Locke and Williams on the intricacies of their positions

Locke on intricacies of nickel, teammates’ resurgence, team confidence

One position that often gets overlooked is the nickel. A real difference maker at the position is able to be active in stopping the run while also able to cover athletic inside receivers all.

Sophomore P.J. Locke has played the role for the Longhorns for much of his two seasons on campus. Locke sees the field in place linebacker because of the styles of offense in the Big 12. The role demands a lot physically, and learning the position takes some time for adjustment.

“Everything happens a lot faster,” Locke said. “From safety and corner, you’re playing a depth. At nickel, everything happens a lot faster. It just comes with preparation. The game has to slow down for you. That way, things won’t seem so fast. When I went back to safety, it seemed like everything was going so slow.”

Locke’s position requires him to play closer to the line of scrimmage. Over the past several weeks, both corners have positioned themselves similar to Locke, moving closer receivers after playing off for much of the early part of the season.

According to Locke, this plays right into the hands of their cornerbacks.

“We have big corners,” Locke said “They have long arms. I think that’s their style of game. They can get up in the receivers face and press them. They have long arms so it’s a disadvantage for the receiver.”

One of these long-armed corners is sophomore Holton Hill. Hill, who barely saw the field for several weeks earlier in the season, saw lots of action against Texas Tech with Texas putting five to six defensive backs on the field to stop Patrick Mahomes and the Red Raider offense.

“I talked to Holton a couple of times before the game and throughout the week, getting his mind together and bringing him to reality,” Locke said. “I think he took that to heart, and it showed in the Texas Tech game because he played his butt off. I’m proud of Holton for that – overcoming adversity.”

Texas’ secondary was torched in several games this year, including when OU receiver Dede Westbrook hauled in more than 200 yards on Locke and his teammates.

Against Texas Tech, even with the amount of yards given up, Locke and Texas held off the big play, and held the Red Raiders well under their season average on offense. Holding the Red Raiders helped build confidence in a defense that already had plenty.

“We’ve always been a confident secondary,” Locke said. “I think it’s really starting to pay off. When you see the hard work, you actually start having fun. I think that’s the biggest thing right now. The secondary is having fun.”

Williams on Foreman, o-line coaches

As one of the best offensive linemen on a strong group, sophomore Connor Williams has been the recipient of many accolades from various scouting services this season. Even though he receives a lot of attention, it is the person Williams blocks for, D’onta Foreman, who has received most of the attention.

Even though 33 gets more attention than 55 and the rest of the guys wearing numbers in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, Foreman still makes sure to thank his blockers and signal them to anything on-field they need to pay attention to.

“He makes sure to always come and tell us that he couldn’t have done it without us,” Williams said. “Mostly that, and if there’s things that the defense is doing, we’ll talk to each other about it.”

Williams also noted on how durable Foreman has been throughout this entire season.

“It’s crazy running that amount of plays he’s still running with everything he has,” Williams said. “ I think we enjoy our running game. We take pride in our running game. To be able to run it, we’re excited every time a run play is called. “

While the offense is effective in blocking for Foreman, it has not been when blocking for Tyrone Swoopes in the 18 Wheeler package. As he and his teammates have said throughout the season, Williams still remains confident in their ability to move the ball with Swoopes.

“We have faith in any player that’s in there that’s going to run the ball,” Williams said. “We’ve just got to take care of our job. It’s proven the 18 Wheeler package works. We just couldn’t convert as a unit.”

With the West Virginia Mountaineers coming into town, that also means that former Texas offensive line coach and current WVU offensive coordinator Joe Wickline returns to Austin.

“There’s no hard feelings against Coach Wick,” Williams said. “I liked him as a coach and we just needed something new with our offense.”

Williams did not say this meaning that he did not like Wickline, who recruited him to Texas. Rather, he said this because he realized current offensive line coach Matt Mattox’s style of coaching fit into the offense.

“Coach Mattox is a great family guy,” Williams said. “He teaches hand on [sic] and is very personable with all his players. It’s just a good connection.