Coburn turning into force on defensive line
AUSTIN — Everyone involved with the program was thrilled when Keondre Coburn utilized his additional year of eligibility to return for a fifth season at Texas.
The Longhorns all seem to love “Snacks” Coburn, the 6foot-2, 344-pound defensive tackle who’s as bubbly as he is big. He’s a good time, a locker room comedian with an enduring smile that can thaw even the iciest of folks.
But Coburn wasn’t smiling much on the field as a senior last year. He finished with just 15 tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack in 12 games as Texas finished outside the nation’s top 98 in total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense.
So this offseason, head coach Steve Sarkisian and defensive line coach Bo Davis challenged Coburn to broaden his game. Become a more impactful pass rusher, a more consistent run stopper, a leader who walks the talk.
“I didn’t want him to be a onedimensional player,” Sarkisian said back in August. “He’s got to have the ability to rush the passer.”
Through five games this season, the Wesfield product looks like a completely different player.
He played 389 snaps across 12 games last season. In all that time, Coburn was credited with just three quarterback pressures: two hurries and a sack.
This year, Coburn leads Texas with 15 hurries — he’s recorded at least three in four of five games — and is one off the team lead with 17 total pressures. And he owns the best pass rush grade (84.2 out of 100) and second-best defensive grade (82.5) among Big 12 interior linemen, according to Pro Football Focus.
“I think Keondre has really improved,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “I think he is becoming a three-down player.”
The big man in the middle has had a profound impact on Texas’ improved defense.
Coburn would love to finish off a few more sacks of his own, but he essentially has become the Chris Paul of the defensive line, a sack facilitator who makes the game easier for everyone around him. He didn’t record any sacks in the Longhorns’ 3820 win over West Virginia last Saturday, but his presence made all the difference.
“There was a couple sacks in last week’s game where I think the sacks occurred because of the pass rush and the push that (Coburn) got in the middle,” Sarkisian said. “I know he wants to get those sacks, but I think the reality of it is when you can affect the quarterback from the inside out and you can push that pocket and make that pocket small, you can have a real impact on the game. And he’s done that.”
Coburn will need to be that same sort of disruptive force Saturday as Texas (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) seeks to end a four-year skid against an Oklahoma team that’s as vulnerable as any that has rolled into the Red River Showdown over the past two decades.
The Sooners (3-2, 0-2) have rushed for at least 179 yards in four of five games. And they’ve gone over 200 rushing yards three times, including a 312-yard, four-touchdown performance against Nebraska in Week 3.
And with starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the concussion protocol, the Sooners might have to lean even more heavily on a ground attack spearheaded by senior Eric Gray (460 rushing yards and three touchdowns).
That’s where Coburn comes in. One year after he was a borderline detriment to Texas’ defense, his ability to blow up designed runs and pressure the quarterback has helped transform this unit.
“He’s obviously a tremendous run defender for us,” Sarkisian said. “But I think ultimately, it’s been his maturity. You feel his senior leadership. He’s got a great deal of confidence. He’s a lighthearted guy, but yet he’s a very intense guy.
“I think there’s a lot of players on our team that follow his lead and just kind of his focus on what he’s trying to do and how to do it. I’ve been very pleased with him and just really proud of him.”