Sep 26, 2015; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Jerrod Heard (13) carries the ball under pressure from Oklahoma State Cowboys linebacker Seth Jacobs (10) during the third quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Oklahoma State beat Texas 30-27. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports
Defense: A+
Not much to say here, in a good way. As usual, the defense comes away as the real winner.
One week after Jerrod Heard solely accounted for 527 yards and set a school record, the Oklahoma State defense held him to roughly 1/4th of that.
Heard’s final numbers?
9-of-17 passing for 116 yards (nearly half of which came on one of his first passes,) no touchdowns, and one interception. He was even less effective running the ball, finishing with just 48 net yards on 19 carries, with almost half of that coming on a 29-yard run.
Overall, the Texas offense was more or less shutdown, and managed just one touchdown, bringing the Cowboys defense’s total of touchdowns allowed to five in four games.
How about that.
Heard actually had some success in the first half, but Glenn Spencer made some adjustments, including utilizing the star linebacker position as more of a spy role, giving some extra help when Heard made it past the line of scrimmage on a scramble.
Overall, seven players finished with tackles for a loss, led by none other than Emmanuel Ogbah, who had 2.5, which included two sacks. Jimmy Bean, Miketavius Jones, and Vincent Taylor all got in on the sack action as well.
Seth Jacobs’ semi-one-handed interception was just icing on the cake.
Bottom line, the defense saved this game, and bailed out the offense time and time again. The final series that forced the botched Texas punt was a fitting exclamation point to a great performance.
Next: Special Teams and Overall GPA