4 takeaways from Texas football’s last-second loss to Alabama

Jaylan Ford led a revitalized Texas defense

One of the most positive storylines from the first two games of the season for the Longhorns was the play of this defense. Texas looks so much better on defense under Co-DC/LB coach Pete Kwiatkowski at the outset of this season than they did last year.

The very fact that Texas allowed just 20 points to Alabama, without them turning the ball over a single time, is truly impressive. Texas gave Young fits in the pocket for much of this game. That included two key sacks, one from junior linebacker Jaylan Ford.

Ford was a real spark plug for this defense for nearly the entire game. He had multiple quarterback pressures and one key sack where it looked like a rocket bursting into the Alabama backfield.

We also didn’t see many of the missed tackle issues that plagued Ford throughout much of the regular season opener.

Ford finished up this game with 10 combined tackles, two tackles for loss, a few quarterback pressures, and one sack.

But he wasn’t the only player that showed out for the Longhorns this weekend.

Senior edge rusher Ovie Oghoufo was good for Texas with five combined tackles and one key sack. It’s also worth highlighting the standout game from senior safety Anthony Cook, who came up with nine combined tackles, a few run stops, and two tackles for loss.

Texas’ defense shined in this game and held them in when the offense started to sputter at times in the second half. It will be massive if the defense continues to show this level of improvement heading into Big 12 play.