DB-Oomph: Boyd, Sterns earn national attention

Looking to the future, it’s becoming clear that DBU is most certainly back.

The duo of defensive backs Kris Boyd and Caden Sterns were named semifinalists for the 2018 the Jim Thorpe Award, signifying that they are part of a crew helping to earn the Longhorns back the moniker of DBU (or Defensive Back University). Boyd has said time and again this season he was not ready to accept saying DBU is back because they hadn’t earned it yet.

He might have a hard time saying that much more this season after the true freshman Sterns and the senior Boyd became finalists for the prestigious Thorpe Award. Texas has a long history with the Thorpe Award as Michael Huff and Aaron Ross won it in back-to-back seasons (2005-06), while three others have been named finalists for the award (Quentin Jammer, Earl Thomas, DeShon Elliott).

“They’re National Champions and all that — we’ve got some big, big shoes to fill. We’re nowhere near that but we’re taking a step,” Boyd said. “We’ve got some catching up to do.”

When asked what it means having Sterns play safety as Boyd lines up at cornerback, Boyd was more than thrilled to be asked and compared the comfort of his safety to a well-known insurance company.