. . .at best. That is the reality.
The stark facts are that this defense is just plain thin in talent and thin in quality depth. It doesn't have the personnel to take control of a game against a formidable opponent. Offense and special teams have to compensate.
From last year's defense, Joseph Ossai was drafted by the Bengals. Ta'Quon Graham was drafted by the Falcons. Juwan Mitchell, our middle linebacker, transferred to Tennessee and the starting MLB for the Vols.
Mitchell was replaced by Luke Brockermeyer, a former preferred walk-on 3 * originally committed to Rice. We also picked up two graduate transfers to replace Ossai at the Jack position: Ovie Oghuofo from Notre Dame, a former 3 * recruit, and Ray Thornton from LSU, a former 4 * recruit. And let's not forget Brendon Schooler, who transferred from Oregon to Arizona, then to Texas. He was a low-3 * recruit brought in to play WR last year and then switched to defense, which he hadn't played in several years. All four were listed as starters against the Sooners: Brockermeyer at MIKE, Obhuofo at SLB, Thornton at Buck End, and Schooler as a co-starter with Jerrin Thompson at FS. Ben Davis transferred in from Bama, but has been a non-factor. I'm all for players who want to put on the Burnt Orange and proudly support them.
But figure this: one-third of our starters on defense consist of a former walk-on and Notre Dame's, LSU's, and Arizona's second-stringers/part-timers. The fact that these second-stringers/part-timers are starters says a lot about the our second-stringers. Let that sink in for a moment.
Against the Sooners, the defense had to play stingy, with discipline, and make no mistakes. And get a special teams break here or there. The special teams came up with a blocked punt and the defense came up with 1 fumble and 1 INT. The defense was done in by a lack of discipline on the OU counters and the offense forcing the defense back on the field too many times.
In the first quarter, the Texas offense scored swiftly and at will. With the help of a blocked punt, we scored three touchdowns in about a half-dozen plays. The flip side of Texas' lightning quick scores is that our defense was on the field for long stretches. By end of the first quarter, with temperatures in the '90s, the Texas defense was on the filed for almost 10 minutes. In the second half, when the Texas offense stalled series after series, it only got worse for the defense. In the fourth quarter, OU scored 25 points on an exhausted, beaten Texas defense that could not stop the counter or got burned on spectacular Sooner pass plays. OU racked up 662 total yards. The final box score shows the time of possession at OU 35:23 and Texas 24:37. OU ran 81 plays and Texas ran 61. In crunch time, our offense couldn't stay on the field and our defense couldn't get off the field.
In the OU game, up front in the trenches, we lost a key contributor on the D-line when Jacoby Jones went out with an injury early. I think Coburn and Collins got banged up too. Otherwise, the D-line was awful. First contact on Sooner RBs was usually 5 to 10 yards downfield with a missed tackle thrown in for good measure. Collins and Coburn combined for 2 tackles. Thornton had 1. Oghoufo had 2. Our D-line was quite simply a non-factor.
The majority of tackles were made by the linebackers and DBs. Brockermeyer, Foster, Overshown, Jamison, Thompson, and Cook = 28 tackles. Schooler had 0. It is not a good stat sheet when Texas linebackers and defensive backs are trying to tackle Caleb Williams and Kennedy Brooks deep in the backfield. . .those two accounted for over 300 yards on the ground.
What we have is the personnel to field a "serviceable" defense. It can hold its own against Louisiana, Rice, and TCU. The Texas Tech game, second half, was prophetic in that we gave up 520 total yards to the Red Raiders. When the offense scores 70 points, it can camouflage a weak defense. That was the Tech game. But we won't score 70 points every game. When the offense sputters and can't protect the defense, we get the Arkansas and Oklahoma games.
The truth of the matter is that our defense is a patchwork of underperforming D-linemen, overperforming walk-ons, second-tier transfers, former WRs, with some genuine ball hawks sprinkled in (Overshown, Jamison, and Cook). We are living on the edge between a serviceable defense and that one injury that creates a severe drop off in talent, that one transfer that creates a gaping position hole, or that one long gap in time of possession on a hot afternoon that leads to collapse. It is what it is. Tom Herman left us shell of a Texas defense and its up to Sark and Co. to "coach 'em up."
I'm not a hater calling for Coach K's head now and I'm not a blind sunshine pumper either. I do, however, expect Texas to leave blood and guts on the field for 4 quarters. OU scored the winning touchdown in the waning seconds of the game. On this point,Texas came up short but the team never quit in the Cotton Bowl. Sark and his staff are just six games into their tenure and is making the most with Casey, Bijan, Xavier, etc. on the offensive side of the ball. I have a feeling this was just Round 1 with the Sooners and that we will see them again in December. Sark and Coach K need to "coach up" the players on the current roster and recruit savages for the future roster.
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