Texas Football: 3 pleasant surprises from first half of the season

Derek Kerstetter, OT

Finding the positives for the Texas offensive line so far this season isn’t easy to do. As potentially the worst-performing position group through the first half of the season, new offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood and the Longhorns have to find answers in the trenches down the stretch.

Injuries and personnel issues have plagued the Longhorns for almost the entire season. Losing senior Denzel Okafor for the entire season was very costly for the Longhorns. And some of the younger offensive linemen weren’t very effective out of the gates this fall.

The one constant for the Texas offensive line since about Week 2 for the Longhorns was redshirt senior offensive tackle, Derek Kerstetter. As one of the highest-graded offensive linemen in the Big 12 this season, Kerstetter really turned around his game after the loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks back on Sep. 11.

Kerstetter leads the team in pass-blocking effectiveness, with a rating just shy of 98 percent. And in true pass sets, he’s only allowed one quarterback pressure in more than 50 reps. That places him in the mix among the top 20 offensive linemen in the Power Five in true pass sets so far this season.

In 225 snaps this fall in any pass blocking plays, Kerstetter has allowed nine quarterback pressures and one sack. He hasn’t allowed any other quarterback hits than that one sack.

Kerstetter was especially good for Texas in the last four games. He’s registered the second-best run-blocking grade on the team. And in the last four games, he’s only allowed two run stuffs. He came out of the gates slow this fall in run blocking, but he was essential in the last few weeks as the rest of the offensive line has mostly struggled.