Longhorns Run Defense Taking Proper Strides Forward Entering Week 1

The Longhorns run defense could be a strength for the 2023 season en route to a Big 12 title.

It all starts in the trenches. Texas football might like the sound of that heading into the new season. 

The No. 12 Longhorns are less than two weeks away from their season opener against Rice and continue to make strides on defense. That's at least how third-year coach Steve Sarkisian sees it following the team's second closed-door scrimmage Saturday. 

"It started with their energy," Sarkisian said Monday. "I thought they brought really good, positive energy for one another and it showed. A lot of defense is about effort, it's about attitude and then you got to play right, and I thought that they brought that."

Everything in football starts up front. Running lanes have to open for positive yards on the ground. They must close in pass protection or shut to eliminate defenders from reaching the quarterback. 

In the past two scrimmages, the line has looked like the latter, primarily due to the success of T’Vondre Sweat up the middle. Sarkisian mentioned that the Huntsville native continued to catch his eye Saturday and has made strides in practice. 

“T’Vondre Sweat probably had his best day on Saturday,” Sarkisian said. “When he plays like that, we’re a lot better because he’s very difficult to block.” 

Sweat was exceptional last season opposite talents like Alfred Collins, Moro Ojomo and Keondre Coburn. Starting in nine games, the fifth-year senior recorded a career-high 30 tackles while also finishing with four batted balls at the line of scrimmage.

Last season, Texas' defensive line looked promising under coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, or at least substantially better than the 2021 campaign. The Longhorns held opponents to 125.7 rush yards per game, a 75.9-yard differential from the season prior. 

Now comes the next stage of accelerating the unit to championship-caliber; sacks. The Longhorns ranked fifth among Big 12 teams with 27 quarterback takedowns, 5.5 of which came from Barryn Sorrell. Preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Jaylan Ford returns with two sacks to his name, while a handful of other players are back with only one. 

The Longhorns view themselves as a team that doesn't rebuild but rather "replenishes" in talent. So far, Sarksiain has been keen on the progress made by freshman linebacker Liona Lefau and sophomore edge Ethan Burke since August. 

“(Lefau) made a lot of strides from spring ball through the first 10 days of training camp,” Sarkisian said. “(He) had a really good scrimmage Saturday; Ethan Burke had a really nice scrimmage Saturday.” 

Burke played in 11 games last season and registered six tackles. Lefau, a two-time state champion in Hawaii, enrolled early to get a jump on the playbook. Both are expected to be contributors this season as pass rushers, even if they line up in different spots. 

While Sarkisian mentioned that starters would be "locked up" by Saturday, the defensive line is a position of matchups. In run-heavy personnel looks, those that can fill holes and eliminate second-chance opportunities will take the field. On pass-rushing sets, it's all about speed coming from every angle. 

Saturday should be more of a run-through with some tackling, but the ideal scenario is to keep everyone upright and healthy heading into Week 1. At this point, Sarkisian also mentioned the end of the second scrimmage symbolized the "end of training camp," and that attention had turned to working out the kinks before kickoff against the Owls. 

"Now it's about creating really good habits," Sarkisian said. "We talk a lot in our team room about the three phases of their life that they operate in. They've got their academic world, they've got their football world and then they've got their personal and their social world."

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