Texas football: Defense needs to regain footing after West Virginia outburst

By Will Leverett

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It was another crushing defeat on Saturday for Texas, who suffered their first home loss this year in a 42-41 defeat to West Virginia. In the midst of his first losing streak since week 7 of 2017, Tom Herman addressed the media in his weekly press conference.

Here are some main points from what Herman said.

Defensive slide

The first seven weeks of the season, the Texas defense looked dominant for stretches. The Longhorns gave up an average of 23 points per game as they held all of USC, TCU, Baylor and Kansas State to under 20.

Yet the last two weeks, Texas has looked like a different team. The Longhorns allowed Oklahoma State to run all over them for 38 points. A week later, West Virginia put up 42 at Darrell K. Royal Stadium.

When asked what the problem is, Herman did not have a clear answer, but said the defense is “playing a bit tentative.”

“For whatever reason we haven’t cut it loose at times,” he said. “That’s on us to figure out why. Maybe it’s an uncertainty... The easiest way to relieve some of that is to trim down the call sheet a little bit and make sure guys are ultimately confident.”

Whether it is key injuries or just poor execution, the last two weeks sure looks to have this defense reeling.

Mistakes against Grier

Will Grier looked every bit of a Heisman candidate in Austin on Saturday, as the West Virginia quarterback threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns. For much of the day, Grier was able to stand back in the pocket and dice up the Texas defense. Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando was unable to bring any sort of pressure. the Longhorns did not reach Grier one time.

“When you play coverage and drop eight, it’s going to be pretty difficult to get a ton of pressure,” Herman said. “When we did pressure, the one thing they did a really good job is they had hats for hats on a few of our pressures. We’ve got to coach our blitzers better technique in pass rushing.”

Beyond the pass rush, the secondary made some key mistakes, including allowing a man to run free with 20 seconds remaining to set up the game-winning touchdown for Grier. When asked about the secondary on that play, Herman simply gave props to the Mountaineer offense.

“Will Grier made a heck of a throw to a guy that ran a great route,” Herman said. “We put our guys in position, and they made a heck of a play.”

Avoiding a skid

The loss Saturday marks the first losing streak of this season for Texas. But with a matchup with Texas Tech in Lubbock on the horizon, the Longhorns cannot afford a poor week after the loss.

“There is no rest for the weary in this conference,” Herman said. “We go on the road again in a very tough environment to play in, especially at night.”

Texas Tech quarterback Alan Bowman has emerged as a rising star on a team known for producing top-tier talent at that position. Bowman has, at times, flourished in the Air Raid system designed by head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Kingsbury has drawn a reputation for developing stellar quarterbacks. However, Bowman suffered a recurrence of his partially collapsed lung against Oklahoma. Former Mr. Texas Football Jett Duffey could start instead. 

“He does a great job developing them,” Herman said of Kingsbury. “When you’ve got a quarterback room that’s got Baker Mayfield, Patrick Mahomes and Davis Webb, that’s a pretty good room… It’s a testament to his evaluation and what that program values at that position.”

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