There's a broad selection of descriptors that could be applied to Colin Simmons' performance for the Texas football team Saturday, when he collected two sacks and three tackles for loss in a 35-13 win over Mississippi State.

Outstanding. Dominant. Energizing. Take your pick.

But Simmons went in a different direction.

"It felt normal," the true freshman edge rusher said. "It felt like it's something I'm supposed to be doing."

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Simmons kick-started a breakout performance for the Texas pass rush, which sacked Mississippi State quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. six times after picking up just seven sacks in the first four games of the season.

Those big plays forced the Bulldogs off script, taking them out of a downhill run game that Texas struggled to stop — especially in the first half.

"Juice and energy, the young bull's got a lot of that off the edge, too," veteran linebacker David Gbenda said of Simmons. "He's young and energetic and always smiling and stuff. It's fun to play with him. It's always just good to see the type of energy he brings.

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"He's still learning, and he's willing to learn. He's always by (Anthony Hill Jr.) trying to understand the nuances of the game. He's always asking questions, always just trying to get better. He's going to be really good."

There was no need to operate in the future tense Saturday for Simmons (and a number of Texas' underclassmen). Facing their first hint of adversity all season with a slim 14-6 lead at halftime, the Longhorns turned to their young guns to help engineer a response:

∙ Sophomore wideout DeAndre Moore Jr. played through pain after suffering a hip pointer last week to produce a game-high 103 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

∙ Sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner stepped in for the fumble-plagued Jaydon Blue and carried the ball 13 times for 88 yards to help the Longhorns close out the game.

∙ And then there was redshirt freshman Arch Manning, who carved through calamity caused by fumbles and penalties to be the rock of stability Texas needed at quarterback.

Starting a second straight game for the injured Quinn Ewers, Manning went 26-for-31 through the air in his first taste of SEC action, accumulating 324 passing yards and two touchdowns.

Manning's fortitude showed most when he threw a second-quarter touchdown pass to Moore, staying in the pocket to deliver an inch-perfect deep ball despite an impending hit from an unchecked blitzer.

"I think that shows you how much preparation he's put in for this week, and knowing that if he trusts himself, big things will happen," fifth-year center Jake Majors said. "Like you saw, he got a touchdown. It was cool to see him sit in the pocket. We don't really want him to get hit, but with the type of protection we had, we had to let one (defender) loose. When you blitz like that, and you're sitting in man-to-man, we can expose it. And Arch did a good job just sitting in there."

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Texas coach Steve Sarkisian looks for a balanced mindset when he recruits players, he explained postgame. He wants guys who are humble enough to acknowledge that there will be mistakes, who soak up knowledge, who accept coaching.

But he wants to see confidence, too.

Saturday, Texas' underclassmen used those ingredients to mix a perfect cocktail — even if they're not old enough to order one themselves.

"If we can keep finding those types of people to bring into our program, the guys that sit in these seats every day, that's what makes our culture special," Sarkisian said. "Because they play for one another and they have some humility about them, but yet they have a swagger about them, too, because they have the utmost confidence in the work that they do to prepare to play."

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football: Arch Manning, Colin Simmons provide future hope