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Texas Football: 10 reasons to be excited for the Big 12 Championship Game

By Andrew Miller

DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 06: Sam Ehlinger #11 of the Texas Longhorns celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Oklahoma Sooners in the third quarter of the 2018 AT&T Red River Showdown at Cotton Bowl on October 6, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 06: Sam Ehlinger #11 of the Texas Longhorns celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Oklahoma Sooners in the third quarter of the 2018 AT&T Red River Showdown at Cotton Bowl on October 6, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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LUBBOCK, TX – NOVEMBER 10: Jett Duffey #7 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders is tackled by Gary Johnson #33 of the Texas Longhorns during the 2nd half of the game on November 10, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas defeated Texas Tech 41-34. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX – NOVEMBER 10: Jett Duffey #7 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders is tackled by Gary Johnson #33 of the Texas Longhorns during the 2nd half of the game on November 10, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas defeated Texas Tech 41-34. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

4. Linebacker battle

With all the struggles that both defenses had at points this year, there’s one common strength. The linebacking corps for Texas football was solid for most of the year, led by Gary Johnson. Oklahoma is led by the linebacker duo of sophomore Kenneth Murray and senior Curtis Bolton. Each linebacking corps is mainly run by a two-headed monster.

Murray and Bolton are combining for roughly 250 total tackles this year. They tend to clean up the messes for the rest of the Oklahoma defense. Any chance that the Sooners have of stopping the persistent Texas ground game involves both those linebackers performing at an extremely high level.

The similarities between Murray and Bolton and Johnson and senior Texas linebacker Anthony Wheeler are few. What these linebacking corps share in common is how much each defense relies on them. Johnson flies all over the field to make it difficult on opposing rushing attacks, and Wheeler is one of the team leaders in total tackles.

Whichever set of linebackers rise to the occasion more in this game could be a deciding factor for their team. Each secondary is going to struggle with the strength of each passing game, and with its own inherent weaknesses (looking at you Oklahoma defensive backs). The linebackers can help make up for any other shortcomings for each defensive group.

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