Longhorns RB Hollywood Smothers Expected to Return From Injury vs. Mississippi State

Injuries are a major talking point in the matchup between the Texas Longhorns and the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Austin this weekend.

The visitors will be without their breakout quarterback Kamario Taylor after undergoing surgery on his injured toe.

Texas, according to its latest injury report, is still likely to miss star pass rusher Colin Simmons and top lineman Trevor Goosby, who will have season-ending surgery on his knee. But the Longhorns do appear to have things trending in the right direction offensively.

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Starting running back Hollywood Smothers and wide receiver Cam Coleman have been taken off the injury report ahead of the 6:30 p.m. kickoff on Halloween night.

Simmons was downgraded from "questionable" to "doubtful" this week with the high-ankle sprain he suffered a few weeks ago.

Smothers (shoulder) sat out Texas' last game, a momentum-building win over Ole Miss, which allowed Raleek Brown to power his way to a career-high 157 yards rushing.

Coleman exited the game against the Rebels, also with a shoulder injury.

Both are expected to return for the Longhorns, who sit 5-2 with a haunting slate of games still to come.

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"What an exciting week for our guys, for our team and for our fans," head coach Steve Sarkisian said on Thursday. "Any time we get another night game at DKR, SEC play, and it happens to be Halloween night - to piggy back off the environment we had last weekend - is exciting."

"[We've] had a really good week of work," Sark added. "I credit them - the leadership, and the totality of the team - of really hearing the message on Monday about having that mentality [of] no relief syndrome, and then applying it throughout the week of work. I think they've done that and put themselves in position to go out and compete at a high level Saturday night."