The Texas Longhorns defense isn't looking for revenge, but rather a better outcome versus Georgia

On Monday, sixth-year senior David Gbenda was asked if revenge was real.

[Join Inside Texas TODAY and get 7 days for just ONE DOLLAR!]

“No,” Gbenda said about the prospect of exacting revenge against the sole stain on the Texas resume, a double-digit loss at home to Georgia. “We’re just trying to play a good football game against a good football team.”

Gbenda went on to say that he didn’t feel the Longhorns were at their best that October night, and Georgia exposed them. The Texas defense wasn’t at full fault for the 30 points considering Georgia’s defense forced four turnovers against the Longhorns and were gifted short fields, but the defensive unit didn’t do itself any favors.

Ten missed tackles, zero sacks and 87 yards on the ground by Georgia running back Trevor Etienne was the most it had given up to a single ball carrier since week one against Colorado State. It was a rare blip on an otherwise elite season for the Longhorn defense that is ranked as the best in the nation according to FEI, a system that weighs strength of schedule.

The Longhorn defense wasn’t elite in the two contests following the Georgia game, but the performances helped to buoy an offense that was searching for its footing. Vanderbilt scored 24 against the Longhorns, and Florida ran the ball a little too well against the defensive front.

However, the last three weeks for Pete Kwiatkowski‘s side of the ball have been spectacular. Arkansas, Kentucky, and Texas A&M averaged just under 13 points per game between the three contests, and the Longhorns have gotten to the quarterback for 18 sacks in those games. No wonder PK was named a Broyles Award semifinalist on Tuesday.

The EDGEs in particular seem to be the biggest risers as the season has progressed. In weeks one through seven, the games leading up to the Georgia matchup, Texas had had a mixed bag from the position as a whole. True freshman Colin Simmons was a bright spot and was actually rated as the top edge rusher in the SEC (minimum 100 snaps), but the rest of the regular down group struggled.

Ethan Burke was No. 39 in the conference in pressures registered, and he joined Barryn Sorrell and Trey Moore as three of the six edge rushers in the conference to miss over a third of their tackles in the first half of the year. They looked off and weren’t playing up to the expectations of the offseason, with Moore in particular failing to record a sack and ranking No. 49 of 55 in PFF grade.

After another sub-par performance against Georgia, something seemed to click for Moore. Since then, the UTSA transfer has registered the fourth-most sacks in the SEC with five and has become an 80-grade PFF player, a number that elevates players to star-level on the site’s rankings.

“I’ve been talking all season long about how much of an impact he’s had in the run game, how much he’s affected the quarterback,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said about Moore on Monday. “It’s just now he’s starting to get some sacks, and Trey’s playing really good now. “

The linebacker corps is also one that has seen a major shakeup in the back half of the season. In week seven, Liona Lefau took over for Gbenda as the starting will linebacker, going from an average of 16 snaps per game in the first five games to 35 per contest. Lefau has had his share of misplays, especially in run-support against Florida, but the Hawaii product blossomed last Saturday against Texas A&M.

He posted six tackles, matching his career high, forced a fumble and an had an elite day in zone coverage to make him the second highest-graded LB in the country last weekend.

“We’ve been playing with each other basically since we got here,” fellow linebacker Anthony Hill said about Lefau. “So, it’s just real comfortable for me knowing that he’s next to me. I know what to expect out of him. He knows to expect that of me. So, we kind of can just play like yin and yang off each other.”

While some underrated players deserve their flowers, Hill in particular has been arguably the best defensive player in the SEC since that Georgia loss. Players like Hill, Moore, Michael Taaffe, Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton have turned into stars in the back half of the year, making the job of potential Thorpe Award-winning corner and star of the defense Jahdae Barron even easier as Texas rides its defense to December football.

“Everybody’s flying around, everybody’s making plays,” Barron said. “We’re not only competing against the other team, but it’s in different position groups. We’re competing with one another for who’s gonna make more plays. And that just shows hunger. And then that’s that it factor.”

[Subscribe to the Inside Texas YouTube channel!]

That “it factor” is more visible now than it was the last time Texas battled the Dawgs, and the Longhorn defense hopes that it’ll be what carries them past Georgia in the SEC Championship on Saturday.