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Top PFF defensive grades from Texas' 38-7 win over San Jose State

On3 imageby: Justin Wells09/07/25
On3 image
Colin Simmons (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

The Texas defense wasn’t spectacular, but it was strong and efficient in Saturday’s 38-7 win over San Jose State from Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday, per PFF.

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DEFENSE

DL/EDGE – Zina Umeozulu, 71.2, Ethan Burke, 77.6, Travis Shaw, 70.6, Hero Kanu, 77.1, Trey Moore, 76.3, Maraad Watson, 70.0, Colin Simmons, 65.9, Lance Jackson, 72.1, Brad Spence, 78.2

The defensive front was missing Alex January, but still played well for most stretches on Saturday. Watson led the interior with four tackles and 1.5 sacks. Simmons added three stops and .5 sack, while Burke and Shaw added two tackles each. Freshman Lance Jackson showed glimpses with a pair of tackles and pressures.

LB – Anthony Hill Jr, 71.2, Liona Lefau, 64.8, Tyanthony Smith, 82.4

Smith led the defense with an 82.4 overall grade, collecting five tackles to lead the linebackers. He also notched a 91.4 run defense grade. Hill (four) and Lefau (three) combined for seven total tackles.

CB – Malik Muhammad, 71.4, Kobe Black, 70.3, Jaylon Guilbeau, 66.1, Kade Phillips, 78.0

The corners were surprisingly tested on Saturday vs SJSU. Guilbeau notched a pair of stops and an interception. Black led the group with three tackles. The true freshman Phillips looked great in a limited role.

S/N – Michael Taaffe, 75.5, Graceson Littleton, 51.9, Jelani McDonald, 65.2, Xavier Filsaime, 68.2

The true freshman Littleton led the defense in grading at Ohio State. He had the lowest grade of the defense vs SJSU on Saturday. Taaffe led all tacklers with six stops. Filsaime added 22 snaps too.

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