That DL is pretty awesome and pretty much the best we've ever had. What is most awesome and which you did not refer to is the depth. We will rotate 9 or 10 quality guys, and so by the 4th quarter, your line will be exhausted. They remind me of the great TCU DL's before they joined the Big 12 in that regard.
What you are not seeing on the film (since it generally focuses on the ball and not what's happening downfield) is how strong our secondary is. Matt Harris only got 3rd team All Conference honors falling behind Nick Van Hoose, which was a travesty, Van Hoose is good, but he had more PBUs and perhaps more exposure because Harris simply wasn't getting thrown on (he was also out for a few games, including Michigan and Iowa and Nebraska). He is a fricking glove. Harris is probably our best cornerback since Sherrick McManus who plays for the Bears now I think. We also get Kyle Quiero back who was out for Michigan and Iowa (and I think a big reason we lost those games) - he's a playmaker as our 5th DB and nickel (see his pick at the end of the Stanford game, which he probably should have run all the way and put up another 7 points on the Cardinal instead of falling down, seeing as how some people still think Stanford was a fluke). Our ability to put the corners on islands and generally cover also helps our DL, as QBs can't find receivers. Every week, opposing fans bitched about their playcalling because they'd throw 3 yard passes on 3rd and long. That wasn't the play call, there was nothing there for them, and this was all they had or the QB was going to eat it.
Then there is the LB unit. Anthony Walker is better than any LB we've had since, maybe Pat Fitzgerald. I say maybe because Walker is way ahead of Fitz athletically but Fitz didn't get burned by misdirection as Walker did against Michigan and Iowa. You're gonna hear his name called all day, and he will be in the backfield and he will spy Dobbs and Dobbs will not do anything against him on the ground. The other two aren't special, but they are solid.
This defense is solid across the board, and I do not fear UT putting up big numbers on us. If you can get us to turn the ball over (we are generally not that turnover prone, but it happens - see Michigan and Iowa), and get short fields and put the D on the field continuously, that's where we get hurt. But, otherwise, I don't see any weaknesses. We are good against the pass, good against the run, good against throwing QBs, good against mobile ones. If anything, I'd say we have been susceptible to misdirections (but that seems to have been fixed), struggled with big WR's (or at least the one we saw, who go figure played for Ball State, but will play on Sundays), and have dipped with injuries (unfortunately for you, we appear to be full strength going into the bowl with the return of Matt Harris recently, and Traveon Henry and Nick Van Hoose who were banged up against Illinois are expected to be healthy, and we get Kyle Quiero back - only starter who is out is Jaylen Prater, one of our LBs, but he has probably been Wally Pipped, as another poster pointed out elsewere) by Nate Hall. If you can get us to turn the ball over (we are generally not that turnover prone, but it happens - see Michigan and Iowa), and get short fields and put the D on the field continuously, that's where you can beat this D.
The game comes down to whether we can generate any offense to get a couple scores (we still need points to win, no matter how good our D is), and whether you can benefit from turnovers and the return game. Thorson has brief periods of brilliance, but I do not trust our passing game to do anything against UT. Even with your secondary. Maybe Fitz and McCall will surprise me and UT by opening up the playbook and taking big shots down the field and these three weeks of practice will be focused on unleashing what we have not seen all year - a decent passing game. No, I think you'll see us go to the ground, and I think you will be surprised when you get a chance to see Jackson play. I never thought he was that flashy a runner, but the guy has an ability to make something out of nothing. His majority of yardage is after contact and he has uncanny vision. What he doesn't have is breakaway speed. But, he gets stronger as the game goes on and in that 4th quarter, especially if your D is getting tired, he's going to wear you down with 7 yard runs. If we are nursing a lead, that's how we are going to win.The only games where he hasn't performed are those where inexplicably we only give him the ball a dozen times - usually because we're behind. This guy needs 30+ carries, and if he gets them, he is going to rush for 150 on you.
I'm not afraid of your prolific offense, because we have played better and have shut them down (most notably Stanford). Your best chances to beat us are a) to score early and make us play from behind (probably via turnovers) and b) get some points/field position in the return game. When that happens, we have gotten into trouble (Michigan and Iowa). You are definitely capable of (b) which is the scariest thing to me - though I expect Fitz to squip and rugby punt to prevent the big return. He has no problem giving you the ball on your 40 as he'll have confidence in the D to hold you out of scoring and to get some turnovers. We were able to shut down McCaffrey and the Duke guy - but Michigan burned us on the return game.
