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The Horns’ Biggest Weakness Became Their Biggest Strength

by:Josh Florey•about 10 hours
Terry Joseph
Terry Joseph (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

The Texas Longhorns fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes last Friday 28-14, marking the second straight semi-final loss for the Horns. The game was much closer than the score indicates. Texas had the ball in first-and-goal at the 1-yard line, in prime position to tie the game with just over two minutes remaining. A pitch to Quintrevion Wisner that lost seven yards and a tipped-pass incompletion intended for Ryan Wingo led to a 4th-and-goal from the 8-yard line. When Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer hit Quinn Ewers and returned the fumble all the way for a touchdown, the game was essentially over, but until that moment the outcome was in doubt.

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The Longhorns would have been favored to beat Notre Dame for the National Championship had they come out ahead. Interestingly, the unit which allowed Texas to keep it close with Ohio State this year was the same unit which bore much of the responsibility for the loss to Washington in the Sugar Bowl last year: the secondary. 

In 2023-24, the Texas secondary gave up 254.4 passing yards per game, including a whopping 430 yards in the Sugar Bowl. 

But in 2024-25, they gave up only 173.8 passing yards per game and yielded 289 yards against Will Howard in the Cotton Bowl. Seventy-five of those yards came on one well-timed screen pass to TreVeyon Henderson right before the half. Linebacker David Gbenda even picked off Howard once—something the Texas defense failed to do to Michael Penix Jr. in the Sugar Bowl. 

So what changed? 

First of all, Texas returned Jahdae Barron, their “star” or nickel, for one more season. Barron moved to cornerback for the Horns and won the Jim Thorpe award for best defensive back. They also returned corners Malik ‘Manny’ Muhammed and Gavin Holmes who played very well in coverage. Former walk-on Michael Taaffe returned at safety and Jaylon Guilbeau returned to start at Barron’s old “Star” position. With the addition of Clemson transfer Andrew Mukuba, the talent and experience level of the secondary was the highest it had been in years.

Andrew Mukuba
Andrew Mukuba | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Secondly, Texas defensive back coaches Terry Joseph and Blake Gideon expanded the coverages and started mixing in more single-high schemes which made the most of a group deep with experience and 1-on-1 coverage ability. Opponents struggled to find receivers who weren’t being blanketed by one of the five terrific defensive backs on the field.

Finally, the additions of UTSA transfer Trey Moore and standout freshman Colin Simmons on the edge, combined with the development of returning players like Barryn Sorrell, Ethan Burke, and Anthony Hill, left opposing quarterbacks little time to throw an accurate pass.

Texas went from giving up 7.1 ypa while picking off 16 passes and totaling 32 sacks in 2023 to yielding just 5.9 ypa, picking off 22 passes, and inflicting 47 sacks in 2024. Quite the leap.

Looking ahead, the secondary’s losses include (at least) Barron, Mukuba, and Holmes, with the possibility of more losses to the NFL Draft or the Transfer Portal. If the Texas defense wants to be as good next year, young players such as safeties Jelani McDonald and Xavier Filsaime, corner Kobe Black, and incoming five-star Jonah Williams will need to step up and take on big roles. And safety Derek Williams will need to return healthy.

That’s the way of college football, rosters are always fluctuating and evolving, but at least fans can rest assured Texas is as capable as ever of putting together a DBU-type secondary.

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