Texas Football: 3 reasons why TCU will upset the Longhorns

3) Why TCU could upset Texas football: Unpredictability of the secondary

Texas got anything but a solid performance out of their defensive backfield in the near upset loss in Lubbock last weekend to Texas Tech. They gave up more than 330 passing yards and five touchdowns to redshirt sophomore quarterback Alan Bowman. And it didn’t help that the front seven wasn’t doing much in pass coverage, and couldn’t stop the run late in the game either.

In the win over Texas Tech, the Longhorns gave up 104 rushing yards on 16 carries and two rushing touchdowns to redshirt sophomore running back SaRodorick Thompson.

Really the only redeeming factor to the play for the Longhorns defensive backfield in the win over Texas Tech was the fact that they nabbed three interceptions. Granted, one of those picks came on the last play of overtime, when junior safety Caden Sterns picked off Bowman to seal the win.

At least they are drawing more turnovers this season than they were last. Texas now has four interceptions in the first two games of the season alone. Last year, Texas only nabbed 0.9 interceptions per game. Defensive backs like junior corner D’shawn Jamison and Sterns to need to help Texas pick up the pace in this department.

During his true freshman campaign, Sterns registered four interceptions. He has just one since then (which came last weekend in Lubbock). He’s got to be a spark plug for this secondary so that defensive coordinator Chris Ash can get better play out of his side of the ball as a whole.