It’s college football truism that the identify of a team changes from year to year.
In 2023, the Texas Longhorns made the program’s first appearance in the College Football Playoffs behind an elite offense, a strong defensive front, and good special teams play before the season ended when the Washington Huskies were able to exploit a porous secondary.
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The secondary improved enough in 2024 for the Longhorns to field the nation’s No. 2 defense in SP+, launching Texas to another semifinal appearance despite some regression from the offense, most notably in the running game, and special teams play that was catastrophic at times, dropping all the way to 117th.
The offensive slide has continued for Texas this season, all the way to 58th this week, but the defense is not just elite, it’s currently the nation’s best, and replacing the punter and kicker has helped Jeff Banks’ special teams unit rebound to 66th nationally, bolstered by steady play from those replacements and the explosiveness of redshirt sophomore running back/wide receiver Ryan Niblett on punt returns.
In an effort to play complementary football, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has shifted the team’s offensive identity since the start of conference play.
“At the end of the day, we have to make sure we’re playing complementary football with our defense. I think we made that shift in that adjustment about three weeks ago to say, ‘Okay, we’re playing really good defense, we’re playing really good on special teams, let’s make sure we’re playing a complimentary brand of football to continue to enhance the way we’re playing in those two phases, and play in a style to where, hey, we’re protecting the ball, alright, we’re going to play a field-position game,‘” Sarkisian said during his Monday press conference.
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An elite attribute for the Longhorns defense is its ability to keep opponents out of the end — Texas ranks third nationally in scoring defense behind Ohio State and Oklahoma at 11.3 points per game by limiting opponents to only 11 red-zone trips this season, tied for second nationally behind Indiana.
Despite some breakdowns in technique and fundamentals at all three levels of the defense in the loss to the Gators, the Longhorns have been consistent over the course of the season with some positive trends in recent weeks.
Sophomore edge Colin Simmons is breaking out after pressing too much early in the season, recording 5.5 of his seven sacks this season in the last two games with 14 total pressures in the three conference games Texas has played. He’s also playing more consistent defense against the run with 10 of his 13 defensive stops in SEC play.
“Going into the Florida game, I felt a shift in his approach. I felt like he was pressing early in the season, and I felt like in the Florida game, he became a complete football player,” Sarkisian said. “He defended the run really well. In that game, he had a couple pretty good rushes, but I feel like he’s not — I hate to say not trying as hard — but he’s allowing it to come to him, he’s playing a little faster, I think he’s taking advantage of opportunities when they’re there.”
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The Horns are getting improved help from other defensive ends, too, ranging from a greater impact from senior Jack end Ethan Burke after playing through an injury for several weeks to playing junior edge Brad Spence a little more off the ball to a bigger impact from freshman Lance Jackson, who recorded two defensive stops against Florida and Kentucky and four pressures against Oklahoma.
“I thought our ability to pressure the quarterback when we were disciplined in our rush lanes showed up with five sacks and two hurries,” Sarkisian said in his post-game press conference after the win over Kentucky.
At the second level, junior Anthony Hill Jr. played one of the best games of his career in the win over the Wildcats, coming up with a big fourth-down stop early in the game and ultimately finishing with 12 tackles (eight solo), a quarterback hurry, a pass defended, and an interception.
“To get a fourth down stop on the first drive of the game, I thought was critical,” Sarkisian said in his post-game press conference.
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On a defense that has attacked the football well in forcing in forcing eight fumbles, Hill and sophomore linebacker Ty’Anthony Smith have both caused two.
In the secondary, redshirt senior safety Michael Taaffe is tied as the highest-graded player at his position nationally, according to Pro Football Focus, and leads Texas in tackles with 51 (28 solo), adding a sack and an interception.
After missing the game in Gainesville, junior cornerback Manny Muhammad has provided impact play for the Horns in the two games since his return, recording two big interceptions against the Sooners and showing his versatility against the Wildcats with a sack and five solo tackles by playing with physicality on the perimeter.
Vowing to Sarkisian that he would be more reliable after late-season struggles in 2024, Muhammad has provided lock-down coverage for Texas, allowing 11 catches on 18 targets for 75 yards with opposing quarterbacks recording a 30.8 NFL passer rating when targeting Muhammad. In Saturday’s win, Kentucky managed to complete all three passes targeting Muhammad in coverage, but only gained 16 yards on those completions.
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As a unit, the goal-line stand against the Wildcats in overtime preserved the opportunity to kick the game-winning field goal.
Sarkisian credited senior cornerback Jaylon Guilbeau for his effort getting Kentucky wide receiver Kendrick Law out of bounds at the 3-yard line to open overtime after a 22-yard gain. Two plays later, Guilbeau stayed disciplined on his assignment covering the tight end in the flat on a play-action bootleg, forcing Wildcats quarterback Cutter Boley to scramble instead of throwing a touchdown to force the Longhorns to respond in kind.
As Kentucky ran two plays from the 1-yard line, back-to-back efforts by running back Dante Dowdell trying to go over the top of the Texas defense, numerous players stepped up for the Longhorns.
“Inevitably, the goal line stand, some amazing efforts — Brad Spence, Travis Shaw, Jelani McDonald, Michael Taaffe, Liona Lefau, I mean, Cole Brevard, a bunch of guys with great efforts there,” Sarkisian said.
On special teams, it’s not easy to pick one headline.
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Niblett’s explosion onto the national scene arguably deserves the nod — the Aldine Eisenhower is second nationally in yards per punt return at 25.33, but has a claim as the most explosive punt returner in the country.
That’s because Iowa’s Kaden Wetjens, the leader in punt return yardage and average yards per punt return, padded his stats with 182 of his 311 punt return yards and his touchdown return against UMass, the nation’s worst team in SP+ and the No. 131 special teams unit in that metric.
And South Carolina’s Vicari Swain, who leads the nation with three punt return touchdowns? Two of them came against FCS opponent South Carolina State.
Niblett, meanwhile is peaking in conference play, sealing the Red River Rivalry with his punt return touchdown and setting up 10 of the 16 points scored by the Longhorns against the Wildcats with returns of 45 yards and 43 yards.
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In the last two games, the 5’10, 187-pounder is averaging 54.33 yards on his three returns in high-profile moments.
Texas has also stabilized its kicking game by landing Texas State transfer place kicker and Utah transfer punter Jack Bouwmeester.
Shipley has maintained his accuracy and leg strength moving onto a bigger stage, making 11-of-13 field goals this season, including a 53-yarder against Kentucky. Both misses by the redshirt senior came from 50-plus yards in the Cotton Bowl.
In Lexington, Shipley calmly nailed the game-winning 45-yard field goal in overtime to secure SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
The 53 punt return yards allowed by Texas is middle-of-the-pack defensively and is impacting Bouwmeester’s net yards per punt, and the coverage unit hasn’t always helped in reducing the number of touchbacks for the Australian, a career-high six already, but his pure average of 45.6 yards per punt would set his career high and ranks No. 21 nationally, a significant improvement from last season, when the Horns averaged 40.8 yards per punt.
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On kickoffs, Texas has only allowed seven returns at 14 yards per return, eighth nationally.
“They’re really aggressive,” Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby said this week of the Texas special teams. “They’ve got great personnel, and when you have great personnel, you’ve got a real chance to be great on teams. They recruited in an incredible way and they’ve got great depth on their roster. They pose some problems that way.”
As Sarkisian tries to find short-term fixes for the offense, the Texas head coach believes that excelling in the other two phases will keep the Longhorns competitive.
“We’re trying to be the most complete team that we can be and you always want all three phases to be a well-oiled machine,” Sarkisian said in Lexington. “Right now we’re just not quite there yet on offense, but it’s truly good to know that when you can you can play defense and play good on special teams, you’re always going to have a chance.”
