Murphy, Sweat have big shoes to fill in the middle of the Texas defense
The strength of the defense in football is up the middle, with the tackles doing the brunt of the dirty work to stymie an opponent’s run game and occupy blockers for the outside players to harass the quarterback when he’s passing.
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Texas has enjoyed experience in its interior defense but that will change some this season with Keondre Coburn and Moro Ojomo off to the NFL Draft after being stalwarts in the line the past two years.
Into the fray steps Byron Murphy II and T’Vondre Sweat, two players that made an impact last season in the chances they got to see the field.
“All sudden two older guys leave, and who else is stepping up?” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Friday after the Longhorns’ third session of Spring drills. “T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy, two guys that have kind of taken the bull by the horns there and are doing a nice job.”
Texas finished 33rd in the nation last year in rushing defense, allowing 125.7 yards per game. Opponents ran the ball 469 times against the Longhorns, averaging 3.48 yards per carry, meaning that in they could hand the ball off three straight times and still get a first down from those plays.
As a comparison, national champion Georgia allowed just 77.1 yards per game (which led the nation) while Iowa State, the Big 12 leader in the category finished 14th nationally by giving up 107.3 yards per game.
Murphy, a 6-foot-1, 300-pound junior, has drawn plenty of praise for his work in the offseason. He played in 13 games with one start last year when he totaled 26 tackles (nine solo), three tackles for loss, one sack and two quarterback hurries.
“I love Murph, man,” Sarkisian said. “I would say for a guy who wasn’t a frontline starter, he was definitely impactful for us when he played. He’s very disruptive. He’s strong and he’s powerful. And the thing I’m seeing from him now is the leadership is starting to come out. I think he’s gonna have a heck of a year for us. He’s working hard. “
Sarkisian said it’s not just physical when it comes to Murphy’s improvement.
“Murph’s wired right – he’s got a real mentality about him,” Sarkisian explained. “He’s tough. He’s physical. He wants to be really good and he works at his craft.”
The 6-foot-4, 355-pound Sweat, a senior, will also have a major say in things in the middle after playing in 13 games with nine starts in 2022. He established career highs with 30 tackles (10 solo) and added 2.5 tackles for loss, seven quarterback hurries and four pass breakups. He was named honorable mention All-Big 12 by the league’s coaches.
Both will have huge shoes to fill with the absence of Coburn and Ojomo.
The massive (6-foot-2, 344-pound) Coburn, known as “Snacks,” played in 51 career games and started 45 times for the Longhorns. He garnered second-team All-Big 12 honors by both the league’s coaches and the Associated Press in 2022 after playing in all 13 games with 12 starts and racking up 28 tackles (10 solo), three tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble and two quarterback hurries.
Ojomo played in 50 games for Texas games and made 30 starts. Twelve of those games and five of the starts were in 2022 when he established career-highs with 33 tackles (16 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, one forced fumble and two quarterback hurries.
For his hard work Ojomo was named a second-team All-Big 12 last year by the Associated Press and as an honorable mention All-Big 12 selection by the league’s coaches.
