There are a number of sentiments defending Texas’ defensive performance in Week 4. But make no mistake, Saturday’s defensive showing against Texas Tech was unacceptable.
Texas should never allow an opponent to go 6-for-8 on fourth down. Had Alabama done it, we would probably let it slide. In fact, we did let their fourth down success slide. Even so, Saturday’s performance was even more demoralizing.
The Longhorns choked away a 24-14 halftime lead against the Red Raiders. Hard as you try, you can’t make that result normal.
Pete Kwiatkowski apologists point to past success as reasoning that he is the right defensive coordinator for Texas. Jimbo Fisher apologists do the same at Texas A&M.
Far more important than past success is philosophy and whether or not it translates to defeating the team’s scheduled opponents. Neither Fisher nor Kwiatkowski fit that description.
Let’s make sense of what went wrong for Texas.