UTSA has a new left tackle, right tackle and quarterback this season. If there was ever a time for the Texas defensive line to build up some momentum, this is it.
The second-ranked Longhorns (2-0) have just one sack and seven quarterback pressures in two games so far this young season. Those numbers are deceiving to a degree. Colorado State’s Air Raid is designed to get rid of the ball quickly. Michigan wanted to run the ball.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is pleased with how his defenders are pushing quarterbacks out of their comfortable spot. One of the interceptions against Michigan came after defensive end Ethan Burke forced a rushed throw. Still, he sees room for improvement.
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“We’re rushing the passer, we’re pinning our ears back and we’re going,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “We can’t create these running lanes for these athletic quarterbacks. I thought we saw that last week where the quarterback was able to get outside the pocket, and now that puts a lot of stress on your secondary to try to guard people that long.
“Then, ultimately, kind of bit us there at the end was the touchdown that they throw at the end of the game,” he added. “We had a great pass rush. I think we all wished we would have sacked him and we had a chance to, but we didn’t.”
In short, Sarkisian doesn’t want to give quarterbacks extra time by escaping the pocket and finding breakdowns downfield. Texas defenders need to get their hands on the quarterback and get him down.
Texas’ lone sack of the season came from an unexpected source. Freshman Colin Simmons was a high school All-American and won two state titles at Duncanville. He projects to be a Longhorn standout for years to come. Simmons also has two of UT’s seven quarterback hurries.
“He’s coming along, obviously,” defensive end Barryn Sorrell said. “As a young guy, you always got to get over the hump just moving from high school to college, but he’s definitely done that. And I’m very proud of Colin, and I'm pretty sure we're going to be hearing his name a lot more in the future.”
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Sorrell wanted to have double-digit sacks this season, and he’s still got plenty of time. Sorrell has three quarterback hurries.
Sarkisian stressed to players he wants “60 minutes of hell.” To do that, the Longhorns have to go full throttle from start to finish.
“It just comes to our preparation,” Sorrell said. “We’re focusing on finishing practices, so then we could go out there and finish games on Saturdays.”
The Longhorns saw last season how putting too much pressure on the back end can lead to problems. Texas had 32 sacks last season, which ranked 39th among all FBS teams last season. The defensive pressure helped the Longhorns finish 35th in total defense.
Those rankings sound good for a Big 12 championship team, right? The Longhorns ranked 116th in pass defense, allowing 254.4 yards per game. Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski actually had philosophical disagreements over the offseason about why UT gave up so many passing yards. Was it a poor pass rush? Was it bad secondary coverage? A combination of both? Missed tackles?
The Horns went out and upgraded their secondary by adding Clemson veteran Andrew Mukuba. They added some big anchors in the middle in Bill Norton and Jermayne Lole and speed off the edge in UTSA transfer Trey Moore. The defense is also moving talented standout Jadhae Barron around to different positions based on the matchup.
Still, things would work a lot better if the Horns can sack the quarterback — or at least make him uncomfortable.
“I feel like everybody is just in love with the details,” Sorrell said with optimism, “and I feel like that's kind of how we been getting the results we've been getting.”
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