By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer
AUSTIN, Texas – Yes, Texas lost to then No. 6 Louisiana State 45-38 on Saturday and the youthful but talented Longhorn defense surrendered 471 yards through the air in the setback.
But Texas coach Tom Herman was quick to defend, if you will, his defense on Monday – especially its beleaguered secondary – when he met with the press for his regular early-week availability.
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When you see a defense is getting beaten, it’s a cumulative situation – the head (the defensive front-six) is just as responsible as the tail (the secondary).
The latter is just the one that’s seen chasing as the last line of defense.
Against LSU, which moved up to fourth in this week’s Associated Press poll after beating Texas, the Longhorns were chasing a whole lot.
“Part of the problem is when you complete passes, it’s not always on the secondary,” Herman said. “Let’s not discount the fact that (Louisiana State quarterback) Joe Burrow threw the ball in spots and places with a great amount of accuracy – it was something to see.
“We’ve got to do better, though,” Herman added. “We’re gonna face really good receivers and quarterbacks in this league, but we’re not ready to sound all the alarms just yet.”
Herman would not take the bait Monday when it was suggested that the Longhorns were overly soft in the middle of the field, where LSU’s receivers roamed pretty much at will with Texas cornerbacks Jalen Green and Kobe Boyce in hot pursuit.
“We’re all just assuming that it was the secondary’s fault that people were open,” Herman said. “That’s not a fair assumption until you know what each coverage call was and whose responsibility that is.”
The secondary will be without one of its key players for this week’s game versus Rice in Houston’s NRG Stadium.
Herman announced Monday that nickelback/safety B.J. Foster will be out “at least a couple of weeks” with a “significant” hamstring issue, suffered late in the loss against LSU. Sophomore DeMarvion Overshown, who had a sack and an interception in the win over Louisiana Teech, will move up to take his spot at nickel.
“He’s extremely physical with good size and speed, good instincts,” Herman said about Foster. “We’ve got to coach him better on some of the details. “
Sounds like that could work for the secondary as whole, but the Longhorns will get a chance to get better, in a big way, against the winless Owls.
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