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Analysis: Texas' defensive miscues cause for concern entering conference play

Soobum Im / USA TODAY Sports

Texas has shown tremendous growth in three weeks. Its offense is developing well, scoring almost 45 points a game, and its interior defense excels at stopping runs between the tackles. However, there's one piece missing from the puzzle. This absence contributed in a big way to the Longhorns' 50-43 loss to California, and could hurt the Longhorns when they start Big 12 play if it's not addressed.

Texas' secondary looked overmatched against the athletic Golden Bears' wide receivers, and California quarterback Davis Webb used this to his advantage by drilling passes through the Longhorns' porous secondary. He threw for 396 yards and four touchdowns in a commanding performance.

It wasn't just Webb's arm cannon that did the most damage - there was also wide receiver Chad Hansen's speed. Hansen used his quick footwork to break past flimsy coverages on his way to 12 receptions for 196 yards and two touchdowns.

The Longhorns' inability to defend Hansen illustrates they don't possess a lockdown cornerback who can defend an opponent's best receiver. Not only will this create matchup problems moving forward, it shows a leadership void in an area where Texas can least afford it.

One of the best examples of this was when California ran the wheel route. Instead of Texas' secondary communicating and making switches to ensure they covered both receivers, the outside receiver went by uncovered - a big mistake because they are first priority - and it resulted in a touchdown. After the score, players in the Longhorns' secondary had their hands up wondering what happened. This severe lack of communication in the secondary led to more big plays for Cal.

Another glaring problem is that Texas cannot tackle in the open field one on one. Multiple times, a Golden Bears receiver had the ball in space, made one small move, and the defender bit. Often, when a Longhorns defender went up for a tackle, he did so tentatively. He'd go for the frequently used but rarely effective diving arm tackle, or he'd over-pursue, resulting in the receiver cutting inside for a big gain.

More blunders occurred when Texas made late substitutions between plays. The Longhorns didn't line up properly because they were still shuffling players around, and unsurprisingly, California took advantage.

All of these problems are mental miscues. The good news is many of these mistakes are fixable - experience and proper coaching will go a long way to rectifying them. The bad news is they don't have much time to fix them.

Texas has a bye this week before it starts conference play. Its next contest comes against an Oklahoma State team that, behind the arm of quarterback Mason Rudolph, likes to throw the ball often. The Cowboys average 360 passing yards a game and the safe bet is they'll be eager to pick up where California left off.

If that isn't concerning enough, the Longhorns have four more conference games against potent passing offenses in Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Baylor, and TCU, all of which have quarterbacks that pose the same challenges Webb did.

Texas must find a way to prevent the same mental mistakes from occurring again, or the California game is a preview of things to come.

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