Texas Longhorns Set to Battle Improved, 'Confident' Kansas Defense

The Texas Longhorns will be a facing a Kansas Jayhawks defense that has made strides from last season.

AUSTIN, Texas -- The No. 3 Texas Longhorns are hoping to replicate the offensive performance they had against Kansas last season when they welcome the No. 24 Jayhawks to Austin on Sunday in a battle of 4-0 teams.

But that might be easier said than done against a Kansas defense that has made it a point to improve this season. Safe to say Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is aware of this despite last season's 55-14 blowout win over the Jayhawks.

“You just don’t see the lapse in coverages in things from year one," Sarkisian said Thursday. "It gets better in year two, and now they’re in year three. I think they’re playing that physical style up front. They’re playing sound in the back end. Now four games in, they’re playing with a lot of confidence.”

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Savion Red (17) runs with the ball past Kansas Jayhawks safety O.J. Burroughs (5) during the first half at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium / © Jay Biggerstaff, USA TODAY

Last season, the Kansas defense surrendered the eight-most points (35.5) per game in the country. This was hardly the worst that it got for the unit, as the Jayhawks, on a per-game basis, also gave up the seventh-most rushing yards (209.2), the fourth-most passing touchdowns (2.8) and the fifth-most total offensive yards (469.4).

Kansas gave up at least 50 points in three games last season. But this year, the Jayhawks have already shown some major improvement and have yet to allow a 30-point game amid a 4-0 start. This was highlighted by a 38-27 win over BYU last Saturday, as Kansas used two defensive scores to come away with the victory.

Sarkisian continued to praise what he's seen from the unit.

“Defensively, sometimes it’s getting the pieces to the puzzle right,” Sarkisian said. “Obviously they hit the portal really hard on the defensive front this offseason and they’ve got some play-makers up there, guys who not only do well against the run but affect the quarterback and have gotten some sacks. I think the other thing you see defensively out of them is they believe in the scheme. They’ve got a veteran secondary. They’ve got veteran linebackers that all work well together."

The Texas offense will need to come into Saturday with an elite gameplan if they want to remain undefeated and keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive. The Longhorns and Jayhawks kickoff from DKR at 2:30 p.m.