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Texas posts a defensive performance you shouldn't forget about in the loss

by: Justin Nash23 hours ago
Alex January
Alex January (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

The Texas Longhorns just lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes 14-7. And absolutely no part of this loss should be placed on the defense. Sure, there were some key moments where they allowed a conversion or had a penalty negate a terrific defensive play, but this defense did their job and they deserved to win.

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Let’s start with Jeremiah Smith. There were questions about how he would do with Emeka Egbuka now gone and him in year two. Texas held him to his 4th lowest receiving total, as well as his 3rd lowest yards per catch in his career. It wasn’t for a lack of trying to get Smith the ball either. Smith was targeted 10 times.

That was all while not allowing Carnell Tate or Brandon Inniss to have big time days. The leading receiver was Tate with 49 yards and a touchdown on two catches, one was a tip-your-cap play where Jaylon Guilbeau was in position. This is a welcomed continuation of the amazing 2024 pass defense. Allowing less than 130 yards only occurred twice for last year’s team. The opponents? Colorado State and Louisiana-Monroe.

Malik Muhammad had a great day in coverage along with Graceson Littleton, who appears to be a star in this defense already. There was a lot to love about this pass defense.

This team might have the potential to finish with a better rushing defense than the 2023 squad. The longest run allowed on the day was eight yards, and many times the Buckeyes got stuffed at the line. In holding OSU’s running game to 77 yards on 34 attempts, this was easily the best game defending the run against a top five opponent in Steve Sarkisian’s tenure. Alex January, Ethan Burke, Travis Shaw, and Cole Brevard all were active on the line of scrimmage.

While it may seem like Texas couldn’t come up in some clutch moments, those are simply more memorable because of the other side of the ball’s issues. Ohio State was 25% on 3rd down, and even if you factor in the 4th down conversion… it was still a great day at the office for the Longhorn defense.

This defensive performance will unfortunately live side by side with the TCU loss in 2022 where Texas held the Frogs to 3.88 yards per play. Ohio State posted 3.76 yards per play.

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