Steve Sarkisian's team is buoyed by defense and there's nothing wrong with that

The job of a head coach is to create a balanced team. Under previous Texas head coaches we’ve seen Charlie Strong’s defense have more holes in it than Sonny Corleone at the toll booth and Tom Herman’s offense stutter more than Ed Norton in Primal Fear. Their struggles to succeed on their own side of the ball sunk them.

[Join Inside Texas TODAY with code HOOKEM and get 50% off annual memberships!]

Steve Sarkisian is known as one of the best offensive minds in college football. In accordance, he’s accumulated a lot of talent. While his offense is good, it’s not great. I’d argue the sum hasn’t equaled the parts. That would spell trouble for a lot of head coaches. But, that’s not the case at Texas because Sark is a total football coach who operates a complete program.

Texas will go as far as ‘team defense’ takes it 

This sentiment ties directly into the defensive line dominance we saw today. The linebackers were quiet, and often when we saw them, they were over-running the play. A quiet day from the second level is okay when Alfred Collins, Barryn Sorrell, Trey Moore, Vernon Broughton, Colin Simmons, and Jermayne Lole did what they did. 

While the second level was quiet, the secondary was mostly great. Jaylon Guilbeau struggled with leverage at times, as did Jelani McDonald, but the rest of the group was sensational. Turnovers remained a theme as did blanket coverage and good run support. 

Regardless of minor miscues, team defense was on display. There were a number of times when one Horn made a play because his teammate did his job. Simmons had a sack because Sorrell did his job. Moore had a sack because Simmons did his job. Barron’s pick was in part due to Guilbeau’s good coverage. 

Then there was the play of the game. Alfred Collins hustled into a forced fumble that Michael “on the spot” Taaffe recovered. 

Texas can win a national title with this group. Arkansas had one real drive the whole game. There probably haven’t been more than five of those the whole season.

There are plenty of individual plays with this group, but there are no individual plays. This is a terrifically coordinated group and so far Pete Kwiatkowski deserves the Frank Broyles award. Pretty apropos given where Texas played today.

There won’t be a better player in America today than Jahdae Barron 

I don’t care what Travis Hunter did today, especially on offense. He’s a great talent but he isn’t the Thorpe favorite in my book. Barron provides blanket coverage, is a team leader, a force player, and a playmaker. 

Barron’s pick showed his intelligence as he peeled off his receiver (and his coverage) to help inside. His tackle for loss was a reminder of his dominance at nickel. His PBU showed his eye discipline and ability to break on the ball. 

He’s the best player on the team and one of the best players in the country.

We aren’t going to do the thing where we paint the entire team with the offensive brush 

Fan opinions resting almost entirely on how the offense played is a pet peeve of mine. These fans go and get nachos away from a TV when the defense is on the field. Or something.

That ’20’ on the scoreboard might not have been what you were looking for but that ’10’ looked sexier than Bo Derek. 

It was not a complementary game but that doesn’t mean it was a bad game for the team. Maybe it was an uneven game. It’s okay to celebrate the fact Texas has the best defense in the country. Nobody should care that Steve Sarkisian’s reputation is for offense. We’ve moved past that. He’s nearing ‘total football coach’ status on the strength of his ability to acquire talent on both sides of the ball and to create a strong, team-wide culture. This isn’t Lincoln Riley. That’s enough cause to celebrate.

Sark has things to figure out on offense. His side, based on him being offensive coordinator, has to get less predictable and more efficient. But, as I’ve pointed out since November of 2022 when Texas went 8-5, he’s a hell of a football coach. 

Right now he’s a hell of a football coach because his team has the best defense in the country. If he can get the offense up to speed he has the chance to raise a trophy or two.