Texas Longhorns

We're moving on with a new series today looking at the players across the Big 12 who have to replace program legends. We might as well call this the Nick Florence Memorial team, but let's talk Texas Longhorns.

Big shoes to fill: Texas' defensive ends

Texas isn't replacing much next season; the Longhorns bring back 19 starters to lead the Big 12 and tie for the national lead. That's got to bring a smile to Mack Brown's face, but the departing Alex Okafor leaves behind a big hole at defensive end following a season with 16.5 tackles for loss and a Big 12-leading 12.5 sacks. Jackson Jeffcoat has the opposite end spot locked down, of course, but filling Okafor's role will get really interesting this spring. Senior Reggie Wilson contributed each of the past three seasons, made a start in 2012 and may step into that role, but junior Cedric Reed started the last six games of the year without Jeffcoat and had 4.5 tackles for loss in the final five games of the season. It seems like he might be the safer bet, but sophomore Torshiro Davis could be a dark horse after burning his redshirt year following Jeffcoat's injury. The Longhorns need production opposite Jeffcoat and have a few solid options to do it, so even with Okafor's absence, Texas has reason to feel solid about this spot heading into the 2013 season.

More big shoes to fill:

• TCU
• Texas Tech
• West Virginia

AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas defense, which has suffered many blows in the past few weeks, just took another to the gut.

Jackson Jeffcoat is out. Gone for the season. He tore his pectoral muscle. This time it was the right one. Last year it was the left one. So much for Texas having the top two defensive ends in the Big 12. Instead Texas is just left with big questions at a time when it is searching for answers.

The foremost is: Can Cedric Reed or Reggie Wilson even come close to producing at Jeffcoat’s level? The answer is no. If they could, they would have had the starting spot.

Wilson showed a flash against Ole Miss when he jumped a diving blocker and sacked Bo Wallace.

Jeffcoat does stuff like that every game. The junior had four sacks, 11 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery for a touchdown already this season. Reed and Wilson have a combined five tackles for loss and one sack.

But Jeffcoat’s game went beyond stats. He, along with bookend Alex Okafor, was able to pin in quarterbacks and shrink their options. The reason Geno Smith was unable to roll the pocket and therefore roll Texas was because he had Jeffcoat to his left and Okafor to his right every time he dropped back. It was the combined pressure of the two that forced Smith to take four sacks and be stripped of the ball twice.

Without that type of pressure the Texas secondary, which already has issues in coverage, is susceptible to being picked apart by a quarterback like Baylor’s Nick Florence. Florence, the FBS leader in total offense, just so happens to be the next QB Texas faces.

The Longhorns might consider pulling the redshirt off someone like Shiro Davis in order to get more speed on the edge. But, as Texas has proven in the past two losses, it is very tough to play fast as a defensive player when you do not know where you are going.

Without Jeffcoat, Texas, a team that has allowed 111 points and more than 1,100 yards in the past two games, might be wondering where it is going.

Ash not ruled out
Texas has prepared itself since the spring to use two quarterbacks. Now the Longhorns might have to do just that.

While quarterback David Ash has not been ruled out with a bruise to his non-throwing wrist, he has not been cleared to play, either. That means Texas might once again be turning to backup Case McCoy.

The junior, who was 3-2 as a starter in 2011, lost out on the starting job after what was an eight-month competition. But the Texas coaches qualified their selection of Ash by stating, repeatedly, that they felt McCoy was more than an adequate backup and that they would not hesitate to play him.

Well, now the time might have come and it might be against Baylor, which happens to be the last team McCoy started against. In that game, McCoy was responsible for five turnovers. That, as much as anything, is what led to his demotion.

The coaching staff could not abide a quarterback who played fast and loose with the ball. They wanted a game manager. Ash better fit that role. McCoy, on the other hand, is much more of a draw-it-up-in-the-dirt player.

But McCoy has matured. He has added 15-20 pounds and put more zip on his intermediate throws as well as length on deep throws.

If he is the quarterback, it is almost a certainty that co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin will play it close to the vest and try to get McCoy to distribute the ball to playmakers such as Daje Johnson, Marquise Goodwin and Johnathan Gray. That has been when Texas is at its best. And to beat Baylor, a team that is No. 2 in total offense and No. 4 in scoring offense, Texas’ offense will have to be at its best.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Sure, Texas defensive ends Jackson Jeffcoat and Alex Okafor came back bigger, stronger and maybe even faster.

A summer with strength and conditioning coach Bennie Wylie will do that. And defensive coordinator Manny Diaz does appreciate it. But where Diaz really sees the growth is inside their helmets.

“They both have a great understanding for the game,” Diaz said. “[Defensive ends] coach [Oscar] Giles is moving on to what we call ‘next level coaching’ with them and they are able to detail out their game a little bit more this year than they were this time last year. That is exciting for us and we will expect great things out of them this fall.”

Those great things might not equate to a ledger full of sacks. That is a stat dictated by the prowess of the pass rush yes, but also can be controlled by a quick-trigger quarterback. Such was the case through the first part of the 2011 season. Texas started slowly, but finished with 29 sacks. The national leader, Texas A&M, had 51.

So the focus will not be on how many takedowns but takeaways instead.

“It’s more important to disrupt the quarterback and throw the ball to our defense, and our defensive backs,” Jeffcoat said. “To get the ball back. So the sacks will come. We’re not too focused on that. We’re working on getting the ball back to our offense and disrupting the quarterback.”

That is where the next level coaching comes into play.

“Now when you know what to do, you can start paying attention to what is happening on the other side of the ball,” Diaz said. “Like, ‘What does this back foot tell me? What does this stance tell me?’ That is what an experienced player does.”

That Texas has two such experienced players at defensive end is a plus. That it has two more defensive ends -- Cedric Reed and Reggie Wilson -- right behind Jeffcoat and Okafor with slightly less experience, should allow Diaz to deepen the rotation.

“No matter who we play, if you are on the field for eight straight plays the guy on the sideline is better than the guy that is on the field regardless of whatever credentials he has by his name,” Diaz said. “If, and this is the whole key, if the guy on the sideline can handle his assignments.”

“That is really what we are stressing with our depth, with our second unit of defense. At first it is to be dependable. The best ability is dependability.”

Sean Adams from HornsNation takes a look at the state of the Texas Football program. In this video, Sean looks at the depth on at the defensive end position.