Purdue transfer defensive tackle Cole Brevard was excellent on the interior defensive line for Texas last week, consistently forcing Ohio State to double and even triple-team him at times. Despite not jumping off the page on the stat sheet, he ended up being of the absolute best interior defenders in all of college football in week one.
The 6'3", 346-pound nose tackle was a force to be reckoned with last weekend, consistently giving the Buckeyes' interior fits throughout the entirety of the game. His ability to anchor down against double and triple-teams forced the Ohio State running backs to unwillingly bounce outside into the faces of Liona Lefau and Anthony Hill Jr., which is exactly what the offense didn't want to happen.
As we can see in the clip below, if the ball-carriers stayed course inside, they were doomed.
NT Cole Brevard taking on four blockers at POA on third-and-1 pic.twitter.com/UyHFGAznn5
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) August 30, 2025
Though it wasn't neccessarily a total surprise to see how well Brevard performed against OSU, it was still awe-inspiring to see him be so dominant in a live game setting for the first time in 2025. He was incredibly productive throughout the summer in Austin alongside other newcomers like Travis Shaw, Hero Kanu, and Maraad Watson.
From the moment that Brevard stepped onto the practice field, we all knew that he could be a special player for the Longhorns.
"Cole Brevard is so massive, man. I kept looking at him and thinking of Hassan Ridgeway from the looks alone. You can tell he's a little muscle-bound and stiff, but dang, he's going to be really, really hard to move. If they bring in these DL in waves to keep them fresh, opposing… pic.twitter.com/k62aE5JFRe
— Orangebloods.com (@orangebloods_) July 31, 2025
He's built like a tank and ultimately played like one as well against the reigning national champions.
He silently came out of Saturday's matchup with the second-highest run defense grade amongst SEC defensive tackles. Brevard's ability to single-handedly dominate offensive guards and centers at the point of attack will always make him an above-average run defender at the collegiate level, and that's exactly what Texas needed to add in 2025.
Defensive Tackle Cole Brevard had an impressive debut 🤘
— Orangebloods.com (@orangebloods_) September 3, 2025
Posting an 84.0 run defense grade in week 1, second most amongst SEC DT’s 👀 (via @PFF) pic.twitter.com/MWp9oBLN65
Week two's matchup against San Jose State will give Brevard an opportunity to string together multiple top-tier performances, though there's a legitimate chance that DC Pete Kwiatkowski limits his reps as a precaution against such an inferior team.
The Longhorns absolutely cannot afford to lose someone like Cole Brevard to injury this early in the season, as he'll be an integral part of Texas' redemption season in 2025.