T'Vondre Sweat, Texas run defense squashes OSU, nation's leading rusher
The Texas defensive front has been stellar all season at stopping the run, anchored by Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year T’Vondre Sweat. When they faced Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon, the nation’s leading rusher and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, they were up to the task.
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Behind the play of Sweat, Byron Murphy, Barryn Sorrell, and Alfred Collins, UT held the Oklahoma State All-American-caliber tailback to 34 yards rushing on 13 carries. After Gordon entered the contest averaging 132 yards per game on the ground, Texas stuffed the Cowboys rushing attack en route to a 49-21 win in the Big 12 Championship at AT&T Stadium on Saturday from Arlington.
OSU head coach Mike Gundy spoke about the UT interior defenders on Tuesday with the local press. Texas was watching.
“Well, we can double them some and let the widest guy go and try to make the tackle,” said Gundy, on when he was asked how to deal with Sweat and Murphy. “And we can do what we’ve done the last 15 years… which is block them. They are this way all the time. When I first started playing them 20 years ago when Mack Brown was the head coach, they were top 5 in the country every year. They got good players. I got a lot of respect for them.”
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The Texas defense came into the title game leading the nation in 3rd down defense. Oklahoma State tallied 31 net yards rushing on 18 attempts. That’s 1.7 yards per play. Gordon finished the game with 88 total yards on 17 touches.
It wasn’t just on the defensive side where Sweat made his mark. The 6-foot-4, 365-pounder recorded his first career touchdown reception in the first quarter. He became the second defensive lineman to score for Texas in 2023, joining Murphy.
The Longhorns’ defense didn’t allow the Cowboys (9-4) to cross the 200 total yard barrier until the 10-minute mark of the fourth quarter. By that time Texas was ahead by five touchdowns. The Longhorns outgained Oklahoma State 622-281 in the victory.
