By Colby Gordon
A sigh of relief went through Longhorn Nation when Cameron Dicker’s 33-yard field goal sailed through the uprights with no time left Saturday at Royal-Memorial Stadium and gave Texas a 50-48 win over lowly Kansas.
But as the Longhorns prepare for this week’s game at TCU, the focus turns to how [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]an injury-riddled defense that may be playing without as many as six starters can improve after giving up 569 yards to a team that lost earlier in the season at home to Coastal Carolina.
“We have a lot of confidence,” said senior defensive lineman Malcolm Roach at the weekly player availability for the media when asked to characterize the defense’s confidence level. “We were in the same predicament last year when we beat Tulsa by a touchdown, but at the end of the day we end up winning the Sugar Bowl. Do y’all remember when we beat Tulsa? I doubt it, but I do. At the end of the day it’s a ‘W’ in the win column, and that’s all that matters. The biggest thing is we won, and we’ll learn from our mistakes and move on.”
The Longhorns basically did what they wanted on offense against the Jayhawks, compiling 638 yards as they moved the ball at will — something they had to do to garner the win. Offensive players said that the struggles of the defense do not affect their mindset or put the offense under any additional pressure.
“If you alter anything then you’re going to be different,” junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger said. “We understand, offensively, what we’re capable of doing and we’re going to go out and execute. We have full confidence in our defense and it doesn’t change regardless of injuries.”
“We can’t control injuries,” senior offensive lineman Zach Shackelford said. “It’s just part of football. But we can control how we go out there and execute and do everything in our power to score more points than the other team at the end of the game. That’s really our job and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
The injury part of the equation can’t be ignored. At one point Saturday, a former walk-on was part of UT’s secondary coverage, and with teams limited to 85 scholarships, the toll the Longhorns have taken through injuries in the back seven of the defense was going to show.
“It’s tough,” senior defensive back Brandon Jones said. “I’m really glad about the depth we do have (in the secondary). We are really young, and it’s tough right now, but it will really pay off for the young guys down the road in terms of the ‘next man up’ mentality.”
As they did against Oklahoma, tackling issues arose against the Jayhawks, and both Jones and Roach noted that’s something the defense as a whole has had conversations about.
“People that I talk to, I think a lot of people have gotten caught up in trying to make the big play for the team,” Jones said. “At the end of the day in football, the biggest thing is getting the guy on the ground. It doesn’t have to look pretty.”
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