Texas prepares for a pass rush
Huskies gave Longhorns fits in 2022 Alamo Bowl
NEW ORLEANS — Texas tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders doesn’t need to pull up film from last year’s Alamo Bowl for a reminder of what makes Washington dangerous on defense.
He remembers quite well, as he wryly recalled while talking with the media on Friday.
“I know they have two great edge rushers, No. 8 and No. 4,” Sanders said. “I know 8 because he kind of gave me hell last year.”
Sanders chuckled and shook his head while talking about Bralen Trice, No. 8 in film parlance, and Zion Tupuola-Fetui, No. 4. Trice gave the entire Texas offense hell during his team’s 27-20 Alamo Bowl win while racking up five tackles, a sack and a tackle for a loss. Overall, the Huskies made Texas one-dimensional in San Antonio; quarterback Quinn Ewers threw for 369 yards, but the Longhorns ran for a seasonlow 54 on 18 carries while playing without Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson, who both opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL draft.
But William Inge, Washington’s co-defensive coordinator, said this Texas offense bears little resemblance to the one his squad faced last year.
“I think the biggest thing for them (last year) were their running backs,” Inge said. “Bijan and Roschon, those guys were not there. But the biggest thing our guys did last year is we really pride ourselves on being able to be fundamentally sound and making sure we’re all executing our job. If every person is doing your job exactly the way it’s supposed to be done when you’re supposed to do it, that’s kind of the core fabric of what we want to be able to do.”
Trice and Tupuola-Fetui have certainly done their job for a unit that often gets overshadowed by the Huskies’ prolific offense. Washington has given up 396.9 yards a game this season, which ranked a middling eighth in a Pac-12 not known for its Doomsdays, Legions of Boom or Steel Curtains. They also had just 19 sacks, and their 1.46 sacks-per-game average ranks 120th out of 130 FBS teams.
Not that Trice cares much about such things.
“Regardless of stats and sacks, I think our room — myself and Zion, everybody — puts a lot of pressure on the quarterbacks and affects the game, regardless of stats,” Trice said. “I mean, they’re still knowing we’re there. They’re scheming us, it’s changing up how they play, and it’s affecting them.”
Texas offensive coordinator Kyle Flood appreciates that approach. His 30-year coaching career includes two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, and he says Washington is “very much an NFL-style defense.”
“What I mean is, yes, they’ve got their first- and second-down packages, and then on third down, it’s completely different,” Flood said. “They’ve got an extensive thirddown package that really will challenge us in this game.”
And it starts up front with Trice and Tupuola-Fetui. Trice, a 6-foot-4, 275-pound junior, has team-highs with five sacks and 14 quarterback pressures along with 41 tackles while the 6-foot-4, 255-pound senior Tupuola-Fetui has 31⁄2 sacks and 28 tackles. More importantly, the pair sets a firm edge and locks up blockers while allowing players like rover Dominique Hampton (93 tackles) and linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio (83 tackles, 6 tackles for a loss) to make plays.
“They’ve got excellent edge players,” Flood said. “You know, their defensive ends are as good as anybody we’ve played this year. They play at a really high level. They really know their scheme.”
Texas right tackle Christian Jones and left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. will handle most of the one-on-ones with the Washington edges. Considering that Jones has been invited to this year’s Senior Bowl and Banks projects as a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft, Texas seems as well-equipped to handle Washington’s edges as any team the Huskies have played.
“I would say they continually pursue the ball,” Flood said. “They have a good get-off, you know? They just don’t stop, they don’t quit. Very twitchy athletes. It’ll be a good matchup.”