Free article from Inside Texas/Nahlin
Gameplan: Weighing the upside and downside for the 2020 Longhorns - Inside Texas
" .... Everything is lining up along the same pattern that has defined Texas’ defensive cycles for the last decade.
In 2011 Texas plugged in a defensive line with Alex Okafor, Jackson Jeffcoat, and Kheeston Randall in front of a defensive backfield that included several multi-year veterans such as Manny Acho, Keenan Robinson, Blake Gideon, and Kenny Vaccaro. They climbed from ranking 26th in defensive FEI (it never got too bad under Will Muschamp) to 6th.
In 2012 they graduated many of those players and slowly retooled with younger players up until 2014. Then they hired Charlie Strong and he took charge of a defensive line with Cedric Reed, Malcom Brown, and Hassan Ridgeway backed by veterans such as Jordan Hicks, Steve Edmond, Mykkele Thompson, Quandre Diggs, and Duke Thomas. A combination of a strong defensive line, experienced backfield, and simplified schemes resulted in another top defensive unit. They went from finishing 23rd in defensive FEI in 2013 to 13th.
Texas had to rebuild that group in 2015 and 2016 with young recruits and by the time Todd Orlando took over in 2017 he was inheriting a defensive line with Poona Ford, Charles Omenihu, Malcolm Roach, and Breckyn Hager. The backfield included Malik Jefferson, DeShon Elliott, Kris Boyd, and Holton Hill, all guys who’d been getting their heads kicked in for multiple seasons. They jumped from 51st in defensive FEI all the way to 7th.
Three years later and once more Texas is heading into a season with a deep core of highly talented defensive linemen, a backfield stacked with veterans, and a new defensive coordinator emphasizing simplicity in year one. In 2019 they finished 54th in defensive FEI. Finishing in the top 25 this year would go a long ways toward securing a Big 12 title.
You’ll notice that in 2011, 2014, and 2017 when Texas had positive cycles on defense they didn’t have anything close to a senior Sam Ehlinger to maximize the season with a sturdy offense.
The best thing that could go right for the 2020 Longhorns would be Mike Yurcich working out how to empower Sam Ehlinger to overwhelm opponents with a versatile, tempo attack that generates explosive gains. Even if Texas can’t find a single, dominant deep threat receiver it’s still possible that between Ehlinger and Yurcich they could manufacture regular explosive gains by combining multiple packages, tempo, savvy distribution, and then hitting speed in space.
Josh Moore may or may not be capable of regularly beating man coverage against top defenses. But he may be very capable of housing a now screen or flying open down the seam against a team distracted by other concerns. Texas has lots of speedy skill athletes like Moore now that could be sporadically dangerous playing off more established threats...."
