It's hard to win in the SEC. That was the Longhorns' message after last week's overtime escape at Kentucky following a miserable performance offensively. It's a level of ineptitude that can't show up again Saturday at Mississippi State if they're expecting similar, winning results.

It's been a nightmarish season for the preseason National Championship favorite, the Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns are 5-2 to start the college football season

Preview the Oct. 25 matchup between the Texas Longhorns and Mississippi State Bulldogs with predictions, odds, over/under, spread, betting lines and more.

Sports editor Reid Laymance is in his second tour of duty with the Houston Chronicle. He can be reached at [email protected]. A graduate of Westbury High School and The University of Texas at Austin, Laymance started his career at The Dallas Morning News in 1983 before moving to the National Sports Daily.

The Texas Longhorns have had a rollercoaster of a season so far. Now, as they enter the second half of their season, the Longhorns aim to rectify their mistakes

Manning, the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite, has not played up to expectations. He has completed 60.3% of his passes for 1,449 yards with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions. He has also rushed for five scores. Texas has been missing a key piece of its offensive attack in running back CJ Baxter.

SEC Network's Chris Doering and Benjamin Watson discuss how the Bulldogs' impressive start to the season can start translating into SEC victories beginning with the Longhorns.

Mississippi State is going with a throwback logo for its homecoming uniforms this weekend against No. 22 Texas.

The Longhorns have yet to cover when on the road this season and are 2-5 overall ATS. While Texas does have two teams who have yet to win in conference play on the schedule (Mississippi State and Arkansas), they do face three teams who are currently ranked inside the Top 10 of the AP Top 25 (Vanderbilt, Georgia, and Texas A&M).

Baxter and Wisner split work out of the backfield in the season-opening loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in a game where the Texas rushing attack was productive against an elite defense. Wisner had 16 carries for 80 yards while Baxter had 10 attempts for 40 yards.