Brady Quinn names defense as the x-factor for Texas football in 2022

The previews and projections for the 2022 college football season continue to roll in this week as Texas football is now a little more than six weeks away from the regular season opener. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian just wrapped up Big 12 Media Days earlier this week with five of the leaders that got to represent this team along with him.

And now, we will continue to wait for the start of the 2022 regular season for the Longhorns, and preview what is to come for this team this fall in the meantime. Texas is going to have loftier expectations this fall compared to last season.

But the realistic expectations likely still peg this team to win at least eight or nine games this fall while displaying ample improvement and potential on both sides of the ball.

One particular area where the Longhorns must improve this fall is on the defensive side of the ball. The Texas defense seemingly imploded last fall in the midst of the tragic six-game losing streak in Big 12 play.

Brady Quinn tabs defense as the crucial factor for Texas football in 2022

This is something that the former Notre Dame Fighting Irish star quarterback and media personality Brady Quinn pointed out as he previewed the season ahead for the Longhorns with CBS Sports HQ this week.

Quinn tabbed Texas’ defense as the x-factor for this team this fall. Essentially saying that there is a ceiling for this team if the defense doesn’t show some of the necessary strides for this team as a whole to succeed this fall, Quinn’s point does make sense in this 2022 preview for the Longhorns.

Here’s more on what Quinn had to say on this matter in his outlook for Texas in 2022.

"But that hasn’t been their Achilles heel. This school has been able to put up yards and points since Steve Sarkisian was there and even before he got there. It’s the defense that I mentioned earlier. And what they did this offseason was add really the defensive guru for a long time in the Big 12–Gary Patterson. Now, he’s not calling the defense. That’s still Pete Kwiatkowski. But he will put his footprint on this defense and help improve that side of the football."

The defensive simple rating system pegged the Longhorns as the No. 96 defense in the FBS last season. Unless the offense is an absolute juggernaut this fall, Texas isn’t going to win all that many games without the defense showing ample improvement this coming season.

Texas really needs to display some significant improvement on the defensive side of the ball throughout Big 12 play. Pete Kwiatkowski saw his defense get scorched at some inopportune times throughout the Big 12 slate last fall. That has to change in 2022.

Last season, Sark and the Longhorns finished up with a record of 5-7 (3-6 Big 12), missing out on bowl season for the first time since 2016. Texas will open up the 2022 regular season on Sep. 3 at home against Louisiana-Monroe.