2023 Rice Post Mortem: Defense/Special Teams

Let’s eat dessert first, shall we?

The Longhorn defense was fantastic on Saturday, dominating a limited Rice Owl offense even more than the 37-10 score implied. The Owls scored a field goal on their first possession after being gifted favorable field position in Longhorn territory after a failed Texas 4th down conversion (the Owls had a 6 play, 8 yard “drive”) and then scored again on the last drive of the game against predominantly defensive 3rd teamers. A garbage score that the defense (and Horn gamblers) didn’t deserve.

For the game, Rice compiled only 176 yards of offense at 3.5 yards per play. Their longest run went for 6 yards (they totaled 27 yards altogether) and JT Daniels was 14 of 26 for 149 yards and 2 interceptions. Beyond holding down Rice statistically, the Texas D also had major impact plays, forcing three turnovers and limiting the Owls to 2 of 11 on money downs through the first three quarters of play with tight coverage and heavy pressure. The defense relented while substituting heavily in the 4th quarter, allowing Rice to gain 76 yards, convert 3 of 4 money downs and score 7 points in that final stanza.

Texas played 30+ defensive players during meaningful game play and the sheer depth on display on the defensive line and in the secondary was impressive. While there were standouts on Saturday, most of the good play was the result of a swarm of seemingly endless Texas defenders simply doing their jobs.

Defensive Line

The big guys dominated up front led by T’Vondre Sweat. Big #93 is my player of the game for plays like this against the pass:

360 pounds shouldn’t close ground that quickly after a great swim move. Good clean hit on Daniels. Sweat is an incredibly impactful football player when his motor is revving. Who knew 360 pounders liked the heat?

Here’s Sweat dominating against the run as Alfred Collins jacks up the playside tight end and Jett Bush shocks the pulling OL:

Notice that Sweat is so dominant, he controls the offensive lineman with only one arm and keeps his outside shoulder and right arm completely free to make the tackle. Big Sweat finished with 5 tackles, 2 QB hits and a big 4th down stop. Stud.

The rest of the unit was right there with him, highlighted by Byron Murphy getting terrific push that allowed David Gbenda free run on an untouched blitz. Gbenda gets the announcer’s accolade, but Murphy made it happen:

That was a typical play for Byron and he was terrific as a penetrating nose tackle who still maintained good gap integrity.

Here’s Alfred Collins looking nimble off of the edge (where he took a large number of his snaps in both 3 and 4 man fronts)

Notice that Collins doesn’t leave the ground like so many players do in that situation. He gets his hands up and closes distance, trusting his wingspan. Good coaching there.

Ethan Burke notched 1.5 sacks and 4 tackles, showing good motor on all of his snaps. His best effort was getting cut down on a pass rush, regaining his feet and then completing the sack after Jett Bush funneled the QB into him.

Kris Ross also had two very nice pressures and a QB hit. He’s regained weight from his self-imposed spring Jenny Craig diet and looks both stronger and more explosive at +15-20 pounds. Stop fasting and keep feasting on QBs, Kris.

I’m not going to name every guy, but great effort from the whole unit. The display of depth and the intensity of play was outstanding.

Linebacker

Jaylan Ford continues to make his mark as one of the savviest and sure-handed coverage linebackers in the college game:

JT Daniels certainly wasn’t expecting him to be there on 3rd and 16. Note how much deeper and more fluidly Ford gets into his drop than Gbenda beside him. Ford finished with 5 tackles overall and was a rock against the run. He has now forced a turnover in 7 of his last 8 games.

Jett Bush played very well. Extremely physical. Repeatedly shocked much bigger Owl OL. 2 tackles and a fumble recovery.

David Gbenda led the team in tackles with 6 and did some good things covering ground and finishing plays. His biggest lapse was blowing a coverage on a shallow crossing route on a 3rd and 6 and surrendering a 37 yard completion.

Anthony Hill was very active and now has some coachable game tape. Solid intro to college football.

Defensive Backs

Texas pretty much played the three deep and just about everyone played above average to great.

Jahdae Barron was fantastic. Slot receiver Luke McCaffrey was supposed to be the focal point of the Rice offense and he didn’t catch a meaningful pass until Barron was drinking Gatorade on the sideline. Against Barron, McCaffrey had 7 yards on 1 catch on 6 targets. Domination.

Manny Muhammad is a dude. Great recovery out of his break and he isn’t shy about squatting on a route. 5 tackles and a PBU for the true freshman. They avoided Ryan Watts in the running and passing game and Terrance Brooks drew the start opposite and almost as little attention. Gavin Holmes played most of his snaps in the second half.

Catalon didn’t dent the box score playing field safety. Jerrin Thompson missed a half of play but played in the second with Michael Taaffe drawing the start. Here’s a nice hit from Taaffe on Rice’s touchdown throw:

Texas is caught in a bad defense here with Bush covering McCaffrey on a double move, but Taaffe brings the wood and McCaffrey isn’t sure where he is or why there’s a football in his hands afterwards. Congrats on making the box score.

Freshman Derek Williams flashed in about a quarter of play, compiling three tackles.

Overall, Rice was totally outmatched against the Texas secondary and their most consequential throws of the game happened in garbage time and against a Longhorn linebacker coverage bust.

Special Teams

A clean game overall. Auburn was terrific, going 3 for 4 including makes from 46 and 49 yards. I’m not going to hold missing a 56 yarder against him.

Xavier Worthy had a nice 21 yard punt return harvested off of the sideline, but the kick return game was quiet otherwise.

Will Stone had 4 touchbacks on 7 kickoffs and Rice averaged only 13 yards per kickoff return.

A winning performance, but I’d like to see an impact play in the return/block game.

Final

Intense and diligent. This unit got better in the offseason and the execution on money downs with coverages better married to the front were noticeable. Depth in several key areas is impressive. Expect a shorter bench in Tuscaloosa, but we’ll still see a solid rotation of the two deep on the DL and at DB.

Is Rice a relatively weak offense? Yes. But beyond the obvious athletic disparities, the cohesion, physicality and individual positional improvement that Texas showed is scalable.

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