Horns used to facing the best quarterbacks
Three from last year went on to NFL, and Texas beat two of them.
Every week this fall, we’re looking at a specific number that’s tied to Texas football.
The latest notable number is 78 — the number of passes completed last season against Texas by quarterbacks taken in the 2017 NFL draft.
USC quarterback Sam Darnold, a redshirt sophomore, is already being projected by some as the top pick in the 2018 draft. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Heisman Trophy contender has completed 74.6 percent of his passes and has thrown for 605 yards and four touchdowns in two games.
Texas linebacker Naashon Hughes diagnosed Darnold as “one of the better quarterbacks in the nation.”
Nickel back P.J. Locke III said the message to the Longhorns this week has been, “You can’t play it the same way like you play other quarterbacks because he can make every single throw.”
Darnold’s four interceptions? Not the statistic worth focusing on, said cornerback Holton Hill.
Texas coach Tom Herman recruited Darnold while he was the offensive coordinator at Ohio State. On Monday, he praised Darnold’s ability to make different kinds of throws and his elusiveness.
While the Longhorns were complimentary about Darnold — Texas ranked 105th against the pass last season — it’s hard to imagine that the fear factor will be in play.
Darnold, in fact, is one of many NFL-ready quarterbacks whom most players on this defense have faced over the past few seasons.
Texas surrendered three touchdown passes in 2015 to Cal’s Jared Goff, the eventual No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft.
Last season the Longhorns faced Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes II, Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer and Cal’s Davis Webb. Mahomes (10th overall, Kansas City), Kizer (52nd, Cleveland) and Webb (87th, New York Giants) are now on NFL rosters.
Texas went 2-1 in those games against future NFL quarterbacks last season. The Longhorns knocked off Notre Dame in overtime and defeated Texas Tech 45-37. Webb, however, delivered a 50-43 blow to a Longhorns team that was ranked 11th at the time. In those games, the quarterbacks got their statistics:
Kizer completed 15 of 24 passes for 215 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for a score.
Webb completed 27 of 40 passes for 396 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for a score.
Mahomes completed 36 of 59 passes for 367 yards and three touchdowns.
Texas had eight sacks of those NFL-bound quarterbacks. UT intercepted Mahomes once.
“We’ve seen so many in the past,” Hughes said. “Just because we’ve seen that style and we’re an older team on defense now, we’re not really too intimidated from the quarterback standpoint. We think he’s a great quarterback as well, though.”
Darnold isn’t the first NFL prospect on UT’s scouting report. He also won’t be the last because Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph await on the schedule.
Hill said the Longhorns will need to prepare for every quarterback on the schedule the same way.
“You never want to underestimate somebody,” Hill said. “Right when you do that, they pop out. We take every opponent as if they’re a top-five team, top-10 team. (We) take every play as if it’s fourth-and-one.”