The Starting Defensive Lineup against Ohio State
EDGE – Simmons
DT – Watson
NT – January
DE – Burke
MLB – Hill
WLB Lefau
CB – Guilbeau
CB – Muhammed
Star – McDonald
S – Taafe
S – Williams
Before we jump too far into the Defense, I did not chart every single snap for numerical purposes – that will come in the Deep Dig early this week from @Alex Dunlap. What I did do was track activity, and if a player entered or exited the game. So when I mention a player “played the majority of snaps” or “a few” snaps just know those numbers are relative and unofficial.
23 Texas Defensive Players Entered the Game against Ohio State
Michael Taafe, S
Malik Muhammed, CB
Jelani McDonald, DB
Anthony Hill, LB
Jaylon Guilbeau, CB
Hero Kanu, DL
Colin Simmons, EDGEG
Ethan Burke, DE
Liona Lefau, LB
Trey Moore, LB/EDGE
Cole Brevard, DT
Maraad Watson, DT
Graceson Littleton, STAR
Ty’Anthony Smith, LB
Travis Shaw, DT
Derek Williams, S
Alex January, DL
Lance Jackson, DL
Zina Umeozulu, EDGE
Xavier Filsaime, DB
Colton Vasek, DE
Kobe Black, CB
Brad Spence, EDGE
Notables that did NOT play against Ohio State
Jonah Williams, DB
Jordon Johnson-Rubell, DB
Warren Roberson, DB
Justus Terry, DE
Melvin Hills, DL
Lavon Johnson, DL
Notes
– Colton Vasek: First Snap came with 4:20 left in 2nd quarter
– Xavier Filsaime: First Snap came with 4:00 left in 2nd quarter
– Jelani McDonald: Just before halftime, McDonald entered the field with a “Knee Stabilization” Tape Job, that looks like a sort of brace but shows his knee cap through the tape. *I assume further testing will take place when the team gets back to Austin* – He continued playing the remainder of the game.
– Derek Williams: I have him down for zero snaps in the 4th quarter after being heavily rotated in Q1-Q3 – have to wonder the health of Williams’ knee as well, as he has been recovering all offseason from said injury.
– Brad Spence: A couple of snaps at the end of the first quarter and crickets from there on out from a snap perspective
– Trey Moore: Played a lot more snaps in what “looked” like his same old role, more of an overhang EDGE as I labeled it. Allowing the Horns to stack him outside of Simmons.
Defensive Rotations from Saturday
Drive #1 and Drive #5 (Starters for 1st and 2nd Half)
Simmons, Watson, January, Burke
Hill, Lefau
Guilbeau, Muhammed, McDonald
Taafe, Williams
Drive #2 – Started at (-8)
Simmons, Brevard, Kanu, Burke
Hill, Lefau
Muhammed, Guilbeau, Littleton
Taafe, McDonald
Drive #3 – Started at (-20)
Spence, January, Watson, Jackson
Hill, Lefau
Guilbeau, Muhammed, Littleton
Taafe, McDonald
Drive #4 – Started at (-2)
Moore, Kanu, Shaw, Brevard, Vasek
Hill, Lefau
Guilbeau, Muhammed
Taafe, McDonald
Drive #6 – Started at (-1)
Kanu, Watson, Shaw, Burke, Moore
Hill, Lefau
McDonald, Guilbeau, Muhammed
Taafe (Single high)
Drive #7 – Started at (-32)
Umeozulu, January, Watson, Jackson
Hill, Lefau
Muhammed, Guilbeau, McDonald
Taafe, Williams
Drive #8 – Started at (-9)
Simmons, Watson, Brevard, Kanu, Moore
Hill, Smith
Muhammed, Black
Taafe, McDonald
Drive #9 – Started at (-25)
Burke, Kanu, Brevard, January, Moore
Hill, Lefau
Taafe, Muhammed, McDonald
Guilbeau (Single high)
Defensive Tackle Rotation
Maraad Watson – Starter – 3rd Most Snaps
Alex January – Starter – 5th Most Snaps
Hero Kanu – Entered on 3rd Down of Drive 1 – Most Snaps Played
Cole Brevard – Entered on 3rd Down on Drive 1 – 2nd Most Snaps Played
Travis Shaw – 4th Most Snaps (Mostly 1st and 2nd down snaps – couple of 3rd/4th and short snaps)
Biggest Takeaways
– Graceson Littleton is a STUD, making a couple of massive plays throughout the game that will go under-appreciated
– Littleton/McDonald/Taafe/Guilbeau each spent more than 1 snap in the Nickel.
– Liona Lefau with 9 tackles? I looked up at halftime and he had 8…
– Simmons/Hill -> I know people are mad that Simmons and Hill didn’t have standout games, but outside of the facemask by Simmons, I’m actually more disappointed in Hill’s game today. Some of the open field questions after last season are still peeping their head.
– Lance Jackson -> Shoutout to the young buck for getting a grip of work in the first half at defensive end and even moving inside and getting a snap at 1-Tech
– The Brad Spence usage is bewildering to me
– Have to assume LaVon Johnson is still injured, I did not notice him on the sideline – not sure if he dressed or not
– Kobe Black we knew was the next man up at Corner, but it’s good to see him get some solid run in place of Muhammed AND Guilbeau.
Texas gave up 203 Total Yards of Offense to Ohio State.
– In 2024, Ohio State was the Number 1 Defense in America, allowing 254.6 yards/game
– Texas was the Number 3 Defense in America, allowing 283.4 yards/game
– In 2024, Ohio State’s season low was 252 yards in a Loss against Michigan
