Texas Longhorns' Alfred Collins Is Playing His Best Football At The Right Time

Texas Longhorns senior defensive lineman Alfred Collins's storied career will be capped off with one final home game, and he's playing the best football of his career toward the end of the 2024 season.

Sep 28, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns defensive lineman Alfred Collins (95) celebrates after defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mikala Compton/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images / Mikala Compton/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

After Alfred Collins was named the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was not shy with his praise for Collins.

The senior has been with Texas since 2020 and was one of the 11 players who made the trip to Arkansas in 2021 when Texas lost. Now, he's one of Texas's starters on the defensive line and this season, he has 35 total tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and one blocked field goal.

"I don't think is (Collins) getting near enough credit nationally for how good he's playing football right now for us," Sarkisian said. "I mean, Alfred is playing a fantastic brand of football."

Against Arkansas, he had a season-high seven tackles, one sack and one forced fumble.

His forced fumble came at the ideal time, as it gave the Texas offense the ball back with about six minutes left on the clock.

"I knew once I got the play, it was in slow motion," Collins said. "I hit it, and I saw Michael jump on it. I was like, 'we won, it's over.' I knew the offense was gonna do they had to do to shut the game off."

Sarkisian had high praise for Collins' positivity and work ethic, as he wasn't always the guy getting looks. Even though he's in the starting spot for Texas, he sometimes will only see 10 to 15 snaps a game.

Because of this, Collins knows that he has to go out and play his best when he does get on the field, and this season he has done just that.

"With opportunity comes responsibility, and I think Alfred has assumed the responsibility of the opportunity," Sarkisian said. "It sometimes it's more difficult to remain consistent when 'Well, I'm going to get my you know, 10, 12, 15, plays'. But when you know you're getting counted on for 35, 40 plays a game, you tend to lean into 'I got to do all the little things right,' and whether it's your hands, whether it's your footwork, whether it's fitting a run a certain way, staying in your gap, whatever that looks like. Alfred has sees this, sees the moment, and sees the opportunity."

Collins has seized his opportunity this season after the departure of star defensive linemen T'Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy to the NFL Draft. Following in their footsteps, he knew he would have big shoes to fill but he had been ready for the challenge since day one.

One thing that Sarkisian praised Collins for is his consistency this season, something that he also knows is important for him to keep working on. In previous years, he wasn't seeing looks in games because of his inconsistent play, but now he's flipped the narrative.

"I feel like I was a great player (in the past)." Collins said. "I'm finally getting an opportunity to showcase that consistently, (with) just like the details and stuff like that, because that in the previous years, that's what I would hear, (that I'm) inconsistent with this or that."

Collins will have one more home game to show off his consistency, as Texas will take on Kentucky on Saturday. The senior day festivities will take place before the game, as the game will kick off at 2:30 PM on ABC.

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