At this rate, the Texas Longhorns defense is headed for elite company

It is nowhere near controversial to say the 2024 Texas Longhorns defense is one of the best in the nation. Leading in multiple statistical categories, this is a unit the likes of which are seen on national championship teams. While Pete Kwiatkowski‘s side of the ball is starting to get the recognition it deserves, it may surprise some to discover this defense could find itself among some of the best statistical units this century.

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Right now Texas is probably the last team an offensive coordinator wants to face in a 12-team College Football Playoff because of how disciplined and well-rounded it is at all three levels. Look no further than Michael Taaffe for that example. He is the quarterback of the defense and makes sure everyone is properly aligned. Efforts from that side of the ball have propelled Texas to the No. 1 spot in in opposing yards per pass, opposing passing yards per game, and opposing pass plays of 20 or more. In addition to the work from the safeties, Texas’ defensive prowess is bolstered by strong corner play from Malik Muhammad, Jaylon Guilbeau, and Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist Jahdae Barron.

While Texas isn’t first in scoring defense, they are right behind No. 1 Army by a difference of 0.2 points per game. Save for a few Diego Pavia moments, the Longhorns returned to elite form against Vanderbilt after short fields left them in a lurch against Georgia when they gave up 30 points.

Put simply, this is a stingy defense every down and in every situation.

When looking at yards per play and yards per game numbers, Texas is entering elite territory among modern college football programs. Here are the top 14 defenses out of 3080 college football teams since the year 2000 in yards per play.

See the other Texas teams on there from 2001 and 2009? Remember names like Nathan Vasher, Quentin Jammer, Rod Babers, Cory Redding, Derrick Johnson, Marcus Tubbs, Phillip Geiggar, and Ahmad Brooks from the 2001 team that won 11 games?

Or players like Earl Thomas, Keenan Robinson, Sam Acho, Sergio Kindle, Roddrick Muckelroy, Blake Gideon, Curtis Brown, Chykie Brown, Kheeston Randle, and Emmanuel Acho from 2009?

These 2024 Longhorns are breathing the same air.

This may very well be the defense that secures hopes of a national championship. After all, the old saying is “defense wins championships.”

So after eight games, where does Texas stand among national champion defenses from this century?

It is pretty unlikely Texas will match the 3.3 yards per play allowed mark set by Alabama in 2011. The Longhorns would need to allow 457 yards or fewer over the next five games to do so. But who are they ahead of at the current juncture? Texas’ last national championship team.

The 2005 team had legends like Michael Griffin, Michael Huff, Brian Robison, Aaron Ross, Drew Kelson, Frank Okam, Rod Wright, Larry Dibbles, and Brian Orakpo. Yet that group is being outperformed statistically by the 2024 Longhorns.

Plus, think back to 2021 when the Texas rush defense allowed 201.6 yards per game on the ground alone compared to the 2024 defense allowing 241.3 total yards per game. How things have changed.

The 2023 season was the first year where the nation really started to take notice of Texas being a defensively strong team once more. A stout front led by Byron Murphy and T’Vondre Sweat anchored the No. 3 rush defense in the country. Still, that defense struggled in pass defense and in getting after the quarterback. That was talked about ad nauseum after the Sugar Bowl loss to Washington.

But the secondary now leads the nation in passing yards allowed per game (136) and yards per attempt allowed (4.6). Efforts like those have earned a Pro Football Focus team defensive grade of 94.6, tops in the nation. A number of players like those already mentioned plus Anthony Hill, Alfred Collins, Vernon Broughton, Barryn Sorrell, Colin Simmons, and Trey Moore deserve credit. This front hasn’t missed a beat from last year’s tremendous success, and it’s allowed the secondary to make their needed leap.

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Needless to say, this defense has come a long way and is putting together a truly special season. Defensive performances like this don’t come often, and Kwiatkowski, Steve Sarkisian, and the players deserve a lot of credit.

James Hayden co-authored this article