Diving into various Pro Football Focus numbers for the Texas Longhorns

While Pro Football Focus grades for college football programs and players shouldn’t be taken as gospel, a lot of what the advanced analytical outfit does can provide additional details about trends from a 12-game season.

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It also provides stats the normal box score doesn’t track, such as snap count, “stops,” individual penalties, and other unique measures.

Inside Texas waded through PFF’s Longhorn-centric data to unearth more information about the 8-4 Longhorns.

Most snaps played

Offense: Christian Jones – 811 total snaps

Jones was trailed by fellow offensive linemen Jake Majors and Kelvin Banks. The fifth-year senior right tackle only came off the field when the game was in hand for the Longhorns. He had an overall grade of 69.1 over the course of the year.

The skill position player with the most snaps was Ja’Tavion Sanders with 749, and the wide receiver with the most snaps was Jordan Whittington with 736.

Defense: Jerrin Thompson – 778 total snaps

Thompson was a constant on the field for the Longhorn defense, and performed at a high level at the safety position for much of the year. He was joined in the 700-snap club by Jaylan Ford (745), Ryan Watts, (728), and DeMarvion Overshown (712). Ovie Oghoufo led all EDGE players with 696 snaps, while T’Vondre Sweat led interior defensive linemen in snaps with 425.

Highest graded game – team

Offense: Baylor – 82.8

According to PFF, Texas saved its best performance for last. The Longhorns accumulated 402 total yards with a balanced combination of 208 yards rushing and 194 yards passing. Quinn Ewers was 12-of-16 for 194 yards, but the running game is what catapulted this particular performance. Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson each added two touchdowns, while Ewers ran one in as well in a strong showing against a solid Bear defense.

Defense: Louisiana-Monroe – 82.7

In the season opener, the Longhorns allowed only 259 total yards at 4.0 yards per play to the Warhawk offense. ULM gained 12 first downs and turned the ball over once on a D’Shawn Jamison pick-six. The only touchdown ULM had versus the Longhorn defense came with under four minutes remaining in the game.

Special teams: Oklahoma State – 79.1

Daniel Trejo had eight punts with four landing inside the 20 and three going 50-plus yards. Bert Auburn was 2-for-3 on field goals. Oklahoma State had three kick returns for 61 yards, and two punt returns for no yards. OSU’s average starting field position for its 19 drives was its own 26.

Overall: Oklahoma – 87.7

One of the most dominant performances put together by the Longhorns in the past 10 years came at the expense of its biggest rival. Without starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel, the Sooners were hapless on offense with the only spark coming as a result of surprise Wildcat runs. The Sooners had 195 total yards and averaged 3.3 yards per play.

Ewers was 21-of-31 for 289 yards and four touchdowns, Robinson had 22 carries for 130 yards and two scores, and Sanders had two touchdown receptions. Back-up running back Jonathon Brooks got in on the scoring action late in the contest.

Lowest graded game – team

Offense: TCU – 54.2

Texas struggled on offense versus the Horned Frogs, amassing only 199 total yards including 28 on the ground. Ewers was 17-of-39 for 171 yards with an interception. Texas failed to score an offensive touchdown against the eventual Big 12 champs.

Defense: Kansas State – 62.5

The Longhorns surrendered 468 total yards at 6.6 yards per play. Adrian Martinez was 24-for-36 for 329 yards and two touchdowns, and Deuce Vaughn had 159 total yards in a game that went down to the final minute. Eventually, the Longhorn defense made a stand and recovered the game-sealing fumble to escape Manhattan with a win.

Special teams: Kansas State 61.9

Texas didn’t have a truly bad special teams game all season, with no game grading lower than 61.9. Even in the dominating performance against OU, the Longhorns graded out at 65.9. Texas had nine kick or punt return opportunities versus KSU but every kickoff was a touchback and every punt was fair caught.

Overall: TCU – 66.1

Defensive busts and the struggles on offense versus the Horned Frogs resulted in the lowest-graded game of the season for the Horns.

Highest graded game – individual

Offense: Bijan Robinson vs. Baylor – 93.6

In what was likely the 2022 Doak Walker Award winner’s swansong as a Longhorn, he went out with one of his best performances of the year. In the end, the entire Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium crowd was chanting his name. He carried the ball 29 times for 179 yards and two scores.

Defense: Jaylan Ford vs. Iowa State – 90.2 / Barryn Sorrell vs. ULM – 91.7

Two performances are listed here. Jaylan Ford’s 90.2-grade outing against Iowa State was across 60 snaps. He recovered the game-clinching fumble on the Cyclones’ final drive and also added one of his four interceptions on the year.

Sorrell’s 91.7-grade performance was the highest of the year for Texas, but it was in just 19 snaps. In those plays, he recorded six tackles with 2.0 for loss plus 1.5 sacks.

Highest-graded single-game aspect – team

Offense: Rushing offense vs. Baylor – 92.7

Texas’ 427-yard performance versus Kansas the week prior to the mauling of the Bears paled in comparison by over seven grade points. Remove Baylor’s five sacks of Ewers for -51 yards from the equation, and Texas had 43 rushes for 259 yards and five touchdowns. That’s a per-carry average of over 6.0 yards against a Baylor squad that had a season-long PFF run defense grade of 74.3. Versus Texas, it was 50.3.

Defense: Run defense vs. UTSA – 90.8

The Roadrunners had 44 rushing attempts against Texas, tied for the most attempts versus Pete Kwiatkowski’s side of the ball all year. They managed only 139 yards and one score at 3.2 yards per carry. No UTSA player averaged 4.0 or more yards per carry save for Eddie Lee Marburger, a back-up quarterback who entered late once the result was established.

Crazy number – team

Combined penalties by the top six O-linemen: 26

The Texas Longhorns started two true freshmen, a true sophomore, a third-year sophomore, and a fifth-year senior, and that group averaged just over two penalties a game. Penalties rarely come at a good time, but for the most part they were rare. Hayden Conner accounted for eight, Jake Majors accounted for seven, and Christian Jones had three.

That means that true freshmen Cole Hutson and Kelvin Banks were responsible for just five penalties all season. In limited action, DJ Campbell was not assessed a penalty.

Crazy number – individual

Ryan Watts run defense grade: 79.9

Moro Ojomo had a tremendous run defense grade of 91.2. He was followed by Byron Murphy at 81.7. In third was Watts, a cornerback, with a grade of 79.9. Watts was credited with seven “stops” by PFF, which constitutes a failure for the offense. On 299 run defense plays, he was assigned a single missed tackle. He played a key role both in pass defense and run defense this year from his boundary corner position.