Alfred Collins has been the best player on Texas's defense for the past five games
Texas's two MVPs of the game in the win over Arkansas this weekend are both defenders for the Longhorns, senior cornerback Jahdae Barron and senior defensive tackle Alfred Collins.
Barron and Collins forced the two turnovers for the Longhorns, which ultimately led to two of the most critical offensive drives that secured the victory over the Hogs yesterday.
Barron's first-quarter interception was a nice play he made on the ball, and it led to the Longhorns scoring their first touchdown of the game against Arkansas. The senior DB and Jim Thorpe Award contender, Barron, played a tremendous all-around game for Texas's defense.
He finished up the game with a season-high seven total tackles, two tackles for loss, three defensive stops, three quarterback pressures, one sack, one interception, and one pass breakup. Barron's ability to not only hold his own in one-on-one man coverage and make plays on the football, but also to get pressure on the Arkansas quarterback on key downs in the second half, helped Texas's defense stifle the Hogs offense.
Highest graded SEC defensive tackles after Week 12.
— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) November 17, 2024
1. Alfred Collins, Texas: 90.1
2. Walter Nolen, Ole Miss: 85.9
3. Tim Keenan III, Bama: 83.7
4. TJ Sanders, South Carolina: 81.8
5. Christen Miller, UGA: 79.9 pic.twitter.com/kVZbeiuAGW
Regarding big second half players, nobody was more important for Texas's defense than Collins. Collins, the SEC's highest graded defensive tackle this season (per PFF), was all over the field for the Longhorns on defense to come up with big plays throughout the game against Arkansas.
In the past five games, Collins has really seen his game make leaps and bounds to a whole new level. Since Week 7, Collins leads all SEC defensive tackles in defensive grade, defensive stops, and quarterback pressures.
Every week, it feels like I'm saying that Collins played the best game of his collegiate career at Texas. But you could easily argue that Week 12 against Arkansas was Collins' most impactful and complete performance of his entire career in college.
Alfred Collins of @texasfootball with the snatch/swim sack. @alfredcollins99 sets his rush up with stutter, lands his hands, then executes his rush inside. Beautiful move by Collins! #PassRush #NFLDraft #HookEm pic.twitter.com/MCF7zOdaWp
— DLineVids (@dlinevids1) November 16, 2024
Collins not only posted the best defensive grade of the season in the win over Arkansas, but he also registered a season-high in defensive stops (four), combined tackles (seven), tackles for loss (two), and he got his first sack.
The most important play Collins made against Arkansas was forcing a fumble on a late-game drive that gave Texas's offense the ball back with good field position. Ewers and the Longhorns ultimately got the chains moving enough to drain the clock and secure the double-digit win over the Hogs on the road.