Texas vs. Mississippi State Kickoff Time Announced

The Texas Longhorns will open up SEC play against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Isaiah Bond (7) runs the ball forward as the Texas Longhorns take on ULM at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. | Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

AUSTIN -- The Texas Longhorns are set to play their first-ever SEC game next Saturday against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, and the official kickoff time has been revealed.

The SEC's website has listed a finalized kickoff time of 3:15 p.m. CT for the game despite the original start time having a range between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. CT.

The only other kickoff times set for the remainder of Texas' SEC schedule are the matchups with Oklahoma (2:30 p.m. CT), Florida (11 a.m. CT) and Arkansas (11 a.m. CT).

While Saturday's meeting will mark the SEC opener for Texas, the Bulldogs (1-3) are coming off of a 45-28 loss at home to Florida. Mississippi State has lost three straight, low-lighted by a 41-17 home loss to Toledo on Sept. 14.

To make matters worse, Bulldogs quarterback Blake Shapen suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against the Gators.

Meanwhile, No. 1 Texas is coming off of a 51-3 rout of Louisiana-Monroe. The Longhorns could get Quinn Ewers back against Mississippi State after a one-game absence, but if he's unable to go, Arch Manning will get his second-career start.

Regardless of the opponenent, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian wants his team to stayed focused as SEC play begins.

"We start SEC play next week, and we got to continue to stay the course," Sarkisian said. "We don't need to do anything different. We just need to believe in our process, trust our process. We've got a formula for success, and I think they've understood now that when we do it right, we can perform at a pretty high level. And we got to get back to doing that again this week as we kick off the SEC next weekend."