The importance of communication and cohesion in the Texas Longhorns' secondary
Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers was 25-of-36 for 329 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in last Saturday’s matchup between the Longhorns and Cyclones, a career-best performance from the third-year quarterback.
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Many of those yards came on third down, where he was 11-of-12 for 118 yards and one touchdown with one interception. They also came against a wide array of Longhorn defensive backs.
Longhorn starting corner Ryan Watts suffered what Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian described as a stinger during the fourth Iowa State drive. It knocked Watts out of the game, leaving Texas without two regular cornerbacks after Jamier Johnson was unavailable to play.
In the following drives, Texas had to mix and match in the secondary. Austin Jordan and Terrance Brooks seemingly traded series at corner opposite D’Shawn Jamison before Jahdae Barron took over the role. That left Jaylon Guilbeau at Star.
Jerrin Thompson was a mainstay at safety, playing in 53 of the Cyclones’ 64 snaps. Anthony Cook played 41 snaps, with Kitan Crawford tallying 25 plays and Michael Taaffe on the field for 13.
None of those combos were overly effective against Dekkers. The Longhorn run defense did its job, limiting ISU to 74 yards on the ground. But the pass defense left a lot to be desired.
“That’s what we felt a little last week of just a little bit of that inexperience of trusting what those calls are supposed to be,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “When you play a lot together, naturally you can anticipate what those calls are going to be.”
Eventually, the experienced duo of Cook and Thompson took the bulk of snaps in the back end. Cook, of course, forced the critical fumble at the end as Iowa State was driving to tie or take the lead.
Getting to that play, though, was a precarious process. There were several coverage busts and chances to get off the field that slipped away. Credit is due to the Cyclone offense, who utilized some looks that confused the Texas defense.
But as far as the players on the field, at the all-important safety position there wasn’t a lot of standout play. Per PFF College, Thompson accumulated a grade of 36.7 in 53 snaps. Taaffe scored 65.7 in his 13 looks. Crawford graded out at 51.8 in his 25 snaps. Cook scored a 72.8, likely buoyed by his game-saving play.
How vital is cohesion? Sarkisian said he believed it’s important and noted the five starters of Jamison, Cook, Thompson, Barron, and Watts have played well together thanks in part to their high volume of snaps with each other this year.
As for when the mixing-and-matching was going on? Sarkisian pointed toward the importance of communication when asked about shoring things up when one or more of those five might not be on the field.
“I think communication is probably what trumps cohesion,” Sarkisian said. “I think when you’re communicating well, especially from the safety position to making sure that everybody’s on the same page, that’s the key. Regardless of who’s out there, if you’re communicating well then everybody can be on the same page and you can play good football. That’s always a challenge.”
Sarkisian praised his safety quartet of Cook, Thompson, Taaffe, and Crawford for their communication so far this year, even though it wasn’t at its best against Iowa State.
It’s something they’ll have to shore up on all downs prior to the game in Stillwater, Okla. Having Watts and Johnson available should help considering those two have more time in the system than true freshmen like Brooks and Jordan.
But it’ll mostly fall on the aforementioned starting five to communicate, work cohesively, and stop the Cowboy offense in Boone Pickens Stadium.
“Our frontline five guys when they’re out there, they’ve played a lot of football together, and I do think they work well together,” Sarkisian said.
