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

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.”