This is how much I love y’all: I watched UT’s win over Baylor again and even paused to take videos and jot down notes of individual plays. Surely, this means the extra coffee I purchased and immediately consumed is a tax write off, right?
Anyway, it became obvious the Longhorns looked better on one side of the football than the other. While we do have to evaluate the performance with the context of Baylor’s lack of practices and games, the improvement Texas made on defense remains noticeable. Three things after a rewatch:
1) Sometimes, it’s obvious how a team – or in this case the defensive unit – will play from the first drive. So, when we saw the motor some big guys displayed on the first Baylor drive of the game, we should have expected a strong performance to follow.
If you want to know what separates Joseph Ossai from many others in college football, that clip above is a great example. Not only is he a great blend of quickness, speed, strength with pass-rushing and playmaking ability, no one on the field is ever going to play harder than him or with a better motor. Baylor’s Terrel Bernard is the same way, and that guy was everywhere on tape.
--- The effort extended to other areas on the defense as well. This is an outstanding job by Anthony Cook of giving himself up and playing so hard that he occupies two blockers to allow his teammates to stuff a bubble screen attempt.
--- This isn’t the most picturesque sack, but this had to feel good for Ojomo, who has been scuffling some this season as he tries to find his footing in an expanded role for a new defense. Good coverage down the field allows Ojomo to win the battle and get the quarterback to the turf.
--- By now, you know I’m a Ta’Quon Graham truther. Big fella showed up in a big way against Baylor. Another high effort player, Graham used his quickness to stuff a quarterback sneak on third-and-one.
And a game after the defensive line was largely silent, Graham played a disruptive role for a much better position group against the Bears. Again, he utilizes his quickness and hands/strength to whip his man and chase the quarterback into an incompletion.
2) Last week, Tom Herman spoke about the small missed assignments on defense and the feeling that side of the ball was making progress. He wasn’t necessarily referring to guys doing the wrong thing, blown coverages, or missed assignments in that way. Rather, the head coach was referring to small adjustments in things like technique.
Chris Adimora provided a great example of the type of improvement Herman thought he’d see. Watch how Adimora tries to stay to the outside shoulder of the blocker to slow down the play and allow his defenders coming from the inside to capitalize.
--- This season, I’ve been waiting for the Texas defense, and especially the secondary, to play more freely and aggressively. I thought Chris Ash would allow for a talented UT secondary to blossom by showing its talent in man-to-man, and more often play with instincts and aggressiveness in zone coverage to freely attack playmaking opportunities instead of sticking to more rigid assignments. We’re starting to see it.
Yes, D’Shawn Jamison dropped this pick, but he’s in position to make the play because he read the quarterback, came out of his area, and aggressively went after a potential turnover. Players don’t attempt those types of plays if they’re not confident and comfortable in their knowledge and role in the defense. The quarterback thinks Jamison will stick in the flat because that’s what often happens.
At the safety spot, I’ve been waiting to see the two-high safety look result in some turnovers and more playmaking. Like Jamison in the play above, Foster plays freely and aggressively, while reading the quarterback’s eyes, and nearly pulls down the very acrobatic interception.
--- The comfort and knowledge of the defense is starting to show along the defensive line too. Ojomo sniffs out this jet sweep and plays his assignment perfectly because he was probably drilled on it a ton and watched it on film.
--- Let’s give Chris Brown, who also had a play similar to the ones Foster and Jamison made above, some love too after he was criticized, fairly, for his performance against Oklahoma. Another example of a defensive back extremely comfortable in what he’s seeing and what he’s freed to do defensively.
And tight fourth-down coverage to force an incompletion is definitely worthy of a flex:
3) That’s the good stuff. Meanwhile, the offense was a big bag of mediocre and boring. Clearly, Herman wanted to hammer the point home the team was going to try to run the football better and worked on it during the bye week.
When Texas had success, two things were often associated: Bijan Robinson and running to the left. Okay, make it three things because the defense being forced to account for Sam Ehlinger’s legs also played a role. Good example here of Texas creating and winning in the numbers game. Because one defender has to account for Ehlinger, both tight ends block a single man and Sam Cosmi is able to get enough of Bernard to spring Robinson for a first-down run thanks to the young back extending the play to get a little more.
Good example here of Robinson’s vision, acceleration, and ability to cut quickly while reading the defense:
But as for the running game, that was about it.
--- The bigger issue for Texas is Ehlinger is stuck in neutral right now. For whatever reason, Texas didn’t want to challenge Baylor much down the field despite Josh Moore’s incredible one-on-one grab, Tarik Black’s big catch off a blown assignment, and Jared Wiley exploiting the middle of the field. I don’t get it, but I’m not calling the plays.
And throws like this from Ehlinger don’t help:
There seems to be a clear lack in rhythm with the passing offense down the field right now. Remember, Texas did a ton of its damage against Oklahoma with crossers/mesh concepts and barely any throws down the field. We’ve seen Ehlinger go in reverse throwing the ball deep.
This is a throw Ehlinger has to make, and yet it looks like one you’d see in the first week of camp because the timing, rhythm, and fluidity aren’t present.
--- What I’d like to see more, if Texas is going to keep from challenging teams vertically despite signs of major coverage issues, is a play like this:
This is type of look that helps the offensive line, slows down an opposing pass rush, gets the talented pass-catching running backs involved, and allows Ehlinger to use his athleticism and natural feel for the position.
--- If Texas isn’t going to run to ball effectively despite trying its best to force the issue, it’s going to have to lean on its senior quarterback and passing attack at some point, and probably very soon against Oklahoma State. But what we’ve seen in recent games is a passing attack going the wrong direction, and the most experienced quarterback in the country losing rhythm as a passer.
BONUS
--- Speaking of that Moore catch mentioned above...
I continue to be impressed by his athleticism.
--- The secondary, overall, played better against Baylor, but there were still some issues. Jalen Green was targeted on back-to-back plays in man coverage, and committed an ugly pass interference penalty the second time. Too often this season the Longhorns have displayed poor technique in man coverage despite being in good position to make a play.
--- Things I didn’t expect to type this season: Jett Bush effectively covered a running back wheel route down the field. He did it again in the red zone later in the game.
Anyway, it became obvious the Longhorns looked better on one side of the football than the other. While we do have to evaluate the performance with the context of Baylor’s lack of practices and games, the improvement Texas made on defense remains noticeable. Three things after a rewatch:
1) Sometimes, it’s obvious how a team – or in this case the defensive unit – will play from the first drive. So, when we saw the motor some big guys displayed on the first Baylor drive of the game, we should have expected a strong performance to follow.
If you want to know what separates Joseph Ossai from many others in college football, that clip above is a great example. Not only is he a great blend of quickness, speed, strength with pass-rushing and playmaking ability, no one on the field is ever going to play harder than him or with a better motor. Baylor’s Terrel Bernard is the same way, and that guy was everywhere on tape.
--- The effort extended to other areas on the defense as well. This is an outstanding job by Anthony Cook of giving himself up and playing so hard that he occupies two blockers to allow his teammates to stuff a bubble screen attempt.
--- This isn’t the most picturesque sack, but this had to feel good for Ojomo, who has been scuffling some this season as he tries to find his footing in an expanded role for a new defense. Good coverage down the field allows Ojomo to win the battle and get the quarterback to the turf.
--- By now, you know I’m a Ta’Quon Graham truther. Big fella showed up in a big way against Baylor. Another high effort player, Graham used his quickness to stuff a quarterback sneak on third-and-one.
And a game after the defensive line was largely silent, Graham played a disruptive role for a much better position group against the Bears. Again, he utilizes his quickness and hands/strength to whip his man and chase the quarterback into an incompletion.
2) Last week, Tom Herman spoke about the small missed assignments on defense and the feeling that side of the ball was making progress. He wasn’t necessarily referring to guys doing the wrong thing, blown coverages, or missed assignments in that way. Rather, the head coach was referring to small adjustments in things like technique.
Chris Adimora provided a great example of the type of improvement Herman thought he’d see. Watch how Adimora tries to stay to the outside shoulder of the blocker to slow down the play and allow his defenders coming from the inside to capitalize.
--- This season, I’ve been waiting for the Texas defense, and especially the secondary, to play more freely and aggressively. I thought Chris Ash would allow for a talented UT secondary to blossom by showing its talent in man-to-man, and more often play with instincts and aggressiveness in zone coverage to freely attack playmaking opportunities instead of sticking to more rigid assignments. We’re starting to see it.
Yes, D’Shawn Jamison dropped this pick, but he’s in position to make the play because he read the quarterback, came out of his area, and aggressively went after a potential turnover. Players don’t attempt those types of plays if they’re not confident and comfortable in their knowledge and role in the defense. The quarterback thinks Jamison will stick in the flat because that’s what often happens.
At the safety spot, I’ve been waiting to see the two-high safety look result in some turnovers and more playmaking. Like Jamison in the play above, Foster plays freely and aggressively, while reading the quarterback’s eyes, and nearly pulls down the very acrobatic interception.
--- The comfort and knowledge of the defense is starting to show along the defensive line too. Ojomo sniffs out this jet sweep and plays his assignment perfectly because he was probably drilled on it a ton and watched it on film.
--- Let’s give Chris Brown, who also had a play similar to the ones Foster and Jamison made above, some love too after he was criticized, fairly, for his performance against Oklahoma. Another example of a defensive back extremely comfortable in what he’s seeing and what he’s freed to do defensively.
And tight fourth-down coverage to force an incompletion is definitely worthy of a flex:
3) That’s the good stuff. Meanwhile, the offense was a big bag of mediocre and boring. Clearly, Herman wanted to hammer the point home the team was going to try to run the football better and worked on it during the bye week.
When Texas had success, two things were often associated: Bijan Robinson and running to the left. Okay, make it three things because the defense being forced to account for Sam Ehlinger’s legs also played a role. Good example here of Texas creating and winning in the numbers game. Because one defender has to account for Ehlinger, both tight ends block a single man and Sam Cosmi is able to get enough of Bernard to spring Robinson for a first-down run thanks to the young back extending the play to get a little more.
Good example here of Robinson’s vision, acceleration, and ability to cut quickly while reading the defense:
But as for the running game, that was about it.
--- The bigger issue for Texas is Ehlinger is stuck in neutral right now. For whatever reason, Texas didn’t want to challenge Baylor much down the field despite Josh Moore’s incredible one-on-one grab, Tarik Black’s big catch off a blown assignment, and Jared Wiley exploiting the middle of the field. I don’t get it, but I’m not calling the plays.
And throws like this from Ehlinger don’t help:
There seems to be a clear lack in rhythm with the passing offense down the field right now. Remember, Texas did a ton of its damage against Oklahoma with crossers/mesh concepts and barely any throws down the field. We’ve seen Ehlinger go in reverse throwing the ball deep.
This is a throw Ehlinger has to make, and yet it looks like one you’d see in the first week of camp because the timing, rhythm, and fluidity aren’t present.
--- What I’d like to see more, if Texas is going to keep from challenging teams vertically despite signs of major coverage issues, is a play like this:
This is type of look that helps the offensive line, slows down an opposing pass rush, gets the talented pass-catching running backs involved, and allows Ehlinger to use his athleticism and natural feel for the position.
--- If Texas isn’t going to run to ball effectively despite trying its best to force the issue, it’s going to have to lean on its senior quarterback and passing attack at some point, and probably very soon against Oklahoma State. But what we’ve seen in recent games is a passing attack going the wrong direction, and the most experienced quarterback in the country losing rhythm as a passer.
BONUS
--- Speaking of that Moore catch mentioned above...
I continue to be impressed by his athleticism.
--- The secondary, overall, played better against Baylor, but there were still some issues. Jalen Green was targeted on back-to-back plays in man coverage, and committed an ugly pass interference penalty the second time. Too often this season the Longhorns have displayed poor technique in man coverage despite being in good position to make a play.
--- Things I didn’t expect to type this season: Jett Bush effectively covered a running back wheel route down the field. He did it again in the red zone later in the game.
