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Texas deployed an intriguing defensive look vs. Georgia that could impact the next two games

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook5 hours agojosephcook89
ut_vs_georgia-2295_j_williams
Jonah Williams (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

Ahead of the Georgia game, Inside Texas’ Eric Nahlin offered an interesting tidbit in his Friday team notes.

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Pass defense was a major focus of the week. IT knows of two measures that were taken to bolster pass defense, but we’ll let that play out. Both should be well received.

One of those tidbits? A 3-1-7 package.

The Longhorns deployed it with a few minutes left in the second quarter against Georgia. Although it’s a 3-1-7, it’s possible to view the positions through the lens of a 3-4 but with alignments geared toward stopping pass plays.

WDE: Colin Simmons
NT: Ethan Burke
SDE: Trey Moore

WOLB: Jelani McDonald
WILB: Anthony Hill
SILB: Michael Taaffe
SOLB: Graceson Littleton

BCB: Warren Roberson
FCB: Malik Muhammad

BS: Jonah Williams
FS: Xavier Filsaime

As you can tell, it’s pretty amorphous because there are that many defensive backs.

Pigeon-holing those players into certain positions is done to illustrate where they are on the field. That truly muddied the picture for Gunner Stockton and company in addition to it being a surprise for the Bulldogs’ offensive brain trust.

Plus, this formation is one that by its personnel is more coverage-focused than rush-focused. Texas has other pass-rush oriented third-down packages with some different players in at the second level designed to get after the quarterback. This one still has that capability considering it has Simmons, Burke, and Hill on the field, but the other eight Longhorns out there have limiting yardage as the primary task.

It was successful statistically. On the six occasions it was officially used, Georgia only picked up a few yards and failed to earn a first down. However, that package was on the field for the 4th and 5 where Simmons jumped offsides. The penalty earned a first down for UGA, and the drive resulted in the first score of the Bulldogs’ 21-0 fourth quarter.

It’s likely Texas uses this again in the coming weeks. Arkansas has recorded 29 or more pass attempts in eight games this year. Plus, Arkansas is No. 16 nationally in third down conversion percentage at 49.1%. Texas A&M has seven games with at least 29 passing attempts and is No. 60 in third down conversion percentage at 41.3%.

Texas is not resting on its laurels when it comes to putting different pictures in front of opposing offenses and different personnel packages on tape for opponents to have to consider even though the regular season is in its final quarter.

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