensive lineman Hero Kanu said of Wesley on Monday before his injury was disclosed. "I think physically he's ahead of his time. He's still young, but physically he's so developed. I think he can go out there and make an impact as well."

All-America left tackle Trevor Goosby gushed as well, saying, "He has more moves in the bag than your normal edge rusher."

Jackson is a very good player but missed six tackles against Florida and is hardly a speed rusher on the edge. Neither is Umeozulu the threat on the perimeter to make life miserable for Chambliss. Biles figures to blitz often even though Will Muschamp's defense blitzes less than any SEC team besides Missouri with a rate of only 16%.

The extra problem is Chambliss is incredibly impactful against the blitz. The senior, who led the Rebels to last year's College Football Playoff semifinals, doesn't run often but moves well in the pocket to find open receivers and has completed 62.7% of his throws against the blitz for 608 yards and six touchdowns.

Sarkisian knows what he's dealing with because Chambliss will be the best quarterback he's faced all season, with apologies to Ohio State's Julian Sayin, who has the luxury of the best receiver in the nation in Jeremiah Smith. Ole Miss is not devoid of talent at receiver with Duce Robinson and Caleb Cunningham.

"He's pretty hard to get on the ground," Sarkisian said of Chambliss. "He's a dynamic playmaker, and it's not always about him scrambling to run. It's him scrambling to buy time to create the second play in the passing game, the explosive plays down the field. So I think it's really important thaty we have really good rush lanes, that we try to contain him in the pocket. But he's going to get out."

Sarkisian promises he's focused solely on trying to beat Ole Miss even though he is fully aware that a third loss would almost certainly eliminate Texas from the College Football Playoff race. No 9-3 team has earned an at-large berth in the 12-team field.

"I think from an energy standpoint, we need to pour into this game," Sarkisian said. "We need to go 1-0 this week. I've never seen the SEC look like this where every team's got a conference loss this early in the year."

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Not since 2007 has the SEC not had an unbeaten team this early in a season. That notwithstanding, Texas' offense has been so impotent, especially in the running attack that ranks 101st nationally. The absence of so much defensive firepower, however, puts more pressure on Sarkisian's offense, which has failed to deliver a consistent product halfway through the season.

He promised to evaluate everything in his program following the loss to the Gators, but he has yet to name a single change in the starting lineup or mention exactly what this team will do differently after going 1-2 in SEC play. He was adamant that he needs to see more out of his beleaguered quarterback, Arch Manning, who said the same things himself. He did say he likes Manning's mental approach all week.

How did he phrase it?

"I would use the word edgy," Sarkisian said to describe Manning's attitude. "And I like it. He's edgy right now."

Someone texted Sarkisian this week and told him that Texas has "lost the aw-shucks kid and created something else." Sarkisian said everyone - reporters, fan base, social media, coaches - helped create the out-of-control expectations for Manning, whose record as a starter is 16-5, and the junior quarterback has evolved through that process.

"At some point, he's got to fight back, and the best way for him to fight back is going out and playing really good football with his teammates," Sarkisian said. "He's edgy right now, and honestly I appreciate that about him. I'm looking forward to watching him compete Saturday night."

Asked about trying to institute effective change in less than a week, Sarkisian said, "That's a bit difficult to overhaul. I think when you use the word overhaul, that's probably an offseason term in any aspect of your program. Like, overhaul is a really big word. Can you make adjustments? Sure you can. But just to overhaul, I know Coach (Darrell) Royal would love this, but we can't come out in the wishbone Saturday night. That's tough to do in a six-day span."

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This article originally published at Texas tries to keep its edge (rush) against Mississippi's Trinidad Chambliss minus Colin Simmons.