On Saturday, Oct. 25, the Texas Longhorns will once again hit the road when they travel up to Starkville to take on an unranked 4-3 Mississippi State team that enters the matchup with a 15-game SEC losing streak. The cowbells will be ringing, the revived Bulldog passing offense will come out slinging and with the wrong outcome, Texas fans will be singing for some sort of change. To prevent the last of that list from occurring, here are three things the Texas team should look to do in Starkville.

After coming off a horrendous 47-yard performance on the ground last week against Kentucky, it’s clear something needs to change. Texas had struggled to get the run game going for 4 straight quarters and an overtime period, with inept offensive line play really hurting Wisner and co. ability to find any holes to exploit. With the return of CJ Baxter looking increasingly likely as we inch closer to gameday, the Texas run game must establish rhythm early in the game if the Horns want to have any hope of silencing what ought to be a hostile crowd.

While Mississippi State may still be looking for its first SEC win in over two years, this Bulldog team looks a lot different than it did a year ago when it last played Texas. It starts with head coach Jeff Lebby, who, in his second year at the helm, has been able to produce a more explosive offense than a year prior. The Bulldog offense currently leads the nation in passing plays over 40 yards with 14, and has totaled seven touchdowns of 40 yards or more.

There’s a reason this team's offensive philosophy this season has centered around the term “score from far”. Preventing the explosives starts with the defensive line being able to quickly create pressure, and when that isn’t possible, the Texas safeties have to step up. With starting safety Michael Taaffe’s broken thumb keeping him off the field for at least a few weeks, the Texas secondary will have to rely on Jehlani McDonald and Derek Williams Jr to carry the load.

The Bulldog crowd is desperate for a taste of an SEC win, and you can almost guarantee they’ll make it clear on Saturday. As the only Division 1 school in the nation allowed to bring artificial noisemakers to home games, the school is notorious for sharp, ringing clanks echoing throughout its stadium. While part of silencing the Bulldog crowd starts with establishing a run game, it has to be finished by Arch Manning.

In the Longhorns' two losses this season, Manning has seemed unable to overcome the pressure of roaring crowds, compounding into a seemingly ever-increasing decibel level throughout four quarters. Manning doesn’t need to go out there and sling 40-yard bombs left and right. He just needs to make the simple passes, move the chains and rely on what’s given to him. If those things can happen, there’s a good chance Horns can put points on the board and rely on their all-elite defense to do the rest.