Why Texas’ Defense Is Ready To Surprise College Football
Texas fans have seen this movie before.
As a new coaching staff arrives on the Forty Acres after having flourishing success in the seasons prior, it serves as a time for an uplifting sense of hope and a fresh start.
Charlie Strong was coming off of back-to-back 11-plus win seasons as the head coach at Louisville when he joined Texas in 2014, including a 12-1 record in 2013. This kind of production made him seem like an excellent choice after the departure of Mack Brown.
Longhorn Nation knows how that turned out.
Strong managed to produce three straight losing seasons and zero bowl victories in his time as head coach, with his most memorable accomplishment at Texas being the massive 24-17 upset over No. 10 Oklahoma in 2015.
For Tom Herman, it was destiny when he arrived in Austin. The UT alum led a Group-of-5 Houston Cougar team to a 13-1 record in 2015 that ended with a Peach Bowl victory.
Even though his first year at Texas in 2017 didn’t come close to meeting expectations, he still secured four straight winning seasons with the Horns along with a Sugar Bowl win in his time as head coach.
Yet, coaching at Texas comes with a sense to achieve more.
As Herman and his staff depart, Steve Sarkisian comes marching into town fresh off of a national championship as OC at Alabama. With him, a fresh set of ball-stopping coaches like new defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski.
READ MORE: How To Watch: No. 21 Texas Season Opener vs. No 23. Louisiana
It’s crazy to think, but expectations may have never been this high for the Longhorns. So, what can Texas fans expect?
Here at Longhorns Country, we’ve already taken a look at what Sark can bring to the table offensively. Read it here.
Now, the proof will show why this Texas team has a leg-up defensively than previous groups in recent years.
Defense
The Longhorn's highest-ranking defense under former defensive coordinator Todd Orlando came in 2017, as Texas’ defense ranked 30th overall in the country giving up 21.2 points per game. For the Big 12, these were respectable numbers that gave Texas the third-best defense in the conference that year.
The next three years saw Texas fail to crack into the top 50 defenses nationally, as the team became known to blow assignments and miss tackles time and time again.
During all this, Kwiatkowski was quietly constructing one of the best defenses in college football at Washington. In his six-year stint with the program that saw Kwiatkowski shift from defensive coordinator to co-defensive coordinator, the Huskies defense had only two seasons giving up 20 points or more per game.
From 2015 to 2019, their defense never fell out of the top 20.
The Huskies were two-time Pac-12 champs (2016 & 2018) during this time and earned a berth in the 2017 College Football Playoff. Under Kwiatkowski, the defense was clearly a difference-maker.
READ MORE: Eight Former Longhorns Cut From the NFL; Giants Add One to Their Roster
A full arsenal of defensive weapons will be at Kwiatkowski's disposal this season in Austin. In a 4-2-5 set, his focus on stopping pass-heavy spread offenses will result in a consistent transition away from the traditional front seven set-ups, but luckily Texas' personnel is up to the task.
With an extra defensive back in the secondary, Kwiatkowski will have to rely on versatile defenders upfront. This is where the talents of Jacoby Jones, DeMarvion Overshown, and Ray Thornton come into play.
Feel free to take a look at the entire Texas defensive depth chart to get familiar with the personnel.
By taking away a linebacker, the guys up front have more defensive responsibility by default. As a powerful edge rusher, Jones fits perfectly into this role as Kwiatkowski's JACK linebacker. In most cases, he'll be setting the tone up front and will drop back into short coverage when it's asked of him.
For Thornton, sliding it at the spot opposite of Jones will cause problems for opposing offenses. The LSU transfer is a superior athlete than Jones and will line up with offensive guards often. Though he would love to get a sack on each play, his role is to cause blindside pressure for the quarterback, forcing him into a rushed throw or mistake.
Yet, Thornton's true defensive versatility lies in his potential ability to defend the seams against tight ends or slot receivers in pass coverage.
Similarly, Overshown will be doing much of the same thing, though his unique skill set will be counted on to out-class players in the open field. His sideline-to-sideline speed is superior to almost anyone on Texas' roster, as he is arguably the team's most important defender.
As a candidate for the Butkus Award, he's ready to show the rest of the nation why he's one of the best linebackers in college football.
While the linebackers are doing their job upfront, the nickel defense in the secondary (five defensive backs) will be responsible for staying true to their assignments and not giving up the deep ball.
Texas has an experienced secondary with the likes of Josh Thompson, B.J Foster, D'Shawn Jamison, Anthony Cook, and Brenden Schooler. All five guys are seniors this season, making 2021 ideal for Kwiatkowski to establish his ball-stopping defense.
Some might wonder how the defense plans on stopping the run consistently with so many guys in the secondary.
Along with the previously mentioned linebacker group, big guys like Keondre Coburn and Moro Ojomo will either stop the run at first contact or force the running back into a baited gap that will be blown up by a guy like Overshown.
Kwiatkowski revolutionized the 4-2-5 defense during his days at Boise State and Washington, and it's likely he's not done making constant adjustments as the 2021 season progresses.
He'll have his work cut out for him throughout the year, but he's proved numerous times in his career that he's capable of captaining a consistent top-10 defense.
The Longhorns take on Louisiana today in Austin at 3:30 p.m. C.T.
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