Can recharged defense do it twice?
After putting the screws to USC’s offense, Horns must try to contain TCU’s weapons
AUSTIN — Last Saturday, moments before then-No. 22 USC began its first offensive drive of the second half, Texas nose tackle Chris Nelson turned to fellow defensive lineman Jamari Chisholm and issued an advisory.
“This next play, if I go make this tackle, watch my celebration,” Nelson said before trotting out onto the field.
The first snap was a handoff to Aca’Cedri Ware. The Trojans tailback made a sharp cut left and eluded a pair of Longhorns before Nelson caught him and slammed him to the turf.
The 315-pound Nelson sprung up, puffed out his stomach and used both hands to stroke his gut as if basking in the aftermath of a magnificent meal.
“It was just hype of the game, man,” Nelson said Tuesday. “I already had it in mind. And as soon as I went out there, I made a tackle, so it was great timing. Probably going to be seeing a lot of it.”
The Longhorns’ defense rediscovered itself in a 37-14 win over the Trojans, and not a moment too soon. No. 17 TCU (2-1) visits Austin this weekend, bringing with it a supersonic offense that piled up 511 yards in a loss to No. 4 Ohio State.
“They have great components,” Nelson said. “They’ve got a lot of speed over there on that side of the ball, and all those guys play well together. We’ve just got to scheme up the game good, go out here and practice and execute.”
A tall Big 12 task
Saturday’s game at RoyalMemorial Stadium will reveal whether Texas (2-1) is ready to return to the Big 12 spotlight and challenge for a spot in the Dec. 1 conference championship game at AT&T Stadium. This program hasn’t contended for a crown since it defeated Nebraska — now a Big Ten member — in 2009 with a last-second field goal in a controversial title game.
TCU split a conference crown with Baylor in 2014 and last season fell to Oklahoma in the revived Big 12 Championship Game. Coach Gary Patterson’s Horned Frogs are again an imposing obstacle.
The Longhorns are cognizant of the threat TCU’s offense poses. Sophomore quarterback Shawn Robinson has made only four career starts, but the 2016-17 Gatorade Texas Player of the Year embodies the sort of dualthreat quarterback Texas struggled against in matchups with Maryland and Tulsa.
Running back Darius Anderson is averaging 8.9 yards per carry and showcased his wheels on a 93-yard touchdown run against the Buckeyes, and backup Sewo Olonilua is a 6-3, 231pound change-of-pace bull. The trio is why TCU has eclipsed 200 rushing yards in each of its first three games.
“I think we have a lot of speed on defense,” UT coach Tom Herman said. “But we’ve got to keep them in front of us on defense.
“Can’t let them break free, because it’s going to be hard to chase them down.”
Squashing run game
UT’s defense will enter its Big 12 opener riding a wave of momentum.
The defensive line bullied USC’s overmatched offensive line, and coordinator Todd Orlando’s scheming coupled with the power-speed combo of UT’s linebackers and backs limited the Trojans to minus-5 rushing yards, the 24th-best performance in school history.
Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week Gary Johnson, often hailed as one of the fastest players on the team, spent most of Texas’ victory roving the field and dragging down ball carriers at or behind the line of scrimmage. The linebacker took to Twitter to express gratitude to the linemen for their role in his career day (four tackles for loss, two sacks and one forced fumble).
“Gary always brags and boasts about the D-line,” Nelson said. “That’s the great thing about it. But a guy like him, he works hard every day. My part is just opening up holes for him.”
Eliminating the run allowed Texas to focus on hounding the quarterback.
Full speed ahead to QB
After collecting one sack over their first two games, the Longhorns got to USC freshman J.T. Daniels three times and hurried him on four more occasions. Even seldom-used cornerback Chris Brown got involved, darting through a gap between Johnson and end Charles Omenihu for an 8-yard sack early in the fourth quarter.
“That was a proud moment,” Omenihu said of the defense’s performance. “Is it sustainable? I don’t know. But you strive to continue to have that sort of good work in the run game, because when you do that, you get to go rush the quarterback.”
Good as Texas was over the final three quarters against USC, it will need to be even better to stop a TCU offense averaging 41.7 points and 468 yards per game. A victory might require a whole lot of celebratory stomach rubbing from Nelson, though he might have a couple of new post-play performances to reveal Saturday afternoon.
“I might,” Nelson teased. “You’ll have to see.”