Oka4.5 - Alex Okafor Carries Texas To Victory Over Oregon State

Alex Okafor was a man possessed against Oregon State and led Manny Diaz's beleaguered defense to their best performance of the season against a respectable Beaver offense, managing to fashion an impressive full-length duster made of Beaver pelts. Okafor's final tab?

9 tackles

6 tackles for loss

4.5 sacks

1 forced fumble

There were several quality performances worth noting against Oregon State: Marquise Goodwin's two touchdowns - including the game winner; Diggs and Byndom's lock down on two NFL quality receivers; David Ash's 4th quarter heroics - but Alex Okafor won this game.

As dominating as Okafor was against the Beaver passing game, he was also instrumental in halting the Oregon State running attack, squeezing down the alley and playing honest containment instead of channeling Mark Gastineau on every down.

For my money, the most dominating and complete performance for a Longhorn defender in the last half decade.

While we must credit Okafor for his level of play, Oregon State's puzzling blocking schemes that allowed Okafor one-on-one pass rushing match-ups on predictable passing downs against a receiving TE, RBs, and single blocked by an eventually weeping offensive tackle made his work easy.

A fitting departure for the senior defensive end, whose Longhorn career was marked by selflessness (he spent his entire sophomore year playing DT at 260 pounds without complaint), constant improvement, and effort.