Texas vs Ole Miss football predictions: Betting lines, TV channel/streaming for Week 8

Texas football has dropped two straight games in the same season for the first time since 2021 while tumbling from its spot atop the polls.  

Things don't get any easier for the No. 19 Longhorns (4-2, 1-2 SEC) Saturday at Royal-Memorial Stadium against visiting Ole Miss (5-1, 3-1). The No. 7 Rebels boast a Heisman Trophy candidate in quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, and they've beaten three ranked teams behind a dynamic offense and a rock-solid defense.

Texas has to face three ranked teams in its final six games of the regular season as well as two old rivals in Arkansas and Texas A&M. If the Longhorns want to remain in contention for a spot in the College Football Playoff, they'll have to beat Ole Miss.

Here's a full scouting report for the Texas Longhorns vs. the Ole Miss Rebels. 

No. 19 Texas (4-2, 1-2 SEC) vs. No. 7 Ole Miss (5-1, 3-1) 

When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Royal-Memorial Stadium in Austin

TV/radio: ABC, 1300, 98.1, 105.3 (Spanish)

Weather: The weather won't be as crisp as last week, but temperatures will still be in the low 80s at kickoff and dip into the 60s by the fourth quarter. Clear skies, full hearts for football fans.

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Texas vs Ole Miss football betting info

Moneyline: Texas -165 / Ole Miss +135

Spread: Texas is favored by 3 points.

Over/under: 53½

Texas history: Ole Miss

All-time: Texas leads 6-2

Last meeting:  Ole Miss 44, Texas 23  (Sept. 14, 2013)

Most memorable meeting: Texas 12, Ole Miss 7 (1962).

In a top-5 meeting that capped the 1961 regular season, the Longhorns held on for a hard-fought 12-7 win in the Cotton Bowl. The favored Rebels outgained Texas in yardage, 319-183, but the Longhorns had three interceptions, including three by Jerry Cook. For fifth-year coach Darrell Royal, the victory gave him his first 10-win season at Texas as well as his first bowl triumph. Royal would go on to six more 10-win seasons and seven more bowl wins at Texas before retiring after the 1976 season.

MORE: Steve Sarkisian evaluated 'everything' after Texas football loss. Are changes coming?

Know the foe: Ole Miss

Last week: Beat Missouri, 31-3

Players to watch: QB Trinidad Chambliss, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior, won a court battle with the NCAA in the offseason for a sixth year of eligibility. He's beating plenty of defenses, too; he ranks second in the SEC with 279.3 yards passing per game and has accounted for 20 total touchdowns.

RB Kewan Lacey, a 5-11, 205-pound junior from the Dallas suburb of Lancaster, earned all-SEC accolades last season but has battled injuries while carrying the ball 62 times for 352 yards and five touchdowns this season. But he looked plenty healthy last week with a season-high 122 yards against Missouri.

LB Suntarine Perkins, a 6-2, 220-pound senior, is off to a quiet start with just 20 tackles and 1½ sacks. But he has 21 sacks in his career, and he's the twitchy kind of edge rusher that has given the Texas line fits this season.

Central Texas connections: Freshman quarterback Reese Wisehasn't played this season but boasts some pedigree considering he comes from the quarterback factory at Westlake High School.… Former blue-chip receiver recruit Johntay Cook II signed with Texas in 2023 and appeared in 20 games over two seasons for the Longhorns before transferring to Syracuse. Now in his first season at Ole Miss, he has just one catch for -3 yards.

When Texas has the ball

Could Raleek Brown be the workhorse this week? He looks like the only healthy back since freshman Derrek Cooper missed last week's game with an undisclosed injury and Hollywood Smothers missed practice earlier in the week with a reported arm or shoulder injury. Brown did rip off a 32-yard run against Florida but had just 15 yards on seven other carries. Ole Miss held Missouri to 39 yards on 26 carries behind a dominant effort from DT Will Echoles, and the Texas offensive line has struggled in short-yardage situations against Oklahoma and Florida.

Quarterback Arch Manning talks about "letting it rip," but the fourth-year quarterback has struggled this season while averaging only 215.8 yards a game on 63.9% passing. Ole Miss ranks just 11^th in the SEC in pass defense with 233.3 yards allowed per game, and Missouri's Donovan Olugbode exploded for nine catches and 128 yards. High-paid Auburn transfer Cam Coleman (20 catches, 336 yards, 6 TDs) will try and do the same.

MORE: Steve Sarkisian, Arch Manning fight for blame in Texas football's offensive struggles

When Ole Miss has the ball

Texas may have to play without All-American edge rusher Colin Simmons, who leads the nation with 10 ½ sacks but will likely miss the game with a reported ankle injury. Tackle Maraad Waston (three sacks) is the only other Longhorn with more than one sack, which is bad news against an Ole Miss offensive line that has allowed an SEC-low five sacks all season.

The Rebels only trail Georgia when it comes to yards per carry in the SEC with an impressive 5.15 in league play, but they've also run it just a league-low 190 times in all games. Texas allows a league-low 103.7 yards rushing a game in SEC play, which means Chambliss could air it out more than usual to a receiving corps led by Deuce Alexander (19 catches, 275 yards).

Texas vs Ole Miss key matchup

Texas linebacker Rasheem Biles vs. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss.

With Simmons likely out for the game, Rasheem Biles needs to step up as a playmaker after going three straight games without a takeaway or a forced fumble. And he'll have to do it while keeping an eye on the slippery Chambliss, who has rushed for 127 yards this season.

Texas vs Ole Miss prediction

Thomas Jones: Ole Miss 28, Texas 24. The Longhorns' offense has its best game in league play, but the expected absence of Simmons is too much to overcome against arguably the top quarterback in the nation.

Danny Davis: Texas. I feel like this is a version of the Anakin Skywalker meme where Padmé asks "There is no way that the Longhorns' football season essentially ends before Halloween, right?," gets a blank stare from Anakin and then has to desperately state the question again. Texas wins this game for no other reason than it has to.

Michael Shapiro:Ole Miss 28, Texas 27. This is a perfect emotional spot for the Longhorns, who will take the field with plenty of fire with their backs against the wall. I still can't shake the matchup concerns. Ole Miss has perhaps the best quarterback in college football in Trinidad Chambliss. Texas will be without edge rusher Colin Simmons, perhaps college football's best defensive player. Add in the defensive chops of Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding, and a bounce-back for Texas is no guarantee. Expect a close, dramatic contest Saturday night, one that will ultimately end in another Longhorns disappointment.

This article originally published at Texas vs Ole Miss football predictions: Betting lines, TV channel/streaming for Week 8.