OTF Premium 'A problem' in his Texas debut, Rasheem Biles named co-SEC Defensive Player of the Week

[Jeff Howe]

AUSTIN, Texas — Rasheem Biles' impact in his Texas debut made a strong impression on the SEC office. Strong enough to garner co-SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors, the league announced Monday.

The weekly recognition comes on the heels of Biles recording five tackles, half of a tackle for loss, a forced fumble and an interception in a 59-7 season-opening rout of Texas State.

Biles’ forced fumble in the second quarter was scooped up by Graceson Littleton, who returned it 59 yards for a touchdown. His third-quarter interception of an attempted screen pass inside the Bobcats’ 40-yard line led a three-play touchdown drive, which ended with a 21-yard touchdown run by Raleek Brown.

Throughout preseason practice, Steve Sarkisian said Biles was “a problem” on the practice field, similar to how he’s described Colin Simmons’ on-field impact. Sarkisian said the same thing about the Pitt transfer on Monday, lauding everything Biles brings to the table ahead of the Longhorns’ highly anticipated clash with No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ESPN).

“He's a problem because he has a unique skill set. In high school, this guy was a DB, so he's got coverage skills; he's got route recognition; but on top of that, he's got instincts that are hard to quantify,” Sarkisian said. “The screen he gets the interception on, they were trying to deceive us with a bolt motion by the running back with kind of a tunnel screen coming back inside and he sees it, puts his foot in the ground. There's certain guys that the ball finds them or you can say they find the ball.

“He almost recovers the fumble that Maraad (Watson) causes, too. Not to mention, there's not many guys that are in a hole where there's about a five-yard space that would think, 'Here comes a runner, and my first thought is I'm going to six-inch punch the ball as I'm striking him in the face.’ Most guys are thinking, 'Just get him on the ground.' But he plays the game on another level intellectually,” he added. “A lot of guys probably can do that; he has the skill set to match it, to have the ability to do that. We're fortunate because he is versatile. He can play in pass coverage. He can play the run. He can rush the quarterback. He's got ball skills. He's got instincts. All of those things add up to he's a problem.”

Texas needs Biles to be a problem when the top-ranked Buckeyes come to town on Saturday. A Columbus native, Biles, who attended Pickerington Central, admitted during a preseason media availability that he didn’t consider returning home to play for Ohio State when he entered the transfer portal.

“They called, but I’m not — I didn’t want to stay in Columbus, if I’m being honest,” Biles said. “Obviously, we’ve got agents and made my list. I told my mom, ‘Columbus?‘I ain’t really trying to be in Columbus. I ain’t trying to be a Buckeye. They didn’t want me out of high school and I was right there; no point in trying to get me now.

“I’m excited for that game, definitely,” Biles said. “That’s circled on my calendar, for sure.”

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[Jeff Howe]

 

[Jeff Howe]

 

[4thandFive]

#GotHeem

[Jeff Howe]

 

[Jeff Howe]

 

[Jeff Howe]

 

[Jeff Howe]

 

[Jeff Howe]

 

[Jeff Howe]

 

[Hooked4Life]

Kid is a beast. Give em hell #3. 

[PinchPullPancake]

I’m calling it now, he has a pick 6 Saturday night. 

[HonkEm]

45 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

 

That right would have knocked Ali out

[Gerry Hamilton]

1 hour ago, 4thandFive said:

#GotHeem

Hilarious 

[NTX_Horn]

1 hour ago, 4thandFive said:

#GotHeem

[CoachScott619]

I thought the Colin Simmons level impact was hyperbole and he'd be good. But there's a lot of truth to that and it's hard to avoid a player in the middle of the field the same way you can avoid an edge rusher.

[TheRoJoShow]

8 hours ago, Jeff Howe said:

 

But.. PFF… lol

[watty7796]

Biles was a terror for TXST to deal with.  This is the most physical team both sides of the ball and Special teams.  That can carry over to the rest of the season.  Texas has hit a few out of the park with this group of transfers.

[Lavalulu]

Can’t wait to see how Biles performs against OSU

[GQ03]

10 hours ago, PinchPullPancake said:

I’m calling it now, he has a pick 6 Saturday night. 

Yup...I've been thinking that since he committed. 

[Jeff Howe]

12 hours ago, TheRoJoShow said:

But.. PFF… lol

One of the issues with PFF is that it’s too cut and dried, which makes sense because they have so much data to process it doesn’t leave time for nuance. Defensive players really get dinged for missed tackles, but there were a couple of plays where Biles technically missed the tackle and played his assignment correctly. That led to other guys being in a position to clean it up.  

[Here for the Wins]

3 hours ago, Jeff Howe said:

One of the issues with PFF is that it’s too cut and dried, which makes sense because they have so much data to process it doesn’t leave time for nuance. Defensive players really get dinged for missed tackles, but there were a couple of plays where Biles technically missed the tackle and played his assignment correctly. That led to other guys being in a position to clean it up.  

Message boards crucify dudes for such things.  Being close, doing your job, at least the job to allow others to do theirs but not finishing and a teammate not there to finish it either.