Creating havoc in both the run and pass game were foundational for the Longhorns’ defense.
At the end of the 2023 campaign, one of the Texas Longhorns defense’s biggest questions was how they would replace the talent and production of T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy, a pair of NFL defensive linemen. The Longhorns went into the transfer portal to supplement the talent already on campus, hoping to replace the production in aggregate. However, it turned out that two home-grown talents would anchor a defensive line that was one of the elite units in the country.
Texas finished No. 13 in the country in rushing yards allowed per game, averaging just 109.63 per contest. The Longhorns were elite against the run for the vast majority of the season, holding eight of their 16 opponents to less than 100 yards, including the national champion Ohio State Buckeyes. Texas won at the point of attack, turning in a 58-percent opponent power success rate, meaning they kept opponents from converting on when they had to gain two or fewer yards, whether that was on third and fourth down or goal-to-go.
One of the key performance indicators for the Longhorns’ defense was their ability to limit the opponent’s success on the ground. When the Texas run defense held the opponent in check, the Longhorns won, usually comfortably. In their tightest games and losses, opponents found success on the ground, putting the Texas defense on its back foot.
That effort was led by the home-grown tackles, Alfred Collins and Vernon Broughton, who ranked No. 7 and No. 8 respectively among all interior defensive linemen in the country. Both players came to campus with high expectations as blue-chip recruits, but despite some flashes had yet to truly step into their potential heading into the 2024 season. Both looked the part as seniors, both against the run, but especially creating havoc in the passing game, where the Texas line overall had a massive impact.
Broughton ranked No. 4 among interior defensive linemen in the country according to PFF’s rankings, registering 26 quarterback hurries in the year from the interior of the defense. Not only did that affect quarterbacks’ play on the inside, it often pushed the quarterback to the edges, where the Longhorns boasted multiple difference makers, including one of the youngest players on the team, Colin Simmons.
Despite having a limited role early in the season, Simmons finished the season No. 38 among all edge rushers and turned in a 90.00 grade as a pass rusher. That ranking came thanks in large part to his 46 total pressures, nine of which he converted into sacks, the fifth-best performance in the SEC, earning him conference All-Freshman honors. It also marks the highest total at Texas since Charles Omenihu in 2018 and the third-most by a freshman, behind Tim Campbell and Tony Brackens.
It wasn’t just Simmons’ outstanding freshman performance that allowed Texas to effect the pass in such a significant way — the rest of the edges did their parts as well. Trey Moore, who put up double-digit sacks in 2023 at UTSA, attracted a lot of attention early from defenses and finished with 5.5 sacks, all of which came in the final seven games of the season. It isn’t likely coincidental that Simmons also recorded five of his nine sacks in that span, with the pair forcing defenses to pick their poison while the other made them pay.
The Longhorns head into the 2025 season with more answers, but the same questions that they had a year ago. While Texas returns all of its key contributors on the outside of the line, they will once again have to find answers on the interior. Just like last year, they have already dipped into the transfer portal multiple times, adding three experienced defensive tackles — and former blue-chip recruits — in the winter portal window.
Travis Shaw, a North Carolina transfer, is likely the highest-upside addition in the portal, a former five-star player and No. 12 overall in the Tar Heels’ 2022 class under Mack Brown. He saw the field as a true freshman and played a part in the defense all three seasons in Chapel Hill, but never truly lived up to the potential they hoped for when he signed three years ago.
Hero Kanu spent three years in Columbus with Ohio State, but much like his recruiting classmate Shaw, never lived up to his top-150 recruit billing and is looking for a fresh start in Austin.
Cole Brevard, a four-star recruit out of high school, is at his third school after signing with Penn State in 2021 and transferring to Purdue ahead of his sophomore season. He was productive with the Boilermakers in 2024 but took the opportunity to move to Austin as a graduate transfer and improve his NFL draft stock.
While the interior of the defense has plenty of questions, the Longhorns can hang their defensive hats in 2025 on the fact that they return what is likely the best edge room in the country. With Moore announcing his return to play opposite Simmons, with Ethan Burke and Colton Vasek behind them, who would be starters on many teams around the country, the Longhorns will be well-equipped for what may be a quarterback-driven year in the SEC.