Back in September I made a post about the defensive stats that mattered to the Texas coaches. It caused an immediate sensation. And by 'immediate sensation' I mean a blogger from Missouri liked it.
I knew the Texas defense was better than it was a year ago, but the defensive stats had not borne that out yet. I knew it was just a matter of time before they did though.
So let's revisit the stats.
| Team | YPA | 3rd Down % | Red Zone % | Points |
| 2007 | 6.98 | 38.9% | 77.7% | 25.3 |
| 2008 | 6.79 | 35.7% | 71% | 19.5 |
Improvement across the board, but that doesn't tell the whole story. The quality of competition we've faced this year is a lot better than what we faced last year. In 2007 we faced four teams that were ranked in the Top 30 in both scoring and total offense: OU, Tech, OSU and Nebraska. This year we've faced five teams that are ranked in the Top 10 in both categories (OU, Tech, Missouri, OSU and Rice) and two more ranked in the Top 30 in both (UTEP and Kansas).
So we'll first look at how the 2007 defense did against 'good' offensive teams. In each statistical column is what the Texas defense gave up, and in parentheses is what the opponent averaged for the year. The average percentage at the bottom is what the Texas defense gave up on average against the opponents season average.
| Team | YPA | 3rd Down % | Red Zone % | Points |
| Oklahoma | 7.6 (9.01) | 50 (49.2) | 100 (88) | 28 (42.29) |
| Nebraska | 8.3 (8.08) | 35.3 (42.7) | 100 (90) | 25 (33.42) |
| Oklahoma State | 10.2 (8.19) | 55.5 (47.5) | 75 (87) | 28 (34.62) |
| Texas Tech | 9.7 (8.01) | 42.8 (46.7) | 80 (83) | 43 (40.92) |
| Average % | 107.5 | 98.6 | 102 | 82 |
Average to below average in every category except points.
Now we'll look at how this year's team has done against 'good' offensive teams.
| Team | YPA | 3rd Down % | Red Zone % | Points |
| UTEP | 5.8 (7.61) | 41.2 (42) | 50 (83) | 13 (34) |
| Rice | 6.3 (8.31) | 14.3 (48.6) | 66.7 (87) | 10 (40.27) |
| Oklahoma | 9.4 (10.13) | 46.6 (47.3) | 100 (94) | 35 (52.64) |
| Missouri | 7.8 (8.83) | 50 (53) | 83.3 (88) | 31 (45.73) |
| Oklahoma St | 7.4 (10.22) | 41.2 (46.5) | 100 (90) | 24 (41.64) |
| Texas Tech | 8.9 (8.48) | 50 (53.2) | 83.3 (86) | 30 (45.45) |
| Kansas | 5.2 (7.88) | 37.5 (48.4) | 50 (85) | 7 (32) |
| Average % | 82.6 | 82.8 | 87 | 51.4 |
Above average in every category and we did fucking outstanding in points allowed.
The defense hasn't reached the goals that Muschamp has set for them yet, but they are certainly playing a lot better than they did last year.
Thoughts?