Texas Football: 4 overreactions from Longhorns demolition of Baylor

Head coach Steve Sarkisian and No. 3 ranked Texas football opened Big 12 play with a 38-6 dismantling of head coach Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears on the road at McLane Stadium in Waco on Sep. 23. Texas controlled the game on both sides of the ball, with some special teams miscues really being the only blemish on this game for the men in Burnt Orange.

Texas’ 32-point win over Baylor in the Big 12 opener moves them to 4-0 (1-0 Big 12) on the season. Baylor, meanwhile, falls to 1-3 (0-1 Big 12) on the season. Aranda and the Bears are 0-3 this season against FBS opposition.

Overreactions from Texas football’s 38-6 road win over Baylor to open Big 12 play

The Longhorns have looked impressive in its two road games against Power Five competition this season. Texas’ first road game against a Power Five foe was the double-digit win in Tuscaloosa in primetime on Sep. 9 over the No. 3 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Sark and the Longhorns then demolished Baylor in their final meeting with the Bears in Waco (likely for a long time).

Following the win over Baylor, Texas’ schedule ramps up significantly over the next couple of weeks. Texas hosts the undefeated 4-0 (1-0 Big 12) Kansas Jayhawks led by head coach Lance Leipold at DKR on Sep. 30. And then, Texas travels to Dallas and the Texas State Fairgrounds to face the No. 14 Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry game.

Texas needs to lock in and clean up the mistakes we saw from this squad heading into a tough stretch of the Big 12 slate in the next two weeks.

Here are four overreactions following Texas’ 38-6 win over Baylor.

Texas has a championship-caliber defensive line

In the last few weeks, it’s become pretty clear that Texas’ strongest position group is the defensive line. Defensive line coach Bo Davis and the Longhorns have linemen capable of getting drafted in the NFL in 2024: redshirt senior T’Vondre Sweat, junior Byron Murphy II, and senior Alfred Collins.

And that doesn’t include the younger defensive linemen in this rotation who have the talent to get drafted in the NFL one day (i.e., junior Vernon Broughton and true freshman Sydir Mitchell).

Texas’ defensive line has dominated every offensive line it faced this season, even Alabama. Murphy, Sweat, and the Texas interior defensive line made it nearly impossible for Baylor to establish a sustained offensive rhythm in this game.

Baylor managed just 11 rushing yards and 0.6 yards per carry in the first half against Texas. The Bears also had 17 plays of zero or negative yards in the first half.

Texas also brought non-stop pressure from the interior defensive line on Sawyer Robertson and the Bears. Robertson was sacked five times and pressured on five more snaps before he was pulled for freshman Baylor QB RJ Martinez in the second half.

It didn’t matter what Baylor tried (at least until garbage time in the fourth quarter) in this game; they couldn’t move the Texas defensive line off the ball on run plays and couldn’t keep the pocket from collapsing on Robertson on pass plays.

Texas flexed its depth in the trenches against Baylor with a whopping 11 different defensive linemen and/or edge rushers having at least one quarterback pressure. Four different Texas defensive linemen/edge rushers had at least one sack.

The depth and talent Texas boasts along the defensive line are unmatched by any other group in the Big 12, hands down. This group gives Texas a shot to compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff if the other sides of the ball hold up their end of the bargain.