OTF Premium It's a good week for the Texas pass rush to get better at getting home

[Jeff Howe]

The focus regarding which phase of the game most needs to turn things around when No. 8 Texas faces Sam Houston at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday (7 p.m., ESPN+/SEC Network+) has centered around the Longhorn offense.

Still, as good as the Texas defense has been through the first three games, Pete Kwiatkowski’s side of the ball could use a tune-up. Specifically, the last game before jumping into SEC play is an opportunity to improve the pass rush by putting heat on Bearkat quarterbacks Hunter Watson and Mabrey Mettauer.

As far as Steve Sarkisian is concerned, the issue has more to do with the Longhorns adjusting to how opponents are trying to neutralize the impact Colin Simmons and the bevy of pass rushers Texas has on hand, rather than personnel deficiencies.

“I think the ball came out Saturday, on average, 1.8 seconds,” Sarkisian said on Monday when he was asked about the pass rush, referencing the pressure the defense put on Malachi Nelson last Saturday in a 27-10 win over UTEP. “You can only get so far with somebody in front of you in 1.8 seconds. It's just difficult.

“People are going to try to attack the holes in our game and they're going to try not to get exploited by the strengths that we have in our game. One of our strengths are our edges,” he added. “One of our strengths is our pass rush and the multitude of ways that we can get to a quarterback. We have to anticipate what they're going to do to try to combat that, and part of that is getting the ball out of their hands quickly. Part of that might be moving the pocket some.”

The Longhorns came into the season with the tools to field arguably the fiercest pass rush in the country. While the Texas pass rush hasn’t been woeful, by any stretch, it hasn’t been as impactful as expected.

With six sacks through three games, the Longhorns are tied with Missouri for ninth sacks in the SEC, which is good enough to be tied for No. 69 among FBS defenses. They’re in the same realm regarding pressures generated; Pro Football Focus has credited the Texas defense with 46 pressures, which is tied with Texas A&M for the seventh-most in the SEC.

Skewing the numbers is the plan Ryan Day and Brian Hartline devised for Julian Sayin to execute in the season opener. In Ohio State’s 14-7 win, Sayin only dropped back to throw the ball 20 times, according to PFF, with the Longhorns pressuring him on just five of his dropbacks.

There have been more opportunities to rush the passer in the team’s last two games, resulting in 39 total pressures and all of the defense’s sacks. Even though Nelson got the ball out quickly, Texas pressured him 11 on time 39 dropbacks, according to PFF, which almost equaled the number of times Nelson had been pressured through two games (Nelson was pressured on 12 of 56 dropbacks entering last week’s game).

The Longhorns can have success building on the pressure they've generated, with conditions ripe to pin their ears back and get after the quarterback on Saturday.

According to PFF’s pass blocking efficiency rankings for offensive lines, Sam Houston is tied for 108th nationally out of 136 FBS offensive lines. The Bearkats have allowed 33 pressures through three games under first-year coach Phil Longo; only nine FBS offenses have allowed more pressures than Sam Houston, according to PFF.

Watson has been pressured on 38.2 percent of his dropbacks (26 of 68). Mettauer has been pressured 15 times on 48 dropbacks (31.3 percent), and his pressure-to-sack percentage (33.3) means one in every three pressures Sam Houston’s opponents have gotten against the Wisconsin transfer have made it home.

Sarkisian believes the defense left upwards of three sacks on the field in the team’s 38-7 win over San Jose State on Sept. 7. For more fruitful returns on the pass-rushing opportunities Texas gets, Sarkisian has stressed to the defense the importance of maintaining their rush lane integrity and utilizing a disciplined pass rush.

“Maybe it's not how many opportunities you get to get the quarterback on the ground, but making the most of the opportunities when you do get them,” Sarkisian said. “That's what we're trying to train our guys to do.”

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[Rocky P]

If the QB is getting the ball out that fast, then the Dline needs to do a better job of getting their hands up to affect the quick passing game.  

 

[Hashtag]

I am under the theory we are not getting home due to db alignment and playing more off this year vs last year. We are getting pressure but we don’t have the extra split seconds to get home due to teams being able to get passes off on quick routes. We had similar problem in 23. 

[BootHorn08]

12 minutes ago, Hashtag said:

I am under the theory we are not getting home due to db alignment and playing more off this year vs last year. We are getting pressure but we don’t have the extra split seconds to get home due to teams being able to get passes off on quick routes. We had similar problem in 23. 

The problem in 23 was our DBs were not very good. Not the same

[Hashtag]

2 minutes ago, BootHorn08 said:

The problem in 23 was our DBs were not very good. Not the same

It’s the same concept, we are playing off and teams ate us alive underneath with quick stuff and crossers. Only one QB really torched us deep in 23 from what I recall and that was Penix JR. 

[BootHorn08]

 

2 minutes ago, Hashtag said:

It’s the same concept, we are playing off and teams ate us alive underneath with quick stuff and crossers. Only one QB really torched us deep in 23 from what I recall and that was Penix JR. 

OU and UH killed us in the intermediate and deep game in 2023. They werent 40 yard bombs like UW but they routinely picked us apart in the middle of the field. Even TCU had some success

[Hashtag]

Just now, BootHorn08 said:

 

OU and UH killed us in the intermediate and deep game in 2023. They werent 40 yard bombs like UW but they routinely picked us apart in the middle of the field. Even TCU had some success

Yes and playing off allows those middle routes to be more in sync for offenses if you are playing 5-10 yards off. Playing up and throwing off timing stops that and helps rushers get home. 

[ArizonaLonghorn]

1 hour ago, Jeff Howe said:

With six sacks through three games, the Longhorns are tied with Missouri for the fifth-most sacks in the SEC, which is good enough to be tied for No. 69 among FBS defenses, with eight SEC defenses piling up more sacks than Texas.

Not quite getting this stat - first we "are tied with Missouri for the fifth-most sacks in the SEC" - OK, clear enough.

Then later in the sentence there are "eight SEC defenses piling up more sacks than Texas" - which would make us 9th, not tied for 5th, unless some teams played more games or ?

[Jeff Howe]

3 hours ago, ArizonaLonghorn said:

Not quite getting this stat - first we "are tied with Missouri for the fifth-most sacks in the SEC" - OK, clear enough.

Then later in the sentence there are "eight SEC defenses piling up more sacks than Texas" - which would make us 9th, not tied for 5th, unless some teams played more games or ?

It was clunky so I cleaned it up. Sorry for the confusion.