Ta’Quon Graham has heard -- and seen -- plenty about the defensive mistakes, missed tackles and the inability to contain big receivers in the few days since Texas Tech.
The Texas defensive lineman also has a vision for what he believes the Longhorns can be on defense.
Yes, there’s a wide gulf between reality and possibility at the moment, one that Texas (2-0, 1-0 Big 12) will try to close on Saturday when it hosts TCU (0-1, 0-1).
“From our side of it, I would say I was disappointed about our performance,” Graham said Tuesday. “I’m not sad, I’m not angry about it, I just know what we can do. What we can do was not put on tape last Saturday.”
Things were supposed to change from last season when missed tackles were one contributing reason to the dismissal of defense coordinator Todd Orlando, now in the same position at USC.
Texas coach Tom Herman reached out to old colleague Chris Ash, who he had known from Iowa State and Ohio State.
Ash’s tenure as Rutgers' head coach notwithstanding, he was viewed as one of the very best defensive coordinators in the country. Former coach turned Fox Sports analyst Urban Meyer, who handpicked him to run the Ohio State defense, called him “by far, the best coordinator hire of the year.”
Herman admitted the tackling was every bit as bad on film as it was on the sidelines, a case of his players not finishing plays when they were in positions to do so.
Former Longhorn Rod Babers tweeted that he conservatively charted 19 missed tackles leading to 167 Tech yards. SaRodorick Thompson broke at least three tackles on a 75-yard run.
It’s not just a Texas-thing, not by a longshot, thanks to COVID-19 limiting workouts. But it’s scant consolation.
“They’re embarrassed,” Herman said. “They saw the film. They saw the same game everyone else did. Being able to coach guys who are hungry to be coached after a win instead of licking their wounds after a loss is certainly a huge advantage.”
He noted a combination of reasons including the absence of a spring practice for Ash to implement his scheme.
Among the changes: Ash is a big advocate of the rugby-style of tackling.
Just think fundamental shoulder tackling but it does take time to teach.
Plus, he’s gone to a four-man front for Texas with some players learning new positions.
“I don’t know if it’s an adjustment, per se. It comes from repetition,” Herman said. “This is one of the drawbacks of no spring practice and a very truncated and unusual training camp. We’ve got to put our heads together how in the world we can continue to drill this.”
Pitting his No. 1 offense against his No. 1 defense in full-speed scrimmages daily during a pandemic doesn’t exactly make sense, Herman acknowledged.
“So we’ve got to continue to work our drills, add some more drills,” Herman said. “We’ve got to stress the importance of carrying those drills over into the game.”
One adjustment may have already occurred. The Longhorns seemed to have trouble with the speed of Tech’s offense – especially after opening the season with a more methodical UTEP team.
“The speed of the game snuck up on us,” Herman said.
TCU could be a problem. Texas had problems corralling dual-threat quarterback Max Duggan last season and he is expected to start after missing part of preseason camp with a heart condition.
Defensive back Josh Thompson said Tuesday he was glad that the tackling problems occurred in the Big 12 opener.
“It’s very fixable. It happened early in the season,” Thompson said. “We’ve seen the corrections we need to make on film.”
Now it’s about translating it to the field.
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