⚡ CFB Dashboard

- Defense: Get ready for kickoff with Longhorns Gameday 🤘🏻 Coverage begins at 11:30 AM LIVE from Bevo Blvd.

- LB: Mensah threw many great passes hitting his receivers in stride.

- QB: A deep dive into their offense shows efficiency.

- Texas enters 2026 with the heaviest defensive line in the FBS by average roster weight and the SEC's deepest collection of 300-pound interior defenders. - The Longhorns built their defensive front to hold the point of attack, constrict passing lanes and create negative plays through a combination of mass, length and athleticism. - Texas needs the defensive line to control the run early because linebacker depth remains thin despite continued roster investment through defensive-line coaching turnover.

- Texas will debut Will Muschamp's defensive system against a Texas State offense that averaged 73.1 plays and 36.5 points per game in 2025, making rapid alignment and assignment clarity the immediate test. - Linebacker Justin Cryer will relay Texas's helmet-communication calls and organize the defense before each snap, while the front has been instructed to assume tempo and get set without waiting to read the offense's pace. - Texas State's Art Briles-derived system combines wide receiver splits, pace and dual-threat quarterback Brad Jackson, who produced 3,224 passing yards, 744 rushing yards and 38 total touchdowns last season. - Texas allowed 38 points in its primary 2025 exposure to extreme tempo, and similar pace challenges later against Mississippi State, LSU and Tennessee make the opener a meaningful diagnostic for Muschamp's defense.

- Texas State's Art Briles-derived offense stresses defenses with very wide receiver splits, extreme tempo and the quarterback as an extra runner, the same broad structure Texas expects later from Tennessee and LSU. - Texas linebacker Justin Cryer identified rapid communication and getting aligned against tempo as the defense's two critical Week 1 requirements because one missed assignment can immediately create a touchdown. - The opener gives Will Muschamp's revamped Texas defense an early test of how it handles the space and light-box conflicts it will see against dual-threat quarterbacks at Tennessee and LSU.

- LB: Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian said the defense has bought into Will Muschamp's scheme, style, and mentality.